Music and theater are an escape from the danger of the streets and a respite from hard work and study at different points for the three friends. Rameck especially is drawn to theater and musical performance. Had things turned out differently in school, when he was participating in school plays and had the chance to prepare a portfolio, Rameck may have chosen the arts as his career path. Science, however, offers more safety and predictability, as the friends have to remind themselves when they feel tempted to bail on med school to try and go professional as rappers. Though music does not earn them a weighty income at any point in their journey, it does offer them a release and a needed chance for self-expression.

As kids, the friends see guns as commonplace because they are so omnipresent in their environment. The presence of guns and gunfire serve to remind the friends of the danger they have put themselves in at various moments. Sampson’s participation in theft becomes more serious when a friend decides to bring a gun along, elevating their activity into armed robbery. Rameck realizes that what began as rival neighborhood teens fighting nearly cost him his life when an altercation escalates into gunfire.