There Are No Children Here: Chapter 28 Summary & Analysis

Today is Lafeyette’s first date in court. Four weeks earlier, on June 2, he was arrested with four other boys for allegedly breaking into a truck parked by the stadium and stealing from it. Lafeyette, though, insists that he merely saw a boy break into the truck and then ran with the four other children out of fear of being accused of the boy’s deed. Terrified at what is now happening to him, Lafeyette begins to pack his clothes, believing that they might keep him in jail. LaJoe tries to reassure him that nothing will happen to him, but she is not sure herself.

Since Lafeyette’s shoplifting incident, though, he has been staying at home more, distancing himself from Rickey when he feels that he is planning some misdeed and generally believing that getting out of the house is dangerous and could get him into trouble. That night at the stadium, a policeman saw five black teenagers running toward Horner and arrested everyone, including Lafeyette.

LaJoe and Lafeyette head to the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, where judges and attorneys are so overworked that they handle twice the number of cases that they would in an adult court. The number of cases has increased dramatically in the past couple of years, perhaps because of increased drug use or greater prosecution for political reasons. In the same building, the juvenile jail is seen, for some, as a relief from ordinary life, thanks to the good food and high-quality school, but can also drive children insane if they are locked up in solitary confinement for misbehaving.

When LaJoe enters the building, she remembers the number of times she came with Terence, but is committed to always coming with her children and not leaving them alone like other mothers. When LaJoe goes to the information desk to ask about her son’s hearing, the woman cannot find Lafeyette’s name and LaJoe is forced to insist for the woman to look again. When Mr. Smith, the court official, calls a scared Lafeyette in, he asks him a series of fast-paced, impersonal questions. When Lafeyette recounts his version of the story, Mr. Smith clearly does not believe him and proceeds to give the young boy a lecture about what neighborhood kids do to cars at the stadium. Lafeyette stays blankly onward, seemingly not listening to Mr. Smith’s words.

LaJoe and Lafeyette are sent to a waiting room, where they wait three hours and a half for Lafeyette’s name to be called. In the courtroom, the judge asks Lafeyette questions at an even faster rate than Mr. Smith. He then hands Lafeyette a trial date, but LaJoe later realizes that he has given him a different court date from that of the other boys involved in the case. Wondering if the judge might have made a mistake, she walks back into the courtroom. Even though barely three minutes have passed since Lafeyette’s hearing, the judge does not remember anyone with Lafeyette’s name, and LaJoe feels that no one sees them as human beings worthy of consideration and respect.

A few days later, the family receives a letter from Terence. While Lafeyette and Pharoah still care about their brother, they do not worry about him as much as they used to, as they seem reassured that he is doing fine in jail.