James was our next door neighbor. We separated during our senior year when he was sent to a reform school across town. Especially when I decided to attend college in a completely different state. However, our mothers were always close. James has had some run-ins with the law. While he was in reform school, he hung out with a bad crowd. He was arrested several times and was imprisoned twice for possession of drugs with intent to sell. Her life choices weighed heavily on her mother, and that's why my mother made it a priority to be there for her. As a result, they stayed in touch, even after my family left. I remember the day his mother called us in tears to tell us that James was going back to prison. She said he was finally getting his life together, but he made another mistake. The security guard caught him trying to retrieve a pair of work gloves for his new job. So he was finally arrested. What surprised me was to learn that he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. I thought it was for trying to steal work gloves? I was confused to say the least, until ...