Lil J is the street name for Jeremy Dance, the main character of the novel. Lil J has had a difficult life. Lil J has been essentially abandoned by his father and lives with an alcoholic mother. From the time Lil J was a young child, he had to take responsibility for his mother, attempting to hide the disgrace of her alcoholism from the world. Due to this, Lil J has found it difficult to keep his grades up and fails to graduate with his class.
Lil J allows the hardships of his life to dictate his behaviors. When Lil J is unable to use his own compositions in a school rap group, he quits and gets high. When Lil J learns he will not graduate with his class, he quits and goes to Texas where he is arrested for trying to rob a convenience store. When Lil J has a son and his girlfriend's mother will not let him see the child, Lil J sits back and allows his child to be kept from him.
Lil J is a young man who is filled with rage due to all the things he cannot control. However, when he is involved in a drug deal gone wrong and a cop is shot, Lil J finds himself at the end of his rope. Lil J does not want to go to jail, so he flees the police. However, Lil J knows he cannot run forever. Then Lil J meets a man who gives him the opportunity to change one thing in his life. Lil J chooses to change the drug deal. For this reason, another man goes down for the crime and Lil J is given a second chance.
