C.C. Baker is 19 years old, has never left his city, and has an intimate knowledge of Brewster Place. He makes a living through “petty hustling” but dreams of something bigger. In his neighborhood, bigger means working for the drug dealer Beetle Royal. Having left high school early, C.C. doesn’t see an alternative to joining a gang. His parents lost his older brother, Hakim, “to the streets” (123), so they tried to keep C.C. in school. However, when he was 12, they finally gave up. C.C.’s father was a Vietnam veteran with a disability, and C.C. wanted the “money, power, and respect” that was missing from his father’s life (123).

C.C. runs with a gang but looks for a way to differentiate himself and finally gets a break when one of Royal’s lieutenants asks him to “mule” a kilo to the other side of town. He does this for six months, bringing money home to help his family. They pretend not to know where the money comes from, which causes C.C. to lose all respect for his father. One day, Royal, known as “The Man,” wants to meet with C.C.

At Royal’s office, he tells C.