A few months later, literally a week after my 18th birthday I received a message from Brandon Rodriguez. We caught up for an hour or so on instant messenger. I told him how I was selling weed and making tons of money. He was in town; he now had his own van and offered to come pick me up to hang out at some girl’s house. If I had been in school like a normal high school senior, I would not have been able to go but I was in independent study. Brandon pulled up outside my house

Trent “Dyno Mutt” Dade was the first person to start following me over to Jason's garage. His mother passed away when he was very young, and his dad worked a full-time job as a plumber. He was mostly raised by his older sisters. I had first met Trent in school when I was a Junior. He was a grade below me. One day I was standing in line to buy food during lunch. The line was at least ten students in front of me. This younger student with short brown hair and fucked up teeth ju