I don’t drink because I’m not twenty-one and because I don’t feel the need to drink. My classmates talk about getting wasted at so-and-so’s house during their parties on the weekends, but I don’t really pay attention. The risks are too high, OJ tells me. You aren’t like these people, he says, they can do things that you and I can’t do. He never drank and his classmates loved him. He was voted head prefect. He was captain of the soccer team. My teachers still call me by his name.
-- Niru (Part 1, Chapter 1)

Importance: This quote reflects Niru's awareness of the impact on race and white supremacy on him, in contrast to the greater freedom his white classmates enjoy. The quote also shows Niru's struggle to deal with being in the shadow of OJ, who seems to have mastered how to fulfill the expectations of his family...