Elias writes a letter to Sister Janet about being the youngest in prison and includes a poem about all his loved ones who have died, equating the pain of loss with growing up.

Dorn continues to try to fix Juvenile Court, which has gotten much less productive within the past year. Kids are committing more crimes without good rehabilitative options. Dorn makes snap decisions that are alternately harsher and more lenient, depending seemingly upon his whim. Usually, Dorn will give juveniles a break the first time they come into his courtroom, mostly to demonstrate his power over their lives. Dorn continues to give his speeches to kids, basically telling them that if they don’t want to die like most of their friends, they have to give up the life. Sometimes the kids seem to agree with Dorn, although Humes wonders if these kids are just parroting what Dorn wants them to say or whether he has actually changed their points of view: “It’s a gamble. Juvenile Court is always a gamble. Dorn is betting Lefty can be saved. He’d rather lose that wager, he says, than bet the other way, and never know if he could have turned the kid around” (356).