How to behave when the police invade your home. (Polite, don't mention they've just mashed up the front door).

How to behave when being arrested. (Extremely politely. Kiss ass.)

What to say when being interviewed. (No comment or similar, a defence lawyer will find their job easier if you haven't actually said anything at all).

Dealing with bail, lawyers, and how to fake it with the boss to keep your job.

Being locked up. What to do, not to do, who you need to be respectful to and who you should show

How to behave when the police invade your home. (Polite, don't mention they've just mashed up the front door).

How to behave when being arrested. (Extremely politely. Kiss ass.)

What to say when being interviewed. (No comment or similar, a defence lawyer will find their job easier if you haven't actually said anything at all).

Dealing with bail, lawyers, and how to fake it with the boss to keep your job.

Being locked up. What to do, not to do, who you need to be respectful to and who you should show strength in front of. One of the main tenets is neither a borrower or a lender be. Both are likely to get you into serious problems.

How to deal with the appalling conditions of jail and eventually, if everything goes wrong, prison.

What to do or say in court. You have a lawyer, listen to their advice.

Serving time. How to make it pass without getting brain dead from lack of stimulation or being beaten up, how to make and keep friends who will be your buddies when the inevitable trouble starts. (Prison is full of violent psychopaths with nothing to do all day but look for 'disrespect' or something you have they want).

Family. They will often move on. There you go.

Re-entering the world with a criminal record and possibly no friends, family or money.



It's all enough to make you stay on the right side of the law. Almost. I mean it's impossible to keep all laws and still have a life. No speeding, no illegal parking even for a minute, no getting drunk, no having a puff (depends on where you live), no sex with minors even if you are a minor yourself. How do you keep two 15 year olds in love from having sex? There are just too many prohibitions (and not enough anarchy, but wer must respect that). Still, the book is a good one for slightly anarchic teenagers who might think of doing naughty things or even very bad ones and will not give officers the overwheening respect too many of them think they deserve, especially from Black kids. Which is what concerns me being as two of mine are kings in their own country but automatically suspected of being criminals, probably drug users, in the US.



Something happened to me not that long ago that made me think, is this how Black people feel? I was in Marco Island, Florida, and my boyfriend had gone off to California as his daughter was in one of the semi-finals of Jeopardy and taking the keys of the beamer with him. So I had to walk the 3/4 mile to Publix.



There I am in my black pants and top and Betsey Johnson backpack going home walking slowly in the 94 degree heat backpack stuffed with French bread, sangria, salads, that sort of thing, when a police car swerves onto the sidewalk so I can't proceed and the cop gets out and in a not-too-pleasant manner wants to know who I am, see my ID (I don't usually carry any, it's not necessary where I live) and what I am doing walking. Because I can't drive in the US and the bf has carefully taken the car keys in case I should decide to.



When he has established I am who I say I am he gives me a ride back to the yacht in the marina and explains that he had a report of a woman walking oddly, a vagrant, and since I was the only person walking, it must be me! Well gee, vagrants walk around with designer backpacks with a baguette sticking out? In other words if for some reason people don't like the look of you, it doesn't matter who you are if you are 'different' (ie walking in a rich area where everyone drives and there is no public transport) or just by being Black. That's it. Your guilty until you prove your innocence.



So the book is good, it might have happened to me, now I'll know exactly what to do for the next time which hopefully will never come.