“Morning SPECS,” Tenny said to the screen. “How’s it going today?”
“ALL SYSTEMS ARE FUNCTIONING WELL, DR. TENNY. A LIGHT TUBE IN CORRIDOR SIX OF BUILDING NINE BURNED OUT DURING THE NIGHT. I HAVE REPORTED THIS TO THE MAINTENANCE CREW. THEY WILL REPLACE IT BEFORE LUNCH. THE MORNING CLASSES ARE IN PROGRESS. ATTENDANCE IS…”
“Enough, skip the details.” Joe turned back to Danny. “If I let him, he’d give me a report on every stick and stone in the Center.”
“Who is he?” Danny asked.
“Not a he, really. An it. A computer. Special Computer System. Take the ‘s-p-e’ from ‘special’ and the ‘c’ and ‘s’ from ‘computer system’ and put the letters together: SPECS. He runs most of the Center. Sees all and knows all. And he never sleeps.”
“Big deal,” said Danny, trying to make it sound tough.
Joe Tenny turned back to the TV screen, which was still glowing. “SPECS, give me Danny Romano’s record, please.”
The reply came without an instant’s wait: “DANIEL FRANCIS ROMANO. AGE SIXTEEN. HEIGHT FIVE FEET TWO INCHES. WEIGHT ONE HUNDRED THIRTEEN POUNDS. SENTENCED TO INDETERMINATE SENTENCE IN THE JUVENILE HEALTH CENTER-FOUND GUILTY OF ATTEMPTED MURDER, RIOTING, LOOTING, ATTACKING A POLICE OFFICER WITH A DEADLY WEAPON. RESISTING ARREST. EARLIER CONVICTIONS INCLUDE PETTY THEFT, AUTOMOBILE THEFT, ASSAULT AND BATTERY. RESISTING ARREST, VANDALISM. SERVED SIX MONTHS IN STATE PRISON FOR BOYS. ESCAPED AND RECAPTURED…
“That’s enough,” Joe said. “Bad scene, isn’t it?”
“So?”
“So it’s why you’re here.”
Danny asked, “What kind of place is this? How come I’m not in a regular jail?”
Joe thought a minute before answering. “This is a new place. This Center has been set up for kids like you. Kids who are going to kill somebody—or get themselves killed— unless we can change them. Our job is, to help you to change. We think you can straighten out. There’s no need for you to spend the rest of your life in trouble and in jail. But you’ve got to let us help you. And you’ve got to help yourself.”
“How… how long will I have to stay here?”
Tenny’s face turned grim. “Like I said, a couple of years, at least. But it really depends on you. You’re going to stay as long as it takes. If you don’t shape up, you stay. It’s that simple.”
CHAPTER TWO
Joe Tenny went right on talking. He used SPECS’ TV screen to show Danny a map of the Center and the layouts of the different buildings. He pointed out the classrooms, the cafeteria, the gym and shops, and game rooms.
But Danny didn’t see any of it, didn’t hear a single word. All he could think of was: as long as it takes. If you don’t shape up, you stay.
They were going to keep him here forever. Danny knew it. Tenny was a liar. They were all liars. Like that lousy social worker when he was a kid. She told him they were sending him to a special school. “It’s for your own good, Daniel.” Good, real good. Some school. No teacher, no books. Just guards who belted you when they felt like it, and guys who socked you when the guards weren’t looking.
If you don’t shape up, you stay. Shape up to what? Get a job? How? Where? Who would hire a punk sixteen-year-old who’s already spent half his life in jails?
“We gave you a good room,” Joe said, getting up suddenly from his chair. “Your building’s right next-door to the cafeteria.”
Danny snapped his attention back to the real world.
“Come on, it’s just about lunchtime.”
He followed Joe Tenny out into the hallway, to the elevator, and down to the ground floor of the building. Danny saw that somebody had scratched his initials on the metal inner door of the elevator, and somebody else had worked very hard to erase the scratches, They were barely visible.
They pushed through the glass doors and followed a cement walkway across the piece of lawn that separated the two buildings. Danny shivered in the sudden chill of the outside air. Tenny walked briskly, like he was in a hurry.
Groups of boys—two, three, six, eight in a bunch— were walking across the campus grounds toward the cafeteria building. They were talking back and forth, joking, horsing around.