The squeegee kid says he was was washing car windshields the other day when a man approached and asked if he wanted to make some "big money."
The boy, 12, who lives in a West Baltimore public-housing development, had seen the man before in the courtyard of the project and knew what the offer involved -- joining a drug organization.
"I knew it had something to do with drugs," the boy says. "He was just watching me, right. I said, 'How you doing?' He said, 'Pretty fair for a square.' Then he asked me if I wanted to make some big money."
In talks with several boys in parts of East and West Baltimore, The Evening Sun found that drug trafficking is viewed as an easy way to earn a lot of money in a short period of time. And many boys under age 15 seem to have little fear of the court system, or the dangers of the illegal drug trade.
The squeegee kid says he knows that "people get in trouble or killed from drugs." Last fall, he says, a relative was shot in the leg during an argument with a drug dealer who mistakenly thought the relative was trying to take away some customers.
Nonetheless, the boy is tempted by the offer to join a drug organization.
"I didn't say yes and I ain't say no. It's something that I was thinking about anyway. I still am.
"I'm making money now, but not that much money."
The boy works three or four days a week and takes in about $10 on a very good day of windshield washing along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. But he says he knows other boys his age who earn $50 a day in the drug trade.
The squeegee kid admits he is tempted by such "big money." So far he has resisted.
But other boys, who are barely into their teens, do not.
On the east side of town, near Johnston Square, a boy described as "a normal kid" sometimes makes $100 a night delivering drugs, his 20-year-old brother says.
The older brother describes the routine:
The boy stays out past 9 p.m. and frequents other neighborhoods, where he is well known and many people congregate. Beneath a pair of sweat pants, he wears athletic shorts with deep pockets.
He shakes hands with many people he sees. Sometimes when he shakes hands a small packet is exchanged. The packet contains drugs.
"He does not use drugs. I know that for a fact," the brother says. "I know that and I make sure of that as a fact. I think it's bad enough what he does now. If I even think he starts using them, it's over."
The boy has been involved in the drug trade for nearly a year and has made a good deal of money -- often more than $100 at a time, the brother says. Most of the money goes toward clothes and sporting goods.
Their mother doesn't know what's going on, the 20-year-old says, but other relatives do.
The boy "doesn't stay out late on weekends or weekdays and he doesn't do it every day," the brother says. "Aside from the clothes, what he buys he don't keep at home. He keeps them at friends' houses. And it's not as though he's buying clothes all of the time."
The boy is only a small cog in a drug organization. Often his sole duty is to hold packaged drugs, the brother says. The boy never touches the profits and seldom possesses more than three packets of drugs.
The brother has tried unsuccessfully to talk the boy out of drug trafficking -- and has thought of beating some sense into him about the dangers of drug dealing.
"If [the mother] knew she'd whip his a--. No question. I ought to whip his a--," the brother says angrily. "If it ain't putting up with getting shot, it should be about maybe going to jail.
"I know this might sound a little strange, but he's a normal kid. There's things he could better put his interests in. He's good at basketball."
The boy does not lack for recreational opportunities. For example, there's a community center not far from his home that has numerous offerings for youths. And it is open until 10 p.m.
MONEY IS THE LURE
But the lure of "big money" is hard for any 12-, 13- or 14-year-old to resist.
Drug dealers use boys in their organizations because the penalties are a lot less severe if the child is arrested, and because the boys aren't savvy enough to cheat the dealers out of the profits or drugs.
"It's easier to have a juvenile hold the drugs and if something were to happen you don't have to bail them out," says Agent Arlene K. Jenkins, a spokesperson for the city police department.
"They're also willing to work for a lot less money. The adults are the ones running the drugs. The kids are just holding them."
Last year, city police arrested more than 1,400 youths age 18 or younger for drug violations ranging from possession to the sale and manufacturing of drugs. Of that number, 204 were age 14 years and under, and 35 were age 12 or younger, according to police statistics.
Wednesday afternoon, a 10-year-old boy was arrested on an East Baltimore playground while playing on a swing and was charged as a juvenile with possession of cocaine. Police said the youth had four $10 vials of cocaine, and some cash, stuffed in his sock.
Police said the boy was holding the drugs for two 15-year-old drug dealers who were also arrested. The 10-year-old told police he carried the drugs because he was afraid of being assaulted if he refused.
All three youths were released to the custody of their parents.
Last week, an 11-year-old East Baltimore boy was arrested with five vials of cocaine and $160 in his sweat pants. He too was released to his parents' custody.
Jenkins believes that few juveniles take part in the violence that is associated with drug trafficking. She says that boys mostly serve as "mules," merely holding the drugs.
"Half of the homicides in the city are drug-related and only 44 [juveniles] were charged with murder," she says. "The adults are the enforcers."
PARENTS FAULTED
Some community leaders say juvenile drug activity has increased as the use of neighborhood recreation centers has decreased.
Hilton O. Bostick, of the Oliver Community Association, blames parents and says they should make certain that children use the centers.
"It's unfortunate that parents don't have to obtain parenting skills before having a baby," Bostick says. "I see [children] on the streets at night unsupervised and facing all of the possible dangers at the worst time then.
"Any time I see middle school youngsters out on the streets after 11 or 12 o'clock, I know something is wrong."
Bostick says the Oliver Recreation Center, which is open every weeknight until 10 p.m., can accommodate more than 200 youths, but seldom has more than 60 a night.
"Right now I've got 20 applications for inner-city children to play golf at the Mount Pleasant Golf Course and I've yet to see parents come in and sign their kids up," Bostick says. "But they'll run in here for cheese and butter."
Some residents of the community say that boys in their early teens drift into drug activity because they are beginning to mature but are too young for most jobs.
"So there is a void when they look grown and act grown but they aren't," says one resident. "Drugs are easy and available."
Samuel V. Burton, a drug counselor, says that many boys lack positive male role models, and to these youngsters the drug dealers become "folk heroes."
"I'm optimistic that in the black community when [drug dealing] reaches a saturation point, the black community will reclaim their kids," Burton says. "The community will have a different value system. It will say you can be a good man without having a new car."
A BRUSH WITH DEATH
For one 15-year-old boy, a brush with death brought home the dangers of drug peddling. But he says it did not drive him out of the business entirely.
Working for an older dealer, the boy had been selling drugs in the projects for two years. Then someone shot at him from a high-rise.
"I ain't have no idea where it came from -- all I know is that I started running," he says.
Later, the dealer "asked me if I wanted a gun," the boy says. "He said he'd watch out for me, but I didn't feel right. You start to think this is something that you've got to live with all of the time."
The boy says he stopped his drug involvement for a while. But now he is back, dealing sporadically, because the money is so tempting.
"There's some things that I want," the boy says. "I just got to be more careful."