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“Get up to your damn room,” came my mother’s command from the doorway. “I told you, don’t you ever put your hands on a woman!”(Moore 5) At three years old, Wes playfully hit his sister, which upset his mother. His father calmly explained to him the importance of never hitting a woman. Later, Wes's father died suddenly from a misdiagnosed illness, leaving Wes with only a few memories of him.

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"Then he would spend the rest of the week recovering from a monster hangover"(Moore 22) Wes's mother, Mary, had to drop out of college when her financial aid was cut. At six years old, Wes felt responsible and offered to help. He met his father for the first time when he was drunk on a couch, and his mother explained that this was his dad.

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At eight years old, Wes lives in a better neighborhood, but after getting punched during a football game, he retrieves a knife to retaliate, leading to his arrest. "As football became more important in Wes's life, his performance in school declined"(Moore 29)

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Following his father's death, the author's mother moves the family to the Bronx seeking safety, but they find the neighborhood plagued by drugs and violence, prompting his grandparents to enforce strict rules to protect him. "when we broke off the interstate and started navigating the burned-out landscape of the Bronx, we could feel her energy shifting. Things had clearly changed."(Moore 38)

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Wes feels torn between his private school life and his neighborhood friends, leading to poor grades and his mother's threat to send him to military school. "My mother couldn't send me away. She needed a man in the house to look after Shani and Nikki"(Moore 55).

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Wes starts working as a lookout for drug dealers, justifying it as not actually selling drugs, and becomes more involved in risky behaviors. "But Wes rationalized. I am not actually selling drugs. All I'm doing is talking into a headset."(Moore 58)

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Wes's involvement in drug dealing is exposed when his brother Tony confronts him and his mother flushes his stash, but despite these warnings, Wes continues down the same path. "Who is to blame for this? Tony, the neighborhood, the school system, Wes's friends?"(Moore 74)

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Wes gets caught by police for spray-painting graffiti with his friend Shea; although he is scared and promises to stop, he resumes tagging shortly after. "everybody in the hood had their own nickname and tag, some more elaborate than others."(Moore 80)

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After repeated misbehavior, Wes's mother sends him to military school, where he initially resists but eventually begins to understand the value of discipline and responsibility. "Welcome to military school"(Moore 89)

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Wes becomes a father at a young age and, after a violent altercation over a girl, retaliates by shooting someone, leading to his arrest and deepening his involvement in crime. "He still had the gun in his hand and knew he wouldn't be alone for long."(Moore 106)

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After serving time for shooting Ray, Wes returns home, drops out of school, and becomes deeply involved in drug dealing, eventually getting arrested again when he sells to an undercover cop. "Wes continued to plead his case as the police read him his rights"(Moore 114)

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Now a disciplined leader at military school, Wes excels academically and athletically, but a racially charged attack during a trip into town reminds him of the dangers outside his structured environment. "If I was successful, who knew how the fight would've ended? If I failed, who knew how the fight would've ended?"(Moore 121)

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While completing paratrooper training, Wes reflects on his journey from troubled youth to disciplined military leader, inspired by mentors and Colin Powell's autobiography. "His book My American Journey, helped me harmonize my understanding of America's history and my aspiration to serve her in uniform."(Moore 131)

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Disheartened by the impact of drugs on his community and family, Wes joins Job Corps, earns his GED, and trains in carpentry, but financial pressures eventually lead him back to drug dealing. "they'd simply returned to Baltimore, waiting for him to come back. IN his absence, they'd compounded."(Moore 145)

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Wes and his brother Tony are arrested for their involvement in a jewelry store robbery, leading to Wes being convicted of felony murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. "Crime in Baltimore and its suburbs had spiraled out of control, particularly in the city proper"(Moore 148). "The crime-ridden neighborhood was where Tony and Wes had escaped just days after the murder"(Moore 153).

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Wes reflects on his transformative experiences, including earning a Rhodes Scholarship, studying in South Africa where he learns about Ubuntu a concept of shared humanity and recognizes how the support from his community and mentors guided him toward a life of service and leadership. "In both places, young men go through a daily struggle trying to navigate their way through deadly streets, poverty, and the twin legacies of exclusion and low expectations"(Moore 170).