Summary 1 (Ch. 1&2):
Wes Moore and Wes Moore discuss their lack of fathers but realize they aren’t there for different reasons. This is one of their first visits.
Chapter 1:
Wes slaps Nikki then gets in trouble from his mother and is sent to his room. His father defends him by saying he doesn’t know any better. His mother came to the United States when she was young and grew up in the Bronx, where she worked hard to quickly fit in. She was sensitive to the subject of spouse abuse due to her first marriage to Bill, an alcoholic and drug addict. After having her first child Nikki in her first marriage she was tired of the abuse so she divorced Bill. Wes’s parents finished their discussion and Wes’s dad talked to Wes about his wrong doings. Wes’s dad was tall, not imposing, and dreamed of being on TV. He became a reporter and hired an assistant named Joy, Wes’s mother. They eventually got married and had Wes and Shani. His father came home one night and had severe sore throat and fever, so he took Tylenol. He decided to go to the hospital and the doctors anesthetized his throat to reduce pain. The doctors didn’t know what to do so they sent Mr. Moore home. That evening he collapsed and was gasping for air. They called 911 and Wes’s father was rushed to the hospital. He died from acute epiglottis, which could’ve been treated. Nikki took the death the worst. Wes was too young to realize what it really meant.
Wes’s mother calls him and tells him he’s going to his grandmother’s. Wes asks what he needs to bring and sees his mom crying. She says just to go pack. Mary, Wes’s mother received a letter that said her education grant was canceled, which meant she wouldn’t be able to keep attending school. Mary was the first in her family to go to college. She worked as a secretary in order to help pay for school. Wes got ready and went to check on his mom. Mary wanted to achieve a level of independence. She lived on the same streets that her family had lived on for years. This section of Baltimore had never fully recovered from the riots of the 1960s. By the end of the riots, Baltimore had lots of damage and many people arrested, injured or dead. Mary made a pact with herself that she would get an education and leave the neighborhood no matter what it took. Wes noticed that she was going out for partying and dancing that night. He asked her what was wrong. She said just some bad news. Mary and her family spent years in West Baltimore. As a child, she lived in a house where a murder had been committed. Her mother died of kidney failure when Mary was pregnant. Wes volunteered to get a job. Mary laughed and said not right now. Wes’s father Bernard was never present. Bernard was an alcoholic and never found a steady job. Wes went downstairs to wait to go to his grandmother’s home. When they arrived, Wes saw his father.
Chapter 2:
Wes is now eight years old. Tony, Wes’s brother, mainly spent his time in the Murphy homes, which were filled with violence and drugs. Tony asked Wes about school and said Wes needed to take it seriously. Tony felt Wes could be spared the life he had chosen. Tony had a drug operation in West and East Baltimore. Tony finished his rant and Wes went to meet his friend Woody to play football. They now lived in the Cherry Hill apartments. Mary planned to move from there as soon as they could. Wes got his football jersey, which he was extremely proud of and got some money from his mom’s coin jar. Woody was from a similar background. They went outside and waited for kids to show up for the game. Others joined them, so they began. Wes was playing defense and when he and another boy got into a conflict, the other boy punched him. Wes ran to his house and grabbed a knife. Wes went back out to try and find the kid who punched him. When he was trying to find him the police showed up and when Wes wouldn’t stop they arrested him. When Woody argued with them they put him in cuffs too. Wes called Tony, so Tony sent his father to get Wes from the station.
Wes went downstairs to get water and saw his mother on the couch. Wes went back to sleep. His mom decided to sell their house and move to the Bronx to be with their grandparents. Wes’s grandfather was a retired minister and his grandmother was a retired teacher. Wes’s mom expected the Bronx to be the same as when she grew up, but it had changed a lot. It was scarred with violence and drugs. His grandparents had saved a lot when they had moved to the US to buy a house. When Wes and his family arrived his grandparents greeted them. Mary unloaded the car. Wes’s grandparents told his mother about the drastic changes in the Bronx. Wes’s grandmother had moved from Cuba to Jamaica. There she met his grandfather and they got married and moved to the United States. Wes became frustrated with the new stricter rules. One day he went to the basketball courts and on his way he heard hip-hop, saw drug deals, and passed abandoned buildings. When the people playing on the courts needed a player Wes stepped in and quickly started to pick up the style of his new neighborhood. He decided he would be back the next day.
