A Dangerous Son Page #9

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and he didn't have

nowhere to go.

So the next morning I got up,

and I called the group home,

and the group home--

the guy answered the phone,

and he said that...

(sniffles)

Vontae wasn't

no longer with them

and that he AWOL'ed.

And he told me it was better--

best for me to call

the social worker.

So I called

the social worker,

and Mark says...

you know, he don't know

anything about this,

and he was like,

"So where is Vontae?"

And I'm like, "I don't know.

I called you 'cause I thought

you knew where he was."

This is Mark,

the social worker.

Hello?

(on phone)

Hey, Cora. It's Mark.

Hi, Mark.

Mark:

Hey. What's going on?

Where is Vontae?

Mark:

I can't hear you.

You gotta speak up.

I said where is Vontae?

Mark:

He's back at the office.

He's at your office?

Mark:
Yeah, they

couldn't find a place

for him last night,

so they brought him back.

Okay, so, um,

so what happens now?

(Mark speaks indistinctly)

Oh, is there a number

where I can call, so I can--

'Cause I need to make sure

that he's okay,

and I need to be able

to keep in touch with him,

'cause I don't want

him lost in the system.

Mark:
I can't hear you.

You gotta speak up.

What now?

I don't want him

lost in the system,

so I would like

a number or something

where I can keep up,

you know, where he's at.

(sniffling)

(geese squawking)

(indistinct chattering)

William:

Do you know what jail

is really like?

Do you have any clue?

Edie:

I've seen some shows.

William:

Yeah.

Edie:

Jail is almost like...

punishment more than

it is a place to get better.

William:

I know.

'Cause in jail, you have

to do hard work.

You have to work

for the cops.

So basically in jail,

you basically become

a slave...

to the community.

Edie:

Mm-hmm.

William:

What they do is

basically just slavery.

It's overnight slavery.

Edie:

It's kind of true, honey.

And I think

part of the reason

there's a jail, honey...

Yeah?

...is to keep

people like that...

Yeah?

...away from the public,

to keep the public safe...

Yeah.

...from people

like that.

That's what I think.

Okay.

Edie:

He's fascinated with jail.

I think, on some level,

he feels like some day

he'll be there,

and so its almost like

he's preparing himself.

Um...

And because he knows

that his behaviors...

would be jail behaviors

if he wasn't special needs.

There's gonna come a time

where they're not gonna give

him that kind of grace.

(groaning)

Are you all right?

Get away!

(woman screams)

Man:
Look at that.

He looks like a girl...

Elexa:
Yeah,

in this video he does.

Yeah. That's where

we were hiding, Elexa.

Elexa:

That must hurt so bad.

Ethan:
A cat?

("Thriller" playing)

All right.

(animal howls)

Stacy:

I'm 20 weeks, five months.

Still kind of surreal really.

I'm only just barely starting

to feel her move and...

Either way,

it's a very big gap

between the two kids

I have now,

so, it just feels

all brand-new again.

He has not laid a hand on me,

anything like he ever did before

since I told him I was pregnant.

He has really shown

a lot of strength.

I mean, I've...

I've got him in situations

where normally he would've--

he would flip out on me,

and he's really showed

a lot of restraint.

Bail Bonds.

(phone beeps, ringing)

Hold on just a moment.

Bail Bonds.

You know, I'm brutally honest

about things,

and I really don't try

to sugarcoat anything,

and I don't try

to hide anything, and I...

I'm not gonna say he's

a hundred percent better.

He's not.

I'm really happy that he--

I feel like

he's come a little ways.

I just am being honest

that he still has

a long ways to go.

You know, I don't think

I'm doing anything so different

as far as how I'm talking to him

or the way I am with him...

but he's becoming

a little calmer at times,

and, I don't know,

we changed his medicine too, so.

I think the medicine

he's on now is a lot better,

and I think that probably

is playing a little bit

of a part in it as well,

um...

but I'm sure it's

a combination of everything.

Cora:

I worry about him a lot.

Especially if he's getting--

wherever he's getting

these toy guns from.

What I'm afraid of is

because he's tall and--

and Vontae,

because of his height,

can be very intimidating

to other people,

so I'm afraid that

they're gonna take

the wrong perception of him

because of his height

and his record

and all the trouble

that he gets into,

and he's going around,

carrying toy guns

and stuff like that.

Oh God.

I don't like--

I don't like it.

I don't like it.

I'm like at a place now

where I can help my kids.

You know, now I can be,

I can be...

I feel like now

I can be a mom.

You know,

I can be a mom now,

and I want Vontae

to experience that.

I want him to see the--

be able to experience

the new side of me,

because I think

it would help him.

Woman:

What's your-- what's your

biggest fear for William?

An accident...

something like that.

That makes me cry, yeah.

Yeah.

That I'll get a call...

So...

You know, when he threatens,

sometimes, you know,

cutting himself--

what if he does it

too hard one time?

Um... or, uh...

he's hanging out with kids

that are no good for him

and something goes wrong?

Um... So, he's like a lamb.

You know, he's innocent.

(indistinct chatter)

Edie:

In my most hopeful moments,

I see a brilliant mind.

I see...

a sweetheart...

and I see somebody

that is so unique

that there's nobody

on the face of the Earth

like him, and...

if we could

somehow channel that

into something creative

that he can actually make

a living for himself,

and then he can

maybe live...

you know in a carriage house

behind our house or something,

and actually have

a decent life.

You know,

maybe even go to college

or something like that.

In those moments,

I'm hopeful for him,

you know, when I dream that.

So... cautiously hopeless

or hopeful, yeah.

So...

Liza:
As I looked

at Adam's path

and the trajectory

he was on,

it was so similar

to my son's,

and the only thing

where it started to change

was with my blog post,

when I screamed

to the world

and said,

"Hi, I need help.

All of our--

all of these moms,

we all need help."

There is a sort of politics

and a reality that are

often in conflict.

Most people

with mental illnesses,

most people with autism,

most people with any

of this variety of conditions,

which we largely describe

as brain diseases

of one kind or another,

will never hurt anyone.

If we talk too much about

those dangerous situations,

we stigmatize people

we shouldn't.

If we take

a politically correct standpoint

and we don't acknowledge

those situations,

then we end up with families

in which a child is

terrifying and violent

and nobody believes them,

and they don't

understand what it is

they have to deal with.

It's a very fine balance

we need to strike.

I think what

we forget most of all

when someone is violent

and when they have

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