A few months later, literally a week after my 18 th birthday I received a message from Brandon Rodriguez. We caught up for an hour or so on instant messenger. I told him how I was selling weed and making tons of money. He was in town; he now had his own van and offered to come pick me up to hang out at some girl’s house. If I had been in school like a normal high school senior I would not have been able to go but I was in Independent study. Brandon pulled up outside my house

Diversion was a six-month program. You attended weekly three-hour meetings similar to AA. Except everyone there was a serious drug addict. Everyone but me. The meetings were at the community center of a nearby town. Each meeting we would go around the room, and everyone had to talk. You had to introduce yourself for anyone new or anyone who did not remember, explain how you got arrested and what your drug of choice was. Needless to say, whenever it was my turn and I said my d

Jason ended up getting in his own serious trouble. One day when I was at work during the day, Jason met up with one of his regular customers to sell them a sack in a nearby park. The park was empty, so they decided to pack a bowl in a pipe Jason was carrying on him. Someone must have seen them and called the police. About twenty squad cars pulled up in the park parking lot. It was complete over kill. Jason and his friend decided to try and run. Jason found a good spot to hide