Summary 2 (Ch. 3&4):
Chapter 3:
While just moving to a new home in the Bronx, Wes is finding it hard to concentrate in school with his new way of life. Being one of the fewer black kids at Riverdale, the private school Wes’s mother enrolled him in for his own good, it’s hard for Wes to fit in around the neighborhood. Wes’s mother worked very hard to enroll Wes into private school. She worked multiple jobs to pay for the costs of the school, along with getting help from her parents with money and a carpool schedule. Even though she comes home in the late hours of the night, she still is trying to do the best for her kids. Wes’s mother first heard about Riverdale when she was a little girl growing up, returning when she was an adult, she knew it was the right place for her kids. Even though Wes’s mom thought highly of the school Wes knew it was a place where he could get lost. It was quite a journey traveling back home from Riverdale with his friend Justin. Walking through the streets there were food stands, immigrants trying to sell and hustle for money and English and Spanish rang through the air. Finally reaching his neighborhood, Wes met up with a couple of his neighborhood friends for a quick talk. While being interrogated by his friends since he went to a rich school, Wes tries to make it sound like he runs the school, which backfires. A man approaches them asking for money but Wes and his friends already knew he was just going to buy drugs. There are levels of drugs, but crack is different, it’s addictive. Gangs spread throughout the city all trying to make money from selling the drug, which led to an increase of violence. Knowing their moms, since Wes and Justin are best friends just like their mothers, they had to head home before the streetlights came on. Walking home trying to play cool, Wes and Justin talked about school. Wes tried to keep up with the kids at school with clothes, the latest game and even sometimes lying about where he was going on vacation. Once his uncle tried to organize a group basketball game between Wes’s Riverdale friends and the kids from the neighborhood. Multiple fights broke out and they decided to just toss the game. Wes’s confidence was becoming lower and lower as he wasn’t able to fit in with the kids at school or at home.
Now living in Dundee, even though it was 10 miles from his old home, Wes was able to adapt quickly to his new home. People of all shapes, sizes and colors lived in Dundee and Dundee was a better place from where they had come from. Back in Baltimore a new mayor had taken over the improving schools systems, fighting illiteracy and trying to minimize drug trade. Even though conditions were improving change wasn’t coming fast enough for Mary Moore. First Tony, Mary’s oldest son was full on sucked in to the drug game at just a young age of 18.Second Wes wasn’t doing well in school and had failed at “Chicken Pen”. Mary didn’t want Wes to follow in the same path as his older brother so she whisked him off the Dundee hoping for a better life for him. While living in Dundee Wes noticed that Tony had the newest clothes and shoes, and Wes only having his Adidas and regular shorts and t-shirts felt left out. While walking in on a boring Saturday Wes noticed a kid on the block with some nice headphones. Asking the kid where he got his headphones from, the boy told Wes if he wanted money to buy pair all he would have to do was warn when the police came by. It seemed pretty easy to Wes, and with money being involved he was definitely going to do it.Deep down Wes knew it was the same game Tony warned him to stay away from, but Wes convinced himself and couldn’t be that bad and went along with it.However this was not Wes’s first encounter with drugs. In late November Wes skipped school to hang out with some neighborhood friends. They were supposed to have a cookout but that quickly turned into a kickback with drinking and smoking. Going home and getting caught high and drunk Wes realized how powerful drugs are. The new pair headphones on his dresser told him otherwise, Wes knew there was money to be made.
Chapter 4:
An early morning Tony had come to visit Wes and his mom, walking past Wes’s room he noticed something different. Shoe boxes stacked up on his walls all filled with the newest shoes. Tony asked Wes where he had gotten the money from and Wes used the same lie he told his mom, that he had become a popular Dj around town. Not believing his lie Tony grabbed Wes up by his shirt lecturing him about how he told Wes to stay away from the game. Trying to play out his excuse Wes stuttered again that he had become a Dj. Not believing him Tony punched Wes in the face causing his left eye to swell and knocking Wes on the ground. Tony relentlessly punched Wes until their mother heard the commotion and came outside to break it up. Wes’s mother asked for an explanation and Tony said Wes was selling drugs. Believing Wes and his lie, even though Wes’s mother knew Wes was no innocent she took his side.Tony,realizing that Wes wasn’t going to listen, decided to give up and lecturing him and left the house exhausted from the beating he gave Wes. While at school the next day Mary checked Wes’s room hoping to find no drugs but was disappointed when she found them in a shoe box under his bed. Coming home Wes soon discovered his drugs were gone, he got into a heated argument with Mary since she had flushed $1400 worth of drugs down the toilet. After being told that he will have daily room checks Wes went to his girlfriend’s house to think of how he was going to get the money back. Not knowing what she was getting herself into, Wes’s girlfriend allowed Wes to make her home his new drug headquarters.
