Welcome to Rumbel Strip, Vermont America Heilman. This is an unedited interview I did with a young man in Barry, Vermont in 2011.

He gave me permission to use this tape, but I've chosen not to use his name in order to protect his privacy. I'll call him O. I'd interviewed O once before when he was on furlow and living in Barry. About a year after that first interview I went looking for him again.

I was curious about how he was doing after having maxed out his jail sentence.

He agreed to another interview and we met at the apartment he was living in with his girlfriend

and daughter.

According to O, much of his family, his dad, grandfather, uncle, cousins have been in and

out of jail for as long as he can remember.

I wanted to know how this family history affected his thoughts about his own life

prospects. I go back to this tape over and over. Pieces of it show up in other stories I've

made, but there is more content in this raw tape

than any story I could write or edit. Fair warning, there are references to sex and violence in this

interview and it is not appropriate for children.

The child that you hear is my daughter is my daughter and that's sometimes part of me in a

Vermonter you know as you have to is you have to make this sacrifices you know

and stuff and I'm a young parent you know stop I'm a young parent you know here here

And so how did you uh how did you uh how did you uh how did you feel about

I felt pretty good about having it what he's sitting on a couch he was just

sitting on the couch I gotta go find my dog real quick I'm sorry I'll be sorry. I'm sorry about that.

I'm sorry about that.

Harley!

I know. Good boy. You're going to wait a couple of them. It's going to be alright.

Oh, McKenna, you're alright.

...