Wilson awaits trial on the youth tier of the Upper Marlboro prison in Prince George’s County. Mom hires Harry Trainor, an accomplished lawyer and acquaintance of hers. Defiant, Wilson treats his lawyer “like an enemy” and refuses to consider a plea (63). Meanwhile, Wilson’s biological father is killed trying to break up a fight. Wilson does not testify at his trial and does not react when found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. After sentencing, Wilson is placed in solitary confinement. Alone in his cell, he weeps.

The same dream haunts Wilson every night: he sees himself as an old man sitting in his cell. Before he dies, Big Daddy speaks to Wilson one last time and makes his grandson promise to “be a good man. Get an education. Get a high school diploma. Learn a trade” (70). Wilson promises but does not see the point in doing those things and therefore does not believe in his promise.

Wilson is transferred to Patuxent, a maximum-security prison with both rehabilitation and youth programs. A line of female prisoners, viewed from the transfer bus, gives Wilson the wrong idea about life inside the prison. Wilson faces the humiliation of a cavity search, experiences the stench and heat of the building’s interior, and walks into his cell for the first time.