The Sinner Program

by B L Teschner

  Sarah sighed. “You know, text addiction by itself isn’t something to send your child to this program for. Why don’t you tell us the main reason why you’re here?”

  Lori shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “I wrecked my car.”

  “Mm hmm. And what exactly were you doing when you wrecked your car?”

  She hesitated before answering, “Texting.”

  “Yes, and why don’t you tell the group what happened as a result of you texting and wrecking your car?”

  Lori’s eyes scanned the group with pursed lips, her throat moving with a hard swallow. “I hit a pedestrian.”

  Some of us in the group gasped, including myself.

  “Yes,” Sarah nodded. “And why aren’t you in jail because of that, hmm?” Lori stayed silent. “I’ll tell you why: Your parents are loaded.”

  Lori’s nose wrinkled. “Well that stupid old man shouldn’t have been out walking when it was dark outside, so technically it was his fault.”

  Sarah tsked with a shake of her head. “What a poor attitude to have. That’s why I love this program, because we’ll cure you of that attitude you have. I promise!”

  “Whatever.”

  Her head turned again and her eyes fell on me. “And your name?”

  My heart thumped faster; I hated being the center of attention. “Millie.”

  “Millie. What are you seeing us for?”

  “I uh, I stole some things.”

  “Stole some things? Uh oh ladies, better watch your stuff in your room at night!” She laughed and waved her hand at me. “I’m joking, I’m joking. So Millie, what made you steal? Your family obviously has the money to buy you anything your little heart desires.”

  I pulled my shoulders back, resorting to just acknowledging what I had done. “I wanted some excitement in my boring life, and that was the only thing I could think of that I was brave enough to do.”

  Sarah nodded her head. “Wow, ladies, do you hear that honesty? How refreshing! Someone is actually owning up to their sin!” She slow clapped for a few moments, and I couldn’t figure out if it were sarcastic or genuine. “You are going to do well here, Millie. I can just feel it!”

  * * *

  Dwayne

  I didn’t like Dominic. I didn’t like the way he looked at me; I didn’t like the way his mouth formed my name when addressing me. He added an extra letter A in before the W, pronouncing it Dawayne. It’s Dwayne, you idiot.

  “Dawayne,” he called out, picking me next. “You’re the last one. What is your sin?”

  I tried to keep my lips from setting into a straight line of irritation. “Gambling.”

  “Yes, gambling. From what I understand you are seriously addicted to it, correct?”

  “Sure.”

  He looked around the group; there were twenty-three of us. “Addiction. It’s a serious thing. This group of you young men are experiencing addiction to gambling, sex, pornography… One of you is even here for being a pathological liar which is also an addiction.” His head snapped over to the kid he was referring to, Bobby.

  Bobby’s eyes widened. “No I’m not!” he tried to defend himself.

  “See?” Dominic addressed the group again. “He’s lying right now.” He leaned forward and clasped his hands together. “But there is still hope for you all; I want you to know that.” His eyes went to me. “Dawayne, what is it about gambling that you love so much?”

  I stretched my arms back and put my hands behind my head. “Winning.”

  “Yeah. It gave you a high, right?”

  “Yeah, you can say that.”

  “But what about when you lost? What did it do to you then?”

  “It bummed me out.”

  “Right, it gave you a low. It’s just like being addicted to a drug. You think your gambling habits aren’t dangerous but in reality, you’re getting high and coming off that high only to hit a low after you realized you lost all your money.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “There’s no guessing about it, Dawayne. That’s the truth. I mean, even Bobby could tell you that.”

  * * *

  Layla

  My eyes rolled as I listened to Sarah educate us on our addictions. I bet she hadn’t even had sex before. Or if she had, it was probably the most vanilla sex anyone could ever have in their entire life. It was annoying how bubbly she was about it too. I’ve never heard anyone say the word sex with such a happy-go-lucky expression; it was like she was saying the word unicorn or something.

  “Layla is experiencing the same thing as you,” Sarah told the girl across from me, who didn’t exactly look like the promiscuous type with her turtleneck sweater and baggy jeans. “Maybe you two can lean on each other for support.”

  “Or maybe get some new ideas,” I whispered to the narcissist beside me as I nudged her shoulder with mine. She ignored me.

  “Is there something you would like to share with the rest of the group?” Sarah asked, directing her attention at me.

  “Oh, uh, no. No thank you.”

  “Are you sure?” she smiled. “I saw you whisper something to Rebecca.

  My head shook from side to side. “Nope.”

  She uncrossed her right leg and switched so her left was crossed on top. “What is it about sex that you’re addicted to, Layla?”

  A laugh rumbled deep in my chest. “Seriously?”

  “Yes,” her smile widened. “Seriously. Enlighten us a little.”

  “Well, uh, for one, it’s completely natural.”

  “Okay. What else?”

  “It’s pleasurable, and, it’s fun.”

  “But you’re addicted to it, isn’t that right?”

  “Well it’s a pretty good thing to be addicted to, am I right?” I nudged the narcissist again to get a response. Negative.

  Sarah didn’t seem too impressed. “Aren’t you afraid of what you might look like to other kids your age? That maybe you look a little easy?”

