Invisible Son

Andre recounts his call with Gavin to Boogie. They don’t understand how Eric could’ve left without telling Sierra.

They go over to the Whitaker house. Brian’s siblings tease him about living at home, and Brian retorts that he would’ve had to work to pay for his housing. Boogie suggests that Brian could’ve persuaded his parents to cover the costs, and Brian gets defensive, asking where Boogie is headed for college. Boogie responds that he’s going to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While Brian congratulates him, he then asks if Boogie is going on a diversity scholarship. Boogie retorts that he got a presidential scholarship because he has excellent grades and a near-perfect SAT score. He asks Brian if he thinks that Boogie got his spot through affirmative action and if he thinks that he couldn’t possibly be racist since his siblings aren’t white. Kate interrupts, congratulating Boogie and ending the conversation.

Sierra admits that she thought Andre got caught up with Eric, and Andre is surprised, saying that he was with her at Paul’s party the whole time. She says that she thought he’d made a mistake and never thought differently about him. He realizes that her family also thought he was guilty. Sierra says that this explains more why Eric fled and that Andre must’ve felt alone. Andre asks for her help looking for Eric.

Mr. Whitaker comes in, and they talk about Mrs. Whitaker’s new gardening habit. She planted roses both at their home and at the community garden. Andre asks about the people who used the garden for food, but Mr. Whitaker says that there are plenty of grocery stores now. Andre thinks that he doesn’t understand what it means for a community to work together. He leaves.

It’s March 3, and Andre overhears his parents talking in their room. His mother is thinking of moving to another nursing department because of the coronavirus. They come out, surprised to find him standing by their door.

That night, Andre, his parents, and his grandparents discuss the coronavirus. They each have their own theories, and Grandpa thinks that it’ll just go away. Sensing that Andre needs to get out, Grandma J suggests that he go see Boogie.

On his way over, Andre calls Marcus to let him know where he’s going. Marcus says that he can go but that he’s going to call in an hour, which is when Andre should leave. When he gets up to Boogie’s room, he finds that his friend is sick. Boogie says that he isn’t contagious.

Marcus calls, even though it hasn’t been an hour. Andre leaves. When he gets to his grandparents’ street, he sees his old juvenile counselor, Cowboy Jim, who says that he’s just waiting for Andre to mess up.

Inside, Andre’s parents immediately know that something is wrong. Andre explains what happened, and his father worries that telling Marcus won’t matter because he wouldn’t choose Andre over his job. He thinks that they should talk to the lawyer whom Mr. Whitaker hired last time. His father also asks Andre if there’s any chance that Cowboy Jim will find something. Andre admits that he didn’t tell them that he knew that Gavin was involved, upsetting his father.

On March 6, Andre wakes up and finds his grandfather coughing. He offers to go pick up his prescription, worried about how tired Grandpa looks. He senses that he’s being followed as he bikes to the pharmacy. He texts Marcus to let him know where he is.

At the pharmacy, Mr. Whitaker taps Andre’s shoulder, saying that he’s glad Andre is home. He adds that he understands if Andre needs space, and Andre feels like Mr. Whitaker doesn’t want him around Sierra. Mr. Whitaker then pays for Andre’s items, including the prescriptions. Andre attempts to thank him, but he’s cut off.

They talk about Eric. Mr. Whitaker tells Andre that there’s something that his kids don’t know about Eric. At first, they suspected that Eric was on drugs because he was acting weirdly, but he wasn’t. However, Eric did develop a mentally illness. The Whitakers sent him to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, where he stayed for three days. They decided not to tell Sierra because their biological mother had similar mental health problems. They hoped that Eric would be alright, but he ran away in the middle of the night.

Mr. Whitaker leaves, and that’s when Andre realizes that he didn’t buy anything.

A few days later, on March 9, Andre is still thinking about Mr. Whitaker’s news about Eric when Sierra taps on his window. He doesn’t like keeping a secret from her.

They record some music reaction videos, and Marcus texts Andre to say that he sees his YouTube channel. Andre hears someone yell. He runs out of his room and finds his grandfather holding his chest. He tells Sierra to call an ambulance. When his grandfather becomes still, Andre does CPR until the EMTs arrive.

