Ain't No Makin' It

Biographical Sketches of the Hallway Hangers and the Brothers in 2006

THE HALLWAY HANGERS

Frankie (pg. 278-291)

RACE/ETHNICITY: White/Irish

RESIDENCE: Living with his wife and son, one block from Clarendon Heights

EDUCATION: High school graduate (through Adjustment Class)

JOB HISTORY: Road crew with the state; union job, full benefits. Previous: City Housing Authority, twelve years; unemployed; restaurant/hotel jobs

DRUGS: Clean now (twenty-two months) through twelve-step program; most recently, addicted to prescription painkillers. Previous: alcohol and drugs

PRISON: Has a record, but no time served

WIFE/GIRLFRIEND: Carla

CHILDREN: Darren, twenty; college dropout

FAMILY*: In contact with mother, brothers, nephew

HEALTH: Heart attack in 2005

Slick (pg. 335-349)

RACE/ETHNICITY: White/Irish

RESIDENCE: Living with his wife and children in a middle-class suburb in a southern state

JOB: Roofing contractor—self-employed since 1995. Previous: roofer, cocaine dealer, brief stint in the marines

DRUGS: Primarily alcohol; now sober

WIFE/GIRLFRIEND: Denise

CHILDREN: Brad; Tyler, fourteen; two daughters, eight and nine

FAMILY: Younger brother is Steve (Hallway Hanger); telephone contact with mother and siblings; made peace with his father

Stoney (pg. 317-327)

RACE/ETHNICITY: White/Italian

RESIDENCE: Living with his wife in a run-down apartment in working-class town about twenty miles from Clarendon Heights

EDUCATION: High school dropout

JOB HISTORY: Part-time musician. Previous: Harley-Davidson store, welding, pizza shops

DRUGS: Beer and marijuana; has “cut back.” Previous: Valium

PRISON: Yes, several stints, most recently for armed robbery

WIFE/GIRLFRIEND: Connie; met in between jail terms (in 1990), married in 1997

KIDS: Two sons: Buddy, twenty-one, and Jamie, eighteen, from a previous relationship

FAMILY: Younger brother lives in household; helps care for his mother-in-law

HEALTH: Suicide attempt in his twenties

Jinx (pg. 292-299)

RACE/ETHNICITY: White/Irish

RESIDENCE: Living with his girlfriend in a housing project near Clarendon Heights

EDUCATION: High school dropout

JOBS: Crew of landscape gardener, earning $12.50/hour. No benefits. Previous: chain automotive warehouse; family-owned “nuts and bolts” warehouse; computer quality control; hotel jobs

DRUGS: Marijuana, alcohol

PRISON: Arrested, but no convictions

WIFE/GIRLFRIEND: Currently living with his girlfriend, older sister of his previous girlfriend, Beth, with whom he stayed for eight years

CHILDREN: Two sons: Davey, twenty, and Jason, twelve

FAMILY: Very involved with brothers, sisters, and their children

Steve (pg. 311-316)

RACE/ETHNICITY: White/Irish

RESIDENCE: Living with his mother in working-class suburb near Clarendon Heights

EDUCATION: High school dropout; steam fireman’s license (suspended)

JOBS: Unemployed; small-time marijuana dealer. Previous: painting, boilerman, roofing, construction, crack dealer

DRUGS: Alcohol, marijuana, various drugs. Previous: heroin

PRISON: Yes, several terms, including attempted murder; in prison most of the 1990s

WIFE/GIRLFRIEND: No

CHILDREN: Two daughters: Shelly, twenty, and Kerry, sixteen

FAMILY: Older brother is Slick (Hallway Hanger); younger brother Curtis tries to help him

Shorty (pg. 300-310)

RACE/ETHNICITY: White/Irish

RESIDENCE: Subsidized apartment near Clarendon Heights

EDUCATION: High school dropout

JOBS: On short-term disability. Previous: construction, carpentry, debt-collecting

DRUGS: Alcohol and prescription drugs

PRISON: Yes; also two terms in a state psychiatric facility

WIFE/GIRLFRIEND: Not currently. Previous: eleven years on/off with mother of his son

CHILDREN: One son, twelve

FAMILY: Parents deceased; contact with some siblings

HEALTH: Back problems since 1990s, from construction work, on partial disability for this

Chris (pg. 328-334)

RACE/ETHNICITY: Biracial (black/white)

RESIDENCE: Prison; previously homeless

EDUCATION: High school dropout

JOB: In prison almost constantly since 1991. When out: sold mobile phones at a local mall; dealt drugs

DRUGS: Yes, many, including heroin, cocaine, and crack

PRISON: Currently incarcerated, one of many terms; thirty offenses

WIFE/GIRLFRIEND: Girlfriend, Colleen, currently estranged

CHILDREN: Hazel, three

FAMILY: Close to sister Kerry, still in contact with mother and other sisters

RACE/ETHNICITY: Black

RESIDENCE: Many, including stints of homelessness

EDUCATION: High school dropout

JOB: Unemployed at time of death; previously drug trafficking, car wash, moving company

