Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of substance use.



In 1994, Rob and Victor joined St. Benedict’s, which was managed by headmaster Friar Leahy. The school’s motto was “WHATEVER HURTS MY BROTHER HURTS ME” (77). The pupils were largely from lower and lower-middle-class families. Given a choice of texts for a reading assignment, Rob chose Chesapeake by James Michener. He soon became known to the other pupils as the boy who knew the lyrics to every Bone Thugs-n-Harmony song. When Rob’s name appeared among the students with the top three GPAs, his classmates assumed that he came from a relatively privileged background and that his streetwise demeanor was an act.

After school, Rob rushed home to play football with his neighborhood friends. He was devastated when he could no longer play due to not being registered in the state school system. After learning how to swim, Rob joined St. Benedict’s water polo team and made four lifelong friends: Tavarus Hester, Drew Jemison, Flowy Starkes, and Curtis Gamble. Flowy came from the most disadvantaged background and lived with his mother, who had a mental health condition, in one of Newark’s most notoriously dangerous areas.