Charlie:
Thanks for your response. As much respect as I have for you as both a person and as an author, I always especially appreciate such a response.
Yes, Charlie, this story is about the kids and what our present day system does to them. I was Jon in this story, guilty, at a young age of his crime, only my offense occurred in the 1950s rather than today. If I had committed it in 2003, I would have likely been given a mandatory sentence to an adult prison. Although, there have been things that Ive done since, of which Im not proud, how much worse might I have turned out if Id been sentenced to prison and had been raped and tortured- and the much of the torture which Ive described in this story comes from reports which Ive received from people who have either been in prison or have worked in prisons.
Terry in the story was also as I described him. He was the class president. He had never done anything similar. He shocked me that night when he asked me to let him go along. The last I heard he was a highly successful architect, owned his own firm, and was a deacon in his church. Hes probably a millionaire by now. What if, for one youthful transgression, hed been sentenced to prison? How would he have turned out, after being raped in prison? The kid in the picture, which Ive alluded to be that of Terry, reminds me of him. I doubt seriously that Terry would have made it through prison without having been assaulted.
We spent the night it the Fort Worth city jail. The cops scared the hell out of us, then released us to our parents the next day, which, ironically, was Christmas Eve. Records of our arrest were expunged. Realizing how lucky I was, I sympathize with youthful offenders. I hope Terry does, too. Certainly, some of them could not be safely released into society, but placing them in adult prisons is not the answer.
I was a victim of a crime of robbery, assault, burglary, kidnapping, and car theft in 2000; so I dont have much sympathy for criminals. It is better for society that many of them are in prison. The three, who attacked me, are serving prison sentences in Oregon. Two should be released next year, but the one who struck me over the head with a steel bar will be there for several years yet. Even in his case, however, the sentence probably wasnt equitable. He was twenty-one years old and strongly influenced by the leader, a thirty-six year old. Because hes the one who wielded the bar, he received an eighty month sentence, whereas the person who told him to do it, will be released after about four years. Actually, it never went to trial. They all accepted plea agreements.
At least, they were all adults. There was an article in the paper here in Oregon about a sixteen year-old boy who had received a seventy month mandatory sentence (means no time off for good behavior-hell have to serve the entire seventy months) for getting his fourteen year-old girl friend pregnant. Neither the girl or her mother wanted him prosecuted, but he went to prison, anyway. If he had been a few months closer to her in age, it wouldnt have been a crime. Those few months, even though he was underage himself, cost him seventy months in prison. Wheres the justice in his case? Harris in the story was modeled after him.
Although the prisons in Oregon are probably better than those in Texas, where the conditions are deplorable, one of my correspondents, who entered a California prison at a young age was raped there. His prison experience has caused him unimaginable torment.
I plan to re-write this story. I know much more now that I did before I started it, and there are many things that I would like to change. Ill complete it as Ive begun it, however, because I feel an obligation to those who have read the first parts; besides, its the first long story (beyond about 20 pages) that Ive written, so, its good practice. What youre getting here however, is a rough draft of the eventual story. Perhaps I should have completed it first before posting it, but Ive gained much from some of the people who have written me about this story.
