2nd Week of Bon Air

I was looking forward to this visit to Bon Air. We hadn’t been in over two weeks and talking about it so much over fall break had me anxious to get back there.

When we first arrived, we had to get the snacks. Outside the snack room, there was a boy in a small cell with only one small window. He had his head pressed up against the glass and seemed incredibly upset. When the guard opened the door, the boy came out in handcuffs, his feet tied and in an orange jumpsuit. This really caught me off guard because all of the boys we work with seem so free. It really made me realize where we were.

When the boys arrived, Jordan had a pretty severe black eye. When I asked Trenton about it on our one-on-one talk, he said that Jordan had been bad mouthing a boy in the lunch line. The boy ended up beating Jordan with a lunch tray and the guards had to break it up. Supposedly, Jordan was pretty badly beat up. I was taken aback. I let Trenton know that I really want him to start looking after Jordan. He’s just so young.

Talking with Trenton went a lot better than the first time. I was able to bring things up that we had talked about the last time and the conversation was far more fluid. Trenton was very keen to tell me about his plans going home and drinking. He was excited to get drunk with his friends. He had to explain that some of his friends would have to come in through the window because his mom doesn’t approve of them. It did not seem to affect him that he could be getting in trouble post-juvie. We talked a lot about school, as well.  He talked about how he never really went to school. The only time he would go would be on Fridays so that he could participate in the football games. It seemed that football was a motivator for him even if school was not.

Something that really made me upset was when Trenton talked about the idea of confinement. He said that it really makes him upset how he notices the locked doors around him. He made it a point that he will take the door off its hinges when he gets home. It made me upset that his life inside juvie will forever influence his personal life.

At the end of the meeting, Professor Dolson left the library to look for a guard because there wasn’t one with us. During which, Trenton started taunting Eric about his poor life back home. Eric was obviously upset and angry with Trenton. I was honestly scared that Eric would throw a punch. I hope that they resolve their problems peacefully because it breaks my heart to think about one of the boys getting hurt.