Part II, Chapter 6, Butch, The Promised Land, Chapter 7, Butch, The Pawnshop Summary and Analysis

Marie didn't much care for Butch. She had four other children now with another alcoholic, Arthur Jackson, who beat her. She enrolled him in school but he misbehaved; one day she gave him a quarter and told him to never come back. The police found Butch and took him and Marie to children's court where she said she didn't have time to take care of him. The court sent Butch to the Children's Center in Harlem, which began his life of being committed to institutions.

The Harlem Children's Center was full of violent and truant boys. Butch quickly established himself as the most violent boy at the Center, building a psychological shell around himself to shield his vulnerabilities and control his...