Posted by Cheetah from ? (64.79.4.3) on Thursday, March 21, 2002 at 8:27AM :
In Reply to: Re: who's this guy? posted by Julia from bp196-103.kellogg.northwestern.edu (129.105.196.103) on Thursday, March 21, 2002 at 1:43AM :
The guy in the first photo is Bradley. Grew up in the ghetto in Seattle. Mom was a druggie, had two younger sisters he cared a lot about. Put up with the mother's boyfriends and stuck around to protect his sisters...he knew what the boyfriends were like.
He was finally busted and sent up when he was fifteen. He was being pounded into a corner by the latest boyfriend when he pulled his knife, wheeled and stabbed the guy in the mouth.
He'd been in prison for a year when he came to my Group Home. He was a noble kid...made you respect him easily...and gave respect back if you behaved yourself, and I always did with him.
One day on the island as he and I were returning from a long hike down to the sea he said life on the island was too much work to expend much energy or breath in "Jive" talk...that sort of nonsensical bragging and blowing smoke.
Fast Eddy made the mistake of thinking Bradley was a white boy all the way...from the subrubs like he was. He kept annoying Bradley the first few days, probably because he wanted to be his friend and didn't know how to do it. On the tenth day Bradley gave him a solid kick to the ribs. That forced me to have to return to the city with Eddy for X rays. Bruised ribs...was all. That gave me the excuse to get us all bacon, eggs and BUTTER and COFFEE for a real treat.
The photo shows us on the day we returned getting ready for the "Egg and Bacon Toss"...but that's another story. By the time the island was over Bradley was 18 and technically couldn't get any more support from the State. I told them all they were welcome to stay but all of them were restless to get on with life. There were many fine young men who came through there who had plenty of abilities and talent...they'd just never been valued by anybody and by the time the State gave them to me...that same State had screwed with them some till they didn't want them either.
There but for fortune...
The guy in the red shorts in the other picture is yoors trooly.
-- Cheetah
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