I think I understand

I ran into Eugene at the gas station. He was wearing a collared shirt, black tie, and sweater vest- "clean", as the kids would say. I soon realized that Rico and DeMarcus were also there, in the backseat of the SUV that Gene climbed into, and decked out in the same attire. (Occasion unknown). Driving was a man in his 40's or 50's with gold teeth, very dark sunglasses (even though they were completely unnecessary), a broad smile and an almost creepy smoothness about him. Very surprised at the particular combination of kids he had with him, I asked if "these guys were all his". He made some sort of comment about how when he started doing it he did it all the way. They seemed so pleased and proud to be seen with him. Rico and DeMarcus, who had waved at me from the back seat, and even Gene, who had caught my attention at first, wore wide goofy grins. I shook their father's hand and we introduced ourselves, and he dropped some sort of flirty comment before they drove off. Thinking about it afterwards, it occurred to me that if their role models- their fathers , are flashy men mostly concerned with appearance and women (unless of course I was completely misjudging), it's no wonder they have little regard for the merits of getting an education. I think I knew before, but you don't really believe it until you meet dad. I think about my own parents, about the values they modeled, and I wonder how my brother and I would have turned out without that.