Street Pharm – Alison van Diepen

“All I had to do was quit the business” (pg. 254,) from the very beginning, Ty Johnson was changing. Every new situation made him reconsider himself, if it was for the worse or the better was his decision. “Street Pharm” by Alison van Diepen, is about Ty Johnson, a teenage drug dealer, brought up into the lifestyle by his father, big time king of the streets, Orlando Johnson. While at the commencement of this book you could presume that Ty was many things, a static character was definitely not one of them.

At the beginning of this book Ty considered himself a practical and no-strings-attached kind of guy, no matter the relation. He would go out of his own way to avoid getting into the business of his clients, “I used some of what I learned in that book (The Art of War) to make up my own personal code. . . 2. Never show weakness/ 3. Rely on number one, no one else.” (Pg. 23.) He put up strict boundaries between himself and everyone but his best friend, Sonny. He didn’t even want to pursue a friendship with Clarissa, his employee. It is likely from the upbringing of his father that caused Ty to think the way he does. Orlando Johnson never tried to shield the dirty parts of his life away from his son, instead choosing to let him embrace it. “She ran a bony hand through her hair. “Don’t have it, I barely got customers anymore. . .”/ “Ain’t my problem.”” (pg. 28.) His indifference with his clients was witnessed and passed on to Ty after Orlando was put in jail. Orlando molded and taught Ty everything he knew about life on the streets, giving him the ability to control his son even from inside the walls of prison.

Ty’s attitude, however, seemed to start changing after he met Alyse, an ordinary, hard working girl at Chancellors High school, who doesn’t take anything from anyone. He had postponed calling the hitman his father wanted him to hire until he gave up on finding another option, when before he probably would have done anything his daddy wanted him to, ““I thought about it, but my instincts told me to hold off. . . Because. . . Because I wanna be there” I lied”” (Pg. 197.) After Ty was shot, it was too dangerous to continue letting Darkman roam around without a plan; Although when Crow’s true nature was discovered, Ty jumped at the chance of another plan, something that didn’t involve killing another on his behalf. Ty also started to be kinder and more open to other people. When Jimmy lost his job and came to Ty for help, Ty hesitated. He didn’t know what to do because his dad has always told him to stay out of the business of clients, but he knew that if Alyse was there she would have helped Jimmy in a heartbeat, regardless if she could actually do it or not. When he was called up by Clarissa’s best friend asking for a favor, instead of turning a blind eye he offered to pay for Clarissa’s hospital bills without any further questions. “It was the first time I thought of it. I could quit.” (Pg. 254,) he was changing the way he thinks about his lifestyle.

Ty ends up fully opening up when Alyse finds out about the truth about him in the hospital and leaves, refusing to talk to Ty any longer. This really seemed to open Ty’s eyes, because, after all, you never know what you had until it’s gone. He starts to help the people around him. When Monfrey got hooked on crack Ty brings him into his place and takes care of him until he was functioning enough to be taken to rehab, which Ty also paid and arranged for. “School wasn’t my thing. But I don’t have a criminal record, and I ain’t on probation. All I’m asking for is a fresh start.” (Pg. 292,) he tries to get his life back on track. Ty left school after he got shot, but after Darkman got locked up he tries to sort himself out and head back. He was trying so hard that when Sonny starts looking for suppliers, Ty didn’t go with him. “If I haven’t been so wrapped up in my own problems, I could’ve convinced him not to risk the deal” (Pg. 273,) Ty had such remorse for trying to fix his own problems while Sonny seemed to be having his own.

Through and through, Ty Johnson was constantly changing, he only needed a push to start rolling. The right or wrong way down the hill was all he needed help with. His personality change, caused by his introduction with Alyse, gave him the opportunity he needed to pull away from his dad and become the individual man he needed to be. With Ty’s consistency and perseverance, he will eventually get to where he wants to be in life, graduated, with a big business just as wants in the future, “But who would I be if I walked away?” (Pg. 254.)