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Chapter 41. The After
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Monday’s Not Coming, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Child Abuse
Family, Community, and Responsibility
Growing Up, Independence, and Friendship
Secrecy and Shame
Poverty, Social Support, and Desperation
Memory, Repression, and Trauma
Summary
Analysis
It’s the last day of March. After practicing what she’s going to say to “her,” Claudia zips her coat and heads toward the basketball courts near Ed Borough. Claudia almost walks right past April, who’s sitting in the bleachers. Claudia bravely tells her she’s looking for Monday. April’s energy seems to disappear, but she insults Claudia and reminds her she’s not supposed to be here. Claudia asks where Monday is.
Now that the police, her parents, and the school have failed to help Claudia locate Monday, April seems like Claudia’s last hope. April may be caustic and unreliable, but she’s also Monday’s sister and seems to know more about Monday than Claudia ever gave her credit for.
Themes
With a sigh, April leans back and calls to Darrell, who’s playing a pickup game on the court. She calls him over and asks if he had sex with Monday. He glares and grumbles that April doesn’t have to tell everyone before running off. Seething, Claudia says that Monday would’ve told her if she and Darrell had had sex, but April insists she wouldn’t have—Claudia is too stuck up and immature. Monday was afraid Claudia would judge her. Claudia says that regardless, she’s not leaving until she sees Monday.
April seems to bring up Monday’s sexual activity to make Claudia angry. And she’s successful—in Claudia’s mind, Monday wasn’t seeing any guys but Jacob and the possibility that Monday was seeing someone else but didn’t tell Claudia about them is just insulting. But even with all of this, Claudia still loves Monday and to show her loyalty, insists on getting to the bottom of this.
Themes
April leads Claudia to her house. She says Mrs. Charles is babysitting and opens the door. When Claudia smells a strange, pungent stench, her nerves light up. But April nods that Monday is inside, so Claudia steps in. She sees why Mrs. Charles always stood in the doorway: there’s a huge chest freezer blocking the door from opening, buzzing. The living room is cramped and the kitchen is crawling with roaches. There are plastic bags taped over the windows, and eviction notices litter the counter. April leads Claudia upstairs, past the bathroom and a closet.
Seeing the state of the Charles’s house confirms that Monday’s home life was difficult and neglectful. When Claudia sees the eviction notices, she doesn’t seem to feel anything. But the novel has given hints throughout that the Charles family has been living in fear of losing their home for some time. In this way, the entire family becomes victims of the city’s policy of trying to close Ed Borough.
Themes
April leads Claudia into a bedroom. There are no bunk beds, just three twin beds arranged in a U. The sheets are dirty and there’s garbage on the floor. Claudia can still hear the humming freezer, but she can’t see Monday. April chuckles, says Monday is all over the place, and points to Monday’s bed. Claudia can’t believe it—Monday was a neat freak and did chores without being asked at Claudia’s house.
Seeing the bedroom in particular makes it clear to Claudia that Monday lied about a lot of things, though it’s not clear why. Monday may have done chores at Claudia’s house because she appreciated being in a clean house—something she never got at home.
Themes
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Claudia sits on Monday’s bed. The sheets feel like they haven’t been used in a long time. April asks if Claudia wants something to remember Monday by. Voice cracking, Claudia asks if this means Monday’s not coming back and starts to cry. She needs more time with her friend. Claudia’s hand slips and she bumps into Monday’s journal, hidden under her pillow. April explains that Monday still has the key. Claudia stuffs the journal into her bag and then begs April to tell her if CFSA took Monday, or if she’s with her aunt. April looks ready to speak, but then the girls hear the front door open. It’s Mrs. Charles.
Asking if Claudia wants something to remember Monday by suggests that Monday isn’t coming back—and indeed, implies that she’s dead. April even seems poised to tell Claudia the truth before Mrs. Charles gets home early, but Claudia isn’t willing to accept it. She’s looking for any reason to believe that Monday is still alive when everything points to her being dead.
Themes
