The Sasha Riley story sounds like BS

[Jimbalaya]

112. some details are far fetched. others aren't.

as a little kid who grew up in red / rural south / midwest in the 80s, with older kids/abusers from foster care, riding our bikes from one trailer park to the next, I can tell you:

- they would kill and torture animals. both wild animals and neighbor's domesticated animals. throw frogs on top of the roof on hot days, hit them with baseball bats when they jump off. douse neighbor cats in lighter fluid, chase them with lighters, etc.
- they were totally uninhibited in talking about homophobia/racism/sexism + violence.
- routinely encouraged / organized fights among each other.
- they would do anything for a gun / BB gun / bow and arrow / cool knife / "fighting" stick.
- they would build forts with traps that were actually really dangerous.
- they would build fires anywhere they could get away with it.
- fireworks, m80s, and other explosives (shotgun shells, for christ sake).
- cigarettes, booze, pills, weed; buy it or steal it to be very cool.
- they would abuse each other physically and sexually. organizing a fight between younger kids one day. sharing porn with them the next. masturbating together. exchanging video games, comic books, collectable cards for sex.
- uncertainty about why bio / foster parents weren't aware / stopping it.
- a kind of childish / horrific lore about the world, loosely agreed upon by 6-14 year olds. like, why god judges you for masturbating, and which animals have the devil in them, where their souls go when you kill them, how to comb your hair so girls will like you, that if you get an earring in your left ear you're gay, which skull and crossbones symbols are real, whether you actually burn in hell or not, how you have sex with women, which races you shouldn't trust and why, how to run away from home and live on the road.
- all the above lore, but about other boys, older boys, and the cool shit they did or saw or had sex with or almost died from.

I say this for several reasons:
1) redneck / rural / poor boys and young men were like this all over the American south, midwest, whatever, in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, etc.
2) Sasha Riley's story and account fits perfectly within this time and place. Even the outlandish parts that sound more like horrific lore told by a 9 year old, rather than a credible witness on the stand.
3) All of these boys and young men became adults, just a few months and years later. Same houses, same neighborhoods, same friends / enemies / beliefs, more or less.
4) For those of you who grew up in the internet era, where all the horrible shit in the world is "on the computer", it may be difficult to believe Riley's story about IRL horrible shit. But, when you think about it, it's all somewhere IRL before it's "on the computer".

For those who still are, thanks for reading.