An 11-year old boy writes about his time in juvenile jail. Locked in a cell for 21 hours a day and forced to sleep in a diaper at night, the boy forges a strong friendship with his 10-year old cellmate.
As I write this story in late August, Caleb has become an integral part of our family. He's turned out to be a remarkably cheerful, friendly and chatty boy.
There is a downside to Caleb's chattiness. He's too talkative about how we met. Now all my friends and relatives know that I was in jail. I was hoping to keep that part of my life a secret.
Even worse, Caleb loves to show the picture that he drew of me while we were in jail. He used lined tablet paper to create the illusion of jail bars. The picture shows me sitting behind those bars.
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There's no doubt that Caleb has artistic talent, but when he shows the picture, I get embarrassed. I suppose it could be worse. He could have drawn a picture of me naked or wearing a diaper behind bars.
So far, I've only lost one friend because of my time in jail. When I went over to my friend's house, his parents wouldn't let me come in. They told me to leave and not come back. That was sad. The whole family has known me since kindergarten. Now they've rejected me.
All my other friends and their families have been more forgiving and they've welcomed me back. Best of all, they've welcomed Caleb, too. When they learn about his past life—my chatty little brother isn't afraid to talk about it—they're amazed at his resilience.
My parents have fallen in love with Caleb and want to officially adopt him. Caleb's mother is willing to give up custody to us, but she wants a cash settlement to cover her "expenses." What a money-grubbing creep she is!
Our lawyer and the lawyer for Caleb's mother are now negotiating the terms of the settlement and a non-disclosure agreement. Once she accepts the settlement, she agrees to waive all rights to her son. In return, our family agrees not to file a police report regarding her past abuse of Caleb.
The legal stuff may take several more weeks, but it doesn't matter. Caleb is already part of our family. Since our release from jail, we've taken two family vacations. Our first trip was to the mountains. Our second trip was to San Francisco. Caleb loved both trips.
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Although Caleb and I still have different last names, we developed a brotherly bond in jail and it's gotten stronger since our release and during our vacation trips. My parents have become his parents, so that makes them our parents.
