Clayton Byrd Goes Underground: Chapters 16–29

by Rita Williams-Garcia
Clayton Byrd dreams of playing the blues, just like his grandfather. When his grandfather dies, a distraught Clayton runs away from home in the hopes of joining a blues band.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–8, Chapters 9–5, Chapters 16–29

Here are links to our lists for other books by Rita Williams-Garcia: One Crazy Summer, P.S. Be Eleven, Gone Crazy in Alabama
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. unaffected
    undergoing no change when acted upon
    But some of the annoyed, frightened, or unaffected faces now wore thin smiles.
  2. lag
    hang or fall in movement, progress, development, etc.
    The boys marched around his laid-out body—with Clayton lagging behind, not sure what to do.
  3. caw
    utter a cry, characteristic of crows, rooks, or ravens
    Beat Box started cawing, and the other boys joined in. “Caw! Caw! Caw!” They were so loud and crazy with their cawing and flapping, he knew what it meant to be surrounded by a murder of crows.
  4. matted
    tangled in a dense mass
    It wasn’t all right that the dude who probably hadn’t washed his thickly packed and matted hair in a month was killing the last of Cool Papa Byrd’s smell with his sweated-up head.
  5. aloft
    high up in or into the air
    Train Ear held the blues harp aloft, ready to throw it onto the tracks.
  6. ruddy
    inclined to a healthy reddish color
    The magician’s already sagging, ruddy face reddened even more.
  7. unbeknownst
    without someone's knowledge
    She, who, unbeknownst to Clayton, loved watching a baseball game at the stadium, was always welcome to join them.
  8. frantically
    in an uncontrolled manner
    He lost sight of Cool Papa’s hat, but he spotted Beat Box, about three hundred feet away, waving to him frantically.
  9. jut
    extend out or project in space
    So he stayed close to the wall, and ran down the dusty, foot-wide walkway that jutted out merely inches from the outer rail.
  10. hurtle
    move with or as if with a rushing sound
    But now he was on the slim walkway, inches from trains soon to come hurtling down the tracks.
  11. vault
    jump across or leap over, as an obstacle
    Train Ear and Jelly Bones hopped over turnstiles like gymnasts vaulting a pommel horse.
  12. pommel
    a handgrip that a gymnast uses when performing exercises
    Train Ear and Jelly Bones hopped over turnstiles like gymnasts vaulting a pommel horse.
  13. wiry
    lean but strong
    He was no match against the wiry, taller, hard-faced teen.
  14. draft
    a current of air
    He felt a draft of hot air from the tunnel, a gust left in the wake of the train he’d just missed.
  15. jostle
    come into rough contact with while moving
    He got jostled and squished by pushing, darting kids with full book bags and unleashed energy.
  16. technically
    according to the exact meaning; according to the facts
    He’d never been around kids who actually played instruments—except for Beat Box, even though technically, Beat Box didn’t play a musical instrument.
  17. brisk
    quick and energetic
    He walked briskly up West Third Street, trying to ignore the hunger that had caught up to him.
  18. pry
    move or force in an effort to get something open
    He pried open the package carefully, afraid to drop a crumb.
  19. purposeful
    serving as or indicating the existence of a goal
    He was nearing the park and walked straight and purposefully while college students going to and from classes ambled or hurried around him.
  20. amble
    walk leisurely
    He was nearing the park and walked straight and purposefully while college students going to and from classes ambled or hurried around him.
  21. hunch
    round one's back by bending forward
    A man whose face was covered by long hair, and a full and long beard, hunched over the keyboard, pounding away.
  22. warble
    sing or play with trills
    No matter what the man played, a drowning sound warbled out from the piano’s strings and hammers.
  23. trill
    a note that alternates with another note a semitone above it
    Finally, the bearded piano dude finished his melody with wobbly, dying chords. No trills.
  24. mezzanine
    intermediate floor just above the ground floor
    He sang to himself, “I’m going down Down, down, down I’m going down” as he went down the station steps, the steps to the platform, to the middle mezzanine, and to the uptown express, where he couldn’t get any lower.
  25. gape
    be wide open
    The snoring man’s mouth gaped sloppily like some huge beast’s.
  26. consonant
    a speech sound that is not a vowel
    He said, “All right,” in all vowels, no consonants.
  27. grizzly
    powerful brownish-yellow bear of western North America
    The homeless man stood up like a grizzly on hind legs.
  28. tackle
    grasping an opposing player and throwing him to the ground
    “More like kicking the people in the face,” Young Square Cop said; he was short and square, built like one of those guys who blocked tackles in college football.
  29. solicit
    incite, move, or persuade to some act of lawlessness
    “We call it reckless endangerment, soliciting, and disturbing the peace.”
  30. prospect
    belief about the future
    The prospect of having his blues harp taken was more than he could bear.
  31. reluctantly
    with a certain degree of unwillingness
    Jelly Bones’s fuzzy white Kangol cap went reluctantly into another.
  32. dingy
    thickly covered with ingrained dirt or soot
    It was only now that Clayton could see the cap’s color. Dingy, but not as dirty as Train Ear’s tank top.
  33. numbness
    partial or total lack of sensation in a part of the body
    Clayton felt only the numbness in his wrists and the wail in his gut.
  34. detention
    a state of being confined (usually for a short time)
    The cop said, “Not here. You’ll be on the bus to detention. Your guardian can pick you up there. Except you,” he said to Train Ear, whose hands were still bound behind his back.
  35. impression
    a concavity in a surface produced by force
    He could still see the impression of the plastic strips that dug into his skin.
  36. fumble
    feel about uncertainly or blindly
    He turned mostly to Beat Box but fumbled for something to say.
  37. wring
    twist and compress, as if in pain or anguish
    She exhaled and looked up to the ceiling, patting her foot, wringing her hands.
  38. gush
    flow forth in a sudden stream or jet
    Words poured out of her like air gushing from a balloon.
  39. hysterical
    characterized by a state of violent mental agitation
    When they pulled into their driveway, Ms. Byrd said, “First, I get a call from Omar’s mom, and we are both hysterical, trying to figure out what happened to you. When I get home, the school had left a message on the answering machine saying you were absent. Then, I get a call from the police. Clayton, you have no idea what you put us all through. Omar. His mother. Your father. Your aunts and uncles. Me.”
  40. remorse
    a feeling of deep regret, usually for some misdeed
    Her words made whatever remorse he felt disappear.
Created on Tue Jan 23 15:52:37 EST 2018 (updated Thu Feb 28 15:28:16 EST 2019)

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