According to the text, Wes (the narrator) spent his early childhood years in a home located on the border of Maryland and Washington, DC. He lived there with his parents and sisters, Nikki and Shani, until the untimely death of his father.

After Wes's father died, the rest of the family moved to the Bronx to live with Wes's maternal grandparents. Wes's grandparents were originally from Jamaica.

In the Bronx, Wes attended an affluent private school called the Riverdale Country School. It was the same school John F. Kennedy attended as a child.

The ambiance of the school differed from that of Wes's Bronx neighborhood. Riverdale was considered a school for affluent white students. Meanwhile, in the Bronx, Wes was exposed to the varied cultures of immigrants from Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and Asia.

It wasn't long after Wes began school at Riverdale that he experienced difficulties. Eventually, Wes was put on academic and disciplinary probation due to his poor grades and behavioral issues.

According to Wes, his mother became so frustrated that she enrolled him in a military school. So, Wes again found himself in a different environment, this time at the Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania. This school is less than 30 minutes outside of Philadelphia. However, it was a far cry from his Bronx neighborhood.

In his young adult years, Wes attended Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He also lived for a short time in South Africa for a study abroad program and later graduated from Oxford University (in the United Kingdom) with a master's degree in international relations.

After graduation, Wes served for a time in the military in Afghanistan. Upon his return, he worked at the White House in Washington, DC, and on Wall Street in New York City. So, as can be seen, Wes lived in a number of cities and neighborhoods in the United States and abroad as he matured from childhood to adulthood.