Probation

While waiting on the bus to go back home from the bank I met a young man. He looked like all the boys I went to school with when I was a kid- not that tall, dark, baggy pants. After finding out the hold up with my check, I was in a bit of a better mood. So when this boy told me that I looked nice, I didn't want to claw his eyes out.
I found out in conversation that his boy was 21 and had just gotten out of juvenile detention for possession of marijuana and cocaine. He served 2 years, got his GED, and he now wants to go to art school. He also likes to sing.
I really enjoyed talking to this kid, and I found myself just wanting to give him a hug. And do to occupational habits, I ended up pretty much interviewing him. And he told me about life on Cleveland Avenue, where there are 10-year-old boys that sling crack. He told me about his mom, who doesn't care about him or his younger brothers because she puts all her energy into a man who drinks a lot. He talked about how he and his brothers live with his grandmother, and how he is scared of her dying. He thinks a lot about what would happen if she did, even though she isn't sick- how he would have to get custody of his brothers. He informed me about what life is like on probation.
We chatted until the bus came. I told him that God loved him, because any other Black boy caught with Coke with intent to sell would STILL be in prison. This, he said, he already knew.
I did not catch his name and we did not get on the same bus. I don't know exactly what I was supposed to take away from my chance meeting with him, but I enjoyed talking to him.