“I just knew we were going to have to rumble” – Bon Air Week 2

I was way less nervous on the bus this week. Getting into the actual facility and searched took a little longer this time, so I started getting nervous. Nothing was actually wrong, but my mind started racing. When we walked into the meeting room, I immediately noticed that one of the boys was missing. I was sad and curious, but also slightly received because we were missing two girls, but had V, so this would make it an equal 5 and 5. It turned out that it was my partner, Alexander, who was missing.

I paired with Abigail’s partner for the small activities. I loved him. He was so funny and talkative and he reminded me a lot of my younger cousin. This week felt a lot different to me. It felt a lot more like just talking to someone. Last week, it felt like everything shocked me and I didn’t really know how to react to anything. This week I was a lot more at ease and felt like I had more of a handle on how to react to everything.

Things that really stood out tome from his stories:

• He referred to people from home as his hood
• People at his school wear shirts to support his release
• He doesn’t identify with being part of his family, the hood is his family
• Violence is a form of play and socializing, it is expected- he compared a “rumble” with guns and knives to like rough housing with siblings
• He has huge hopes for the future