While in the car with his mother Wes nodded his head to the radio. Noticing how quickly he could pick up the beat, but not the lessons at school Wes’s mother quickly cut off the radio. After having unsatisfactory grades Wes’s mom started to believe what the teachers were saying about Wes, that he might have a learning disability. The problem wasn’t all that he had a “learning disability” it was just that he didn’t show up at school all the time. While being the class clown in one of his classes the teacher told him it would be better if he didn’t even show up. They then established a deal where if he didn’t come to class she wouldn’t tell, his sister also never snitched. Wes is supposed to look over his little siblings while his mom and grandparents are busy. Even though Nikki was older she had her hands full with school. One day coming home to see that Shani, Wes’s sister had gotten into a fight he and his aunt went to get the message across to the little girl that it won’t happen again. While just finishing a basketball game, Wes ran into Shea, he was a runner for the drug game. Shea asked if he wanted to tag on the wall. At first wanting to say no Wes remembered that Shea was well respected in the drug game. While tagging his neighborhood name “KK’ of Kid Kupid, Wes heard the sound of police sirens. Trying to flee Shea and Wes were caught and put in handcuffs. Wes sat nervous as ever in the back of the police car awaiting his fate, the complete opposite of Shea. After giving the boys a long talk the officer finally let them off with a warning.
Summary 3 (Ch. 5&6):
Chapter 5:
The Author Wes Moore begins with wake up time at Valley Forge Military Academy. Wes, who is still bitter about being sent off, describes how his life is attending military school. He is a troublemaker who is not happy to be there. Finally after only four days of no cooperation, Wes’s squad leader decides to let Wes escape from Valley Forge by drawing him a map to the nearby train station. Wes leaves happily that night carefully following the map. When Wes finally realizes the map is fake Sergeant Austin and Wes’s chain of command appear and escort Wes back to the school. Once there, they all try to convince Wes to give effort at this school. After his phone call to his mother, Wes continued to attend Valley Forge. The section ends with Wes being sent to go talk to his ‘supervisor’, Captain Hill.
The Other Wes’s story starts off with him becoming accustomed to his new neighborhood and school. On the bus ride Red, Wes’s friend, and Wes start flirting with two girls. He hit it off with one of the girls, Alicia, and they quickly became more than friends. Two months later Wes and Alicia learned that they would be expecting a baby. In shock, Wes told Tony, his brother, and together the two kept the secret from their mother. Their attempts to keep the secret failed and their mother was very calm but disappointed in the situation. Alicia hoped that her and Wes would stay together and give their baby a two-parent household neither of them received when growing up but Wes had other plans. Wes blamed his lack of desire to become a father on his nonexistent relationship with his own father. The story flashbacks to a time when Wes encountered his father and his father did not recognize him. After that Wes never saw his father again. Wes met another girl but only met up with her when the two of them wanted to be intimate. One night, Wes came across the girl’s ‘boyfriend’, Ray. Ray became jealous and beat up Wes. Following Tony’s advice to ‘send a message’, Wes grabbed his gun from inside and ran after Ray. Wes finally struck Ray and ran back home to conceal his crime. His efforts failed when the police invaded his home and arrested him. The chapter ends with Wes being rushed off to the police station leaving his mother devastated.
Chapter 6:
The chapter begins with Woody, Wes’s old friend, graduating proudly from high school. Woody thinks back to his old friends Wes and the story picks up after Wes was released from prison. Wes was charged with attempted murder as the bullet did not go through any vital organs and he was tried as a juvenile because he was not considered a ‘threat’ to the environment. After Wes’s lucky break he went back to Dundee Village and lived with his Aunt Nicey trying to find away to support his and Alicia’s child. Wes continued his slacking off and drug dealing. The story then goes to describe all the members of a crew in the drug-dealing world. Having lots of experience, Wes knew almost everything there is to know about drug dealing. So when a man came up to Wes asking to buy some ‘rocks’ Wes could see many signs that told him something was not right. However, Wes did not follow his instincts and his greed for money got the best of him. Wes was right; the man was not a normal customer. The man was a cop and he instantly arrested Wes. The section ends with Wes pleading his case to the police officer as he reads him his rights.
