CHICAGO — For two years, William James and Keno Glass would talk daily about how they were going to make it out of Chicago.
James would become a star quarterback at a big-time university, Glass would rap his way to the top of the charts.
As freshmen and sophomores at Senn High School, the two were inseparable. James was the starting QB, Glass the No. 1 running back. In basketball, James started at center, Glass at point guard.
"And he was trying to book some shows, and I would tell him about the football camps I was going to go to," James said. "It wasn't about who was going to make it first, it was about who was going to make it."
Two years since their last conversation on April 14, 2014, James is still living his dreams. The Avalon Park resident and Morgan Park High School graduate next month is leaving for the Air Force's prep school, where he'll stay for a year before enrolling in the main academy and join its football program.
At Air Force, James, 19, wants to wear uniform No. 2 in honor of Glass, who was killed on April 15, 2014, when someone opened fire from a passing car in the 7600 block of North Ashland Avenue, police said. The 16-year-old, whose rap nickname was Kay Pee Lashore, was returning from his friend's amateur recording studio in West Rogers Park when he was shot.
"I got the call that morning, and I know it's something that you never can fully get over," James said.
James rarely talks about his best friend's death because, he said, "I don't think people really care."
"There are so many stories like this in Chicago," he said. "There are so many people dying, they just ignore it. Chicago has gotten to the point where people just think it's normal."
Glass' death fueled James' drive to get out of Chicago, even as he attended three high schools and played for eight head football coaches during his prep career. His stops included two years at Senn, then a season at Hales Franciscan and finally a senior pit stop at Morgan Park.
James' dad, Joseph Jones, said he told his son after Glass died that "you can't get so wrapped up in his death that you forget to live."
"He let [Glass] be the motivation for what he needed to do," Jones, who assembles engines at the Ford plant on Torrence Avenue in Hegewisch, said of his son.
When James first met Morgan Park football coach Terry Atkins the summer before his senior year, he gave Atkins a firm handshake, told him he was going to be the Mustangs' starting quarterback and he would win "lots" of games for the program.
That year, James passed for 947 yards, ran for another 1,008 yards and led Morgan Park to a 7-5 record, including a 5-0 conference mark.
"One of the most motivated high school kids I've ever met," Atkins said. "And he was determined to get out of here."
Atkins said James sent a thousand emails to college football coaches across the country in hopes of being recruited. James said the number of emails was "several thousand." The countless hours of effort paid off as more than 10 schools wanted his services, including Air Force, Army, Valparaiso, Mississippi Valley State, Alabama State and Florida A&M.
"Chicago has a lot of kids that love football but they don't get an opportunity to show their skills because of lack of resources," James said. "I just kept grinding, grinding, grinding because I wasn't going to let anyone tell me that I couldn't play Division I football."
He chose Army but decided to leave West Point after less than a year to attend Air Force. He's entering Air Force's prep school, which was confirmed by one of the school's sports information directors, Troy Garnhart, in part to not lose a year of athletic eligibility. The prep school also will help prepare James for the academic rigors of the academy, he said.
James is thrilled to leave for the crisp, clean air of Colorado, where he also "won't have to worry about getting shot."
"It's going to be a breath of fresh air to not have to look over your back every minute," he said.
And when he does finally put on an Air Force uniform on gameday, James said, he knows Glass will be there with him.
"I'm going to always be playing with him because he's always watching me," James said.
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