Queenie

Queenie’s coworker Leigh and a family friend help her move. She’s moving into a somewhat decrepit house in Brixton, the neighborhood she grew up in. Leigh asks Queenie if she’s going to Fran and James’s party the next day. Queenie says that she hates their parties, and Leigh suggests that she go anyway to distract herself from her break with Tom.

The two strangers she’s moving in with are white, one a posh guy and the other a kind but alcoholic girl. She’s nervous about how they’ll take her “standards of inherited Caribbean cleanliness” (26). Despite the roommate situation, this house is much better than the others she looked at. At one flat, the landlord had told her they could have sex to make the rent cheaper, at another the tenants grilled Queenie about whether she makes “fragrant food” and if she shaves or not because they have a “‘very delicate drainage system that can’t really cope with thick hairs’” (30). When Queenie told them that she needed to find a flat immediately because she and her boyfriend were on a break, they asked her how she met her boyfriend.

Queenie thinks back to the first time she met Tom. She was outside reading when he approached her, saying that he liked the book she was reading, but didn’t like the film adaptation. She responded that she loved the film and refused to shake his hand, saying that she didn’t like to touch strangers. He asked her if Queenie was a nickname and whether she was born in the UK. She was weirded out by these questions and responds, “‘I know that I’m black, but I wasn’t born in ‘nebulous Africa’” (31). He told her that she was funny and complimented her hair. He talked about his job as a web developer and she said that she was unemployed but trying to get an internship at the Daily Read. Tom asked for her number.

After leaving the “delicate drainage” flat, Queenie buys a pack of cigarettes. The tenants reject her the next day.

As Queenie prepares for the party, she wishes she had a reason to bail. She expands her stomach to look pregnant and then scolds herself for it. Fran and James, who appear to be a perfect couple, welcome her to the party and lead her to the only other Black person there. She hopes this is accidental. His name is Sam but his nickname is “Sambo,” which he claims is ironic. He tries to separate himself from Blackness and always pretends he doesn’t remember who Queenie is. This performance makes Queenie want to yell at him, but she knows that she “could be kicked out at any minute if someone starts feeling a little ‘uncomfortable’ in (her) presence” (35). She hates that Sam resembles her stepfather, Roy. Queenie drinks with Darcy, who talks about the break with Tom through a positive lens. Darcy and a couple other people decide to make Queenie an OkCupid profile, despite her saying no. As Fran helps Queenie pose for profile photos, she compliments her curves and lips. James’s colleague, Rich, comes over and tells Queenie that she won’t need an OkCupid profile because he’s there. She likes that Rich is so big that he makes her feel small (a rare occurrence given that she’s a size 14).

Queenie remembers when she was playing Clue with Tom and his family, and his uncle casually said a racial slur. Queenie was shocked and Tom didn’t stand up for her. As Queenie ran away, she knocked into Tom’s mother, Viv, and the special birthday cake she was holding fell. Queenie left for the bus station, where she started to make herself believe that she could’ve handled the situation better. Tom showed up and excused his Uncle’s actions, telling Queenie not to act out at his family functions. Queenie was ready to apologize to Viv and move on, but Tom told her that she was too difficult and should go home; he’d stay with his parents. Queenie said, “‘I hope your next girlfriend is white, Tom. That way she won’t be too f***ing much for you’” (40).

At the party, Queenie escapes Rich and overhears Fran and James, the seemingly perfect couple, fighting. This makes her think of Tom, and she calls him. He texts her, “Clean break, Queenie” (42). She misses him so much that she texts Adi as a distraction, although she’s unsure whether she should have sex so soon after a miscarriage. Adi takes her to a parking lot and bosses her around. She tries to focus on things outside the car, while he uses her body for pleasure. He's offended that she’s not more impressed with what he considers his sexual prowess.

Queenie flashes back to when she and Tom were starting to hang out, and she had a nightmare and punched him in her sleep. She told him that these night terrors were one of her “things.” When they had sex, Queenie told him she was self-conscious about her body. He quelled her anxieties.

