57 pages • 1 hour read
After the Shot Drops
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 53-63 and EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 53 Summary: “Bunny”
On the bus ride home, Bunny keeps texting Nasir, apologizing for winning. Nasir doesn’t respond. Bunny’s teammates chant his name and thrust the trophy in his hands. He feels a mixture of joy and guilt.
Chapter 54 Summary: “Nasir”
After the game, Nasir continues to ignore Bunny’s apology texts. He asks his parents to drive him to Bunny’s house, but they say no because it is snowing. Just after one o’clock in the morning, Nasir hears soft knocks at the door and goes down to see that Bunny has come over. Bunny asks him to go to the basketball courts so they can talk, and Nasir agrees.
When they reach the courts, Bunny apologizes again for winning, telling him that he really tried to lose. However, he also points out that it was never fair for Nasir to ask him to throw the game in the first place because he is not responsible for Wallace. Nasir says that he shouldn’t have kept the game so close if he really wanted to lose. Bunny admits he is right and apologizes again.
The two teenagers discuss the future and how Bunny will spend his money once he becomes rich. They discuss Keyona, and Nasir tells Bunny he hopes that they will work it out, realizing that he actually means it. Nasir tells Bunny that he is glad he won because he deserved it and that he should have never asked him to lose in the first place. Bunny says he realizes that Nasir was only trying to help Wallace. They hug and then shoot some hoops.
Wallace shows up at the court, smoking a cigarette and drinking alcohol from a paper bag.
Chapter 55 Summary: “Bunny”
Bunny is glad to see that Wallace is okay, even though he has a bad feeling. Wallace tells Bunny that he betrayed him and sealed his fate. Nasir sticks up for Bunny, saying that it wasn’t Bunny’s fault that Wallace placed bad bets. Bunny apologizes to Wallace and tells him he had intended to lose. Nasir tells Wallace that they will figure something out, but Wallace is enraged. The teens argue, and Wallace tackles Nasir to the ground. Bunny manages to get Wallace off Nasir, and Wallace punches his already broken nose. Then, Bunny sees that Wallace has a gun, which he is pointing at him. He tells Wallace he doesn’t have to do this.
Chapter 56 Summary: “Nasir”
Nasir sees that Wallace is pointing a gun at Bunny. Nasir stands between him and Wallace, imploring Wallace to put the gun down and telling him that they can still find a way to help him. Both Bunny and Wallace tell Nasir to get out of the way. Bunny steps beside Nasir.
Chapter 57 Summary: “Bunny”
Bunny hears a loud shout. He sees Wallace and Nasir staring at him. Then, he sees blood running down his chest and arm. He feels pain and then coldness. He falls backward as the image of Nasir’s face fades before him.
Chapter 58 Summary: “Nasir”
Nasir rushes to Bunny’s side and tries to stem the bleeding. As he puts pressure on the wound, he tells Bunny to stay with him and then calls 911. He tells the ambulance to come quickly.
Chapter 59 Summary: “Bunny”
This chapter is a blank page, illustrating that Bunny is unconscious.
Chapter 60 Summary: “Nasir”
Nasir is at the hospital with Bunny’s family, his family, and Keyona. A doctor comes out and delivers some news to Bunny’s family. The family cries with relief: Bunny is alive. Nasir thanks God.
Chapter 61 Summary: “Bunny”
Bunny regains consciousness in the hospital to find his family, the Blake family, and Keyona there. He is confused and tired and then falls back to sleep.
Chapter 62 Summary: “Nasir”
Nasir stays at the hospital with Keyona and Bunny’s parents. The doctor tells them that Bunny was lucky that Nasir called the ambulance so quickly because if a few more minutes had passed, he might not have survived. Nasir sits in a chair and drifts off to sleep, where he has a dream about Bunny’s funeral. In the dream, everyone is crying and giving beautiful eulogies. When it is Nasir’s turn to approach the casket, he looks inside to see it contains Wallace, not Bunny. As they lower the casket into the earth, Nasir wonders who is inside.
Chapter 63 Summary: “Bunny”
Bunny wakes up in his hospital room. His parents are in the room with him. He asks if Nasir is okay, and they tell him he is fine and in the waiting room. He inquires after Wallace, and they say he ran off. His parents tell him that with therapy, he should make a full recovery and be able to play basketball just as well as before.
Bunny asks if he can see Nasir and asks if he told them everything. They confirm that he did. He tells them not to be mad at Nasir because he was only trying to help Wallace. Bunny reflects on how he feels no anger toward Wallace, only pity and remorse, even if Wallace caused his own problems.
Keyona and Nasir come in to visit Bunny. They all cry as they hug, and Bunny and Nasir apologize to each other.
Epilogue Summary: “Nasir”
Nasir is visiting Wallace in jail. Wallace says he wasn’t sure if he would visit him because no one else does. Nasir says he is sorry and reiterates that he really tried to help him. Everyone says he is a lost cause, and Wallace concedes they are probably correct.
As Nasir leaves, he wonders what else he could have done to help Wallace and whose responsibility that really was.
Chapters 53-63 and Epilogue Analysis
The previous chapters build up to the climax when Bunny accidentally wins the championship. At this point, all the tension that has built up throughout the novel has no choice but to boil over and obtain a final resolution. All the characters are forced to confront themselves and each other.
Wallace has one option available to him: catharsis. The desperation of his situation has spiraled out of his control, and he is unable to resolve it, leading to blind rage that culminates in him shooting Bunny. After initially running away from the scene, he later turns himself in, which demonstrates a degree of remorse. The Epilogue shows character development, as Wallace acknowledges his culpability and that he has let everyone else down. He is no longer trying to fix his problems with shortcuts like winning a bet.
Bunny has to resolve the tension that has been bubbling under the surface of his and Nasir’s friendship ever since he transferred. Throughout the novel, Bunny attempts to reestablish their friendship and their connection by making it up to Nasir—first by deciding to break up with Keyona (although she changes his mind) and then by trying to get Nasir accepted to St. Sebastian’s, even though such a request is an ethics violation. Intentionally losing a basketball game is the ultimate sacrifice for Bunny, one that he only decides to do out of loyalty to Nasir. Still, he feels it was wrong of Nasir to ask him, and he resents it. In the end, he lets Nasir down by winning after all. His only course of action at this point is to apologize, which he does. Bunny’s decisions during the climactic game show that he has become more community-minded, though he doesn’t sacrifice his dreams entirely.
Nasir remains the most conflicted of the three. He is torn by his loyalty to Bunny as a friend and his respect for him as an athlete. On the other hand, he feels a pervading sense of responsibility for Wallace, not because of their friendship or familial ties but because of what Wallace represents: the downtrodden, disparaged, and forgotten. Nasir struggles mightily with questions of justice and how it is meted out in a deeply unfair and unequal world. Ultimately, he comes to accept that he is not personally responsible for Wallace, who is an individual with agency and consistently makes poor choices. On the other hand, he retains a belief in the general concept that human beings should help each other, especially those who struggle the most, through interpersonal relationships as well as social interventions.
Unlock all 57 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
