The Juvie Three

Arjay is a big, African American 15-year-old “built like a wrestler, with a barrel chest and huge arms that make his loose-fitting prison jumpsuit appear tight.” (15) Before meeting Healy, he spent 14 months in the Remsenville Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison. He kept himself together during his time there by playing “Stairway to Heaven” on his guitar so many times that the guards called him “Zep.” Arjay “does not consider it an exaggeration to say that ‘Stairway to Heaven’ saved his life” (47).

Of the three halfway house boys, Arjay is the most kindhearted and responsible. He helps their neighbor Mrs. Liebowitz and makes sure Terence does his homework. Following his love of music, Arjay joins a rock band and performs live, causing a stir with his exceptional talent: “it’s obvious that his presence and sound are something new and special” (151).

A Chicago-born troublemaker, Terence believes that the secret to survival is to “get with a solid crew” (170). Growing up with an abusive father made Terence search for familial loyalty elsewhere. While living in Chicago, he tried to join a gang called the Southsiders, becoming a “one-man crime wave” (176) to impress them. To show them what he was capable of, he orchestrated a break-in. The gang double-crossed him, doing the break-in without him and then turning him over to the police, who sent him to juvie.

Unlike the other halfway house boys, Terence is initially resistant to Healy’s efforts to help. He dislikes school and has a hard time shedding his old habits. When he meets DeAndre, he thinks he might have another chance at the life he always wanted. He works toward showing DeAndre what he has to offer as a member of his gang, until DeAndre pushes him too far and Terence realizes that he made a mistake in choosing him for a family.

Although Terence has trouble with school, he’s a master planner and lock-picker. These skills come in handy when the boys need to break Healy out of the hospital. As his fate becomes intertwined with Healy and the other boys, Terence learns that he’s found the crew he needs after all.

Healy is a reformed juvenile delinquent who managed to get his life back on track, and now he’s hoping to do the same for three young offenders with his halfway house program. With a moderate height, moderate build, hair and eyes that aren’t quite any one colour, and no distinguishing features, Healy is hard to pin down: “Gecko can’t imagine anything more difficult than being asked to describe him. He’s practically an un-guy” (10).

He grew up in New York and was arrested for assault at age 15 because of a fight that happened while selling fireworks with an older cousin, much like how Gecko got into trouble because of his older brother. After his 32 months in juvie, he put himself through college and accumulated a modest savings, which he put toward the halfway house program. Healy chose Gecko, Arjay, and Terence specifically because they reminded him of his own story.

Healy is immensely likeable, and he believes in looking for the best in people. After the accident lands him in the hospital, the boys hold onto the promise of his return like a lifeline. When Healy gets transferred to the psychiatric hospital, helping him escape is what finally brings the three boys together as a team.

Terence meets DeAndre in the school bathroom selling stolen cellphones and immediately sees him as a way out. DeAndre has jagged teeth “like a hammerhead shark’s” (55), and a distinctive dollar sign razor-cut into his buzzed hair. He causes trouble for Terence from day one. Terence is sneaking out to meet him late at night, which alerts the others and starts the fight that causes Healy’s fall. Later, when Terence wants to prove himself to DeAndre’s gang, DeAndre tells him his “initiation” is to assault a homeless woman and bring him back her ring as proof. At this point Terence realizes he’s in over his head, but DeAndre tells him there’s no turning back.

DeAndre serves as an effective foil to Terence and his journey. While both are troubled teenagers who try to act tough, their motivations are very different: DeAndre craves power, while Terence wants safety and belonging. Terence’s interactions with DeAndre help give him a clearer idea of where his own boundaries lie and who he really wants to be.

Roxanne and Gecko meet at the hospital where she volunteers, and together they bond over caring for Healy. Roxanne comes from a very wealthy family and volunteers her time because her father “gives absolutely nothing back to society” (98). She is warm, pretty, and well-loved among all the hospital patients and staff. She and Gecko begin a relationship, but Gecko ends it when her father’s friend Mike Delancey, the deputy chief of police, scares him off.

After Healy gets transferred to another hospital, Gecko and the other boys tell Roxanne the whole story. She helps them break into the psychiatric hospital to rescue him, but their past eventually catches up when Mike realizes who Healy is. He agrees to drop all charges against Gecko and the boys as long as he and Roxanne never see each other again. However, Roxanne volunteers for a community service job where the boys have been roped into working. Roxanne’s character gives Gecko something powerful to lose outside of his problems in the halfway house, and a moment of hope for the future when they meet again at last.

A woman in a power suit and “built like a missile silo” (28), Ms. Vaughn is the social worker in charge of the three halfway house boys and a constant source of conflict for Healy. She is opposed to the program and is looking for any excuse to shut it down. While Healy’s goal is to give the boys a second chance at life, Ms. Vaughn disagrees, believing that they’re protecting innocent citizens, not rehabilitating the boys.

Ms. Vaughn’s influence later launches the boys into action, as she leaves a message announcing a visit without knowing that Healy is in the hospital. This works as an effective plot device in creating tension because it puts a very specific time limit on their need to get their leader back healthy and safe. By the time she does arrive, Healy has returned to his senses and is able to pretend nothing has been amiss the whole time. Although she deplores the state of their apartment and berates them for keeping the dangerously sharp-edged bowling trophy within