He had just found his mother's weed stash he came to the obvious conclusion: he was going to turn this barbecue into a real party" (59). This little scene in the story is where Wes' mother's negative influence of herself using marijuana affected his life completely. From this, Wes is exposed to drugs for the first time, starts smoking with his friends, and then ultimately started selling drugs, which led him to be arrested and jailed. His choice to start using marijuana, instead of putting it back in the closet, is a choice that the author Wes Moore would never make.
For a child, a safe and positive environment is essential when growing up. In the story both Wes Moore's lived in rough neighborhoods, where negative influences are all around for young children. Wes (1) says, "My mother decided soon after our move to the Bronx that I was not going to public school She knew the public schools in the area Just as the street corners of the Bronx had changed, so had the public schools" (47). Wes' (1) mother had gone to public school in New York but it wasn't the same as it was back then. She wanted the best for her son and sought to do whatever she could to improve his life, even if it meant working multiple jobs. The school she had sent Wes instead of public school was called Riverdale. Wes said, "Every time I looked around at the buildings and trees and the view of the river, I was reminded of the sacrifices my mother was making to keep me there. And every time I looked at my fellow students, I was reminded of how little I fit in" (52). This quote tells that even though Wes (1) wasn't rich like most of his classmates, he still appreciated his mother's hard work to send him there and that it was important for him to succeed and get something more out of his time there. Sacrifices and choices like this made by Wes' (1) mother is what helped shape him to be better educated and influenced; rather than the education he could have gotten in public schools.