A Dangerous Son Page #3

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I was getting skinny

to the point of mal--

All I was doing was

watching my videos,

staying up all night.

I was in horrible shape.

By the time I got there,

they noticed I was skinny--

dangerously skinny

to the point of malnutrition.

Mm-hmm.

What was going on

that made all of those trips

to Children's Hospital

and El Pueblo

and Denver Children--

why were all those

places necessary?

'Cause my behavior

went downhill.

Yeah, what kind

of behavior?

Damaging property.

Cops had to come over.

Brian:
Yeah.

I was constantly kicking

and screaming and hitting.

Brian:

Yeah. Yeah.

I was scared

to death.

We end up calling the police

when he is so out of control

that he's not listening

to reason anymore

and he's becoming, um...

dangerous to himself or us.

Or his sister.

And so, when he starts

throwing lamps

or throwing the TV

or things like that,

then we have to call the police.

So, remember when we, um,

when we were at Children's?

William:
Yeah.

And we said from Children's,

we were probably gonna step

down to a residential?

Yeah.

And then work

our way home?

Yeah.

So, we started that process

when we were at Children's.

Yeah.

And when you got

out of Children's,

the home wasn't ready.

Yeah.

It became ready.

What do you mean?

That the home

that's right before

you staying home with us

is ready for you now.

(gasps)

Brian:

It's available.

And it's--

a good thing.

I'm going?

Yeah. It's the best thing

for right now.

It's the step down

from going to Children's

to staying home...

full-time.

Okay.

Okay? And it's really

close to home, William.

Man:
It's very

close to home.

What is it?

It's a-- it's a house.

You have your own bedroom.

What is it?

It's a home.

William:

I don't wanna go.

What-- what is it that

you are worried about?

I'll behave at home.

I've been doing great.

I really don't--

You have been doing

really well...

Brian:

You've been doing better.

...but there's still some

things that need to mature

and get completely safe.

Question.

Brian:
Yes.

Why are you trying

to make my parents

more strict with me?

Brian:

Strict? Am I trying

to make them more strict?

Yeah.

What does strict mean?

What are they doing

that mean-- that's strict?

I don't know, but--

but you've been doing this

since we've started

seeing you.

Yeah.

Can you tell me why?

Brian:

This is big news, huh?

Yeah.

I'll do anything not to go.

Brian:

You've been working

really, really hard.

Edie:

We know you've been

working hard, William,

and I know

your intention

is to behave.

There's just still some things

that you can't quite help,

and they're there

to help you with that.

I don't wanna go.

I'm gonna ask you

to do something, okay?

What?

I want you

to trust us...

'cause right now...

you--

Don't make me go.

I want you to just

trust that we're making

the best decision.

I'm gonna act up there

and get restrained.

Edie:
This is the step

that we need to take

to get home.

(whimpers)

Okay? We're almost there.

Brian:

And use your skills

right now, okay?

'Cause we want you

to remain safe. Yeah.

We'll just give him

a little bit of a break.

That's a lot.

Let him digest

a little bit. Yeah.

(indistinct chatter)

He needs somebody there

24 hours a day

to help him through

the emotional roller coasters

he goes through.

You know,

we can only do so much.

We have... you know, work,

and we have a daughter,

and other things

to tend to, and, um...

He needs this amount

of care right now.

Residential treatment

is, sometimes, the only option,

and I think

the hard part for parents--

I've watched some

of my own friends

go through this--

is to accept it again,

to say, "No, this isn't that

you were a bad parent.

This is the appropriate

treatment for your child."

In the very worst cases,

sometimes states

will require you...

Nobody likes to hear this.

Sometimes states will

require you to sign

your child over

to the state, so you're--

You're giving up your child,

just so your child

can get care.

(indistinct chatter)

I'm here, and we wanted

an update on that case

you talked about.

Our bureau responds to all

the critical incidents

in LA County.

The most commonly known

thing that we have

is our psychiatric

mobile response team,

which provides

evaluations of individuals

who are suicidal, homicidal,

or gravely disabled.

(woman speaks on phone)

Tony:

But he's also talking

about killing himself, right?

Woman:

Yeah, yeah. No, no.

Yeah, he's--

Hi, Ms. Cora.

How you doing?

Hi. Fine.

Can I come in?

Yes, come in.

Great, great, great.

This is Vontae.

What's his first name?

Vontae, with a "V."

Vontae, how you doing?

Mm-hmm.

Tony:
Do you know

who I am?

No.

Never met me. Me neither.

My name's Tony.

Well, the reason

we came by is that

we're really, uh, interested

in what's going on with you

and trying to figure out

how we can help you

and your mom.

Maybe we can start

by you telling me,

what's going on.

Nothing.

Everything's okay?

Mm-hmm.

Well, that's not what

we heard, and that's

why we're here.

I feel like he's a kid

with so much bottled up

inside of him,

so much anger,

and some of the things

he writes in the letters

and on the paper is saying,

"Okay, something is wrong.

I need some help.

There is something

going on with me.

Somebody please help me."

Tony:
Yeah,

your mom said that you got

a lot of anger inside.

You think

that's what it is?

Vontae:
No.

I ain't got no anger.

Tony:
What do

you think it is?

I don't know.

Tony:

Maybe a lot of hurt?

Probably.

Tony:

Yeah, miss daddy?

Yeah, of course.

Tony:
Yeah.

That's tough, you know?

You've been through a lot.

What-- what worries

you the most?

(sighs) You know,

what worries me

the most is...

I don't want...

to see him on the news

as one of those kids

that didn't get the help

that he was supposed to get

and-- and it leads

to destruction.

Just-- that's what

I don't want to happen.

I mean, that's

what I'm afraid of.

(chattering)

Cora:

He didn't really

know his father,

but I think his father has

such a great impact

on me and the kids.

(kids chattering)

Cora:

Well, it wasn't a shoot-out.

The police shot him,

though he wasn't--

he didn't have no gun.

His father went

to the fish market

on Crenshaw

and... Manchester,

and I guess he fit

one of the profiles

of a gang member,

and they had him--

had him get against the car,

had his hands on the car,

and he turned around

and told them that-- he didn't

like wearing belts.

And he was a pretty big man,

so they told him--

Well, he was telling them that

he needed to pull his pants up.

And when he pulled 'em--

when he was reaching

to pull his pants up,

I guess they

thought he had a gun,

and then they started shooting.

And then when

they went to look,

it wasn't a gun.

He was pulling up his pants,

and he was like-- he was--

he had some alcohol in a bag,

but it wasn't alcohol,

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