Last Chance in Texas: The Redemption of Criminal Youth

In the next session, Ronnie finishes his life story. He talks about his abuse toward his younger brother, even though his Uncle Adam tried to intervene and instill some family loyalty. The author remarks:

A ‘not-caring attitude’ is about as good a definition of alienated, angry depression as any. Add righteousness to ‘not caring’—’Nobody cared about me; why should I care about anyone else?’—and you get the classroom bully Ronnie was at ten (69).

When Easter break rolled around, Ronnie’s uncle delivered the boys to their mother’s house in Amarillo. The place was a mess, but Marina and her boyfriend, Jimmie, welcomed them. Although Marina worked as a nurse’s aide, she still used cocaine, and Jimmie was a drug dealer. The boys initially enjoyed their stay. When Adam returned the following week to pick them up, Marina insisted on keeping the boys with her. Unfortunately, “‘It didn’t turn out to be the way I thought it would,’ Ronnie informs the group in his characteristically understated way. ‘She wasn’t there to see us grow up and she didn’t know what to do. She was distant. She was weird, real weird’” (76).

Still, Ronnie enjoyed having freedom.