There There: Part IV: Edwin Black (2) Summary & Analysis

Edwin hands Blue her coffee, and together they walk excitedly to the car. Edwin thinks about the “countless hours” he, Blue, and the rest of the committee have put in as they’ve worked towards the powwow. The committee has been more than a job for Edwin—it has become a “new life.”

On the drive to the coliseum, Edwin begins telling Blue about the new story he’s writing about a Native guy who lives in a nice big apartment in downtown Oakland which gradually becomes overtaken by squatters, the friends of a white guy whom the main character has become friends with. After Edwin finishes relaying the plot he becomes embarrassed, and tells Blue the story sounded better in his own head. Blue assures Edwin that the story sounds good and true to life—she says that white people’s culture is “taking over.”

At the coliseum, Edwin and Blue set up their booth. Once it’s finished, Blue asks Edwin whether they should get out the safe full of Visa gift card prizes now or later. Edwin says they should get it now, so that it’s not a hassle later in the chaos of all the prize-winning. Edwin and Blue go together to Blue’s car to retrieve the heavy safe. Blue worries, as they carry it back inside, that the gift cards are a little too “flashy,” but Edwin points out that “powwows are all about flash.”