Character Analysis
We have mixed feelings about Dread. Why? For one thing, he's a drug dealer who kills rival gang members for a living. Plus he willingly convinces young kids to be part of his gang. It's pretty easy to write him off as just another gangster at first—but then there's the fact that he pays for Shorty's education and saves the kid's life. Oh.
Sure, you could say he only shells out the moolah for school so Shorty and his family will be indebted to him, and you'd probably be at least partially right. Yet we can't get past Dread saving Shorty and dying in the process. He doesn't have any reason to do this—nothing to gain and everything to lose. In this way, the book makes sure we know that Dread isn't all bad. While he does some stuff that's definitely not above board, he also looks out for the guys in the Site. For many of them, Dread is the only guy who gives them food or helps them out.
Check out what Shorty says about the guy: "He sold drugs, but he didn't tolerate crime. He didn't let anyone steal, or commit murder for no reason. It was bad under Dread, but it was good at the same time" (7.132). It might sound bonkers to us, but Manman can respect a drug-dealing gangster. That's why she's willing to send her kids to work for him in exchange for him sending them to school.