Chapter 2

Jason—I visited this girl the next day, her name is LaDonna Jenkins. She had spent about 4 hours in surgery getting her jaw wired shut and her nose fixed. She was a mess. She was missing about 6 teeth. Some broke off, others were knocked completely out. The doctor told us, Carla, Darla and me, that they had done all they could do for her. She was going to have to wait until the swelling went down and then she would need facial re-construction. Her nose was destroyed and they had removed most of the bone. Her eye sockets, orbital bones, were fractured. Her jaw was broken in three places. She was in for a long and painful recovery, and it would be costly.

When I went in to see her I could tell she recognized me. She tried to smile and moved her hands to take mine. She squeezed and I squeezed back. I introduced my wives and told her we would be there for her. She looked so pitiful. Her eyes were swollen and she could not smile or talk. I told her to get some rest and I would see her later that day.

We went to a restaurant for lunch and Darla told me what they had found out about LaDonna Jenkins. She was 17 years old and lived with her mother. She was a senior in high school but was not a very good student, just barely passing. Her mother had been a hairdresser at a local salon up until about 2 years ago. That is when she had taken up with a local drug dealer and had gotten addicted to crack. She had lost her job and the dealer had taken to turning her out as a prostitute. LaDonna had so far avoided the drugs and the prostitution but how much longer could she? Her future did not look very bright and now with the way she had been beaten and the additional surgery needed; it was even dimmer.