The Author Wes’s story picks up at Valley Forge. Wes is now enjoying his school and is a platoon sergeant. After many months at the school Wes was warming up to it and he was constantly writing his friend, Justin, back home. In his years in Military School, Wes joined the basketball team. Once Wes thought he was doing really well he was shot down by the speech from his Uncle Howard to always have a back up plan. Hearing from his friend back in the Bronx, Justin, and his struggles back home Wes realized how lucky his is to be attending Valley Forge. One night when Wes and his friend, Dalio, had a free night a creepy car came and stalked Wes and Dalio. After much harassing the two of them ran back to Valley Forge where the chapter ends.
Summary 4 (Ch. 7&8):
Chapter 7:
Wes sits in the waiting room with family members and friends of inmates waiting for the Other Wes to come out. Author Wes interviews Other Wes some behind glass and the two have an hour-long conversation.
The chapter begins with Author Wes sitting in a C-130 military aircraft getting ready to jump out. While sitting on the plane Wes thinks back to his high school career. Wes was being recruited for colleges and having college visits plenty. However, Wes knew his dreams of being a basketball star were over when he started competing against six foot eight intimidating post guards or players like Kobe Bryant. So instead his mother interested him in reading. Wes then goes on to talk about all the books he has been reading and of how they have inspired him to come to love his country and want to fight for it. He also thinks back to his mentors along the way and of how he came to reach the decision that he wanted to have a career in leading soldiers. His flashback is over when the Black Hat announces there is only three minutes left until they jump out of the plane. Wes then talks about the reason many of the men and women want to be qualified to jump out of an airplane. Three minutes later they are all sky diving out of the plane and everyone makes it out safely.
The Other Wes begins with Cheryl having a reaction to the heroin pulsing through her veins. After Cheryl is upright the book goes into Wes’s story. Wes had four children: two with Alicia and two with Cheryl. Wes was having a hard time providing for his growing family. Frustrated and tired, Wes got out of the house and met up with his friend, Levy. Levy had already turned his life around. He was out of the drug game and now getting an education. Levy introduced Wes to Job Corps, a program that helps people with few skills. After pondering about whether to join Job Corps or not he finally applied. Within two weeks of his conversation with Levy, Wes was packing up ready to leave for Job Corps. Already after the first phase Wes was reading at the level of a sophomore in college. Proudly displaying his GED diploma Wes became successful at Job Corps. He selected carpentry as his professional training and excelled at it. Seven months later Wes graduated from Job Corps and had many low paying jobs. Unsatisfied with what little he was making, Wes went back to his old neighborhood in West Baltimore and picked up a package. Wes had thought all his problems were fading away but he had been just more stressed. The chapter ends with Wes pouring the package of cocaine into a boiling pot.
Chapter 8:
The chapter begins with Mary watching the television screen as her two son’s pictures flash on the screen with footage of a robbed jewelry store. Three days earlier four masked men robbed a jewelry store in Baltimore. The police on duty, Sergeant Prothero ran after the men to protect his people. While running after the robbers, one of the masked men shot Sergeant Prothero three times. This crime hit Baltimore hard, as Sergeant Prothero was loved. Two crewmembers were caught and arrested but not convicted of the actual murder. That left Wes and Tony. Police then invaded Mary as they searched her home of evidence for the two boys. Mary was interrogated and the police begun their manhunt. Meanwhile, Mary’s niece was having a wedding. However the wedding turned disastrous when the police pulled over some of the wedding party to interrogate them for evidence of Tony and Wes. After no information showed up the police were on their way. The story then continues with Wes and Tony walking down the streets like they did nothing wrong. When they arrive home Tony and Wes are arrested immediately and the news reports send out the alert and Baltimore cheers and gives a sigh of relief. All three of the defendants other than Wes were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Tony avoided death sentence by pleading guilty to the felony murder because he was charged as the shooter. However Wes demanded a trial. After months of deliberation the jury finally concluded that Wes was guilty and he was sentenced a life in prison.
Author Wes’s story pick up in the Mayor’s office. Mayor Kurt Schmoke tried to convince Wes to try for the prestigious Rhodes Scholar. Wes had recently been accepted into Johns Hopkins University. After meeting with Paul White, the assistant director of administrations. Wes knew he wanted to go there. Years later Wes went on a trip abroad to South Africa. After going through some history of South Africa Wes arrives at his host home. The family welcomed him and he loved it there. When sitting down with the mother of the family, Wes learned much about the Xhosa culture and how they live their lives. A few days later when Wes called his mother he found out about the shooting of a police officer with someone the same name as him. A few weeks before Wes left South Africa he finally felt like he was at home. His friendships with Zinzi and Simo had grown and the experience opened his eyes. Wes learned the important lesson of influence. Zinzi’s tribe influenced making him a man and Wes realized that on his journey he was never alone.
