Lil J is involved in a drug deal which has gone terribly wrong and a cop ends up dead. He ends up being shot in the arm, while his partner Rico points the finger at him when he is found by the police, but, it is Rico who actually pulled the trigger. Now he must run from the law for as long as he can because the there are one of two ways which his situation would end up and these are long prison terms or death. When he sees a policeman notice him he takes refuge inside an abandoned apartment building and tries to wait the police out on the roof.
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He is unable to open the door to the roof and is content to retreat to the apartment one floor down. He finds a man named Kelly in one of the rooms after being attracted to the sound of his television. Things become weird when it seems the television is like a universal video camera and has footage of Lil J and the police deal a while ago. Kelly asks what Lil J would change in his current situation and Lil J says, he would change the drug bust only. Kelly then shows him what appears to be his future on the screen of the police storming the apartment and him preparing to jump from the roof because of lack of options.
Kelly then asks questions about his past unrelated to the drug deal gone wrong. He starts with the drug bust and says he noticed something wrong with the man they were selling drugs to. Rico was already high off some of the drugs they were selling and when they were free and clear decided to go back and shoot the man, whom they discovered was a police officer. When they were trying to clear the scene another under-cover police officer shoot sat them and injured Lil J in the arm. Lil J admits that some of his choices were not that good. He also admits that he is a drug user and has a child with his girlfriend Lauryn. Her mother, though has forbid him from entering her house thus keeping him from his child. She is trying to marry Lauryn off to a richer and more stable gentleman and Lauryn does not seem too opposed to the situation. Lil J also talks about Lauryn and how she hates his drug problem as well as the time in prison he served for a botched robbery attempt on a convenience store with Rico ironically. When Kelly asks him what he would change in his life at the moment he only responds that he would change the drug deal. At this point, Kelly fires a shot into the street attracting the police to the building and he comes out of the room firing at them but is shot and killed. In this way, Lil J is cleared of the charges because Kelly took his place and he is free to continue with his own life.
Best part of story, including ending:
I like the story because the main character is shown to be human and not immune to sin or faults. He is real in this way.
Best scene in story:
I like the scene in chapter 14 when Kelly and Lil J are arguing about whether the police know which gun he used. Lil J is able to see on the screen that the police are coming Kelly bursts out shooting thus incriminating himself and becoming the main target. He effectively saves Lil J's life who does not know it at that moment and it is the most selfless thing anyone does in the novel.
Opinion about the main character:
I like that the main character is able to survive even though he has been dealt with unfair fates at the time.
