COMING BACK FROM LUNCH
I could hear the cuffs clicking into place as a I drove away.
I don't know what the kid had done, but there he was being handcuffed by a uniformed officer in broad daylight as a group of half a dozen teenagers looked on.
I sat at the four way stop longer than I probably should have been because eventually someone honked. From where the sound came from it too far away to be directly pointed at me but I got the message, "move it along, nothing more to see here." But there was, there so was. The kid was, at best, 16 years old. I should mention, however, that I am terrible at guessing ages, but I'm going to say 16 and stick with it. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and khaki pants. He was a little chubby from the bulge his stomach made against the shirt as the cop swung his other hand behind his back.
The cop looked at the boys hands for a long time while he was talking at him. At first I thought the officer was checking the kid's hands for tar or something. Something to prove he'd been screwing around with the telephone poll he was standing next to. Maybe he'd pulled a sign off of it, I don't know. Maybe he'd been selling drugs. Maybe that was it. The cop had pulled up in an unmarked car, maybe he saw the kid dealing dope or smack or junk or x or whatever it is 16 year old white kids are dealing 40 yards from my old high school these days. Meth? We've got a meth problem in the great north, maybe it was meth.
Or maybe it was a rock. Maybe he'd chucked a rock at someone and the cop saw and decided to stop. And then the kid had mouthed off because there was a flock of high school kids just in ear shot and he couldn't look like a wuss to them. He certainly didn't plan on being handcuffed I bet. That's got to be a surprise. I was surprised I could hear the sound of the cuffs, even though my window was down. It was still 10 feet away. But there it was "chinkchinkchink" the sound of metal teeth click into place. I have an aunt I haven't seen now in, man, 5 years at least who works at the prison. She gave us a pair of handcuffs, so I know the sound well. I'm sure this kid's not going to forget it anytime soon either.
I would have liked to have stuck around. Found out what the kid had done, how long he was going to be in cuffs, what happened to him next. 16 years old and put in handcuffs, how does that affect the rest of your life? I guess it depends. Throwing rocks probably gets you dropped charges and maybe a smack from your old man if he does that sort of thing. Dealing meth? I would guess that's a couple of years preceded by waiting for a trail. High School's gotta look pretty darn good from that viewpoint.
I don't know what the kid had done, but there he was being handcuffed by a uniformed officer in broad daylight as a group of half a dozen teenagers looked on.
I sat at the four way stop longer than I probably should have been because eventually someone honked. From where the sound came from it too far away to be directly pointed at me but I got the message, "move it along, nothing more to see here." But there was, there so was. The kid was, at best, 16 years old. I should mention, however, that I am terrible at guessing ages, but I'm going to say 16 and stick with it. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and khaki pants. He was a little chubby from the bulge his stomach made against the shirt as the cop swung his other hand behind his back.
The cop looked at the boys hands for a long time while he was talking at him. At first I thought the officer was checking the kid's hands for tar or something. Something to prove he'd been screwing around with the telephone poll he was standing next to. Maybe he'd pulled a sign off of it, I don't know. Maybe he'd been selling drugs. Maybe that was it. The cop had pulled up in an unmarked car, maybe he saw the kid dealing dope or smack or junk or x or whatever it is 16 year old white kids are dealing 40 yards from my old high school these days. Meth? We've got a meth problem in the great north, maybe it was meth.
Or maybe it was a rock. Maybe he'd chucked a rock at someone and the cop saw and decided to stop. And then the kid had mouthed off because there was a flock of high school kids just in ear shot and he couldn't look like a wuss to them. He certainly didn't plan on being handcuffed I bet. That's got to be a surprise. I was surprised I could hear the sound of the cuffs, even though my window was down. It was still 10 feet away. But there it was "chinkchinkchink" the sound of metal teeth click into place. I have an aunt I haven't seen now in, man, 5 years at least who works at the prison. She gave us a pair of handcuffs, so I know the sound well. I'm sure this kid's not going to forget it anytime soon either.
I would have liked to have stuck around. Found out what the kid had done, how long he was going to be in cuffs, what happened to him next. 16 years old and put in handcuffs, how does that affect the rest of your life? I guess it depends. Throwing rocks probably gets you dropped charges and maybe a smack from your old man if he does that sort of thing. Dealing meth? I would guess that's a couple of years preceded by waiting for a trail. High School's gotta look pretty darn good from that viewpoint.
posted by Matt Worzala at
2:50 PM
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