[ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ]	Marcus nodded, avoiding eye contact. “Step out of the vehicle. Ma’am,” he turned to me, “you stay inside.” I watched in my rearview mirror as Marcus walked alongside the officer to his squad car. I wanted to jump out when I saw him turn Marcus around and slam his hands down on the roof. The officer violently dragged his hands over Marcus’s arms and crept them inside his jacket. I nearly hyperventilated when he pulled out a nickel bag and a blunt and slapped the metal bracelets around his wrists. Marcus got sent up to county, without having the option to plea it down. I got off with a speeding ticket. When he got out and went back to school, he applied for financial aid. He had gotten full tuition his previous semesters as he was an independent and had minimal income. But that semester, when he applied, he was declined. He asked why and they said that because he had a drug charge on his record, he was not eligible for aid. He couldn’t get enough in loans, so he had to quit for a while and work to save up money. He tried to save as much as he could, but with paying rent, bills, and basic living essentials, it wasn’t easy. He worked double shifts, 14-hours a day with a 2 hour total commute. He didn’t sleep much and got frustrated with his inability to get ahead. When a guy he knew in his neighborhood made him an offer to sell weed, Marcus was tempted to take it. He could work less and make nearly triple, and be able to pay for school. I reminded him over and over again that drugs were the thing that got him where he was in the first place. But the thing about weed is that it’s easy. You can make enough money to live in a nice place and go to school, without stressing and in half the time. And when you work so hard and get no where, no matter how much you try, it’s easy to slip back into the old way of life. But Marcus said no. He turned down the offer. He kept working hard and exhausted himself, but he was making an honest living. My brother on the other hand, kept selling. He made enough money to put a system in his car, to buy a new DVD player with speakers, and to support his ever-growing habit. He will be attending an Ivy League school in the fall, because his record is free of any felonies . . . .