(First Summary) When Rufus is charged for grand theft auto he is sent to a forestry camp. He hates the place because he can't be left alone. Once a week a social worker named Mr. Rubio would summones Rufus to his office and they would talk. He would ask him questions about his mother and father who he never met. Then one day Rufus receives the news that they're going to let him go home in a few days because they think he has made a good adjusment. Rufus couldn't be happier until he hears that his mother has moved to a place called the Durango Housing Projects. Even though his friend Baby Gibson who he met at the camp lives around there he knows it's not going to be easy.

When he arrived at the bus station he was picked up by his parole officer, Ed Travers. Mr. Travers lets him know that if he finds out he has joined a gang he will send him back to placement. Rufus knows that sooner or later he will need to just for protection. When they got to his house his little sister Janet came running out the door and hugged him. A few seconds later his little brother Curtis came along. His brother told them that their mother said to walk on in because she wasn't dressed to be outside. Rufus knew the thruth, she didn't want the neighbors to see her with her son and his parole officer. When they walked in Mrs. Henry met them at the door. For a while Mr. Travers talked to her about how he was going to try to keep Rufus out of trouble. But Rufus's mother didn't think he had changed at all. She thought that now that he was home he was going to go back to his old ways.

After Mr. Travers left Rufus and his mother talked. He let his mother know that he was sorry for causing so much trouble. Now that he was home he was going to get a job and when fall came along he would start school again. After there conversation he went up to his room and took out his scrapbook. In front of it he had Ernie Brown, a famous football player. His mother once told him about how when she was only seventeen she had married him. Things hadn't worked out of course and he left her. Rufus looked at his picture then himself and thought about how eerie it was that he looked so much like him.

(Second Summary) After looking around the house he went to go talk to his brother. His brother told him that he had been thinking about joining the Little Warriors. For some reason that made Rufus really mad. Rufus warned Curtis that if he found out he was messing around with some gang he would have big trouble when he got home. He thought that it pointless since he had him as a big brother for protection. When they finished talking they went to eat. Curtis had not gone to buy the milk his mother wanted. He told her that she never gave him enough money. Rufus offered to buy the milk himself and while they were there he could take Curtis and Janet to buy ice-cream. Mrs. Henry though didn't want to be left alone and made Curtis stay. As they started walking a car pulled up next to them. Rufus told his sister that if they got out to run on someones porch.

Then they heard say it wasn't him as if they were looking for someone. The car started of again and they told them to get off the streets and threw them a glass bottle that missed them. His sister was scared and told Rufus that they should go back home but if they did then their mom would know something happened so they kept walking.They had only reached a short distance when they heard the sound of tires again but this time it was a police car. The officer asked if they knew why there was glass back where they had passed. Rufus denied knowing anything but Janet blurted out that some boys had thrown it at them. She gave the officer the discripition of the car and how many boys where in it (7). Rufus nudged his sister giving her a hint to say nothing else. He knew that once the police officer found them they would go looking around the streets for them. Rufus and his sister would become their next targets.

(Third Summary) When they reached Durango Street they saw differant kinds of shops. AS they kept walking they neared a taco stand. Janet said they called that the Happy Spot and their mom wouldn't let them go in there. Janet suddenly clutched his arm. Rufus froze when he saw the exact same car they encountered a while ago. Outside next to it stood all seven boys and the police officer. Rufus pulled Janet into a doorway out of sight. Now that Rufus had taken a good look at them he knew exactly who they were, The Gassers. He saw that one of the police officers was questioning them and the other searching through the car. Once the police officers and Gassers left they walked one more block to the grocery store. Rufus decided to buy a glass bottle. He told his sister to run through the alley all the way home and to wait for him outside so that they could walk in together.

As she ran he lingered on the walk until he was sure that they had seen him. Then he ran into the alley and hid in a doorway. The car sped up into the alley and all of them stepped out of the car. Rufus waited until they got close and he stepped out. Each of them carried a weapon. Rufus denied telling the cop anything but they didn't believe him. They all circled around him and Rufus told them to stand still or someone would get hurt and broke the milk bottle. Everyone quickly backed off. He ordered to get the keys of the car. Everyone stayed put and then he told them to get in the car. As they did so Rufus walked to the end of the alley and left the keys there. Now they would be after him, he needed to join the Moors fast.

(Fourth Summary) When he returned home his sister was on the front steps crying she looked up at Rufus surprised and relieved that he wasn't hurt. They walked on in and headed to bed. Late that night Rufus got up because he wasn't able to sleep. He walked down into the kitchen and made himself a sandwich. When he was going back to his room he heard his mom praying. He walked in and asked her if she had really married Ernie Brown. Hid mom got up and told him that she was just sixteen years old and it all had ended in a few months. If he went around telling people they would think he was lying so it would be better if they kept it to themselves. Then she closed the door and after a while Rufus walked back upstairs to his room.

The noise of the cars woke Rufus. He laid on his bed then remembered last nights incident with the Gassers. He wondered if he could find his friend Baby Gibson in time. Remembering that the Moors generally hung out at the Happy Spot he planned to go in the afternoon. His parole officer had set a job interview that day for him at Ace Tire & Retread. It wasn't to far from the Happy Spot. When he walked in he met the manager, Mr.Wells. It wasn't to long until Rufus was doing rough casings for the car tires. After a try or two he got the hang of it. He did eight tires and asked if he could go get a cup of coffee with no intention in going back. When he entered the Happy Spot he ordered a cup of coffee and sat down. He saw Baby Gibson and a group of guys who were not noticing him.

(Fifth Summary) Baby Gibson looked up and saw Rufus. He introduced him to all the guys. Baby talked to Rufus for a while then Bantu the leader did. He asked him if he wanted to join the Moors for protection since he had trouble with the Gassers. Rufus said that he'd been thinking about it. They came up with an agreement to meet in the park at eight o'clock, then he went home for dinner. His mom asked him if he had found work and he replied with a sarcastic response. It was almost eight so he headed out the door.

Everyone met at the park on time. Bantu congratulated Rufus and he shook his hand. Out of no where Bantu knocked him to the floor. He told Rufus that he forgot to mention he gets jumped in. One after another they charged at Rufus. Rufus took all of them out and then they heard a car pull up. A police man ordered all of them to put there hands up and face the wall.