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A Day in the Drug Rehab Center
From Sullivan's Short Stories
By Laura Santeler
I work at a drug rehab residential treatment center with teen boys. I am their teachers aide. I used to be a teachers aide and a chemical dependency technician. Now I am just a TA because if I wanted to do both, I would have to work 1:00 pm to 12:00 am. even on weekends. Anyway, this is how my day goes.
I drive into this beautiful setting. I drive down a winding road with a forest full of trees, deer romping across the road, birds singing etc..
I drive past an old mansion on fox lake. That is where the adult inmates live.
Then I drive up to our building. This is a plain building, not ugly not pretty. This is where the youth boys that I work with live.
I get to work at about 7:30 am. I take a big breath, lock the van and walk into the building.
The first thing I usually hear is this " break it off to class, get your asses to the classroom gentleman" this is yelled by a big black man. There is a lot of swearing going on, and it echoes like in prison movies.
I hurry down to our class in the basement to my desk which faces a wall. Mary the teacher comes in. She is probably in her mid 60's but she acts like she is 95. The kids hate her. She always asks me what happened over the weekend or at night, I always tell her I don't know because I was at home, just like she was.
We have six boys in our class. The first one comes in, it is usually Jerome, he says " I ain't doin shit today". Mary informs him he will lose 1,000 points even though we are only allowed to take 5 pts for refusal to work. He then says " F**k the points, you always tryin to treat me, this ain't no real school any how" he puts his head on the desk. I am about to smooth things over when the other 5 wander in.
Mary: you boys are late, that is 7,000 points.
Me: actually, they aren't late, Jerome was early
Billy: She just thirsty miss Laura she so f**kin old she got that Alzheimer thing
Mary acts like he didn't totally insult her and says" ok boys get to work. "
Mary: Laura wheres Jerome?
Me: Right there, with his head on his desk.
Mary: did he finish his work?
Me: no, we just got here, remember he said he wasn't doin shit.
James: Miss Laura what the f**k is wrong wit her?
Mary now decides she is insulted and goes crazy telling James he is going to be terminated and will be back in jail.
While she is going off on James and he is swearing up a storm, Billy tells me he is sick and needs to go to the nurse, he tells me I better let him go because he was shot when he was on the streets and he will " sue my ass" if I don't let him go.
Alfredo is taking advantage of the uproar and is stealing pens out of Mary's desk.
Bob is farting and laughing, Jerome wakes up to tell him he is a lame.
Bob gets mad and tells Jerome to say it again as he gets in Jerome's face.
Mary tells me to get a supervisor, the supervisor of Gateway tells me to get the principal, the principal tells me to take points away.
When I get back to the room they are all having snack because it is snack time. Mary asks me if anyone has gotten their work done today. I ignore her.
The day continues in much the same way until school is over. I get back in my van and drive out through the woods, stop for the little bunny sitting in the road and head home.
My kids wonder why I am so cranky.
I don't really like my job.
**End**
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