Still Can't See Nothin' Comin' Pages 196-261

Summary:
Wanting to get high and have relations with girls Jim, Philly and Jeremy came up with the idea to invite three girls over for alcohol and drugs. The girls were already chosen and the liquor was already brought, the only thing that was needed was the drugs. Jim was asking everyone for drugs and the only person on campus who had any was a black drug dealer named Tony. The rumor was that Tony broke kid’s ribs because he was late on the drug payments. Knowing that he didn’t have the money, Jim asked Jeremy if he could negotiate with Tony so that the money could be paid tomorrow. Philly and Jeremy was waiting at Sunshine (Charlie’s store) when Tony arrived, Philly was no where in site. Upset that they didn’t have the money; Tony began to beat up Philly and Jim. Philly then rose and called Tony a Niger which made Tony upset and he placed a gun to Philly’s head. Before he could pull the trigger Jeremy showed up with his gun. Afraid that Jeremy would shoot, Tony dropped his gun and Philly robbed him for all he had. The drugs, money, guns and sneakers he had on. Philly, Jeremy and Jim proceeded to go back to Philly’s house with the guns still in their hands when Charlie walked to the door and seen them. This changed the relationship between Charlie and Philly.

Once the boys arrived at Philly’s house they immediately started drinking and experimenting with the drugs they had stolen. Philly had taken to many drugs at once and was too high to even stand. The girls rung the doorbell and Jim answered. It did not take long before all of them were high. The boys and the girls began having relations at this time. Jim said he felt ashamed that he lost his virginity to a total stranger rather than the love of his life Leslie. In the morning when the girl left, Jim and Jeremy began talking about taking a trip to the ocean. The only problem was that they were broke. Then the idea of robbing someplace popped into their head. Before Jim would rob any bank or convince store he decided to visits his brother. That after noon he broke into his house and immediately went for the bar. Jim does not know why he went into his sister’s room but he did and the first thing that caught his eye was her diary.

Quotation:

" I still can't see nothin' comin "( Marshall 236)

Reflection:

Jeremy was the one who spoke this line after he and Jim had the discussion about going to the ocean. Jeremy had loved Mandy tremendously and when she died he explained that a little bit of him died with her. He said that no matter how much he tried he just ran into bad things and it was because he did not care.

I think that Marshall put this quote as the title because it causes you to think. No matter how much you may try and plan out your life anything can happen in a blink of an eye. Life was going great for Mandy until she had began to be sexually harassed. The love shared between Mandy, Jim, and Billy was unbreakable until Jim began to become and alcoholic. With this quote Marshall is basically saying to live your life to its potential because you never know what crazy thing might happened next. That you can not control what’s going to happen in the future but you can control what is happening in the present.