Your House Will Pay

Shawn Matthews is a 41-year-old Black man, an ex-convict who has rehabilitated his life after prison. He lives in Palmdale with his girlfriend Jazz and her daughter Monique, and works for a moving company based out of Northridge. It is a stable life that is less eventful than his youth in South Los Angeles, but he is content and proud of himself for building this life after everything he went through. Shawn and his sister Ava lost their parents when they were young and lived with their Uncle Richard and Aunt Sheila through their teen years before Ava was killed. Before Ava died, she was the most important person in his world.

After witnessing Jung-Ja Han murder his older sister, Shawn joined the Baring Cross Crips and ended up in prison. He grew up full of anger but when he got out of prison, he received support from his Aunt Sheila and Nisha Holloway, his cousin Ray’s wife. Because Ray was still in prison and Uncle Richard had passed, Shawn became a father figure to his cousin’s children and a brother to Nisha, which helped anchor him to the world and control his anger. At the start of the novel, Shawn has found inner peace and is a good role model for his cousin’s children, Darryl and Dasha.

This inner peace is tested when Ray is released from prison and then shattered when Ray is arrested for shooting Jung-Ja Han. Ray’s nostalgia for their time with Baring Cross makes Shawn worry that Ray will not find his own peace, and the return of Jung-Ja Han brings back the trauma of Ava’s death that sent him spiraling into anger in the first place. When Shawn discovers that Darryl is the one who shot Yvonne, he is able to put aside his anger for Darryl’s sake and the hope that he can end the cycle of violence in his family.

Unlike younger sister Grace, Miriam Park rebelled against her parents’ wishes. Instead of pursuing a pharmacy degree, she majored in English and wanted to be a writer. Instead of dating successful Korean men, she dated a Black man and is currently dating an older white man named Blake, a fellow writer. Though she hasn’t completely rejected her culture—demonstrated by the fact that she still buys kimchi from the local Korean grocery store—Miriam seems to be separate from the Korean community. The only thing she knows how to cook is spaghetti.

Grace and Miriam grew up close friends. They shared a bedroom and kept no secrets from each other. Grace envied Miriam because she believed her to be the more beautiful, confident sister, but otherwise, they got along. When Miriam discovered the truth about their mother, she did not visit Granada Hills for two years. At the start of the novel, Miriam and Grace seem to be entirely different people. Miriam has kept Yvonne’s secret from Grace, and seems to look down on her sister as provincial and unworldly, stuck in the Valley and the ignorance it represents.

Everything Grace experiences over the course of the novel, Miriam has already gone through. Further along the path toward acceptance, Miriam can reconcile with her mother even when Grace cannot. She mentors Grace through her inner conflict even as she herself deals with the guilt of having informed the Holloways of their mother’s location, making the murder possible.

When Ava Matthews was murdered, her cousin Ray Holloway was already well on his way to making poor decisions as a young adult, misusing drugs and shirking his familial obligations. His absence one morning is what leads to Ava being killed and while the novel never investigates Ray’s guilt, Ava’s death has a significant impact on him. Like Shawn, Ray has Ava’s name tattooed on his arm.

At the start of the novel, Ray is released from prison. He is a 44-year-old man, and has experienced a revelation while doing time. While Shawn has adapted to family life, Ray served 10 years and has work to do to become comfortable with his family and working a regular job. His children are excited to see him, but they do not know each other; Darryl and Dasha never visited him in prison. So, Ray resorts to talking about his glory days to impress his son, which imparts the wrong impression on the impressionable Darryl. At the same time, Ray resents the fact that Shawn has been able to spend so much time with his family while he was gone. These factors lead to Ray losing his faith and avoiding home. He cheats on his wife Nisha, and his negligence in buying a gun leads to Darryl finding it in his car. Before Ray gets a chance to adapt, it is too late. He is arrested again, for the sake of protecting his son, leaving him with no choice but to put his family in Shawn’s hands.

Yvonne Park, previously known as Jung-Ja Han, is partly based on the real-life Soon Ja Du. Like Soon Ja Du, Jung-Ja Han shoots an unarmed Black teenager while watching the family liquor store and gets away with only 5 years of probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $500 fine. By using the same sentence, Cha does not disguise the character’s inspiration.

At the start of the novel, Yvonne Park is a 54-year-old, first-generation Korean American mother of two daughters. She is small, quiet, and has no life of her own besides working at the family pharmacy, serving her husband Paul, and taking care of her daughter Grace. She is a good mother and a hard worker, which convinces Grace that she is a good person worthy of obedience and protection. Grace avoids challenging her mother on difficult topics, including the recent news of Alfonso Curiel’s murder and racial injustice. Yvonne’s discomfort with the topic is later revealed to be related to her personal history.

When Yvonne’s past is revealed and she is challenged by Grace’s accusations, Yvonne shows no remorse for her role in Ava’s death. It is revealed that she never even bothered to learn Ava’s name. She only regrets the consequences of her actions; she considers herself to be a victim of circumstances, and she does not think she deserves to be further punished by her daughters for something that was only “self-defense.” While working in South Los Angeles, Yvonne harbored anti-Black sentiments and never sheds these opinions.

