Dear Justyce

The snapshot that opens Part 2 is a two-line postscript that comes at the end of the letter Quan writes to Justyce at the end of Part 1. The postscript makes it clear that Quan has no intention of revealing who shot Officer Castillo.

The perspective of the story shifts to present-day Justyce McAllister. On the heels of receiving Quan’s last letter, Justyce, his girlfriend SJ, and his friend Jared head home to Atlanta from college. On the drive, Justyce listens as SJ and Jared squabble, and he thinks back to his childhood friendship with Quan. Justyce reveals to SJ and Jared that “Quan didn’t do it” (176), and the three prelaw students agree that they have to do something to help Quan. As students “at two of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world” (178), they feel a responsibility to use their education to help free an innocent young man.

Quan worries when three weeks pass and he still hasn’t heard back from Justyce. He’s “been having nightmares again, this time about his own arrest” (182). Quan thinks about how he is sitting in prison for a crime he did not commit and how he held his tongue all this time because he didn’t want to cause more trouble for Martel and his guys.