The kid hadn't seen his father in a decade. His mom didn't much care what he did, especially after Andre's drug conviction and a stint at W. J. Maxey Training School in Whitmore Lake. McBride, not his real name, is one of 15 recent graduates of the Detroit Hobby Club Workshop, a nonprofit computer repair school that Lofton runs out of a two-family flat near Detroit City Airport. Preparing kids for future jobs is all that matters to Lofton. Every nook and cranny in the house is jam-packed with plank tables and personal computers.
Students learn how to tear a machine down in seven minutes, rebuild it in a few hours.
This macho guy won't let anyone hug him, but he's become a father figure for dozens of neighborhood kids who see him as the cyber gateway to viable jobs, tangible incomes. The hardscrabble kids are all convicted juvenile offenders ages 12 to 21. Lofton got a nice letter from Douglas Howard, director of the agency, acknowledging he does good work, but the kids no longer matter to the state. If a kid commits a few more felonies, winds up in state prison, he'll be a ward of the state. Lofton is a resilient kind of guy, so don't expect him to give up without a good fight.