Almost nothing surprises Metro police officers. They hear and see most everything. But something happened that even drug officers find hard to believe.

Metro's crime suppression unit works mostly on drug cases. The other day the officers were watching two juveniles outside a service station at Dickerson Road and Ewing Lane.

Sgt. Buddy Rhett, who was working with a couple of other officers, said they saw a 17-year-old sell a younger boy a Lortab pill, a pain-killer related to codeine, for $10.

The undercover officers quickly moved in and arrested both teenagers.

Searching the older youth's car, they found a loaded 45-caliber pistol in the trunk. He told officers the gun belonged to a friend, and he didn't know it was in the car.

Parents of both youths were telephoned and came to the scene.

When told of the drug sale, the younger boy's father appeared concerned about his son who was charged with possession of a drug.

But it was a different story for the mother of the teenager who sold the pill and had the weapon. Her son admitted to his mother that just after selling the pill, vice officers quickly arrested him.

And what was his mother's response?

What he had done wrong, she scolded her son, was not recognizing the undercover policeman's car and getting caught.

Usually parents are mad at the police or mad at their child for being arrested.

But not in this case.

"We spend five minutes with them,” the drug sergeant said, "and their parents spend 24 hours with them."

"And here's a case where it didn't matter to a teenager's mother what he was doing. Her concern was how to avoid being caught," the sergeant said.

Do you think this teenager has a chance in life?