37 pages 1 hour read

Alyssa Cole

When No One Is Watching

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020

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Chapters 8-15

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 8 Summary: “Sydney”

Drea meets Sydney at the community garden to tell her that VerenTech received a special dispensation from the city. She notices that Sydney is wearing cut-off shorts, but the latter doesn’t admit she did so for Theo. Theo meets Sydney at the garden in a “Black Lives Matter” shirt, which the latter says is embarrassing—but she appreciates the sentiment nonetheless. The pair walk to the heritage center; as they pass the abandoned hospital, Theo inquires about the neighborhood’s resistance to VerenTech. Sydney explains that when crack was an epidemic in the neighborhood, police were sent to deal with it—but now that white people are struggling with opioid addiction, companies suddenly want to step in and help. She also mentions that the hospital was once an asylum.

Theo learns that Sydney works as an elementary school administrator. She tells him that she’s divorced but refuses to elaborate. They tour the heritage center and learn about laws that kept Black people from passing down property to their children, among other oppressive laws and riots that obliterated the Black population. They agree to meet with historian Kendra Hill. Meanwhile, posts on OurHood reveal that there used to be secret tunnels underneath the now abandoned hospital.