Miles Morales: Spider-Man

When Ganke returns to the dorm room, he demands that Miles explain what happened between him and Alicia. Miles, still disturbed by Mr. Chamberlain, questions if he is what set off his spidey-sense. Ganke tries to comfort Miles, telling him that Mr. Chamberlain may be odd, but he’s not a villain. He then hands Miles a flier for the upcoming Halloween school dance. He challenges Miles to attend, stating that if his superhero days are over, then he has time to act like a teenager. Miles agrees to go to the party and gets ready for work.

Ganke asks Miles if he is going to see Alicia read her poetry at the open mic later that evening. Miles knows he can’t go as he has work, but tells Ganke that he’ll try; he asks Ganke to apologize to Alicia for him. Miles works at the Campus Convenience store as a form of work-study; the school pays for his room and board as long as he keeps his job there. He thinks about his parents, who struggle to afford both rent and his housing expenses, and gets to work. The Campus Convenience store is never busy, so Miles spends the first part of his shift working on homework.

After a while, Miles pulls out a letter that he’d found addressed to him as he was leaving his dorm room. He discovers that the letter is from his cousin Austin, Uncle Aaron’s son, who is in prison. Miles is uncertain how to feel; he feels guilty for his part in Austin’s father’s death, but he’s also curious about this cousin he didn’t know existed. He’s pulled from his thoughts by Ganke entering the store on his way to the open mic event. Miles shows his friend the letter, and Ganke asks if he is going to tell his father. Miles is uncertain and changes the subject. He reminds Ganke about apologizing to Alicia for him and sends him off.

Once alone, Miles begins to work on his sijo about love for Ms. Blaufuss’s class. All of the guilt and pressure he feels from his family makes it impossible for Miles to properly express himself. Miles becomes frustrated with his inability to put his words to paper and distracted by the other students walking outside. He decides to go to the open mic despite the fact that it would mean leaving the store unattended; he wants to get extra credit, speak to Alicia, and leave. He uses one of the abilities he gained from his spider bite, camo-mode, and unplugs the store camera. He grabs his things and leaves the store, with a sijo he’d written about Alicia.

Once he gets to the open mic event, Miles runs into Mr. Chamberlain and Ms. Blaufuss. Mr. Chamberlain questions Miles, wondering why he isn’t at his job, before leaving. Unsettled, Miles turns to listen to Alicia read her poems. Alicia’s great-grandmother was “Harlem royalty” who worked alongside famous Black Harlem Renaissance poets like Langston Hughes and Jacob Lawrence (85). After reading, Alicia introduces the next poet. She runs to Miles, excited that he was able to attend the event. She sees the poem in Miles’s hands, the one meant for her, and assumes he brought a poem to read on stage. Excited, Alicia runs back to the stage and introduces the next poet: Miles Morales. Terrified, Miles enters camo-mode and leaves the event; he looks at Alicia on the stage and retreats.

Miles goes back to the store feeling embarrassed and angry with himself. When he returns, he fixes the store camera and pulls out the letter his cousin sent him. He rereads the letter and allows his guilt to get the better of him; he drafts a letter of his own. Miles introduces himself and tells Austin that he’ll try to visit one day.

Later, Miles wakes up from a nightmare in his bed. He dreamt of a white cat with multiple tails, but can’t seem to remember the rest of the dream. Miles gets out of bed and heads to the Campus Convenience store where he plans to buy an envelope and stamp for his letter to his cousin. When he arrives, he notices the campus police are there interrogating the student working at the store, Winnie. Miles hears Winnie explain that when she’d done her inventory count that morning, she noticed that all of the cans of sausage were missing. Winnie notices Miles and tells the officers that he might know something since he worked the day before. The officers question Miles, and he tells them that nothing happened on his shift, leaving out that he left the store open and unlocked to go to the open mic event. The officers eventually leave, and Winnie apologizes for getting Miles involved. Miles understands; Winnie is on scholarship, like him, and can’t afford to get in trouble.

Later that day, Miles is pulled out of class and escorted by a campus police officer to the dean’s office. Miles finds his parents there. The dean accuses Miles of stealing the cans of sausage from the store. He has Miles read his scholarship application letter aloud in front of his parents; in the letter, Miles comments about his familial background and how he is trying to break the legacy of violence and theft. The dean accuses Miles of taking after his father, which shocks the entire family. Miles’s parents ask for proof that he stole the sausages, and the dean mentions the gap in the security footage. The dean continues to accuse Miles despite his denial. Miles’s parents ask for a moment alone with Miles, which they are denied. Miles begs them to believe him, but the dean continues to press him; finally, he admits that he left the store for a few minutes to go to the open mic event for extra credit. The dean eventually relents, unable to expel Miles without solid evidence after he’d explained the situation, and tells Miles that he will no longer be able to take part in the work-study program. Miles will lose his housing scholarship, and his parents will have to add it to their list of bills.

After the meeting, Miles apologizes to his parents, but they remain quiet. Miles hugs his mother goodbye and watches as they leave wordlessly. He returns to class feeling overwhelmed and anxious. Ganke asks where Miles has been and tries to catch him up on the classwork he missed. As the bell rings, Miles decides to head to the library instead of lunch; he wants to calm down before he has to go to Mr. Chamberlain’s class.

In the library, Miles talks to Mrs. Tripley, the eccentric librarian that all of the students are fond of. Miles asks her to hide him until lunch is over, so he can avoid the questioning of his peers. The two talk about superstitions, and Miles asks about white cats and spiders. Mrs. Tripley doesn’t know anything about white cats, but claims spiders are able to connect the past and future through their webs. By the time they finish talking, Miles has to run to Mr. Chamberlain’s class to be on time.

Miles’s spidey-sense immediately begins to act up as the class starts. He brushes it off as anxiety, and silently wonders if he can somehow manage to get his work-study job back. Mr. Chamberlain begins discussing the Civil War and slavery again, claiming that the South truly won because of the establishment of the prison system. He continues to make comments that make Miles and the other students uncomfortable, such as advocating for the “benefits” of slavery, and making a comparison with dogs and leashes.

Miles, shocked and outraged, notices a tattoo on Mr. Chamberlain’s left wrist: an outline of a cat with several tails. Enraged, Miles slams a fist against his desk, accidentally breaking it in half. Miles immediately apologizes, but Mr. Chamberlain becomes extremely angry. He claims Miles needs to put a “muzzle” on his anger. Before Miles can retaliate, the bell rings, signaling the end of the school day. Miles leaves the classroom, both angry with himself for doing something that could get him expelled and at Mr. Chamberlain’s comments. Alicia runs after Miles, telling him that they have to do something about Mr. Chamberlain’s behavior. Overwhelmed, he yells at her, asking what she plans to do besides reading poems to him. Miles tells her that he can’t do anything about it because he could be expelled. Alicia tells him that he’s scared and accepting defeat before storming off.