Bon Air Week Four

When we arrived at Bon Air this week, we were not sure if we were even going to be able to see the boys. They were on lockdown because there had been a fight. I was hardly surprised as my partner had told me that around Halloween time, fights usually break out. Luckily Beverly came back promptly and told us that activities would resume as normal. We exchanged our ID’s for volunteer tags, we got body scanned by the guard, and entered as usual. When we went to the supply closet I found I had memorized the combination for the lock to the supply cabinet after being told it only once last week. I could not remember the combination to my locker, which I had for three years of high school. This disparity was proof of how important Bon Air has come to be to me. We went into room E100 and instead of a long table with chairs, we sank down in fluffy grey and white chairs, cheetah beanbags, and a comfy teal couch. However, due to post-lockdown procedures, we waited 20-30 minutes until we were greeted by the smiling faces of the boys. When they finally arrived, I was surprised and a little upset to not see my partner, but the boys informed me that my partner had gotten his wisdom teeth pulled that day and would not be joining us. Getting wisdom teeth pulled is such a common thing among teens and my friends that it really just reminded me how much we share in common with these boys who the world views as prisoners and “bad kids”. When they came we got right down to business. We all shared what we did this halloween. Among the boys, a few of them dressed up as mental patients. They seemed to think this was really funny, which was a little uncomfortable for all of us girls. What surprised me more was that one of the workers dressed up as a “crack whore”. I felt like that wasn’t setting a good example for the boys at all, and that honestly really appalled me. This session was a short one. Although there were definitely some uncomfortable moments, tonight was another good week with the boys.