At the hospital, Andre’s mom finds him with Sierra in the lobby. Grandma J is with Grandpa in his room; the EMTs got his heart going again. Andre’s mom says that she’s going to try to work on Grandpa’s floor and that Andre should call her when his dad arrives. Andre tells Sierra that she doesn’t have to stay, but she insists.

Andre’s dad arrives, and Andre realizes that he’d hoped his return home would only come with happiness. He feels like things won’t go back to how they were before.

That night, Andre returns home at nine o’clock, having been denied an exception to his curfew time. His family is still at the hospital. At home, the TV has been left on all day. Oregon’s governor has declared a state of emergency. Andre texts Boogie to see if he’s feeling better, but his friend tells him that his family members are in the hospital.

Sierra’s parents give her permission to stay over, and she ends up sleeping on Andre’s floor. As they get settled, she asks if it’s odd being home. He says that it is, but not when she’s around. She explains that she used to be afraid that she and Eric would be separated in the night. Andre realizes that while they’ve talked about a lot of things, they’ve never discussed her time in foster care or her adoption.

She goes on to explain that she’s still mad at Eric and that she hasn’t really moved on from this fear. Andre suggests that she use some of the same coping techniques from when she started sleeping separately from Eric at the Whitakers, and she goes on to say that she didn’t have a choice. Mrs. Whitaker hated that she and Eric would sleep together, even suggesting that it was inappropriate. She also didn’t want Sierra to be around Brian and Kate. Even now, Sierra doesn’t go into Eric’s room.

Andre asks about Eric and how he adapted to life with the Whitakers. She says that he was most himself at one of their foster families’ farms. He liked being outside. Sierra tried to go back and visit that family, but they were worried that it would compromise their status as foster parents. Andre thinks that maybe Eric left without telling Sierra because he knew she’d follow him.

Shortly after, Sierra falls asleep. Andre wonders about the real reason the Whitakers didn’t tell her about Eric’s problems. Andre thinks that it might have something to do with his arrest.

As Sierra sleeps, Andre looks for clues on Eric’s social media. He finds a comment on Eric’s page from Susan Gustafson saying, “I’ll come by!” (144). He thinks she might be from the farm that Sierra mentioned. Andre sends her a message with a friend request.

In the morning, both Andre and Sierra feel sick. They call Andre’s dad, and he starts wearing a mask around them. They go to a clinic half an hour away to get tested for the coronavirus. A few days later, the results come back positive. Sierra weeps, saying that she’s furious with Eric and that he doesn’t even know she’s sick.

Andre is scared and thinks they’re going to die. He yells out, worried about his grandfather. Slowly, however, he starts to feel better. When he feels strong enough to leave his room, he’s surprised to find his dad in his grandfather’s chair. He misses the quiet comfort of his grandpa, who is still in the hospital. Andre looks at the newspaper and sees that the parks have been shut down. He calls Marcus to figure out what this means for his community service. Marcus is going to find him other options.

Andre notices that his dad is coughing too. His dad caught the virus from them, having stayed to take care of Grandma J, Andre, and Sierra.

On March 20, Andre receives a message from Susan about Eric. She heard from Eric in January because he was asking about Andre. She asks what happened, and Andre explains that he was in a detention center for two months. He asks what Eric said. Susan replies that when she last spoke to Eric, he’d planned to turn himself in. Eric stayed with them, but eventually, Susan knew that they could get into trouble with Child Protective Services, so she had to call the Whitakers. She adds that when Sierra came to the farm, she assumed that Eric had been sent to juvie and no one had told her.

Sierra comes in and asks if he’s okay. Andre is tempted to tell her everything but refrains. Sierra thanks Andre for protecting Eric and feels like Eric should’ve told her the truth. Andre feels even worse for keeping secrets from her.

At dinner, Andre is relieved to see his grandmother moving around. His dad tells them that he’s going to stay at a motel so that everyone else can go visit Grandpa now that they’re feeling better. Andre’s mom will check on him. With hospitals closing to visitors, Andre’s dad worries that they won’t be able to see Grandpa for much longer.

Looking at the newspaper, Andre sees an article about COVID-19 and racial disparities: Black people are catching the virus more frequently than white folks.