  “Easy peasy lemon squeezy. I really don’t care what people think about me. It’s my body, I’m protecting myself, and I’m enjoying every second of what I do with it. And I’m getting a little tired of you guys referring to sex as a sin. It’s not.”

  It was hard to tell, but I thought I could see Sarah’s eyes narrow slightly from my remark. “What about your parents? What do they think about you?”

  “I’m here, aren’t I?”

  “Unfortunately,” she clucked with a laugh. “I’m joking,” she assured me, waving her hand in my direction. “Don’t worry, dear, we’ll turn you into the respectable young woman your parents have been dreaming about. I promise.”

  * * *

  Connor

  “You’re kind of a mixed group,” Dominic said as he looked at the six of us sitting in chairs as a part of the circle. “It’s not usually co-ed, but we put the—what’s the right word I’m looking for here—impassioned teens together. And honestly, there aren’t many of you.”

  I knew exactly what he wanted to say. He wanted to say that they put the violent teens together. It made me sick that I was forced into a group made up of truly violent people when I didn’t even fit the description of one.

  “Jill,” Dominic began, addressing the only girl in the group. He looked down at a clipboard in his hands. “You are here for fighting, is that right?”

  Jill was leaned back in her wooden seat with her arms crossed over her chest and a glare on her face. She was still pretty, even with the glare. It made me wonder why someone like her was apparently so violent, not that you could judge someone by their looks. It was also a possibility that she was falsely accused of being violent like I was. Maybe Jill wasn’t so bad. But, then again, I had heard how she had been treating Millie, who was the nicest person I knew in this place. Maybe Jill did deserve to be in the violent group.

  “Yeah, I fight,” Jill answered. “So what?”

  Dominic looked up from his clipboard and balanced it on his knee that was crossed on top of his other one. “Wh
y?”

  “Why do I fight? Because I like to, that’s why.”

  “Are you trying to prove something to someone?”

  “No,” she scoffed. “I don’t need to prove myself to anybody.”

  “So what’s the point then? Do you like making people feel uncomfortable?”

  Her eyes rolled with irritation. “Listen, I don’t want to talk about this crap, okay? I’m just here to serve my time and get back home. There’s nothing wrong with the way I am.”

  Dominic kept his cool. “You know, half of fights between girls are because of jealousy. Are you jealous of anyone at your school?”

  Her eyebrows wrinkled. “Um, look at me…” She glanced down at her slouched body before meeting his eyes once again. “Does it look like I need to be jealous of anyone?”

  “Okay. Then maybe you’re trying to gain attention, or maybe keep a boyfriend. Are you trying to keep girls from coming close to a boyfriend of yours?”

  “My boyfriend isn’t interested in anyone but me; I don’t have to worry about that.”

  He drew a breath in through his nose and let out a heavy sigh. “Do your parents fight at home?”

  This time, Jill didn’t seem to answer as quickly. “No.” Her voice was firm and she kept steady eye contact with him. “And I’m done talking now; move onto the next psycho in the group.”

  Dominic eyed his clipboard. “Don’t worry, Jill. We’ll straighten you out. I promise.” After a moment he looked over at the boy next to her. “David. You are here for fighting as well. Maybe you and Jill can lean on each other for support.”

  “I don’t need no woman to lean on,” David said in disgust. He stood up from his chair and turned around, kicking it forcefully away before going back to it and sitting down, taking himself outside of the circle.

  Dominic’s eyebrows raised but he almost looked bored. “Okay, well, moving on… How about Trevor?”

  Trevor, the kid sitting next to me who looked like he was probably a sophomore, cut his eyes up at Dominic. I recognized him from my room. The entire time we had been sitting there, he had had his arms down at his sides, dangling over the sides of the chair. “Yes?” he answered, his voice eerily monotonous.

  “You are one of the ones we’ll need to help the most in this group. It looks like you’ve had these problems since you were about five years old, is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “Your parents say you torture your siblings.”

  “Yes.”

  Dominic eyed his notes. “It says here you’ve pulled out their hair, tried to break their fingers, and burned them with cigarette lighters, is that right?”

  “Yes.”

  Dominic’s hand came to rest against his chin as he focused on Trevor. “This is pretty deep stuff. We’ll have to get into that another time, preferably in a one-on-one session. But for now, I want you to listen to what we talk about in the group and see if you can take anything away that you might find useful.”

  Trevor did nothing but nod once. I was glad I had my friends in the room with me at night. He was obviously a creep.

  Now it was my turn to be scrutinized. “Connor. You’re here for pyromania, correct?”

  My shoulders slumped. “Yes,” I answered barely above a whisper.

  “What made you get into starting fires?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know.” That was a lie, but I didn’t want to tell him anything about me. He wouldn’t believe me anyway, or care for that matter.

  “Do you like fire?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What do you like about it?”

  My lips twisted in thought. “I like the colors; I like the way the flames move.”

  “And do you have a goal in mind when you start these fires? Hmm? Do you want to burn down someone’s home?”

  “What?” I gasped, the air catching in my throat. “No! Of course not!”

