Dear Martin: Chapter 20-Four Months Later

by Nic Stone
In Nic Stone's unflinching exploration of racism, high school student Justyce McAllister writes letters to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in order to process the violence and prejudice he encounters in his community.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1-September 18, Chapters 5-
9, January 13-Chapter 14, Transcript from the evening news, January 26-Chapter 19, Chapter 20-Four Months Later
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. recoil
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    At first, Jus recoils. If there’s one thing he can’t handle right now, it’s pity.
  2. adamant
    impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason
    “Yup. It's been since I was little, but she’s gotten more adamant about it since—” He cuts off.
  3. arson
    malicious burning to destroy property
    Investigator: Arson was our initial suspicion due to the number of threatening phone calls and letters Mrs. Tison has received during her husband's detainment. We're now able to confirm that this fire was started from the outside.
  4. char
    burn to charcoal
    (Cuts to picture of house's charred remains.)
  5. apprehend
    take into police custody
    Police have apprehended three teenage boys who were seen in the area on the night of the incident.
  6. commencement
    an academic exercise in which diplomas are conferred
    For the most part, Jus isn’t surprised when a pair of cops approach him and Mama after Bras Preps commencement ceremony.
  7. instigate
    provoke or stir up
    And he was right: not twelve hours after news broke that the fire at Garrett Tison’s house was set by someone outside it, the same newspeople who instigated “Thug-Gate” were speculating about Justyce’s “involvement in the arson plot.”
  8. nonchalant
    marked by casual unconcern or indifference
    The detective’s eyes narrow, and Justyce wonders if he’s being too nonchalant.
  9. siphon
    move a liquid from one container into another by a tube
    “This is the deal: we arrested three young men caught on camera siphoning gasoline from cars in a Walmart parking lot near the Tison home. Two of them...”
  10. accomplice
    a person who joins with another in carrying out some plan
    Officer Troy passes her the notepad. “Filly and Bradley Mathers,” she reads, “named you as an accomplice.”
  11. implicate
    bring into intimate and incriminating connection
    For one, they’ve both tried to implicate innocent parties before.
  12. verify
    confirm the truth of
    “Is there someone who can verify your whereabouts?”
  13. whereabouts
    the general location of someone or something
    “Is there someone who can verify your whereabouts?”
  14. glower
    look angry or sullen as if to signal disapproval
    But testifying with his best friend’s murderer glowering at him from twenty feet away?
  15. recount
    narrate or give a detailed account of
    Jus, with tears in his eyes, recounts the final minutes of Manny’s life, and for a second he’s tempted to relax, especially when Doc gives him a thumbs-up from where he’s sitting.
  16. allege
    report or maintain
    “Your Honor, I’d like to enter into evidence a police report, filed on January twenty-sixth, that alleges Emmanuel Rivers physically attacked a Mr. Jared Christensen on Monday, January twenty-first.”
  17. unprovoked
    occurring without motivation or incitement
    “The type who ‘attacks’ people unprovoked.”
  18. provocation
    a means of arousing or stirring to action
    “So you’re suggesting there was provocation.”
  19. ambiguous
    open to two or more interpretations
    “The question is ambiguous.”
  20. altercation
    a noisy, angry argument or fight between people
    “You were involved in a similar altercation on the night of January eighteenth, correct?”
  21. composure
    steadiness of mind under stress
    “Maintain your composure, Mr. McAllister,” the judge says.
  22. reprimand
    censure severely or angrily
    “After you attacked Jared Christensen and Blake Benson, Emmanuel Rivers reprimanded you, correct? He sided with the victims of your unprovoked assault—”
  23. detrimental
    causing harm or injury
    Above certain levels, noise or noise disturbance is detrimental to the health and welfare of the citizenry and the individual’s right to peaceful and quiet enjoyment.
  24. ordinance
    an authoritative rule
    “Would you say your loud music was in violation of this ordinance, Mr. McAllister?”
  25. obscene
    offensive to the mind
    “Did Mr. Rivers use foul language and make an obscene gesture toward my client that you would’ve perceived as threat?”
  26. affiliation
    a social or business relationship
    "And that young man—Quan Banks, I believe his name is—connected you to a group of young men with extensive criminal records and known gang affiliations, yes?”
  27. disorderly
    undisciplined and unruly
    After 27 hours of deliberation, Tison was convicted of two misdemeanors—disorderly conduct and discharge of a pistol near a public highway—and aggravated assault, the less severe of the two felonies.
  28. consensus
    agreement in the judgment reached by a group as a whole
    The jury was unable to reach a consensus regarding the felony murder charge, and a mistrial was declared on that count.
  29. mistrial
    a legal proceeding that is invalid or inconclusive
    The jury was unable to reach a consensus regarding the felony murder charge, and a mistrial was declared on that count.
  30. pall
    a sudden feeling of dread or gloominess
    Though Tison's claim that the teens had a gun was unsupported by evidence, the surviving teen, Justyce McAllister's, exposed connection to known gang members, including sixteen-year-old Quan Banks, the young man charged with murdering Tison's partner last August, cast a considerable pall over the proceedings.
  31. documentary
    a film presenting the facts about a person or event
    She’s stretched out on the couch with her head in his lap, looking at a documentary about the migration of monarch butterflies, but Jus doubts she’s actually watching.
  32. migration
    the periodic passage of groups of animals
    She’s stretched out on the couch with her head in his lap, looking at a documentary about the migration of monarch butterflies, but Jus doubts she’s actually watching.
  33. minimize
    represent as less significant or important
    As much as Jus hates that the death of his best friend was minimized by the hung jury, he can’t begin to imagine what Manny’s parents must be going through.
  34. perpetrator
    someone who commits wrongdoing
    Mrs. F holds up her index finger and continues to speak into the phone: “Mmhmm...Oh good lord...This is...And the perpetrators?...I can’t believe this, Jeff.....”
  35. isolation
    a state of separation between persons or groups
    In a statement to police, Garrett Tison’s attorney claimed she received a phone call from Mr. Tison alleging that guards refused to put him in isolation despite his complaints about receiving threats.
  36. illustrious
    widely known and esteemed
    Well, I'm here.
    The illustrious Yale University.
  37. demeanor
    the way a person behaves toward other people
    Then when SJ came back in from the bathroom and I introduced her as my girlfriend, dude's entire demeanor changed for the negative.
  38. tainted
    touched by rot or decay
    I'll admit my filter's a little tainted after the past eight months...scratch that: after the past year.
  39. eminent
    having an illustrious reputation; respected
    But if I go with Doc's thinking—Who would Martin BE?—well, that's easy: you'd be yourself. THE eminent MLK: nonviolent, not easily discouraged, and firm in your beliefs.
  40. titan
    a person of exceptional importance and reputation
    “Pffft. I wish. That dude was a titan with the ladies.”
Created on Mon Dec 04 10:47:09 EST 2017 (updated Tue Feb 27 12:53:46 EST 2018)

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