Shatter Me, #1
Shatter Me
by Tahereh Mafi
Contents
THIRTY-SIX
Overview
Adam’s fear for James comes to the surface as he admits how much trauma James has endured and how desperately Adam has tried to shield him. With no safe alternative, Juliette persuades Adam to consider Kenji’s mysterious refuge despite Adam’s distrust.
The group packs to abandon Adam and James’s underground home, deepening Adam’s sense of loss. Kenji’s humor and flirtation create tension, but his usefulness keeps him in the group just as James returns home.
Summary
Kenji retreats to the bathroom bleeding and cursing after his injuries, while Adam pulls Juliette into James’s bedroom. Adam finally speaks openly about his father and admits James does not know the truth. Adam explains that Adam invented stories to protect James and preserve some sense of normal life, but James still wakes screaming, cries himself to sleep, and has seen many dead people.
Adam’s composure breaks as he confesses that he does not know how to protect James anymore. Juliette, unable to offer certainty, suggests that Kenji’s plan may be their only option. Adam doubts Kenji and jokes darkly that Adam might kill him before they arrive, but Juliette points out that there is nowhere else to hide, and Adam reluctantly agrees they must try.
Kenji interrupts from outside the door with crude teasing and a warning that they need to prepare to leave. Juliette reassures Adam by kissing him and telling him she loves him. Adam receives this tenderly, and the moment steadies them before the urgency of escape returns.
Before James comes home from school, Juliette, Adam, and Kenji pack basic necessities, including food, clothing, and Adam’s saved money. Adam keeps looking around the apartment, grieving the loss of the home he worked hard to build for James. Kenji, despite bruises and a recent gunshot wound, remains energetic and irreverent.
Kenji repeatedly questions Juliette about why Adam can touch her, flirts with Juliette, and provokes Adam. Juliette refuses Kenji’s advances and keeps a gun ready, while Adam openly tells Kenji that Adam does not trust him. Adam says Kenji is still there because Adam trusts Juliette, and Kenji jokes through the tension until Adam nearly loses patience.
The argument pauses when the door unlocks. James arrives home, forcing the group to face the next immediate step in their flight.
Who Appears
- JulietteNarrator; comforts Adam, supports Kenji’s plan, rejects Kenji’s flirting, and stays armed.
- Adam KentJames’s protective brother; admits fear and trauma, distrusts Kenji, and prepares to abandon home.
- KenjiWounded ally; offers a refuge, jokes through pain, flirts with Juliette, and irritates Adam.
- JamesAdam’s younger brother; absent most of the chapter but central to Adam’s fear, then returns home.