Chapter 4: Marking Territory

Theme 1: Life choices can start at a young age.

Quote 1: “ Tony had now spent over a decade dealing drugs and knew how much money could be made in the game.”

This quote shows that even though Tony is only 18, he has a large knowledge about drugs. Since he was ten he has been in the drug game and was currently even when he was lecturing Wes.  This shows then even though he was just ten years old, he made a hug life decision by selling drugs. Selling drugs for Tony made him bitter and got him in trouble, which is setting him up for a bad future. By making the wrong decisions when young, you can set up your life to be not as bright as you hoped for.

Quote 2: “ In addition to the knife fight when he was younger, Wes had been arrested a few years back for stealing a car.”

This passage describes all of the trouble Wes has gotten into so far. By eight years old when he grabbed the knife, he lost all of his childhood innocence. Since he made poor life decisions when he was younger, it set him up to make bad life choices as a teenager. These life decisions became even larger when Wes decided to get into the drug game as he got older. These life choices of Wes’s at a young age might have determined his future. At a young age, life decisions can be made.

Quote 3: “ They were long away from their days of youthful innocence.”

From this excerpt, we can see how much Tony and Wes have changed since they were children. Their life choices when they were younger affected their futures as teenagers. The boys lost their “ innocence” as soon as they started to make poor life choices. If they hadn’t have gotten into the drug game at such a young age the outcome of their teenage years and future might have been very different. From this passage you can literally see the cause and effects of poor life choices made by Wes and Tony as they are growing up. Your future can sometimes depend on the choices you make when you are young.

Quote 4: Money can make people do irrational things.

“Wes didn’t think Tony was a hypocrite exactly, he knew why his brother felt obligated to warn him off.”

This quote shows hoe money can make people be irrational. Even though Wes knows how dangerous the drug game is, he is willing to risk it in order to get money. Wes sees how Tony has been affected by drugs and is constantly warned about getting into the game but still gets into drugs because of his greed. He also risks his family’s life by keeping drugs in his house, which is very dangerous. Wes was acting very irrationally because of his need for money. This shows how people can make poor and crazy decisions for money.

Quote 5: “He owed money but had no drugs to sell- he had to figure out how to make that money back quickly. The only way to do that was to go see his connects and hit the street again"

This passage shows how desperate Wes is for money. Even though he just got in trouble with his mom, he is not worried about that. Wes is worried about how he will get his money back because of all the lost drugs. Instead of thinking of ways to convince his mom that he did not do anything, he is thinking about his money. This also shows that even though he got beat up by his brother and got in trouble with his mother that he is willing to go back to the streets for money. This connects with the theme by showing how people react to the loss of money. People can make irrational decisions if earning money if a result of those choices.