Wes Moore and Wes Moore discuss their lack of fathers but realize they aren’t there for different reasons. This is one of their first visits.
Chapter 1:
Wes slaps Nikki then gets in trouble from his mother and is sent to his room. His father defends him by saying he doesn’t know any better. His mother came to the United States when she was young and grew up in the Bronx, where she worked hard to quickly fit in. She was sensitive to the subject of spouse abuse due to her first marriage to Bill, an alcoholic and drug addict. After having her first child Nikki in her first marriage she was tired of the abuse so she divorced Bill. Wes’s parents finished their discussion and Wes’s dad talked to Wes about his wrong doings. Wes’s dad was tall, not imposing, and dreamed of being on TV. He became a reporter and hired an assistant named Joy, Wes’s mother. They eventually got married and had Wes and Shani. His father came home one night and had severe sore throat and fever, so he took Tylenol. He decided to go to the hospital and the doctors anesthetized his throat to reduce pain. The doctors didn’t know what to do so they sent Mr. Moore home. That evening he collapsed and was gasping for air. They called 911 and Wes’s father was rushed to the hospital. He died from acute epiglottis, which could’ve been treated. Nikki took the death the worst. Wes was too young to realize what it really meant.
Wes’s mother calls him and tells him he’s going to his grandmother’s. Wes asks what he needs to bring and sees his mom crying. She says just to go pack. Mary, Wes’s mother received a letter that said her education grant was canceled, which meant she wouldn’t be able to keep attending school. Mary was the first in her family to go to college. She worked as a secretary in order to help pay for school. Wes got ready and went to check on his mom. Mary wanted to achieve a level of independence. She lived on the same streets that her family had lived on for years. This section of Baltimore had never fully recovered from the riots of the 1960s. By the end of the riots, Baltimore had lots of damage and many people arrested, injured or dead. Mary made a pact with herself that she would get an education and leave the neighborhood no matter what it took. Wes noticed that she was going out for partying and dancing that night. He asked her what was wrong. She said just some bad news. Mary and her family spent years in West Baltimore. As a child, she lived in a house where a murder had been committed. Her mother died of kidney failure when Mary was pregnant. Wes volunteered to get a job. Mary laughed and said not right now. Wes’s father Bernard was never present. Bernard was an alcoholic and never found a steady job. Wes went downstairs to wait to go to his grandmother’s home. When they arrived, Wes saw his father.
Chapter 2:
Wes is now eight years old. Tony, Wes’s brother, mainly spent his time in the Murphy homes, which were filled with violence and drugs. Tony asked Wes about school and said Wes needed to take it seriously. Tony felt Wes could be spared the life he had chosen. Tony had a drug operation in West and East Baltimore. Tony finished his rant and Wes went to meet his friend Woody to play football. They now lived in the Cherry Hill apartments. Mary planned to move from there as soon as they could. Wes got his football jersey, which he was extremely proud of and got some money from his mom’s coin jar. Woody was from a similar background. They went outside and waited for kids to show up for the game. Others joined them, so they began. Wes was playing defense and when he and another boy got into a conflict, the other boy punched him. Wes ran to his house and grabbed a knife. Wes went back out to try and find the kid who punched him. When he was trying to find him the police showed up and when Wes wouldn’t stop they arrested him. When Woody argued with them they put him in cuffs too. Wes called Tony, so Tony sent his father to get Wes from the station.
Wes went downstairs to get water and saw his mother on the couch. Wes went back to sleep. His mom decided to sell their house and move to the Bronx to be with their grandparents. Wes’s grandfather was a retired minister and his grandmother was a retired teacher. Wes’s mom expected the Bronx to be the same as when she grew up, but it had changed a lot. It was scarred with violence and drugs. His grandparents had saved a lot when they had moved to the US to buy a house. When Wes and his family arrived his grandparents greeted them. Mary unloaded the car. Wes’s grandparents told his mother about the drastic changes in the Bronx. Wes’s grandmother had moved from Cuba to Jamaica. There she met his grandfather and they got married and moved to the United States. Wes became frustrated with the new stricter rules. One day he went to the basketball courts and on his way he heard hip-hop, saw drug deals, and passed abandoned buildings. When the people playing on the courts needed a player Wes stepped in and quickly started to pick up the style of his new neighborhood. He decided he would be back the next day.
