Outburst

by Patrick Jones

  I know you have no reason to believe me, but if you let me come home, you’ll see your prayers were answered. I am so ashamed at what I’ve done and how much I’ve hurt you. I’m sorry for assaulting you. Please forgive me, Mom.

  I was scared to come home before, ’cos I thought I’d be the same. But I’m not. I know I can’t be acting all angry all the time, driving everybody away, especially you. It doesn’t get me where I want to go, which is home. I know it ain’t going to be easy, but I want us to get through this together.

  Your loving daughter,

  Jada

  16

  “It’s good to hear your voice,” Jada’s mother said. The sound of her mom’s voice was sweet, even booming out of a speakerphone in a drably painted Rondo office.

  “I’m glad you could join us, if only by phone,” Mrs. Baker said. Seated at the table were Mrs. Howard-Hernandez, Mr. Aaron, and Ms. Terry. The county social worker was with Jada’s mom.

  “We’ve got a lot to cover,” Mrs. Terry said. “Where do we want to start?”

  “School,” Jada said quickly. “I want to stay here at Rondo.”

  “At the rate you’re going, you’ll earn enough credits to transfer—” Mrs. Terry said.

  “Doesn’t matter, I want to stay here,” Jada replied. “I need my team.”

  Mr. Aaron laughed. “We’ve got your back.”

  “Jada, if that’s what you want, we can make it happen,” Mrs. Baker said. “You certainly have done much better in our environment.”

  She knew that word—it was on her word list. That list, her basketball games with Heather and Feather, and home-cooked meals were about all Jada would miss at the Markhams’. She wouldn’t miss Mr. and Mrs. Markham, though. She wasn’t angry, but she realized they wouldn’t miss her either. She was another kid they thought they’d set straight. Truth is, Jada thought, I did all the work. They just set the rules. We both did our parts.

  “I’d like to switch coaches, though,” Jada said softly. “Mrs. Howard-Hernandez is nice, but you’re all into books and reading, and I’d rather have Mr. Hunter. I want to study biology.”

  “No offense taken. The world needs plenty of scientists and—”

  “Doctor. I want to be a doctor who does research,” Jada said.

  “You have to shoot the three-pointer when you’re young,” Mr. Aaron said. Maybe, for a girl from the hood, doctor was a three-point shot. But maybe the people around the table and on the end of the phone would be like Jada with Heather and Feather. They’d carry her on their shoulders to get the slam dunk.

  The adults talked among themselves, mainly Mrs. Terry and Mrs. Baker. Jada didn’t hear her mom say much, but that was okay. They’d have lots of time to talk soon enough.

  “Jada, there’s an Alternative School Academic Olympics,” Mr. Aaron said. “We’d like you, Jessica, and Yvette to enter your presentation—that is, if you’re willing to tell your story again.”

  Jada stopped to think before she answered. “Yeah, I am.” Maybe it was actually helpful, she thought, not to let stuff bottle up or keep your trouble to yourself, but to share it. “Is it okay with them?”

  “Yvette seemed excited about it—you know she doesn’t mind the spotlight,” Mr. Aaron said.

  “What did Jessica say?” Jada asked.

  Mr. Aaron smiled. “She said ‘yes.’”

  “Out loud?” Jada asked, and her team laughed.

  “What was your presentation about, Jada?” her mother asked.

  “You, Mom, it was about you, and how brave you are for living with lupus.”

  There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds. Then Jada thought she heard her mom crying. And for once, she thought, these just might be tears of joy and pride.

  “Jada, I’m not that brave,” her mom said. “I’m just a mother doing her best. You’re the brave one.”

  Jada felt Mr. Aaron’s hand on her shoulder as tears welled up in her eyes. His hand felt big, safe, and strong, like her mom’s hands used to feel, and would again when Jada returned home.

  “Don’t cry, Jada,” her mom said. “I believe in you.”

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  In addition to writing about teens in alternative schools, I also work with teens in the course of a nine-to-five job. The idea for this book came directly from my work with a juvenile detention center (JDC). The letters at the start and end of this novel are based on actual letters I found in a book at the JDC, but everything else, including the names, is fiction.

  Outburst looks at one example of a young person in the correctional system who is placed in foster care. The rate of overlap between the two systems is high. According to a brief by the Brookings Institute:

  A recent study of a Midwest sample of young adults aged twenty-three or twenty-four who had aged out of foster care … had extremely high rates of arrest and incarceration. 81 percent of the long-term foster care males had been arrested at some point, and 59 percent had been convicted of at least one crime. This compares with 17 percent of all young men in the U.S. who had been arrested, and 10 percent who had been convicted of a crime. Likewise, 57 percent of the long-term foster care females had been arrested and 28 percent had been convicted of a crime. The comparative figures for all female young adults in the U.S. are 4 percent and 2 percent, respectively.1

  However, each child in foster care and each person in the correctional system has his or her own unique story.

  It is always tricky to write about a different culture and gender. In this book, I tried to tell one girl’s story—not to depict all people of any gender, race, or background. In addition to my years of experience working with African American girls in the correctional system, I shared this book with three girls at one correctional facility. They read and reacted to it, letting me know what I got wrong so I could make it right. So, special thanks to KM, KA, and SC.

  Finally, as with all the books in The Alternative series, students and staff at South Saint Paul Community Learning Center read and commented on the manuscript, in particular John Egelkrout, Mindy Haukedahl, Kathleen Johnson, and Lisa Seppelt.

  1Nicholas Zill, “Adoption from Foster Care: Aiding Children While Saving Public Money,” Center on Children and Families Brief #43, May 2011, http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/reports/2011/5/adoption%20foster%20care%20zill/05_adoption_foster_care_zill.pdf.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Patrick Jones is the author of more than twenty novels for teens. He has also written two nonfiction books about combat sports, The Main Event, on professional wrestling, and Ultimate Fighting, on mixed martial arts. He has spoken to students at more than one hundred alternative schools, including residents of juvenile correctional facilities. Find him on the web at www.connectingya.com and on Twitter: @PatrickJonesYA.