Derrick Rose Short Story

Imagine being trapped, living in the inner city, surrounded by people from every walk of life, from the hoodlums living in next door, to the Jewish people walking to church on Saturdays. Imagine experiencing watching dealers hustle contraband on nearly every street corner; Fights are an every day occurrences on these streets, robberies are a dime-a-dozen. This is all you’ve ever come to know; you were born in to this life, and shaped by the streets. This is the story of Derrick Rose growing up in Brooklyn. Derrick grew up in a housing complex that housed an average of 40 families. Buildings like these are commonly found in inner city New York, and on any given block one may find 8 such buildings. This is just one side of a square block; there would be about 50-70 kids to play with. There would always be games raging, whether they were racing games, “stick ball,”(this is an improvised form of baseball with a broomstick, or any sort of stick available) or, most commonly, boxing, which Derrick was great at. Fights amongst the boys on the block were very common, most times they would be broken up; however, a fight was no big deal, one may get a busted lip, or one …show more content…
“Be careful who you choose as friends” because just as Derrick’s friend stood his ground, the other three in the group backed off. Because of that one friend’s courage, it could have meant all the difference in preserving the life of Derrick Rose, who is now a professional, working under the Loma Linda board of Anesthesiology, with a family, and a tranquil life. Derrick was able to make it out of the streets; he was able to survive, albeit a miracle, he made it out alive. Now, with more age, knowledge, wisdom, and life experience, a more calm, and professional Derrick concludes his interview with, “if someone is trying to rob you, just give it up, you can buy ten more, don’t fight them, it’s not worth