Summary 2 (Ch. 3&4):
Chapter 3:
While just moving to a new home in the Bronx, Wes is finding it hard to concentrate in school with his new way of life. Being one of the fewer black kids at Riverdale, the private school Wes’s mother enrolled him in for his own good, it’s hard for Wes to fit in around the neighborhood. Wes’s mother worked very hard to enroll Wes into private school. She worked multiple jobs to pay for the costs of the school, along with getting help from her parents with money and a carpool schedule. Even though she comes home in the late hours of the night, she still is trying to do the best for her kids. Wes’s mother first heard about Riverdale when she was a little girl growing up, returning when she was an adult, she knew it was the right place for her kids. Even though Wes’s mom thought highly of the school Wes knew it was a place where he could get lost. It was quite a journey traveling back home from Riverdale with his friend Justin. Walking through the streets there were food stands, immigrants trying to sell and hustle for money and English and Spanish rang through the air. Finally reaching his neighborhood, Wes met up with a couple of his neighborhood friends for a quick talk. While being interrogated by his friends since he went to a rich school, Wes tries to make it sound like he runs the school, which backfires. A man approaches them asking for money but Wes and his friends already knew he was just going to buy drugs. There are levels of drugs, but crack is different, it’s addictive. Gangs spread throughout the city all trying to make money from selling the drug, which led to an increase of violence. Knowing their moms, since Wes and Justin are best friends just like their mothers, they had to head home before the streetlights came on. Walking home trying to play cool, Wes and Justin talked about school. Wes tried to keep up with the kids at school with clothes, the latest game and even sometimes lying about where he was going on vacation. Once his uncle tried to organize a group basketball game between Wes’s Riverdale friends and the kids from the neighborhood. Multiple fights broke out and they decided to just toss the game. Wes’s confidence was becoming lower and lower as he wasn’t able to fit in with the kids at school or at home.
Now living in Dundee, even though it was 10 miles from his old home, Wes was able to adapt quickly to his new home. People of all shapes, sizes and colors lived in Dundee and Dundee was a better place from where they had come from. Back in Baltimore a new mayor had taken over the improving schools systems, fighting illiteracy and trying to minimize drug trade. Even though conditions were improving change wasn’t coming fast enough for Mary Moore. First Tony, Mary’s oldest son was full on sucked in to the drug game at just a young age of 18.Second Wes wasn’t doing well in school and had failed at “Chicken Pen”. Mary didn’t want Wes to follow in the same path as his older brother so she whisked him off the Dundee hoping for a better life for him. While living in Dundee Wes noticed that Tony had the newest clothes and shoes, and Wes only having his Adidas and regular shorts and t-shirts felt left out. While walking in on a boring Saturday Wes noticed a kid on the block with some nice headphones. Asking the kid where he got his headphones from, the boy told Wes if he wanted money to buy pair all he would have to do was warn when the police came by. It seemed pretty easy to Wes, and with money being involved he was definitely going to do it.Deep down Wes knew it was the same game Tony warned him to stay away from, but Wes convinced himself and couldn’t be that bad and went along with it.However this was not Wes’s first encounter with drugs. In late November Wes skipped school to hang out with some neighborhood friends. They were supposed to have a cookout but that quickly turned into a kickback with drinking and smoking. Going home and getting caught high and drunk Wes realized how powerful drugs are. The new pair headphones on his dresser told him otherwise, Wes knew there was money to be made.
Chapter 4:
An early morning Tony had come to visit Wes and his mom, walking past Wes’s room he noticed something different. Shoe boxes stacked up on his walls all filled with the newest shoes. Tony asked Wes where he had gotten the money from and Wes used the same lie he told his mom, that he had become a popular Dj around town. Not believing his lie Tony grabbed Wes up by his shirt lecturing him about how he told Wes to stay away from the game. Trying to play out his excuse Wes stuttered again that he had become a Dj. Not believing him Tony punched Wes in the face causing his left eye to swell and knocking Wes on the ground. Tony relentlessly punched Wes until their mother heard the commotion and came outside to break it up. Wes’s mother asked for an explanation and Tony said Wes was selling drugs. Believing Wes and his lie, even though Wes’s mother knew Wes was no innocent she took his side.Tony,realizing that Wes wasn’t going to listen, decided to give up and lecturing him and left the house exhausted from the beating he gave Wes. While at school the next day Mary checked Wes’s room hoping to find no drugs but was disappointed when she found them in a shoe box under his bed. Coming home Wes soon discovered his drugs were gone, he got into a heated argument with Mary since she had flushed $1400 worth of drugs down the toilet. After being told that he will have daily room checks Wes went to his girlfriend’s house to think of how he was going to get the money back. Not knowing what she was getting herself into, Wes’s girlfriend allowed Wes to make her home his new drug headquarters.
