Marcus Goode created a posse in junior high, and succeeded by the time he embarked in the seventh grade. Student Nate Wright used to be a part of it, but he eventually defected, causing Goode to despise him. At one point, Marcus began a trend with sneakers. Appalled, Nate made an attempt to replace Marcus as P.S. 38's trendsetter. However, Marcus discovered this, he crushed Nate's sombrero, and beat Nate up for it. Teddy Ortiz and Francis Pope witnessed this and apparently found the letdown appealing.