By Joshua Ryan
Chapter 11: Come On In—We’re Open
The place didn’t look like much. It looked sorta like a motel and sorta like a grade school—one story, flat roof, glass doors, dorky lookin sign . . . . But there were lots of plants around, so you couldn’t see everything. I guess I was too nervous to be disappointed, but I’d expected something more impressive. I looked at my phone. I was 20 minutes early.
So what now? Would I get in trouble if I was early? Disobeying orders! OK, I’d wait. I’d spend my last few minutes just hanging out, thinking.
I looked around. There was a bus stop on the corner, and a bench with nobody on it. I sat down there and looked back at the SLP building across the street. I could see some more of it now. Behind the office building or whatever, there was a long concrete wall, with razor wire on top. I hadn’t seen much razor wire in my life, just in bad neighborhoods I guess. It was used to keep people out of places. Like junk yards. Or the back of some storage place. But the stuff I was looking at–that was obviously to keep people in. People like me! Once I went through those doors, I’d be inside the razor wire.