Chapter 2: In Search of Home

·         "To Wes, Tony was a 'certified gangsta.'  Tony had started dealing drugs in those shadowy hallways of Murphy Homes before he was ten." (Page 27)

This quote reveals that drug influence was prominent even among young people such as Tony.  It also reveals the corruption of Wes’ neighborhood and life.

      ·         "The Uplands became home to a thriving middle class, while over 1,700 units in Cherry Hill became a breeding ground for poverty, drugs, and despair." (Pages 28-29)

This quote shows how the drugs in Cherry Hill made it an area of misery compared with the richer and more affluent Uplands.

      ·         "She stumbled to the boy, with her right hand tightly gripping a wad of money.  The boy, no older than sixteen, darted his head back and forth, apparently looking for cops, customers, or both.  As she approached him and they started talking, the light turned green and my mother quickly hit the gas." (Page 38)

This quote shows that Wes' mother tried to shelter her children from the changing Bronx, which was slowly becoming corrupted by drug dealing.

      ·         "Fear and apathy had become the new norm in what had once been a close-knit community.  They also talked about something I'd never heard of before.  Crack." (Page 40)

This passage reveals that although crack dealing was a new commodity in the Bronx, it still instilled fear and danger among its citizens and remained very popular.

      ·         "I didn't know that drug fiends were we're still making use of those abandoned buildings for activities that would've blown my mind, or that the swollen hands on the man leaning against a telephone pole by himself – eyes flickering, head nodding – were telltale signs of needle injections." (Page 43)

This quote shows the innocence of Wes despite the corruption and drug dealing that took place in his neighborhood.  It also emphasizes the drug changes that took place in the Bronx when Wes grew up there.