Protagonist

The protagonist is a teenage boy living in New Jersey. He lives with his mother and makes money illegally selling marijuana. His father, who has left the family, lives with another woman in Florida. The bulk of the story is comprised of the protagonist’s memories of his friendship with Beto. The protagonist and Beto would often be truant from school together and would engage in various illegal activities to entertain themselves. They would shoplift and would swim in the public pool after it closed. The protagonist does not attend college and believes that he has no clear prospects regarding employment following high school.

In the present moment from which the protagonist narrates his recollections, he has not spent time with Beto in two years. The protagonist does not tell his mother why he stopped spending time with Beto. When it became apparent to the protagonist that Beto...