Should Kids Serve Time for Skipping School?

The group gets bored of Uwajimaya and decides to head downtown to GameWorks. While on the bus, a man in the back pulls out a long pipe and a glass bong with the price tag still attached. He takes practice hits from them, testing their seals.

"Whoa," Johnson exclaims. "He's got a bomb."

Harley Soltes

School ain't cool for Tam Chau and his crew: (from left) Chau, Phi Dinh, Johnson Pham, and Duc Huynh.

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"You mean 'bong,' dude," the man says. "Don't say 'bomb.' They'll think we're gonna blow up the bus or something."

The boys get off a few stops later and walk into GameWorks. "That's some crazy stuff," Tam says, shaking his head. "I think those guys are potheads."

Tam admits that he does dream of being successful. When asked what he'd really, really like to do, he responds that he would love to design video games. "RPGs, shooters, race games, all that stuff," he says.

Someone points out that he probably can't do that without some sort of education. Tam cocks his head and flashes a sheepish smile. "I told you, it's just a dream," he says.

Tam jumps on a Dance Dance Revolution game and selects a song, all but drowned out by the thumping house music emanating from another game. His feet move faster and faster as the instructions scroll across the screen at blinding speed. Somehow, he manages to keep up, and snaps off long strings of perfect combinations, hiking up his jeans every so often. The small room fills with the sound of his shoes stomping down to choreography that only he knows, music that only he can hear.

hhsu@seattleweekly.com