Behold the Dreamers: Chapter 48 Summary & Analysis

Pa Jonga dies on a rainy night in May. Ma Jonga and their other children tried to treat what was either malaria or typhoid fever with a drink made from boiled masepo and fever grass, along with the medication the pharmacist prescribed. Jende’s brother, Moto, calls him at five in the morning, an hour after Pa Ikola Jonga died. The chef at the Hell’s Kitchen restaurant where Jende’s working excuses him for the rest of the night and offers his condolences. Jende rides home on the subway with his head down for the entire ride. When he enters the apartment, he finds Neni wailing on her cell phone. At that moment, Jende allows himself to cry.

Pa Jonga is buried two weeks later, and Jende sends money for the funeral. Jende watches the ceremony on a video that he asked Moto to produce. He watches the six-hour DVD collection in one sitting. He sees Ma Jonga collapse in grief when Pa Jonga’s casket is opened. He listens to speeches about what a good man Pa Jonga was. He watches the dances that went on from late Friday night to early Saturday morning, and he also watches his father get lowered into the ground. A day later, Jende’s back begins to ache. He spends his mornings “lying on the floor, writhing in pain.”

One of Jende’s co-workers refers him to a cash-only doctor in Jamaica, Queens, who charges him sixty dollars after finding out that the accidental health insurance plan that Neni purchased online is useless. The doctor, who works out of a windowless basement office, asks if he’s been dealing with any stressors. Jende wants to recite the litany of problems that haunt him: his inability to bury his father, his aging mother’s need for more money, the financial responsibility of caring for his wife and children, his uncertainty about affording his wife’s international tuition, his shaky immigration status, and his inability to afford food for a decent meal on some days.