ROLL CALL ~ A Prison List (True Prison Story) by Glenn Langohr Page B

was a rookie it was like that. In this kind of situation with these youngsters we would have just confiscated all of the marijuana and called their parents. End of story.
    I can remember as a rookie I didn’t even think that was enough. I thought we should have dug into their background to find out what kind of circumstances or conditions led them into the lifestyle so we could try to find a way to shepherd them in a better direction rather than just leave them worse.”
    The younger Sheriff asked, “Would you do the same thing with houses that were moving heroin and cocaine?”
    The elder Sheriff responded, “We wouldn’t charge them for sales unless we thought they were dealing directly with the cartels. We’d just charge them with possession of a controlled substance and usually for possession of stolen property. Most of the dealers are just micro dealers managing drug habits for a hustle to keep them off the street.”
    I watched the narcotic detectives come out of my room and back to me on the couch. Detective Pincher said, “Okay Benny. I heard your younger brother tell you he loved you on his way out the door on his way to juvenile hall. It looks like he really looks up to you. Do you love him?”
    I stared at the narcotic detective and thought about how he and the other one shot down the Sheriff’s proposal of letting me ride the whole beef and letting my brother off. Every injustice I’d seen and lived through wanted to boil out of me. That righteous anger that burns until it finds an adversary felt the presence of one. Narcotic detective Pincher got impatient with me.
    Are you listening to me Benny? I’m going to try and help you and your brother…But you have to pay attention and give me one hundred percent cooperation or I can’t help you.”
    I felt the handcuffs biting into my wrist behind my back so I tried to move things around to relieve the pressure unsuccessfully. “You say you want to help my brother and I huh?”
    Narcotic detective Pincher tried to seize what he mistakenly took as an opportunity.
    “Benny… I’m the only one that can help you!”
    I almost raged and spat out… Liar!! I just saw you keep those Sheriffs from letting my brother go! You don’t want to help us, you’re a fraud and I see right through you. Instead, a temporary calm settled over me and I said, “If you’re the only one that can help us than you must think you’re God. Where were you when I got thrown into a tree, or beaten so bad that my spleen busted open and I was in the fetal position for a few days to keep it from releasing poison into my body?”
    I continued, “Or how about watching your younger brother cry himself to sleep knowing he didn’t know why his Mom was gone. All he understood was what he heard his father telling other people on the phone. That his Mom was a whore who abandoned her kids and must not love them and that her kids were going to be worthless now.”
    I could see the narcotic detectives didn’t have any compassion. Detective Pincher looked irritated.
    “Benny I’m not talking about any of that. I’m talking about you and your brother possessing over ten pounds of high quality marijuana for sale!”
    I lost it and spoke to fast. “What are you talking about? There’s only four pounds and it’s all mine… Both backpacks!!”
    I realized I shouldn’t have said anything! My backpack had four pounds in it. My brother’s had another half a pound in it. Thankfully, it didn’t look like detective Johnson was listening that carefully. He was so focused on coercing me to work with him.
    He clarified how he was getting the ten pounds. “You’re forgetting about your cultivating operation. We are trained to pull the plants up by the roots and weigh up whatever soil hangs on.”
    What a slap in the face! We still hadn’t mastered growing marijuana. This time had turned out even worse than last time. We hadn’t identified a male plant among the garden of females and it had