While in the car with his mother Wes nodded his head to the radio. Noticing how quickly he could pick up the beat, but not the lessons at school Wes’s mother quickly cut off the radio. After having unsatisfactory grades Wes’s mom started to believe what the teachers were saying about Wes, that he might have a learning disability. The problem wasn’t all that he had a “learning disability” it was just that he didn’t show up at school all the time. While being the class clown in one of his classes the teacher told him it would be better if he didn’t even show up. They then established a deal where if he didn’t come to class she wouldn’t tell, his sister also never snitched. Wes is supposed to look over his little siblings while his mom and grandparents are busy. Even though Nikki was older she had her hands full with school. One day coming home to see that Shani, Wes’s sister had gotten into a fight he and his aunt went to get the message across to the little girl that it won’t happen again. While just finishing a basketball game, Wes ran into Shea, he was a runner for the drug game. Shea asked if he wanted to tag on the wall. At first wanting to say no Wes remembered that Shea was well respected in the drug game. While tagging his neighborhood name “KK’ of Kid Kupid, Wes heard the sound of police sirens. Trying to flee Shea and Wes were caught and put in handcuffs. Wes sat nervous as ever in the back of the police car awaiting his fate, the complete opposite of Shea. After giving the boys a long talk the officer finally let them off with a warning.
Summary 3 (Ch. 5&6):
Chapter 5:
The Author Wes Moore begins with wake up time at Valley Forge Military Academy. Wes, who is still bitter about being sent off, describes how his life is attending military school. He is a troublemaker who is not happy to be there. Finally after only four days of no cooperation, Wes’s squad leader decides to let Wes escape from Valley Forge by drawing him a map to the nearby train station. Wes leaves happily that night carefully following the map. When Wes finally realizes the map is fake Sergeant Austin and Wes’s chain of command appear and escort Wes back to the school. Once there, they all try to convince Wes to give effort at this school. After his phone call to his mother, Wes continued to attend Valley Forge. The section ends with Wes being sent to go talk to his ‘supervisor’, Captain Hill.
The Other Wes’s story starts off with him becoming accustomed to his new neighborhood and school. On the bus ride Red, Wes’s friend, and Wes start flirting with two girls. He hit it off with one of the girls, Alicia, and they quickly became more than friends. Two months later Wes and Alicia learned that they would be expecting a baby. In shock, Wes told Tony, his brother, and together the two kept the secret from their mother. Their attempts to keep the secret failed and their mother was very calm but disappointed in the situation. Alicia hoped that her and Wes would stay together and give their baby a two-parent household neither of them received when growing up but Wes had other plans. Wes blamed his lack of desire to become a father on his nonexistent relationship with his own father. The story flashbacks to a time when Wes encountered his father and his father did not recognize him. After that Wes never saw his father again. Wes met another girl but only met up with her when the two of them wanted to be intimate. One night, Wes came across the girl’s ‘boyfriend’, Ray. Ray became jealous and beat up Wes. Following Tony’s advice to ‘send a message’, Wes grabbed his gun from inside and ran after Ray. Wes finally struck Ray and ran back home to conceal his crime. His efforts failed when the police invaded his home and arrested him. The chapter ends with Wes being rushed off to the police station leaving his mother devastated.
Chapter 6:
The chapter begins with Woody, Wes’s old friend, graduating proudly from high school. Woody thinks back to his old friends Wes and the story picks up after Wes was released from prison. Wes was charged with attempted murder as the bullet did not go through any vital organs and he was tried as a juvenile because he was not considered a ‘threat’ to the environment. After Wes’s lucky break he went back to Dundee Village and lived with his Aunt Nicey trying to find away to support his and Alicia’s child. Wes continued his slacking off and drug dealing. The story then goes to describe all the members of a crew in the drug-dealing world. Having lots of experience, Wes knew almost everything there is to know about drug dealing. So when a man came up to Wes asking to buy some ‘rocks’ Wes could see many signs that told him something was not right. However, Wes did not follow his instincts and his greed for money got the best of him. Wes was right; the man was not a normal customer. The man was a cop and he instantly arrested Wes. The section ends with Wes pleading his case to the police officer as he reads him his rights.
