Ghost

“He was shooting at us! My dad! My dad was actually shooting…at…US! His wife and his boy!”

In Chapter 1, Castle relives the night when his father chased him and his mother down the hall with a pistol. That moment is when he believes he learned how to run—as he tried to escape from a man he loved, and a man who was supposed to be taking care of him. 

“Running ain’t nothing I ever had to practice. It’s just something I knew how to do.”

The memory of his father shooting at them is Castle’s first memory of running. From that moment, he has few memories of times when he hasn’t feel like he was running from something. He isn’t always sure what he is trying to escape, but there is a constant pressure in him to move faster and to put distance between himself and his problems. 

“I always had this feeling that if I could just get on, I’d be the next LeBron. But I never wanted to be the next…whoever the most famous runner is.”

Although Castle is confused and insecure about his neighborhood, he does not have low self-esteem. He believes that he can excel at any sport in which someone will give him a chance. However, when Coach later asks him why he didn’t try out for the basketball team, Castle makes excuses as to why he couldn’t attend. He believes in himself, but he also avoids many situations in which he might be able to succeed.