The next day, Trevor left the hotel before noon and saw Deon waiting for him outside. Unsure what his intentions were, Trevor remained reserved.
"I'm sorry, yo," Deon said.
Trevor wasn't sure if he even wanted to deal with this kid, but ever since Deon came into his life, it had taken his mind off Ashley, which was a good thing for him.
"Apology accepted. I'm sorry too."
"So you're not going to leave me?"
"You sound like a needy girlfriend," Trevor said. "Don't worry, life is all about second chances... or in your case, well, I've lost count."
"Thanks. So what do I have to do?" Deon asked humbly.
"First of all, I'm glad you came back. You made the right decision. From here on out, life is about making a series of right decisions, and you started with one today. That doesn't mean you will always make the right decision, or that you will even know what the right decision is, but every decision you make should be made with this underlining principle. Before making a decision, ask yourself, 'will this make my life better or worse?'"
"Sometimes it's not obvious, or my emotions get in the way."
"That's fine. We learn from our mistakes. You may have heard the saying, 'I never lose, I either win or learn'.
"Yo, I like that, B. I never heard that before."
"I don't want you to be afraid to fail, or afraid to take chances. But some lessons can be learned without suffering defeat. And when you're making your decisions to make your life better, take a moment to think. Sometimes just stopping to think for a split second can be all the time you need. A split second could mean the difference between ending up dead or in jail, or avoiding a hazardous situation altogether."
"Word."
"As with anything, thinking is a muscle and you get better at it with practice. You will eventually be able to maintain a level head in chaotic situations, think multiple steps ahead, and determine what the right course of action is in any situation."
"It's like chess, yo. That's cool. Wu-tang."
"Look. I'm sorry for being so candid, I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings. I felt it was the only way to get through to you. I will always keep it one hundred with you, okay?"
"Aight."
"And if we're being honest, you have a lot of work to do, and that's okay. We're all a work in progress, and we don't all start at the same place in life. But that doesn't mean you cannot achieve excellence or become the person you want to be."
"I know, I messed up."
Trevor let out a deep breath in frustration.
"So what are you going to do?" Deon asked.
"With you, I don't know yet. About the car. I'm going to call the police."
"Call the police?" Deon repeated, almost dumbfounded with the idea. "What will the police do?"
"You have to quit thinking like some street-level thug. This is a legal matter. A simple situation of stolen property. We have laws that protect us from thieves, you know?
"Despite what you might think, the police are here to serve and protect citizens from thugs stealing your things. Or in this case, my things."
"Once again, I'm sorry, Trev."
Trevor took a step toward Deon and said, "Deon, I'm going to ask you something and I expect a straight answer."
"Okay."
"Are you hustling me?"
"No, I swear I'm not hustling you."
"Why does it feel like I'm being hustled?"
"Because you don't trust me. You never did. You're just like everyone else. You look down on me like I'm beneath you, like I'm trash. You think of me as some thug kid, a charity case. But I'm much more than that," Deon said, raising his voice. He had a short fuse and wasn't the best at wrangling his emotions. Getting heated, his anger continued to escalate. "What makes it worse is that you act all nice to my face, but the second something goes wrong, you blame me. Well guess what? I'm going to be richer than you one day."
Not wanting to fuel Deon's anger, Trevor chose to take the high road. He just looked and Deon and smiled. "That's that fire," he said. "You need that. I used to have that same chip on my shoulder. Use it to drive you."
Trevor extended his hand. Deon looked confused, but eventually reached out and shook it.
"So tell me your plan," Trevor asked. "How are you going to be richer than me? And I'm not sure if you're aware, but I'm pretty damn rich." They both laughed off the tension.
Trevor's approach thus far hadn't been working. Evidently, rewriting a person's behaviour through mentorship alone was proving to be more difficult than he initially thought. Whether through a lifetime of neglect, poverty, unfortunate circumstances, and people out to get him, Deon was seemingly stuck in a bad pattern of thinking, which was stunting his development.
Not one to accept defeat, Trevor wasn't ready to give up on Deon just yet. He wanted to try a new approach. Looking around at Deon's situation, Trevor recognized how such a bad environment can affect a person's psyche and confidence. Living in the neighbourhood also put Deon in close proximity to his friends, which tended to have a negative influence on him. Trevor knew first hand that being surrounded with the wrong types of people can lead to a person's downfall and be a detriment to one's growth.
Manufactured in that very moment, Trevor had a plan. It wasn't scalable, but he didn't care. He was curious about carrying it out as a sociologic experiment. He wondered if someone from poverty could be set on the right path given the right amount of money and mentorship. Trevor had been providing Deon with mentorship, but he hadn't really spent any money on him. Eager to set his plan into motion, Trevor wanted to find out what it would take to change Deon's life.