Mrs. Ruby was the matron of Terrace dorm 4, my dorm, and she was a very caring lady who looked out for her boys. Don't get me wrong she was no pushover; she was tough, but fair and called it like it is. On Saturday when we got done cleaning and passed the inspection she would buy cigarettes for the whole dorm. She would say "Chef, one smoke we all smoke". I ran the store and she had a difficult time pronouncing my name. I knew that meant to give everyone a cigarette and she would cover the cost. She worked at Gatesville for a long time and was raised in the black community of that backwater little reform school town. Some of the boys were on her dorm at Riverside before that school closed and I think she was also a matron at Live Oak school when it was colored boys only.
When I came back the second time none of the other dorm personnel wanted me on their dorm. I can’t imagine why, but they didn't. Hell the people at Sycamore didn’t want me either and I was too old to go to Valley school. Go figure the last stop for a juvenile delinquent is Gatesville and nobody wanted me there. They were going to Mountain View committee me and be done with it, but Mrs. Ruby, came and said she would take me back on her dorm. I promised I wouldn't run on her shift and I didn't. I waited until a floater dorm man we called booboo, because he looked like booboo, and I went out the clothes room window. 30 days in lockup and I was back on the dorm. I never ran on Mrs. Ruby and Booboo wouldn't let me in the clothes room when he worked our dome, even after I was clothes room boy again.
I hadn't thought about Ruby Brown until the other night at the Denton County Impact Program and seeing the tyc boys from McFadden who come and speak to the first offender kids with their matron. I think she would be offended if I called her a matron and I don't know what her title is but she reminded me a lot of Mrs. Ruby, only this lady is white. It was how she interacted with the boys in her charge and how they responded. I think if tyc had more people like this lady at McFadden and Mrs. Ruby the agency wouldn't be such a failure at its mission.
Anybody out there have any good matron stories or remember Mrs. Ruby Brown please share.
