An Excerpt from "Through The Eyes Of The Judged"

This is an excerpt from "Through The Eyes Of The Judged," a book full of autobiographies of young men in jail.


"My life story aint gonna tell you what to do. You make your own choices. My life story is just gonna tell you that going down a dark road is gonna do nothing but cause you trouble. I'm writing this cause I want to see more people from the ghetto go down the road with light and happiness and not always having to watch your back. But you do what you want. I remember this one time I was selling dope in a dopehouse. It was the summer of 95. I think I was twelve. Well, me and my homeboy Casper, who was 16, we was making a lot of money. There were a lot of dope fiends. I remember a lady came in with three kids. One two-year old, a four-year old, and an eight-year old. I don't remember what the lady's name was or what she looks like. I just remember what the eight-year old kid told me after I sold his mama some heroin. He told me he didn't like me cause I sold his mama drugs. After he told me this, he hit me. At the time, I was a really greedy person, I didn't really care what the kid liked. But now that I think of it I know how he was feeling cause my mama did drugs. It got me somewhere in my heart. That's the only reason I remember it, and that's the only reason I'm writing about it. I didn't care really about the lady or her three kids because I had to make money so I could eat. "

Floyd Gonzalez - Muckleshoot Reservation