"Yeah... imagine that; the hero is a drunk." (Smith Jr, 135)
Shawn Williams lives in the
inner city of Los Angeles, California. Him and his "bruthas" hang around in the streets during the day, looking for places to play basketball. His mother works long hours as a cook in the near by college, so she drops Shawn off at his Auntie's house every weekday. Shawn does not enjoy spending time with his auntie because she is a drunk. When Shawn goes back to his auntie's house from a day with his "boyzz" he often finds his auntie passed out and insanely drunk. Because of all the times Shawn has had to take care of his Auntie when she was drunk, he thinks everyone who drinks most be an alchoholic and he has very ill feelings towards alchohol because he has seen what it can do to people.
Also, he hates having to spend time with her because she is always drunk. Shawn is also very athletic and his friends think so too, " 'You know you can play, Shawn. I know you can play. You the only one that can check me on D, and I noticed you been splashing more and more J's every time we play,' " (Smith Jr., 148)
