Monster is to act as the lookout for the crew while they’re committing the robbery. This is a particularly vulnerable job, because you are the first one spotted when police or other authorities arrive, meaning that you are more likely to end up getting caught and imprisoned.

Because he acts as the storyteller and protagonist of the novel, the book intends for you to believe Harmon’s innocence and wants you to accept his story. However, his involvement in the crime and other details of his narrative leave doubt. It is possible that he was more complicit in the murder than he wants us to believe. He has a propensity for telling lies, and he certainly wants to convince the jury of his innocence, so in the end, it’s not entirely clear what his role may have actually been.

Walter Dean Myers does an admirable job of making readers guess the true innocence and/or guilt of Steve Harmon throughout this book. Readers want to believe that he is innocent and good as he is the protagonist, but readers are also introduced to the idea that Steve isn't fully truthful early on through a flashback. The flashback has Steve and a friend of his throwing rocks. Steve's throw hits a woman, and Steve lets her tough guy friend believe that Steve's friend threw the rock.

By the end of the novel, readers are still not sure as to exactly how innocent Steve is. He may have been acquitted, but readers are definitely left to think that is because the prosecution just couldn't prove his guilt. The prosecution is attempting to convict Steve of felony murder for his supposed participation in the death of Aguinaldo Nesbitt. Steve's specific role was supposedly being a lookout. His job was to go into the drugstore, check to make sure the coast was clear, and then signal Bobo and King. Steve admits to doing one of those three things. He admits that he walked into the store for some mints and walked out.

Steve states that his role in the robbery was to walk

into a drugstore to look for some mints, and then I walked out. What was wrong with that? I didn't kill Mr. Nesbitt.

The reality, however, is a little different, and despite his non-guilty verdict, Steve never quite convinces anyone that he is completely innocent. He was at the house when they were discussing the idea of robbing somewhere. John King suggested that "bank money is too serious," but maybe they could rob a small store. Steve didn't like the idea and was berated for

hanging out with some people, but when the deal goes down, you won’t be around.

At the trial, Bobo Evans tells the court that they convinced Steve to be the lookout, but when he came out of the store, he didn't make the signal to indicate that no one was inside. When the lawyers press him, Bobo admits that he didn't know what the signal would be. There is some indication the signal could have been Steve just walking out of the store.

Steve Harmon's role in the robbery was to act as the crew's lookout. James King gave Steve the job of entering the drugstore beforehand to make sure that there weren't any police officers or civilians in the store. After checking to make sure that the store was empty, Steve was supposed to give James and Bobo a signal to let them know that the coast was clear. During the trial, both Richard "Bobo" Evans and Osvaldo Cruz testify that Steve Harmon acted as the crew's lookout. However, Bobo testifies that Steve never gave him a signal after leaving the store, and Steve denies even entering the store on the day of the robbery. Although the reader knows that Steve was in the store, his participation is ambiguous and vague. Steve mentions to himself that he was simply looking for mints in the store and was not participating in the robbery.