He didn't understand what happens to kids on Rikers Island. He didn't see them get cut or beat up. He didn't hear the COs threaten to whip their asses. And he didn't see Sanchez hang himself around the neck with a bedsheet.
The system wouldn't let him see any of that, or they might not be able to keep him walking on their leash.
I wondered if that judge kept count of how many black and Spanish kids he'd sent away. Did he ever study up on why all the white dudes with paid lawyers never spend a day on Rikers Island? Or maybe the system picked him for a judge because he was
color-blind
.
I know a lot of kids do dumb shit and deserve to be locked up.
I just couldn't figure out how so many kids from the same neighborhoods got
screwed up
and turned
bad
all at the same time.
I signed some legal papers.
And by the time I put down the pen, Mom was holding me. We were hugging each other so tight I don't know how we made it out of the courtroom. But we did. We made it out to the street, down into the subway, and home.