The black pleather sofa was well worn from the tired bodies of so many young people that had come before me. The pictures on the walls were less glamorous than the first time I’d laid eyes on them; celebrities supporting an emergency shelter for homeless teens. I dropped my heavy backpack alongside the sofa and fiddled with the remote. Nothing good to watch; just passing time. The last five minutes of my childhood, waiting. Always waiting. Midnight struck, yet nothing changed. Well, nothing except the fact that I was suddenly an adult and would have to leave in the morning.
Sheryl Recinos is a frontline physician and author of Hindsight: Coming of Age on the Streets of Hollywood.