After James Stepfather; Hunter Jordan, had died from a stroke, Ruth and James deal with their grief over Hunter Jordan’s death in different ways. Because of Hunter’s death, Ruth deals with her grief by playing piano and riding her bicycle, as quoted in the book, “When I was fourteen, my mother took up two new hobbies: riding a bicycle and playing piano.”(McBride 5). James though that the bicycle symbolized Ruth’s quirkiness and his own embarrassment. Meanwhile, James dealt with his grief by failing his classes, turned to drugs and crime, as it says in the book, “ I virtually dropped out of high school, failed every class...I shoplifted..I even robbed a petty drug dealer once.”(McBride 6). James deals with his grief by rebelling just as a normal