Seeing Star Wars with James Jones 8

Seeing Star Wars with James Jones number 8 Writing com

Back when I was an undergraduate social welfare student, I had a summer internship with the San Joaquin County Juvenile Probation department. For two weeks I was in charge of our client case load as my supervisor took summer leave. I was told to meet as many of our clients as I could and do something fun with them. I read the files and got in touch with them arranging to meet up and just see them and listen to them and offer friendship and advice.

One of our clients was James Jones the eight. His mother had nine other children by seven different fathers and named each son James Jones. The department assigned them numbers to keep track of them. All were career criminals, many of them in prison doing hard times. James Jones 8 was 13 and already in trouble, drug trafficking, assault with a deadly weapon etc..

His mother was a classic piece of work. A real con artist, drug abuser, high-level call girl, drug dealer and a paranoid nut case that somehow had conned her way into having the governor launch an investigation against the San Joaquin probation department on trumped charges of facilitating child abuse and trafficking.. Reading the files were fascinating to me.

I contacted him and suggested seeing the latest Star Wars movie. We went to the movie and I bought him burgers and fries afterward. We enjoyed the movie and chatted for a while. He did not seem to me to be that bad a kid,

I suggested that he seriously consider going to college and look into the CIP program at UOP, which was a free scholarship for Stockton young people from poor families. I don’t know what happened but my supervisor said that James Jones 8 liked me. I hope that I did play a positive role in turning the guy away from the wrong path.

And she hinted I should apply for a permanent position as I had an affinity for the clients and was a big intimidating kind of guy, at 6 feet 2 inches, 210 pounds, build like a basketball player, which was a big plus in their line of work. I never pursued it perhaps I should have.


NEW PROMPT: Speaking of space, tomorrow, May 4, is Star Wars Day, because May the Fourth be with you. Write a story or poem about doing something related to Star Wars on Star Wars Day.