Previous
Daddy
Trey is one of Quan’s best friends in Black Jihad. He’s two years older and, like Quan, he’s Black, has an incarcerated father, and his mother is absent and neglectful. The boys meet when Quan is 13 and Trey is 15, and Quan knows at this point that Trey is trouble—they meet for the first time at the police station, where Trey is being booked. Trey understands that in the aftermath of his first arrest, Quan desperately needs a friend who understands what he’s going through. He validates that being arrested is a frightening experience and that the justice system isn’t entirely fair. He recognizes, for instance, the ridiculousness of treating young Black boys like adults when they commit crimes, even though they’re children. But Trey doesn’t believe that there are many avenues for young Black boys like himself and Quan. So a year later, he takes Quan to meet Martel and, ultimately, to join the Black Jihad gang. Trey seems to have a sixth sense and can pick up on when a person is feeling off, so he’s the one Quan finally tells about Dwight’s abuse. This culminates in Dwight’s murder once Martel finds out. Trey seldom appears in person in the novel after Quan is imprisoned, though Quan learns that he’s been supporting and helping out Mama. At the end of the novel, Quan learns that Trey and his girlfriend are expecting a baby and that Trey is thrilled to become a father.
Trey Quotes in Dear Justyce
The Dear Justyce quotes below are all either spoken by Trey or refer to Trey. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 5: Delinquent
Quotes
Trey couldn’t have known it (or maybe he could’ve?), but in that moment, Quan didn’t actually want to be alone.
He needed a friend.
Someone who cared.
Because from the moment Mama and Quan had stepped out of the fluorescent-lit law-and-order lair into the crisp Georgia evening, it was crystal clear to Quan that she no longer did.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“It’s this ceremony where a young Jewish dude becomes ‘accountable for his actions.’” He used air quotes. “So he goes from ‘boy’ to ‘man,’ essentially. Lawyer homie is sitting there all geeked, telling me about it, and I’m thinking to myself: So your son is a grown man by Jewish standards, yet still gets treated like a kid. Meanwhile ain’t no ceremonies for kids like us, but if we get in trouble we get treated like adults.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
April 24; Snapshot: A Postscript (Present Day)
Quotes
I guess I didn’t realize just how big of a difference it could make to have somebody really believe in you. I been thinking a lot about Trey and Mar and Brad and them. We were all looking for the same things, man—support, protection, family, that type of shit. And we found SOME of it in one another, but we couldn’t really give each other no type of encouragement to do nothing GOOD because nobody was really giving US any. Matter fact, we typically got the opposite. People telling us how “bad” we were. Constantly looking at us like they expected only the worst.
How the hell’s a person supposed to give something they ain’t never had?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
June 14
Quotes
This is a real-ass Catch-22. I read that shit a couple weeks ago. (HELLA trippy book.) The only way to stay OUT of what I really have no choice but to go back to is to stay IN here. But the longer I’m IN here, the more debt I’ll rack up for when I do get OUT.
Kind of a no-win, ain’t it?
Story of my damn life.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Dear Justyce LitChart as a printable PDF.
Trey Quotes in Dear Justyce
The Dear Justyce quotes below are all either spoken by Trey or refer to Trey. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 5: Delinquent
Quotes
Trey couldn’t have known it (or maybe he could’ve?), but in that moment, Quan didn’t actually want to be alone.
He needed a friend.
Someone who cared.
Because from the moment Mama and Quan had stepped out of the fluorescent-lit law-and-order lair into the crisp Georgia evening, it was crystal clear to Quan that she no longer did.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“It’s this ceremony where a young Jewish dude becomes ‘accountable for his actions.’” He used air quotes. “So he goes from ‘boy’ to ‘man,’ essentially. Lawyer homie is sitting there all geeked, telling me about it, and I’m thinking to myself: So your son is a grown man by Jewish standards, yet still gets treated like a kid. Meanwhile ain’t no ceremonies for kids like us, but if we get in trouble we get treated like adults.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
April 24; Snapshot: A Postscript (Present Day)
Quotes
I guess I didn’t realize just how big of a difference it could make to have somebody really believe in you. I been thinking a lot about Trey and Mar and Brad and them. We were all looking for the same things, man—support, protection, family, that type of shit. And we found SOME of it in one another, but we couldn’t really give each other no type of encouragement to do nothing GOOD because nobody was really giving US any. Matter fact, we typically got the opposite. People telling us how “bad” we were. Constantly looking at us like they expected only the worst.
How the hell’s a person supposed to give something they ain’t never had?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
June 14
Quotes
This is a real-ass Catch-22. I read that shit a couple weeks ago. (HELLA trippy book.) The only way to stay OUT of what I really have no choice but to go back to is to stay IN here. But the longer I’m IN here, the more debt I’ll rack up for when I do get OUT.
Kind of a no-win, ain’t it?
Story of my damn life.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
