“he thinks of it as playing good cop/bad cop. Except we play bad gang member/worse gang member.”

“I've had more students die than I ever thought possible. My husband urgesme to quit Fairfield and teach at some school without gang members who live their lives only to die or end upas drug dealers.”

“Before i was jumped in i remember Lucky telling us how being in a gang was like having a second family... a family who would be there when your own family wasn't. They would offer protection and security. It sounded perfect to a kid who'd lost his father.”

“Playing with fire doesn't necessarily get you burned.”

“I don't play games with people's lives like you do.”

“We're in the Chicago suburbs, ruling our 'hood and the streets that lead here. It's a street war, where othersuburban gangs fight us for territory. Three blocks away are mansions and million-dollar houses. Right here,in the real world, the street war rages on. The people in the million-dollar houses don't even realize a battle isabout to begin less than a half mile from their backyards.”

“Do you play football?' Brandon asks. 'No.' 'Baseball?' 'Nope.' Brandon is on a roll and won't stop until he's found the answer he's looking for. 'Tennis?' 'That would be a nada' 'Then what sport do you play?' Carlos puts down his food. Oh, no. He's got a rebellious gleam in his eye as he says, 'The horizontal tango.' ...Alex stands and says through chlenched teeth, 'Carlos let's talk. In private. Ahora.' ....Brandon turns to my dad with big, innocent eyes. 'Daddy, do you know how to do the horizontal tango?”