Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

Author:Angie Kim [Kim, Angie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2023-08-29T00:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

What Happened to Adam Parson?

The detention center didn’t look like a prison. More like a suburban elementary school, with that simultaneously bland yet distinctive combination of gray concrete and red brick, blue-and-yellow cafeteria-style picnic tables outside, even an outdoor basketball court painted in different primary colors. Or maybe not; elementary schools didn’t usually put barbed-wire fencing around basketball courts and thick iron bars and grates outside all the windows.

It was 0.2 miles from the police department, an easy five-minute walk down a path through the government complex. The temporary detention order was immediate, meaning Eugene had to go straight to the detention center, no stopping at home to get his special blanket, favorite shirt, or electronics. Shannon convinced Detective Janus to let all of us walk with him, uncuffed, to give us these last few minutes together, with the detective following behind.

As we walked, Shannon explained to Eugene (and us) in simple terms what to expect: We’re going to that building, a place for teenagers. Detective Janus will go in and bring out forms to sign. We’ll say goodbye outside, and a detention officer will take you inside. You’ll stay on a floor just for boys with special needs, with counselors and guards who’ll keep you safe—give you food, clothes to wear, take you to the bathroom, showers. Because of Covid, visitors aren’t allowed, but we’ll see you in two days, on Friday, at the juvenile court building right next door.

Did he understand any of this? And if he didn’t, how would he feel when a stranger took his arm and forced him inside a strange place, his mother, brother, and sister remaining outside, not following him, not protecting him?

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