After learning the art of scientific rhetoric for four months, the narrator receives an invitation over the phone to go for a ride from Brother Jack. Expecting to go to the Chthonian, the narrator is disappointed when Brother Jack takes him to the El Toro Bar instead. But the narrator is excited to hear Brother Jack tell him that he has been appointed chief spokesman of the Brotherhood’s Harlem District. Brother Jack takes the narrator to visit his new office, and introduces him to Brother Tarp, an elderly black man who seems genuinely glad to meet the narrator.
The next morning at a Brotherhood meeting, the narrator is introduced to the other members of the Brotherhood as the new spokesman. Meeting Brother Tod Clifton, Harlem’s youth director, the narrator senses that he might be a competitor for his new leadership position. Later, realizing that Brother Clifton is not interested in power or politics, he begins to relax and the two young men discuss their strategies for working with the Harlem community.
Leaving the Brotherhood meeting, Brother Clifton and the narrator are attacked by a group of black men led by Ras the Exhorter. The narrator sees Ras strike Brother Clifton and raise his knife threateningly, then lower it and walk away. As the narrator and Brother Clifton start to leave, Ras accuses Brother Clifton of being a traitor. Furious at this accusation, Brother Clifton turns on Ras and knocks him out. Brother Clifton and the narrator walk away, determined to ignore Ras and rededicate themselves to the Brotherhood.
