The Juvie Three

Terence finds DeAndre outside the school doors; he follows him, and they talk, but DeAndre is suspicious. Terence offers him an iPod that he stole from a store near the B.I.D. He explains his plan to revisit the store with DeAndre and cheat the motion sensor so they can rob it. Cautiously, the two boys come to an understanding.

In the school cafeteria, Gecko looks for somewhere to sit and spots Diego, the student from his chemistry class. Diego is getting bullied by another student that they call Goliath; Gecko wants to intervene, but he thinks that Diego is probably more frightened of him than of the bully. The situation diffuses on its own when Goliath rejoins his friends, and Gecko sits down alone by the window.

Outside, he sees Terence and DeAndre in conversation. Gecko launches himself out the doors and tells Terence to get back inside. They get into an argument until Healy comes out of a nearby supermarket. Terence disappears into another shop while Gecko is left on the sidewalk to confront Healy. To his surprise, Healy is sympathetic, telling him that he was locked up too and that “sometimes you need to feel the sun on your skin to remind you you’re alive” (59).