Chapter 11 returns to Clive’s perspective. Clive considers the ways in which his building and neighborhood in New York City have changed over the years, with more white people moving in. He sees Claire (or Emily) the same way he sees the other white people around him and wonders what her motivations are in becoming his friend.

The narrative then turns to when Clive is 17, the year that he graduates from secondary school. His friends are going to college or getting jobs, while Edwin gets Clive involved in half-baked business schemes. At night they drink and spend the night sobering up in jail after getting pulled over by Officer Roy.

When Clive is 19, Edwin pushes him to talk to Sara while they are all at the Carnival parade. Clive walks Sara home and sees that her home life is dysfunctional, but he doesn’t judge her. Sara leads him to the back shed, where they have sex, and two months later, Sara tells Clive that she’s pregnant. This leads to a transformation of Clive’s relationship with his grandmother: When she voices her disapproval of Sara, Clive defends her, and from this point on, his grandmother stops trying to manage Clive’s life.