Inflection point:  Dad dies

Quote: “I looked back up to my father and saw him gasping for air, holding his throat… I stared at him, looking but doing nothing” (Moore 13).

"Other" Wes

Inflection point: Dad abandons him and his family before he ever meets him.

Quote: “He had never met his father, at least not that he remembered" (Moore 16).

Inflection point: his mother chooses to move to the bronx

Quote: “my mother had  been determined to stick it out in the home she’d bought with her husband. Until now. ‘Mom if it’s still all right, I think we need to move up there. I can’t do it anymore’” (Moore 37).

"Other" Wes

Inflection point: wes gets in trouble for having a knife 

Quote; “The police officer yelled at Wes: ‘Put down the knife.’ Wes didn’t hear him. Wes continued to move toward the boy. His grip on the knife handle tightened” (Moore 34).

Inflection point: Starts struggling in school and skipping classes, causing his mom to consider sending him to military school

Quote: “After a moment I broke the awkward silence by telling him my mother had begun to threaten me with military school if I didn’t get my grades and discipline together” (Moore 54).

"Other" Wes

Inflection point: Wes gets involved in the drug business as a lookout for cops. 

Quote: “After hearing more details, Wes was sold. It seemed like a sweet setup. Simply wear a headset, hang out with new friends, notify people when you see police coming, and get paid at the end of the day. He knew what game this was, the same game that had consumed Tony and put a bullet or two in him. The same game Tony continually urged Wes to stay out of” (Moore 58).

Inflection point: Almost gets arrested for graffiting but gets a warning instead.

Quote: “My uncertainty about what to expect ended when the officer reached above my head and began to pull my left arm behind my back. Now i understood where this was going. I was being arrested” (Moore 81).

"Other" Wes

Inflection point: Becomes a drug dealer himself. And dosen’t even care when his mom finds his drugs because all he's worried about is making the money back

Quote: “Wes was stunned. He went back to his room and desperately tried to devise a plan. 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” (Moore 74).

Inflection point: Wes is sent to military school

Quote: “‘Get up, get up, get out of your racks, plebes!’ It was 5:30 in the morning. My room was pitch-dark, and the sound of half  a dozen teenagers screaming at the top of their lungs startled me out of the light sleep I'd just drifted into" (Moore 85).

"Other" Wes

Inflection point: Wes is arrested for shooting someone and spends 6 months in a  juvenile detention center

Quote: “Wes could only see red. He was blind with rage. Instincts kicked in. Tony’s words rang through his mind.  Send a message. ‘What are you gonna do with that?’ the girl demanded and tried to block Wes’s path. ‘Shut up and get out of my way,’ Wes commanded” (Moore 104).

Inflection point: Begins to thrive in his new life at military school

Quote: “I was now a platoon sergeant, a cadet master sergeant, and the youngest senior noncommissioned officer in the entire corps. Three years ago I’d been one of the insubordinate kids first entering the gates of Valley forge. In an ironic turn, I was now one of the ones in charge of them” (Moore 115).

"Other" Wes

Inflection point: Gets arrested after getting busted for dealing drugs

Quote: “Guns in hand and silver badges swinging from metal chains around their necks, the men pointed their weapons at wes and ordered him to the ground… in total, ten police officers moved towards Wes” (Moore 114).

Inflection point: Wes completes his training and broadens his world view

Quote: “I looked down at the trees waving in the distance, and the gorgeous brown alabama soil that seemed to be rising to meet me. My equipment was functional, my training was sound , my faith confirmed. I cut through the sky, the wind whipping against my face as I kept my eyes high staring intently at the horizon” (Moore 136-137).

"Other" Wes

Inflection point: Gets a tattoo symbolizing his disconnection with god.

Quote: Wes looked down at his forearm, at the newest addition to the gallery of images inked on his body. A few weeks back, Wes and three of his friends had gone to a tattoo parlor in Baltimore and all gotten the same design permanently inked on their bodies: a black devil’s head with horns and sinister eyes” (Moore 139).

Inflection point: Gets accepted to John Hopkins University with a scholarship, opening the door to a bright future. 

Quote: Quote: “I knew that the landing admission at Hopkins would be a stretch at best. SO after filming out the application. I put it out of my mind. But months later, I got the large package in the mail. Not only was I accepted but I would receive scholarship money” (Moore 160).

"Other" Wes

Inflection point: Wes sentenced to life in prison

Quote: “On the charge of first- degree felony murder, the jury finds the defendant guilty. Wes stood quietly, his face set, as the foreman read out ten other charges, all with the same verdict” (Moore 156).