We Are Not Like Them

The Prologue is told from the third-person perspective of 14-year-old Justin Dwyer in the moments after he has been shot. Justin is amazed that the bullets feel different than he imagined—not hot, but cold. He is also surprised by how little blood there is. He hears heavy footprints coming his way. He recalls how he was listening to music, heard shouting, and instinctively reached into his pocket to turn it off: “He knew better. No sudden movements. Don’t be a threat. Do what they say” (1). His mom had told him this, and he thinks now of her, imagining the picture she will choose to have on the news when Riley Wilson, with her pretty lips and smooth voice, explains what happened on Channel Five. He thinks then of the things he will miss out on: “drive a car, see the ocean, have sex” (2). He tries to stop thinking of his mother and the grief she will have, especially after his father’s death. She will have no one. The person holding his hand encourages him to hang on. Justin wants to tell him his name so he isn’t alone but instead focuses on one tiny star in the sky.