DRUGS: Yes, many

WIFE/GIRLFRIEND: Wife, Ginger, deceased (AIDS)

CHILDREN: Two daughters, Natasha and Connie, also deceased (AIDS)

FAMILY: Half-brother of Derek (Brothers); grew up with mother and three siblings

OTHER: Died of AIDS in 1994, following the deaths of the rest of his family. Still mourned by brother Derek

James (pg. 386-395)

RACE/ETHNICITY: Black

RESIDENCE: Living with his wife and children in a middle-class suburb in a nearby state EDUCATION: GED; degree in computers from proprietary school

JOB: Computer help desk at a corporate headquarters, earning $52,000 annually. Previous: computer jobs of varying sorts with various corporations, and a temp agency prior to that

WIFE/GIRLFRIEND: Wife (preschool teacher), married fourteen years

CHILDREN: Two sons, twelve and eight

FAMILY: Two-parent family growing up; father a strong influence but often absent

Mokey (pg. 351-359)

RACE/ETHNICITY: Black

RESIDENCE: Living with his girlfriend and son in Dover Plain (historically Irish quarter of the city)

EDUCATION: High school grad; dropped out of a liberal arts program at a community college

JOB: Night manager at Legal Documents. Previous: employee there, ski instructor out west, various jobs in the service industry

DRUGS: No; stopped drinking with work buddies after his son was born

WIFE/GIRLFRIEND: Girlfriend, Karen, who is white; together for fourteen years, living together for nine

CHILDREN: Son, Rayford, three

FAMILY: Sees mother and younger sisters; younger brother has moved out west

Mike (pg. 370-375)

RACE/ETHNICITY: White; half Portuguese

RESIDENCE: Lives with his girlfriend and her daughters in suburban community twenty miles from Clarendon Heights

EDUCATION: High school graduate; less than one semester of college; real estate license

JOB: Real estate—self-employed. Previous: worked for the post office and a local fire department, and as a bank teller and a security guard

DRUGS: Occasionally drank “heavily” in the 1990s, then quit

WIFE/GIRLFRIEND: Girlfriend, Rosa, who is Latina; together for fourteen years

CHILDREN: Rosa’s two daughters, both teenagers

FAMILY: Employs his uncle

Derek (pg. 396-406)

RACE/ETHNICITY: Black

RESIDENCE: A western city, in a basement apartment in a small house

EDUCATION: High school graduate

JOB: Trainer for Internet firm, at $11.50/hour, with benefits. Previous: customer service and ramp work for several airlines; brief stint in the navy

PRISON: Military brig, after going AWOL from the navy

WIFE/GIRLFRIEND: Divorced from Faith in 1996; not currently in a relationship

CHILDREN: With Faith: Carlton, twenty-two, and Amy, nineteen (who has a three-year-old son); with girlfriend Winnie, sons Cole, five, and Corey, three

FAMILY: Hallway-Hanger Boo-Boo’s half brother; grew up with mother and three other siblings

Juan (pg. 376-385)

RACE/ETHNICITY: African-Caribbean (Dominican)

RESIDENCE: Just bought a house with his fiancée in a working-class town thirty miles from Clarendon Heights

EDUCATION: High school graduate; some community college

JOB: Jim’s Tow, on and off since 1984, as a driver and doing auto-body repair. Interspersed with stints at a fast food restaurant, as a stockboy, and a ramp worker at the airport

DRUGS: Alcohol; four DUI arrests

PRISON: Yes; one-year term in 2004, after his fourth DUI

WIFE/GIRLFRIEND: Fiancée, Brenda

CHILDREN: Five; oldest is seventeen. Juan lives with his fiancée’s children now FAMILY: Was close to his mother, who died in 1994. Still close to his sister

Super (pg. 360-369)

RACE/ETHNICITY: Black

RESIDENCE: Working-class neighborhood in the Clarendon Heights metropolitan area, with sister

EDUCATION: High school graduate; dropped out of community college

JOB: Casual work with a moving company; pay is $11/hour, no benefits. Previous: drug trafficking, occasional construction work (union), and several jobs in retail

DRUGS: Yes, many. Now clean

PRISON: Yes, at least three separate stints

WIFE/GIRLFRIEND: Married once, to the mother of his son; they are now divorced. Several girlfriends before and since, including the mother of his girls

CHILDREN: Three: a son, whom he hasn’t seen in years, and two younger daughters

FAMILY: Several sisters, most of whom are doing well (one a college graduate). Lives with another sister, who is not. Remains in close contact with his mother, who is raising his daughters. Parents are still together; father has worked a union construction job for forty years

RACE/ETHNICITY: African-Caribbean

RESIDENCE: West Coast

EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree

JOB: Reportedly, fitness instructor. Previous: office work in a department store

WIFE/GIRLFRIEND: Reportedly divorced

FAMILY: Cut ties with his family in the 1990s when he moved