In the car, Queenie rejects Adi’s request for a blow job, and he says that “‘black girls are so up yourselves’” (49). They have dispassionate sex. The next day, Queenie and Darcy go into a meeting room to look like they’re working while they gossip. Queenie lies, saying that she used protection and omits the bit about the miscarriage. After work, Queenie sees the messages she received on OkCupid. They all fetishize her for her race and size. As bad as things got with Tom, it must’ve been better than this, she thinks. Queenie goes back to the doctor to make sure that everything has been cleared from her system. She tells herself that Tom should know about her miscarriage and sends him a text asking to talk. He doesn’t respond.

Queenie texts an old friend, Kyazike, to hang out. They became friends because they were two Black girls attending a predominately white secondary school. Kyazike asks Queenie to bring her several snacks and drinks—classic Kyazike behavior. Kyazike lives with her mother, but her mother is almost always working. Kyazike asks Queenie about her own mom, and Queenie skirts the subject, saying that she’s not sure where her mom is living and that she heard something about a court case. As Queenie works on taking the weave out of Kyazike’s hair, Kyazike tells a dramatic story about a guy she thought was rich who took her on a horrible date to a bad Thai restaurant. Queenie, who thinks about how she’d never have the confidence to do the things Kyazike does, is howling with laughter. Queenie is inspired to open her OkCupid account and sees a message from someone who clearly actually read her profile. They set up a date for the following day. Queenie falls asleep holding Tom’s shirt.

On Queenie’s date, the guy tells her that his previous girlfriend was Black. Queenie asks him if his ex was kind. He responds, “‘[S]he was crazy’” (63). Making an excuse to leave, Queenie convinces herself not to text Tom. She creates a chat group with her three best friends, who are little more than acquaintances to once another: Darcy, Kyazike, and Cassandra. She tells them about her horrible date and names the chat group “The Corgis,” telling her friends that she’s like the Queen and they are like her corgis, comforting her.

At work on Monday, Queenie tells Darcy her new goals: to do more work and cover issues that actually matter, spend less time on dating apps, be more present with her family, and stop thinking about men so much. Debriefing Fran’s party, Queenie tells Darcy that her boyfriend, Simon, told her that Darcy is worried about her. Darcy confirms this.

Later in the workday, Queenie’s stomach is hurting, so she goes outside. The next thing she knows, she’s passed out and Tweed Glasses is lifting her up. They joke about the time she stepped on his shoe and exchange emails so that she can tell him once she’s recovered. Queenie emails him at the end of the day to tell him that she’s alright and thank him. He responds, “It’s been a long time since a pretty girl fell for me” (70). She writes back that he’s cheesy, and he responds that he had to take his shot because he’s been crushing on her for a while. She learns that his name is Ted. Queenie doesn’t email him back, trying to stay true to her goals.

A couple days later, Queenie arranges for her friends from The Corgis chat group to watch a fireworks display together after work. Ted emails Queenie asking to have a drink after work; she responds that if she leaves work early, they can have a quick drink before she goes to the firework display. Queenie asks Darcy to cover for her while she’s gone. Darcy warns Queenie about flirting with coworkers and reminds her that her work ethic has been poor for the past month. When she meets Ted for drinks, he flirts heavily with her, while she tries to keep the conversation light.

Queenie meets Cassandra outside the train station. They’ve been friends since college; Cassandra is very thorny, but Queenie likes this about her. Since Queenie can’t borrow money from Tom anymore, she borrows from Cassandra. They meet up with Darcy, who starts to complain to Cassandra about her boyfriend. When Queenie asks Darcy why she never tells her these things, she responds that it seems “‘a bit trivial given what you’re going through’” (79). Cassandra says she doesn’t think Queenie and Tom should get back together, while Darcy argues that they’re still in love. They meet up with Kyazike. Darcy asks for a reminder on how to pronounce her name, which annoys Queenie because she knows that if it were a Western name, Darcy wouldn’t have forgotten. Although Queenie is sad, seeing all her friends together warms her heart.