Ace of Spades

Chiamaka Adebayo is the other protagonist of Ace of Spades. Like Devon, she is 17, Black, and in her senior year at Niveus Academy, but it initially seems that that is where the similarities between herself and Devon end. Unlike Devon’s family, Chiamaka’s family is rich, and she lives in a nice part of town. Her mother is from Nigeria and her father is from Italy; she is an only child. Chiamaka has spent most of her time in high school working to become the most popular and accomplished girl in her grade. Many of the other girls at school envy her or are in awe of her. She has high grades, wears designer clothing, and wants to attend Yale and become a doctor.

Virtually all of Chiamaka’s relationships at Niveus are purely transactional. She does not actually like her friends, but she spends time with them to maintain her social status. She has dated several boys but has not had strong feelings for any of them. One of her boyfriends, Scotty, agreed to pretend to date her so that both of them could climb the social ladder. Chiamaka does have feelings for Jamie, her best friend, but she later realizes that he harbors racist views toward Black people and has profoundly betrayed her. Her strongest romantic feelings are for Belle, with whom she starts a romantic relationship part of the way through the book. By the end of the story, she does not think that “any guy [she’s] ever set [her] eyes on even came close to comparing to how [she] saw Belle” (381). Unfortunately, Belle also betrays Chiamaka, just like Jamie and so many other people.

Like Devon, Chiamaka is a profoundly lonely character. She appears to have everything, but most of what she has is illusory. Even wealth does not afford her as much influence as it does for the white students, for their wealth is further supplemented with higher social status and connections. Also like Devon, Chiamaka learns The Importance of Solidarity over the course of the book. She realizes that Anti-Black Racism does profoundly impact her, as much as she wishes that it would not. By recognizing how the system works against her and dismantling some of her preconceptions about class and privilege, Chiamaka is ultimately able to create a better future for herself, for Devon, and for other Black students.

Because she comes from a wealthy family, Chiamaka has never thought much about poverty and class. For example, she initially looks down on Devon and Terrell, often insulting their clothes and their houses. The Intersections of Identity between the characters mean that although Chiamaka does experience racism and misogyny, she also benefits from and perpetuates classism. Part of her character development in Ace of Spades is about becoming more understanding and less judgmental of others’ economic circumstances through her friendship with Devon and Terrell.

Jamie Fitzjohn is a senior at Niveus. Like most of the student body, he is white and comes from a very rich family. He has always known that his future will be guaranteed to include entry to any Ivy League college and a lucrative position at his father’s company; given his many privileges, he anticipates never having to work for a living. Jamie is diabetic, and he constantly worries about being a disappointment in his father’s eyes. Jamie and Chiamaka have been best friends for several years, or so she believes. In fact, Jamie is profoundly manipulative and racist, and he has been setting Chiamaka up to fail for a long time.

Before the events of the novel begin, Jamie is even willing to stage a hit-and-run car crash and traumatize Chiamaka to further the goals of Aces. Some characters in the book, including Belle and Jack, express some degree of remorse for their actions, but Jamie never does. To the very end, he tries to tear Chiamaka down, telling her that he never liked her and only slept with her “to try it” (381). Although Ace of Spades has many antagonists, Jamie is among the most unrelentingly cruel and virulently racist characters in the novel. He is a static character in that his own motivations and attitudes do not change, but the narrative reveals the true nature of his inner beliefs very gradually, heightening the suspense surrounding the final reveal.

Belle Robinson is a student at Niveus. Her role in the narrative shifts dramatically several times. Initially, she is Jamie’s new girlfriend and Chiamaka’s primary romantic rival. Once she and Jamie break up, she immediately tries to befriend Chiamaka, and the shift in her feelings makes Chiamaka suspicious. Soon, the two girls start a romantic relationship with each other that falls apart when Chiamaka learns that Belle is complicit in the Aces plot. In fact, Belle is instrumental to the success of the Aces plot, for her sister was the fake victim in Jamie’s hit-and-run car crash that occurred before the events of the novel begin. Belle goes along with the Aces plot without truly considering the real impact that her complicity will have on Chiamaka and Devon’s lives and futures. Even when she finally admits her involvement to Chiamaka, she has the audacity to feel hurt when Chiamaka sees no reason to forgive her.

