Addendum

'Mr John, isn't that one of the guys I met last week?', the kid I rolled around with last week asked as he saw yet another murder on our local news.
'Yeah, that's why I don't rock with those dudes like that. That's not the life you want.', I replied.

A week after being impressed with the dope boy lifestyle and seeing how the reality lies somewhere between Menace to Society and New Jack City the kid's eyes were not only wide they were now open.

The kid's father had been released from prison just last year on drug charges but he was far too young to remember anything that was going on around him at the time.
To him, the consequences of that lifestyle weren't even real.

'Are they after you?', the kid asked as he mentioned the graffiti left at a club.
I had to explain that my only interactions with those in this group were to get people out of that life and not to secure their place within it.
That the graffiti was left by someone who wanted to move on people but they weren't allowed to do so by the higher-ups as long as I was involved and that that situation had already been taken care of.

A week after feeling like he was 'in' the kid realized that life is lived if one remains 'out'.
The kid thought that knowing bosses would keep him safe in a violent world.
The kid thought he could coattail to impress his little friends.
The kid starts his freshman year at college this month and has decided that that is the smarter choice.