Aurora, Illinois

21

Julius didn't make it to Mexico but he wasn't home either. He was detoxing at St. Bethany's in Naperville, one town over from Aurora. In retrospect, it probably wasn't a good idea to combine leaving the country and doing a metric shit ton of drugs on the same weekend. But he was young.

His dad told him that there were some cops here to see him and he had better have an explanation for them.

"Oh sure Dad," he thought. "Lemme just explain that I wanted a little spending cash so instead of getting a paper route, I decided to hawk speed. Oh and sometimes, for a little fun, I would use that drug money on whores. As you do."

"Dad, couldn't we get a lawyer? Don't I have the right to a lawyer?" asked Julius.

His dad was fuming. "A lawyer? A lawyer? Do you think I'm made of money? No way, Jose."

This was a pretty constant theme with his dad. His mom often criticized him for trying to save money in ways that ended up costing the family more down the road. But he wouldn't be reasonable today. That was clear.

"Okay, okay. What if I just stay quiet? I'll let 'em ask whatever they want, but I won't answer anything unless I'm sure it can't hurt me," said Julius. He was surprisingly cogent for someone coming off a bender.

"I don't know what to do with you. You're on your own, kid."

Two cops, one white and one black, came in. Julius was in his gown, lying in his hospital bed.

The black cop started, "Your name is Julius Charles?"

At first, Julius tried to stare him down. But then he just looked down and shrugged.

The white cop said, "So your name isn't Julius Charles?"

Shrug.

The black cop said, "You know, we talked to your high school principal. He said use of adderall has gone up by 55 percent since you started going there. Do you know why that might be?"

The white cop said, "Julius, you're mixed up in all of this - the drugs, the prostitution, and the murder. If you cooperate, we can work with you. We can send you to an alternative school or something. It'll be like nothing ever happened. But if you don't. . ."

Julius couldn't believe it. These were the good guys?! He seethed, "I didn't kill anyone. That girl Gail was murdered to send a message. Someone wanted to lead you right to my door."

The black cop asked, "We know she was a sex worker. Look, we can protect you, but we need some answers."

Now his eyes were welling with tears. "I've already said too much. Can't you see I'm sick? I'm in the damn hospital."

The white cop tried something. "I remember being a teenager. I hated it. What I wanted was to get away and to get a girl. We're all guys here. We can understand lowering your standards a bit to get the job done. Is that what happened?"

Julius wiped his eyes and whispered, "I was this gross, untouchable virgin, okay. Once I could pay for it, everything changed. They wanted to do everything I wanted to do. They'd call me 'Boss.' Like I know it's wrong and illegal, but it was so nice."