In or Out Of the Game?

"So now you can't get anybody to cooperate," Bell said. "Each case becomes more and more tougher as you go along."

Bell was never able to nail James on anything but small-time drug charges. "He became very evasive through the years." Reflecting on A.J. now, Bell added: "He was a bright guy. But unfortunately, he was on the other side of the fence. Nobody was keeping him in the game. He was keeping himself in the game. He was where he wanted to be."

Thwarting his pursuers gave A.J. a sense of accomplishment. And maybe even now, he is still thwarting them. Is he still in the game, he was asked, dealing drugs?

"Well, I can take the Fifth, right? That's what I'm going to do because I never know who's reading the paper," he said. "And I never know if it's going to come back to me."

* * *

A Push for Positive Thinking

No one coddles offenders on Taylor Street. Certainly not Curtis Atkinson, who has dealt with 500 convicted criminals over the past two years, including Anthony James. Atkinson is head of the day-reporting unit at this Court Services and Supervision Agency field office in Northwest. He assists offenders with résumé preparation, job searches, financial management, anger management, a whole range of life skills. The offenders are required to report here as a condition of their parole, probation or supervised release. Many treat the obligation as a chronic annoyance.

"My primary purpose is to change the negative thinking pattern, period," Atkinson explains.

He doesn't play victimization games.

"We can sit here and talk about how the system keeps us down because we're black men," he said. "And that may be partially true. But many of the barriers are internal."

Offenders are full of swagger when they first come to Taylor Street, convinced they can beat the system with street smarts. They forge pay stubs to show they are working, submit computer-generated GEDs to show they have obtained their high school diploma. Some -- four in one month -- have brazenly tried to pass scheduled drug tests by using urine aids (fake penises attached to liquid sacks) that are sold online.

"The thing about our guys -- they would rather make zero dollars an hour than $6 an hour," said Atkinson, who tells them to view McDonald's, for instance, as a corporation with opportunities beyond bagging fries. Maybe you start in fries, but you don't have to finish there.

The need to pose -- to be tough for their peers, to hide their fears -- keeps many from moving on.