The Author Wes’s story picks up at Valley Forge. Wes is now enjoying his school and is a platoon sergeant. After many months at the school Wes was warming up to it and he was constantly writing his friend, Justin, back home. In his years in Military School, Wes joined the basketball team. Once Wes thought he was doing really well he was shot down by the speech from his Uncle Howard to always have a back up plan. Hearing from his friend back in the Bronx, Justin, and his struggles back home Wes realized how lucky his is to be attending Valley Forge. One night when Wes and his friend, Dalio, had a free night a creepy car came and stalked Wes and Dalio. After much harassing the two of them ran back to Valley Forge where the chapter ends.
Summary 4 (Ch. 7&8):
Chapter 7:
Wes sits in the waiting room with family members and friends of inmates waiting for the Other Wes to come out. Author Wes interviews Other Wes some behind glass and the two have an hour-long conversation.
The chapter begins with Author Wes sitting in a C-130 military aircraft getting ready to jump out. While sitting on the plane Wes thinks back to his high school career. Wes was being recruited for colleges and having college visits plenty. However, Wes knew his dreams of being a basketball star were over when he started competing against six foot eight intimidating post guards or players like Kobe Bryant. So instead his mother interested him in reading. Wes then goes on to talk about all the books he has been reading and of how they have inspired him to come to love his country and want to fight for it. He also thinks back to his mentors along the way and of how he came to reach the decision that he wanted to have a career in leading soldiers. His flashback is over when the Black Hat announces there is only three minutes left until they jump out of the plane. Wes then talks about the reason many of the men and women want to be qualified to jump out of an airplane. Three minutes later they are all sky diving out of the plane and everyone makes it out safely.
The Other Wes begins with Cheryl having a reaction to the heroin pulsing through her veins. After Cheryl is upright the book goes into Wes’s story. Wes had four children: two with Alicia and two with Cheryl. Wes was having a hard time providing for his growing family. Frustrated and tired, Wes got out of the house and met up with his friend, Levy. Levy had already turned his life around. He was out of the drug game and now getting an education. Levy introduced Wes to Job Corps, a program that helps people with few skills. After pondering about whether to join Job Corps or not he finally applied. Within two weeks of his conversation with Levy, Wes was packing up ready to leave for Job Corps. Already after the first phase Wes was reading at the level of a sophomore in college. Proudly displaying his GED diploma Wes became successful at Job Corps. He selected carpentry as his professional training and excelled at it. Seven months later Wes graduated from Job Corps and had many low paying jobs. Unsatisfied with what little he was making, Wes went back to his old neighborhood in West Baltimore and picked up a package. Wes had thought all his problems were fading away but he had been just more stressed. The chapter ends with Wes pouring the package of cocaine into a boiling pot.
Chapter 8:
The chapter begins with Mary watching the television screen as her two son’s pictures flash on the screen with footage of a robbed jewelry store. Three days earlier four masked men robbed a jewelry store in Baltimore. The police on duty, Sergeant Prothero ran after the men to protect his people. While running after the robbers, one of the masked men shot Sergeant Prothero three times. This crime hit Baltimore hard, as Sergeant Prothero was loved. Two crewmembers were caught and arrested but not convicted of the actual murder. That left Wes and Tony. Police then invaded Mary as they searched her home of evidence for the two boys. Mary was interrogated and the police begun their manhunt. Meanwhile, Mary’s niece was having a wedding. However the wedding turned disastrous when the police pulled over some of the wedding party to interrogate them for evidence of Tony and Wes. After no information showed up the police were on their way. The story then continues with Wes and Tony walking down the streets like they did nothing wrong. When they arrive home Tony and Wes are arrested immediately and the news reports send out the alert and Baltimore cheers and gives a sigh of relief. All three of the defendants other than Wes were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Tony avoided death sentence by pleading guilty to the felony murder because he was charged as the shooter. However Wes demanded a trial. After months of deliberation the jury finally concluded that Wes was guilty and he was sentenced a life in prison.
Author Wes’s story pick up in the Mayor’s office. Mayor Kurt Schmoke tried to convince Wes to try for the prestigious Rhodes Scholar. Wes had recently been accepted into Johns Hopkins University. After meeting with Paul White, the assistant director of administrations. Wes knew he wanted to go there. Years later Wes went on a trip abroad to South Africa. After going through some history of South Africa Wes arrives at his host home. The family welcomed him and he loved it there. When sitting down with the mother of the family, Wes learned much about the Xhosa culture and how they live their lives. A few days later when Wes called his mother he found out about the shooting of a police officer with someone the same name as him. A few weeks before Wes left South Africa he finally felt like he was at home. His friendships with Zinzi and Simo had grown and the experience opened his eyes. Wes learned the important lesson of influence. Zinzi’s tribe influenced making him a man and Wes realized that on his journey he was never alone.