A Brief History of Seven Killings: Part 1, Chapter 13 Summary & Analysis

People in the ghetto are treating Papa-Lo like an “old man.” There are rumors that Papa-Lo is turning away from violence, and he admits it’s true that two years ago, he shot a boy without realizing he was a high school student and that this had a deep impact in him. The boy’s mother came to Papa-Lo’s house and shouted that her son had six GCEs and was going to get a scholarship to university, until Josey gun-butted her in the head.

Papa-Lo admits that the Singer is friends with both him and Shotta Sherrif, though he interacts with them separately. For three months, Peter Nasser and two white men have been coming to the ghetto to see Josey. Papa-Lo recalls the turmoil of 1966, when a neighborhood called Balaclava fell “so that Copenhagen City could rise.” Politicians separated Kingston into districts, drawing artificial boundaries without consulting the residents. Papa-Lo worked on expanding Copenhagen City to twice its original size and eliminated robbery and rape from the neighborhood. However, now it is another election year and there is nothing left but “war and rumour of war.”