My Poor, Dumb Cousin

[Wayne]

He just started serving a ten year sentence last month over some illegal activities. Apparently, he was beefing with some other kid (my cousin's only 20) for a period of time and at one point it came to some gunplay where the other kid had a gun and he and my cousin struggled for it and the kid got his index blown off. I'm not exactly sure of the law, but it's something like anything above the waist is attempted murder and anything below is assault, so he was being charged with attempted murder. But there's more: he shot at a house full of people. He threatened a witness. And to top it all off after being charged with all this stuff he rode around in a car piled with guns up to his nose. The earliest he can get out of prison is 2020, the latest 2028.

I haven't really seen him since he was 4, but I'm wondering; should I reach out to him? He was a beautiful kid, sweet, smart and you just couldn't help liking him. I was at my aunt's house a lot then because I have a sister who's a few months younger than him and they played together a lot. I don't know this man, though (can't really call him a boy after all he's done), but I'd like to hope that beautiful kid is somewhere inside still and is reachable. I know if he weren't my cousin I would give him two seconds of disdainful thought before discarding him from my mind, so I really have to wonder if he's worth it to me.

[Diane]

Question - You say you haven't really seen him in 16 years, how come so long?

[Wayne]

I don't know really. I guess I was a teenager at the time and that would have been right around the time when I was about to get my driver's license. I have this weird family thing where it's just difficult for me to keep in contact with them. Nothing actually happened to cause a rift.

[Youngblood]

He sounds dumb for sure. Thing is, we read about these sorts of things all the time, and you can be sure as much as we shake our heads at them, and call them stupid, not knowing who their families are, they too have families, and once were innocent children.

Aside from the possibility it may have been unintentional, the original act of blowing off a digit, his other actions speak of a violent and dangerous criminal. Sounds like he could use the break from society, and society from him.

Should you reach out to him? No idea...that is your call. No harm, no foul, right?

[Wayne]

I'm just trying to figure out if it'd be worth my time. I mean, he's going to be out someday and it would be great if my REHABILITATED cousin came home and not a new-and-improved criminal.

[Wayne]

Hopefully Allah or Jesus are hanging out in there and get to him.