The best played at the center, and D’Andre had plans to be better than all of them.
-- Narrator (Chapter 1)

Importance: This quote speaks to D’Andre’s aspirations. This motivated boy was killed as an indirect result of the drug industry.

A basketball rested motionless in the gutter near a white sheet draped over a body.
-- Narrator (Chapter 3)

Importance: The image of D’Andre’s prized basketball in the gutter illustrates the loss of this young man’s talent. It is an image of hopelessness and senseless grief.

It made her think again of her desire to have a child, and she wondered if, maybe, not getting pregnant was a blessing, instead of a curse.
-- Narrator (Chapter 3)

Importance: Tracy is well versed in the senseless ways children can be killed as well as the grief and heartache these deaths cause for their parents. Her own sister was kidnapped and murdered, a situation that makes D’Andre’s death...