HOW It went down

In the aftermath of a neighborhood shooting, members of the community strive to understand what happened and how to move forward. Who was Tariq Johnson? A brother, gang member, joker, a respectful kid buying milk for his mother? Everyone, including Tariq's closest friends and family are forced to question everything they know about him and how the shooting went down. 

This story follows multiple characters over a couple weeks after Tariq is killed. Told in short snippets, each character is clearly delineated in style, speech, and personality. Once I got to know them, I never had any trouble remembering who's perspective I was reading from. Further, the multiple perspectives are part of the beauty of the storytelling. Every new detail serves to flush out a character that we never even hear speak. It also illuminates just how many unique voices a community has and how differently people read situations. At times I was screaming for a neutral party to wade through all the differing stories, but then I realized that there is no such thing as a neutral party. Though some things were fact, every person had a different interpretation. This was an incredible read.