I mainly agree with you on this. That was a very hard decision, but it was for the better of almost everyone. Bryon got another drug dealer off the street, which is a positive, but also lost his ‘brother.’ Even as Bryon did not want to call the cops on Mark, he wanted no LSD dealer to be a friend of his. It was a very hard decision, for as Bryon recalled, "The cop jerked Mark around and shoved him out the door. Suddenly it was deadly quite–just the distant siren and mom's quiet sobbing. I went into the bathroom and threw up. I was sick" (149).I do agree with Bryon's decision, to a degree as did you Ramneet. I would definitely have talked to Mark first, and if he didn't stop, then I would call the cops, not before. I believe in a second chance for redemption.
I do wonder a few things though. As you said, Bryon put 2 and 2 together, the pills and the money, to find that Mark was a 'pusher' and sold drugs. Even though money was scarce, I’m surprised that Bryon never asked, or wondered more than a little, about where all the money Mark was bringing in came from. Bryon supposed it was from hustling, or some other such activity, but as 'brothers' I’m surprised Bryon didn't ask. It was a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy with Bryon's mom (about where the money was coming form) but as a brother, I’m surprised he didn't find out, for they shared so much time together.
This idea, which you touched on briefly, I believe, could be summed up by one world. Impermanence. How one day a person may be as a brother to you, and the next a criminal to be despised, is just life. Impermanence is discussed in Buddhism, for they speak of how nothing will always be the same, and that everything is in constant influx. As they say in Buddhism, "this world there is nothing that is fixed and permanent. Every thing is subject to change and alteration" (Khin). This fact of impermanence can only be dealt with my living in the moment, and remembering that at anytime things may change, as Bryon found out.
Khin, Sayagyi. "Meditating on Anicca or Impermanence." Hinduwebsite. Hinduwebsite.com, 2010. Web. 02 Jan. 2012. <http://www.hinduwebsite.com/buddhism/essays/aniccainmeditation.asp>.