  His hand left his chin and came out in front of him in a calming gesture. “Okay, okay. Let’s not get too riled up.”

  My head pulled back in disbelief. “Riled up?” I asked, my voice raising to an even higher level, which was still pretty quiet. I pointed to David who was still sitting in his new spot behind the group. “That kid kicked his chair back and you didn’t even bat an eye at him!”

  “Mind your own damn business, twerp,” David snarled.

  Hot tears filled my eyes and I silently cursed myself for being such a wimp. I hated it when I cried; I couldn’t help it. I was more prone to my emotions taking over me since my mom had passed away, but it went up to a new level after people started accusing me of being a pyromaniac.

  “Settle down,” Dominic said. “I didn’t mean to say something that would get you so emotional. I just see here that you burned down your treehouse. The only logical step that is next is an actual house. But I’ll move on to the other teens for now and we’ll go over it another time, okay?”

  I pulled the neck of my t-shirt up over my nose and used it to wipe away the wetness on my face before crossing my arms harshly in front of me. “Fine.”

  Six

  Millie

  It had been mostly windy since we arrived, and those clouds that were in the distance were just a few hours away from coating the blue sky above us. But we were lucky to be graced with an afternoon of sunshine, even if it was going to be short-lived.

  The five of us were spread out on the freshly-mowed green lawn, all of us on our backs with our hands behind our heads, taking in the pretty sight of the willow tree above us shaking its long strands of vine-like leaves in the wind.

  “The guy is weird,” Dwayne continued on about his experience with his counselor. “He kept calling me Dawayne… It was so annoying.”

  “Yeah, no kidding,” Toby agreed. “There’s a kid in my group who sells weed and he was asking him questions about how I reacted to peer pressure.” His face angled up and to the side so he could see me. “What about you? How was your group session?”

  I angled my head as well, and we both smiled when our eyes met. “Equally as weird,” I told him. “Sarah’s so overexuberant.”

  “She’s a fake,” Layla scoffed beside me. “Does anyone else get the feeling that these people aren’t actually real counselors?”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Dwayne agreed. “They haven’t even done anything to help us get better.”

  “Well we’ve only had one session,” Toby put in. “Maybe they’ll get into helping us more as we go along. Even more so for those who go into the one-on-one sessions.”

  “Well look who’s being so positive,” Layla said with a smile in her voice. “Does Toby believe in the magical healing properties of The Sinner Program?”

  He rejected the idea with a wrinkle of his nose. “No, I just really want to give these people the benefit of the doubt. It makes this place a little less intimidating.”

  “At least we all got morning sessions so we can hang out in the afternoon,” Dwayne added.

  My head rolled in the other direction so I could see Layla. “Speaking of being positive, you’ve had a smile on your face since we’ve been here on the lawn. What are you being so positive about?”

  Her maroon-colored lips curled into a smile as she looked up at the sky. “You really wanna know?”

  “Yeah,” I said with a grin.

  “Not me,” Dwayne said.

  Layla chuckled. “I met a guy.”

  “Oh Lord,” Dwayne moaned, and I could picture his brown eyes rolling.

  I turned over on my side to face her. “Really? What about Brad?”

  “Out with the old, in with the new, right?”

  Her carefree attitude brought a grin to my face. “Is he cute?”

  “Totally.” She rolled over on her side as well, facing me with a devious look. “He’s also here for sex addiction.”

  “Lord have mercy on my friend Layla’s soul,” Dwayne said in a preachy voice, which made us all laugh.

  “What’s his name?” I asked.


  “Cory.”

  “That’s a nice name.”

  “That’s not the only thing that’s nice about him…”

  My eyebrows raised questionably as one of hers cocked. “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Oh, you know… I slept with him.”

  My eyes widened. “You didn’t!”

  “Yep,” she said with a satisfied grin. “I did.”

  “I pretty much knew that already happened before you told us,” Dwayne said. “Man, that sure was fast. No wonder you were sent here.”

  Layla ripped a handful of grass from beside her and tossed it onto Dwayne’s face. “Shut up.”

  “Hey!” he shrieked as he sat up and spat out the green blades. “What’d you do that for?”

  “For not keeping your mouth shut, acting like you know me.”

  “Oh, you mean like how you did when we first met, thinking I was here for drugs?”

  “Hey, I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have judged you like that but that doesn’t mean you should judge me.”

  Dwayne pulled a knee to his chest and rested his arm on top of it. “Well, if we’re being real here, I was kinda right. I mean, you’ve already slept with someone…”

  Layla’s eyes rolled. “Whatever.”

  Toby turned over and sat up, leaning his hands back behind him and stretching his legs out if front of him, crossing them at the ankles. “So, where’d you guys do it at?”

  “The third floor.”

  “The third floor?” I asked.

  “Yep. Nothing up there but storage like extra mattresses and sports equipment; some of the rooms are even empty. Made it the perfect place to get down, if you know what I mean.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t get caught,” Toby said.

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “You better make sure you don’t. I can’t imagine what the punishment would be for something like that.”

  She plucked at some grass in front of her. “Maybe I should get caught. Maybe they’ll kick me out and I can go back home.”