The End of the Group

This flow traces the Burger Boyz from shared hope to helplessness after Robert DeShaun Peace’s murder.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

The Original Promise

Boys at the Table Friendship The Burger Boyz study, train, eat, and imagine adult lives together at 34 Smith Street. Robert’s role Robert DeShaun Peace organizes knowledge and confidence, making himself the group’s intellectual and emotional center. Shared future They believe education and discipline will make their difficult beginnings temporary.

The Last Venture

Hope Under Pressure Collective investment The friends commit money and trust to Robert’s large marijuana operation, hoping to buy freedom from precarious work. Unequal participation Robert does most of the dangerous labor while the others offer partial support and warnings. Emotional bind Their reluctance is not indifference. They fear that refusing Robert means abandoning the man who once carried them toward college.

The Backyard Mourning

Brotherhood After Death Exclusion Jackie Peace asks the Burger Boyz not to attend Robert’s funeral because she wants answers and cannot bear their presence in the immediate grief. Private ritual They gather at 34 Smith Street, clean the blood from the basement, and mourn with a separate ceremony. Permanent absence The group’s shared language survives, but its center is gone. Their friendship becomes a record of what Robert carried for them.

1994 to 1998

spring 2011

May 19, 2011 funeral day