Gantos remembers two initial things about St. Croix: the prominent drug culture and the erupting racial tension on the island. First, he secures a job making shipping crates at the place where his father works; this is where he meets a drug smuggler, Rik. Rik commissions Gantos to create a large shipping crate with hidden panels. Next, Gantos decides that he might be able to use the racial tension on the island to establish himself as a field reporter. In this endeavor, he walks into the Black Revolutionary Headquarters, requesting an interview. There, the men challenge him to shoot a white man, which Gantos refuses to do. The men mock his commitment, saying “[d]on’t be coming in here as if you can play with the big boys” (64), and a humbled Gantos leaves. These two events lead to Gantos accepting a proposal from Rik: to join a sailor, Hamilton, on a hash-smuggling voyage north, to New York City. Gantos sees this as an opportunity for adventure and to escape the violence on St. Croix, so he takes the job.