When We Ride

The novel opens with a flash-forward. Diego "Benny" Benevides is pinned against a wall, a gun pressed to his temple, as a drug dealer and his crew demand their money. Benny tells the reader his life is about to flash before his eyes, and the narrative rewinds to September of his senior year.

Benny is a seventeen-year-old Mexican American living in a run-down Texas neighborhood with his mother. His best friend, Lawson Pierce, lives across the street and nicknamed him "Benny" when they were eight because his full name had too many syllables. Their bond was forged in third grade when an older kid taunted Benny about his absent father; Lawson said his dad left too, helped Benny up, and punched the bully. At nine, Lawson declared them brothers, saying brothers are not always made by blood. Now seniors, they occupy different worlds: Benny buses tables at a diner and fills out college applications at his mother's insistence, while Lawson sells weed through quick handshakes in the school hallways.

Benny's mother works two housekeeping jobs and has maintained sobriety for years after a period of alcohol addiction. Benny's father left when Benny was eight. No one in their family has attended college, but his mother has been saving since Benny was a child, insisting he apply. She gave him her 1980 Cadillac DeVille, named María Carmen, so he could drive to work, school, and the library. Benny does not drink or smoke because his mother made him promise never to follow her path.

Tensions emerge in October. Lawson persuades Benny to visit his supplier Christina's house, where Christina receives a tense phone call from Trent, a man who appears to be her creditor in the drug trade. The boys' first real rupture comes when Lawson tries to transport a brick of weed in Benny's car. Benny refuses. They do not speak for six days, until Lawson calls: "I need a ride." Lawson expands to a nearby college campus, and when he hands Benny a hundred dollars, Benny hesitates but pockets it for his college fund.

In November, at Lawson's eighteenth birthday party, Benny takes his first hit from a joint. Lying on María Carmen's hood beneath the stars, Lawson confesses he wishes he were Benny and pledges to quit. The next morning he arrives red-eyed, with no memory of the promise. Money weighs on Lawson: His mother, Colleen, tells him she is four hundred dollars behind on rent, and he peels off the bills without hesitation. She does not ask where they came from.

In December, Benny notices the baggies in Lawson's handshakes contain white powder instead of green. Lawson and his girlfriend, Lori, emerge from a bathroom wiping their noses. Lawson argues he only promised to quit weed. On Christmas, Lawson arrives at Benny's house visibly high. Benny's mother demands Lawson leave; Benny refuses, choosing his friend over his mother. They eat at a Chinese restaurant, where Benny's fortune cookie reads, "Salt and sugar look the same"; Lawson's contains no fortune. That night Benny's mother relapses, calling from a bar, slurring. Benny picks her up. Crying, she begs him to be better than she is. The next day, Lawson gives Benny five hundred dollars for college, tucked inside an empty cigarette box.

Benny helps his mother reconnect with her Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) sponsor and begins driving her to meetings. On New Year's Eve, Lawson swallows a random pill at a party; Benny refuses. In January, Lawson's teacher warns he will not pass. Benny proposes a deal: Lawson stays in school and studies; in return, Benny keeps driving. Principal Villalobos tells Benny he ranks twelfth in the senior class but warns him Lawson is a "bad element." Benny also connects with Vanessa, a classmate from his English class, and drinks at a party for the first time.

In February, Christina vanishes, and Trent contacts Lawson directly. Trent forces both boys to strip to check for police wires, then informs Lawson he will sell double the product and places a gun on the coffee table. Benny screams at Lawson to quit, but Lawson argues he is the sole provider for his household. Benny agrees to keep driving under an unspoken "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

That policy conceals a dangerous escalation. Lori reveals Lawson now sells acid, Xanax, and ecstasy on Trent's orders. Their argument erupts into a screaming match in the cafeteria, and Lawson walks away. Two weeks of silence follow until Lawson calls near midnight, beaten bloody by rival dealers who stole his cash and pills. Benny picks him up. Lawson cannot stop dealing because he owes Trent for the stolen inventory.

A late-night traffic stop nearly ends everything. Officers search both boys and the car but find nothing; Lawson reveals afterward that the drugs were hidden in his briefs. In April, Benny's mother presents him with a college acceptance letter, and they celebrate. Benny crosses the street to tell Lawson, who embraces him and says he always knew Benny would make it. Alone at the dried-up lake, Benny vows: no more rides.

He follows through, driving to school without Lawson. Lawson confronts him at lunch. Benny offers to keep helping him study but refuses to drive while Lawson carries drugs. Lawson slaps Benny's tray across the cafeteria and storms out. When Lori breaks up with Lawson via a note, saying she loves him but cannot be with him because of what he does, Lawson spirals. Benny steps between Lawson and a teacher; Lawson punches Benny in the face. Principal Villalobos warns that if Lawson walks out, he will not graduate. Lawson replies, "I was never gonna graduate. I never had a chance," and leaves.

In May, Benny graduates. His mother cheers as his full name is called. Walking back to his seat, he glimpses Lawson by the exit, who gives a subtle nod and vanishes. At the graduation party, Lawson reappears with no baggies in his handshakes. On the back porch, he describes a dream: farming a green field, a wife baking pie, children chasing a dog. He woke sobbing, unsure whether the tears came from happiness or sadness. Benny connects the dream to the ending of Candide by Voltaire, in which characters settle down to cultivate their garden. Lawson apologizes for everything and asks for one last ride home, promising he is not carrying.

Benny drives Lawson home. Inside, Lawson invites him in for video games. Trent and two armed men kick in the door. Trent threatens to shoot Lawson or Benny. Lawson tackles Trent. The gunman pivots toward Lawson, and Benny leaps in front of his brother. A gun fires. The bullet tears through Benny's chest. Trent panics and flees, leaving the front door open so Benny can see his own house across the street. Lawson presses his hands over the wound, sobbing. He asks why Benny took the bullet. Benny replies, "you would have done the same for me." With his final breaths, Benny whispers for Lawson to promise he will do better, get out of this town, and just be. The sentence trails off unfinished. Benny dies.

In the epilogue, the narration shifts to Lawson's voice for the first and only time. He drives west across empty Texas, carrying a duffel bag and the shoe box of cash. He thinks about the dream of the farm and allows himself a tentative "maybe." He hopes to make Benny proud, the way he was always proud of him.