Just as Jung-Ja Han is a thinly veiled stand-in for Soon Ja Du, Ava Matthews clearly stands in for the real Latasha Harlins. Though for different reasons, Harlins also lost her parents when she was a child. Both Harlins and Ava Matthews attended Westchester High School, and both of their lives and names take on a symbolic meaning during the 1992 Los Angeles uprising. In Your House Will Pay, Cha examines the tension between the real Ava Matthews and the symbol she becomes. Ava as a symbol is a perfect, innocent child who did nothing wrong and had infinite potential in life.

The real Ava Matthews was a more complicated person. She committed crimes and might not have finished high school despite her talent for music. She was not perfect, but she undeniably did not deserve to die. Shawn rejects the symbolic version of Ava for his memories of the real one. He loved her, flaws and all, and she took care of him, even when she was teasing him. Shawn believes Ava’s death was a “broken promise” of what would have been a lifelong friendship (122).

Darryl Holloway is Ray’s 16-year-old son. He grew up learning the legacy of Ava Matthews and has internalized the idea that his family are the victims of injustice. He extends this outrage to his father Ray, who served 10 years in prison despite only robbing a bank with a water gun. However, Darryl grows up in Palmdale with little direct experience with loss. He is a gentle soul, but has also inherited his family’s anger. He begins skipping school and dealing drugs for the Baring Cross Crips, and is seduced by Quant’s portrayal of gang life as Black men sticking together in an unjust world. This misplaced anger leads him to shoot Yvonne.

Over the course of the novel, Darryl struggles with the guilt of shooting someone and letting his father take the blame. Shawn convinces him to search for forgiveness not in confession, but dedication to his family and making smarter choices in the future.

Sheila Holloway is inspired by Latasha Harlins’s aunt Denise Harlins, who became an activist after her niece’s death. Ava’s Aunt Sheila also becomes an activist, speaking at protests not only in Ava’s memory but also Alfonso Curiel’s. She organizes the large protest after Ray’s indictment which concludes the novel. As Shawn observes, she has the unique ability to take her suffering, and the suffering of those around her, and turn it into kindness. Her forgiveness of Jung-Ja Han is what softens Grace’s anger. At the same time, Sheila struggles to notice when the people in her family are at risk of becoming lost themselves. She does not believe her children are involved in gangs, and refuses to believe anyone in her family shot Yvonne.

Paul Park is Grace and Miriam’s father and Yvonne’s husband. He is a 65-year-old Korean American man who owns Woori Pharmacy (with Uncle Joseph) and adheres to traditional Korean values regarding family and gender. He does not cook or clean, only coming to dinner in time to say grace. Unlike Yvonne, Paul was able to peacefully run the family convenience store in South Los Angeles. But after Ava’s murder, Paul does everything he can to protect his wife. He puts family first, and the reader never knows Paul’s true feelings regarding his wife’s crime. The reader only knows that he has always stood by her, even against his own daughters. In fact, his relationship with his daughters is always mediated by Yvonne. After the events of 1991-1992, Paul does not trust the police, and does not cooperate with them after Yvonne is shot—leading to Grace finding the security footage of Darryl.

Jasmine and Monique, also known as Jazz and Momo, make up Shawn’s family in Palmdale. Jazz was once Aunt Sheila’s nurse, and Sheila set her up with her nephew, Shawn. They hit it off, and they have a relationship clearly based on mutual trust. Shawn is a patient, loving father to Monique, and both give him a reason to manage his anger. Jazz gives Shawn valuable advice during the events of the novel.

Laneisha Holloway, or Nisha, is Ray’s wife and the mother of his children. After Ray goes to prison, Nisha stays with Aunt Sheila as part of the family, moving to Palmdale. She is a loyal wife, who waited 10 years while Ray was in prison and again stands by his side when he ends up in legal trouble. Shawn sees her as a sister, a source of support. Dasha is Nisha and Ray’s daughter, and Darryl’s sister. She is a smart girl who seems wiser than her years. She’s read Jules Searcey’s book on Ava Matthews, and helps Sheila organize the protest for her father.

Jules Searcey is a newspaper reporter who wrote the official biography of Ava Matthews. He is a white man who writes op-eds for major publications, and is currently working on a new book about white supremacy and racial violence in California. Grace sees him as another opportunistic reporter in her life, and Shawn sees him as someone who has profited from his sister’s memory. He calls Searcey “the gentle face of power” (71).

Neil Maxwell is an LAPD homicide detective looking into Yvonne’s shooting. He is a big, gruff white man in his forties. Shawn identifies him as more calculating than the cops he usually runs into in Palmdale. Maxwell tries to emotionally manipulate everyone he interrogates by pretending he is on their side.

Duncan Green is the green-eyed, light-skinned, sweet-talking best friend of Ray Holloway. He made Shawn envious and uncomfortable growing up, teasing him when he was a child. He was also smart, giving up gang life early and going to college. Duncan now owns a bar in the Antelope Valley (called Duncan’s). He is a big gossip, and serves as a source of information for Shawn.

Contrary to his nickname, Uncle Joseph works at Woori Pharmacy, but is not a blood relative of the Parks. When the Hans first moved to the Valley, Joseph gave Paul a job and eventually let him buy into the business. In turn, the Parks supported Joseph when he had a scandalous affair. Grace was close to his daughter before they grew apart. Joseph is heavily involved in the church and represents the Korean Christian community when he gives Grace advice about the nature of forgiveness.

Blake is Miriam’s live-in boyfriend. He is a tall, blond, white man with blue eyes. He is 15 years older than Miriam, dresses young, and has a successful career as a screenwriter. Grace finds him condescending and performative when it comes to his activist persona online.