Dirty
A Search for Answers Inside America's Teenage Drug Epidemic
Chapter OneMikeRunning on Empty
"Butler to Release! Butler to Release!" Mike heard the guard's voice crackling through the two-way radio on his teacher's desk. "You're out of here, Mike," Ms. Johnson called to him across the Juvenile Hall classroom.
Mike high-fived the boys, hugged the girls, then positioned himself in front of the locked unit door. Shifting nervously from one foot to the other, his
pulse racing, he jumped when Ms. Johnson buzzed the door open for a short, stocky man in a blue Nike turtleneck, black slacks, and black tassel loafers.
"How you doin'?" Danny Ramirez asked Mike.
"Aiight," Mike responded.
Last week Danny had spent a couple hours interviewing Mike for placement
at Center Point, a rehab program an hour south of here in San Rafael. But
now Danny was looking Mike up and down as if he'd never seen him before.
"Ka-ching, ka-ching," Mike thought, watching Danny watching him. "I
know that's all you care about: that money you think you're gonna get paid
for keeping me locked up."
"Ready to go?" Danny asked.
"Sure," Mike answered. He stifled a grin, thinking, ... read full excerpt from Dirty ebook
