So we’re back with another musical by Lin Manuel Miranda, called 21 Chump Street. This musical is based on a true story about Justin Laboy from 2011. Back in 2011, police officers were sent undercover to three high schools in Palm Beach County, Florida to arrest students who were selling and buying drugs.
Lin took some of the lyrics to these songs directly from the This American Life podcast which I have linked if you want to learn more about this. I really recommend watching this, its about 20 minutes long, very interesting, and catchy.
Podcast: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/457/what-i-did-for-love
Musical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELBGa6-uOhc
The narrator, played by Lin himself, assumes the role of Robbie Brown who interviewed Justin on This American Life.
What the Heck I Gotta Do – the narrator introduces the plan as Operation D- (possibly a failing grade in schools or getting rid of drugs from schools); one school was Park Vista Community High School where Justin was 18, an honor roll student, and in his last semester of senior year; a girl named Naomi Rodriguez moved to his school from New York; at this time Justin did not know that Naomi was an undercover cop, but he did like her; in his interview Justin described Naomi as mature (because she was older); she did her part acting as a student, falling asleep in class, letting Naomi copy his homework; Justin trusted Naomi, he told her about his life and thought she liked him as well; he asked her to prom and serenaded her in front of the whole class “what the heck I gotta do to be with you?”
One School – Naomi (25 year old undercover at the Palm Beach Police Force) says that she can’t tell Robbie Brown her real name but she did say she was asked to prom; Naomi was given the assignment to find students that are selling and buyings drugs so she told Justin that she couldn’t go to prom; according to Justin, Naomi asked him if he smoked weed which he didn’t but he could get her some if she wanted him to because he liked her so much
Cousin – Justin had to ask a lot of people to get weed for Naomi, eventually he gets it from his cousin’s friend; Naomi asks Justin where he’s getting weed from, if his dealer is a student or not; when he finally gets it, Naomi asks to get it from him at school knowing that Justin’s punishment could have been worse if he sold drugs on school property
The Money – Justin, nervously, brings the bag of weed to class the next day; Naomi tells him to put it in her purse so he does; Naomi attempts to give Justin money but he doesn’t accept it, he wanted Naomi to love him back so he doesn’t want her money; in the end they kiss and Naomi leaves the money in Justin’s hand
Epilogue – Justin was 18 so he was charged with a felony, not only for selling marijuana but also for selling it on school grounds; the undercover cops arrested 30 other students that May; Justin took a plea because they had the text messages between himself and Naomi; Naomi revealed that she had personal history with drugs in her family; Justin recalls what he liked in Naomi and why he got her weed, saying that if anyone else asked him for weed he would’ve said no; Justin was not able to get in touch with Naomi, or even find out her real name, but if he did he would ask her, “What the heck did you do?”; Justin wanted to join the Military after high school but was unable to, after his probation he enrolled in community college
I really recommend listening to the podcast, as the musical and my own writing is bias in favor of Justin. Let me know your thoughts about this situation.