Caprice Jones crosses 27th Street, coming home from school on a Wednesday afternoon.
The 13-year-old Jones has lived in the Franklin Heights neighborhood near 27th and Concordia all his life. He says he’s had a lot of great experiences, but some not-so-good ones too. “I’ve made a lot of friends,” says Jones. “The bad, I got jumped…the other day”
He says this is the first bad experience he’s had in the neighborhood, though, and it was all over a misunderstanding. “People kept saying I jumped somebody’s little cousin and I didn’t.”
Jones, who attends Lincoln Avenue Elementary School, says his favorite subject is math and that he wants to be an accountant because “they make a lot of money.” “I wanna have, like, a nice house and a family,” he says.
Having two sisters, one older and one younger, Jones admits sometimes it’s hard not having anyone to talk or play with. Jones, who lives with his mother, also tells me his dad is in prison. “He just went to jail a few days ago – he got two years.” Jones hasn’t been to visit yet.
As far as what’s ahead for him, Jones says, “I don’t really know.” But after a moment, he answers again. “I’m looking forward to growing up, not dying young.”
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