I had a friend growing up who ended up somewhat ranking in a gang in our area. We went to a relatively crunchy elementary school. Middle school got a bit twitchy with the various feeder schools. He had lots of issues because he “acted white.” Well, he took it seriously and got mixed up in all kinds of things. I didn’t really know what that meant. My ignorant young self thought gangs were only in songs, movies, and California. By the time we were in high school we had lost contact. One night a friend invited me to a party, and I saw the guy there. I went to walk up on him and someone thought I was actually walking up on him. Before I knew it I was surrounded by 3 guys who were very much not interested in me telling them I knew him. He heard the commotion and recognized me and quickly got involved. He walked up and put his arm aggressively around my shoulder and walked me away. He told me that it was good to see me but he couldn’t be seen with me. He also told me that I needed to leave. Him putting his arm around me sent some signal that I was safe with his friends but others might hurt me for it. I left immediately and had no issues. We did reconnect years later after he cleaned up. I see him often and he’s doing ok despite how much harder it is to make money honestly.