Same boys, different names

As I sat in class today and listened to the professor lecture about building a case statement, I almost cried. My case statement is this: Last summer, eight of the most incredibly difficult young men to reach showed up every day to sit in a hot room without air conditioning, for ten dollars an hour; except now most are sitting in cells, one with a one-million dollar bail, awaiting trials. Are they thinking, “But Talia said she was going to raise the money.” I miss telling Black to be on time and asking Vince to be nice to his girlfriends. I miss telling them not to pick on AJ: “Stop calling him names.” He was the youngest. I miss Jason saying, “Yes, sir.” We could have rescued them, but we left them deserted. So now I think about the next same group of boys, just different names, waiting for someone to rescue them. Or do I just walk away because my heart can’t fail another group of boys?