Ultimately, Belle’s motivations are open to interpretation, for Àbíké-Íyímídé does not fully clarify whether she truly regrets her complicity or is merely lying to Chiamaka once again, even in the midst of her own confession. When Chiamaka confronts her, Belle claims that she “didn’t have a choice” because Aces has “been a family tradition for decades” (313). She rationalizes supporting the Aces plot because she does not think it will cause genuine harm and because the same thing happens all across America. She claims that once she got to know Chiamaka, she regretted her actions; however, it is telling that she makes no effort to change the status quo. Belle is therefore an important part of the book’s depiction of Anti-Black Racism. She might feel guilty about her own racist actions, but simply feeling guilty without taking steps to remedy the situation does not create positive material change. It is only through anti-racist behavior that white people can help dismantle the system of racism. Belle is therefore fully complicit in the Aces system, just like all of the white people in the book.

Terrell Rosario is a teenager who is about the same age as Devon and Chiamaka. Like Devon, Terrell is Black and comes from the poorer part of town. He does not attend Niveus. In theory, he attends a local public high school, but he is often absent from class. Terrell and Devon once attended the same middle school and shared their first kiss during that time, but their paths diverged soon afterward, as they were caught kissing and cruelly beaten. Terrell would like to attend college, but because he knows that ​​“the world isn’t ideal” (172), he does not expect much from his future. While Devon is deeply closeted about his sexuality, Terrell is more open about his own, a fact that Devon envies.

Terrell is a love interest for Devon and also serves as a foil. The two have similar backgrounds, but Devon has received educational opportunities that are not open to Terrell. Of course, Devon later learns that his Niveus scholarship is part of a hate campaign, but his initial trajectory toward Juilliard is still positioned in profound contrast to Terrell’s. Devon is used to students at Niveus talking about their lofty plans for college, while Terrell just says that he is “probably gonna try to find a job” (149). Initially, Terrell and Devon seem to be on very different life trajectories. By the novel’s conclusion, however, they have both built a life that they are happy with because they have been able to work together and rely on each other.

Andre Johnson, or Dre, is Devon’s boyfriend at the beginning of the book. He is 18, one year older than Devon. The two have been friends since they were 11 and 12 years old. Their relationship is a secret from everyone. Andre deals drugs, sometimes giving Devon minor jobs so that he can earn some extra money for his mother. He usually grows out his beard because he “wants to be taken seriously” (201), but Devon knows that in reality, Andre is still very young and often uncertain. Devon is aware on some level that he and Andre are headed in different directions, but he does not want to give up on the love between them until he has to. When they finally break up and Andre instructs his friends to beat him, Devon merely thinks to himself that “this was bound to happen someday” (127).

Like Terrell, Andre represents a different potential future for Devon. Unlike Terrell, however, Andre does not get a happy ending in Ace of Spades. Instead, he gets arrested for drug possession. In many countries, the carceral system unfairly targets people of color. The United States has the largest incarcerated population and one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world (“Prison Population Total.” World Prison Brief). Black Americans are incarcerated at disproportionate rates: while Black people make up around 13% of the general population, they make up 38% of the incarcerated population (“Race and Ethnicity - Key Statistics.” Prison Policy Initiative, 2022). Black men in particular are at a very high risk of being incarcerated, often for non-violent offenses. Andre, like Devon, sells drugs as a way to survive in a poor neighborhood with few options. Without access to wealth or a good education, Andre’s future prospects have become very narrow.

Chiamaka is an only child; her mother is Nigerian and her father is Italian. Her family is extremely wealthy but has no powerful social or political connections in America. This relative lack of social power puts Chiamaka at a disadvantage compared to some of the other students at Niveus, like Jamie. Chiamaka’s parents love her, but she is not particularly close with either of them. Her mother wants her to be proud to be Black and therefore encourages her not to straighten her hair. The biggest tension in Chiamaka’s family is her Italian grandmother’s racism. Chiamaka and her mother are no longer invited to visit Italy, and Chiamaka’s father used to “just watch silently as Grandma would mock [Chiamaka] and the way [she] looked” (318-19). Chiamaka never confronts her father about his acceptance of his mother’s racism, but she understands implicitly that her father will choose the comfort and security of whiteness over the difficulty of defending his wife and daughter.

Devon lives with his mother and his younger brothers. His mother has put a great deal of money and energy into supporting his education, so he feels a considerable pressure to succeed despite his dislike of Niveus. Like Chiamaka, he does not feel that he can be fully open about who he is or what he is struggling with. In this case, he does not feel able to come out to his mother because she is religious. Devon’s mother works three jobs, but she still has bills she cannot pay. She wants what is best for her kids, even if that means going through significant personal sacrifice. Contrary to Devon’s expectations, she already knows that he is gay and is fully supportive of him when he comes out. Devon’s relationship with his father is even more tenuous, as he has not seen him since he was 10 years old. His father’s absence is a major source of pain in his life, and that pain gets even worse when Devon learns that unbeknownst to him, his father has been dead for seven years.