Drama- Apples

I am very happy to report that I have received another piece of mail today form my 84-year-old grand mother. She was kind enough to send me a birthday card for my birthday tomorrow. I was very surprised to receive this card because I thought inmates could not receive them. What was very odd is that my grandmother’s card was postmarked August 18th from NJ; I received it 5 days later. The letter I received yesterday was postmarked August 16th and was sent from Southern California. NJ took 5 days – Southern Cal took 6 days – go figure.

Earlier this week, I wrote about all the apples I was receiving from my fellow inmates. Apparently, I over estimated my appetite because I couldn’t eat them fast enough. I still had 10 apples left in the drawer after eating four per day for the last three days. My “stash” of apples almost landed me into trouble. There has been a great deal of drama here today and during dinner the correction officer inspected our drawers looking for contraband. Unbeknown to me having more than one apple in my drawer is considered contraband. Apparently, there are some very creative inmates who take the apples along with any other fruit and make “pruno” which is a fruit wine. I don’t know the process nor do I care to learn because it is nothing but trouble. In fact, during the same inspection the correction officer found some ready made “pruno” in an inmates drawer. The two inmates who shared the bunk were handcuffed and lead away to the hole.

The hole is a form of solitary confinement where these two inmates will spend the next 30 days. In addition to the 30 days, they earned an additional 90 days here at the reception center. They could be here for a total of six months before they are sent to the main-line. Also, their refraction will be sent to the DA’s office to see if they should be prosecuted. This is known as a DA referral and according to some of the inmates the amount of “pruno” was not enough for prosecution. If fear is a great motivator and judging by all the consequences associated with this infraction, then I am very fearful.

Fortunately, when the correction officer discovered all of the apples in my drawer, my fellow Bunkie (who is also the representative for the whites) yelled out that I was a vegetarian and the officer nodded in agreement. There were further questions and the apples were deposited into the trash container. Starting tomorrow I will not accept an apple unless I am willing to eat it as soon as I receive it. I will not keep any extra apples in my drawer for fear of a misconception. My thought that my diet while in prison would land me in the infirmary, but who knew my diet could possible land me in the “hole”. It certainly was a lesson learned!

Prior to dinner and the inspection, there was a great deal of drama surrounding the dormitory. There are about 144 inmates who share this dorm 24 hours a day over the course of 2-3 months. About 10%-25% of the population rotates out on a weekly basis but it still leaves too many personalities in one area for things to happen. It appears that most of the problems are based on race. Everyone is very protective of their race in a traditional sense. Each race is put into a “car” in the literal sense. I am in the white car which is also know as “woods”. Each race has to abide by the rules. These cars stand together and if someone breaks ranks they are either beaten up or told to get out of the dorm.

One of the dramas today had someone breaking ranks in their car and it was a very big production. The correction officers let this play our and hopefully no one gets hurt. No one did get hurt today (thank God) but it was fascinating to let this all play out. Two inmates from the same car had a very heated discussion which was watched very carefully by the correction officers. The inmate did not want to leave voluntarily in order to save face so with the threat of being sprayed with pepper spray; the inmate was led out of the dormitory. After this happened, the sergeant in charge of the shift had a very public discussion with the car representatives in order to hold off any further issues. The sergeant wanted to impress upon everyone if there were any additional issues, all of us in the dorm will be stripped down to our boxer shorts and be lead outside to the yard. We would stay in the yard on our bellies – no matter the time of day – until the issue is resolved. The temperature today was 102 degrees and I can’t imagine lying on my stomach in this heat for an untold number of hours. It appears the issues have been diffused but knowing I still have at least six weeks here, I fully expect there will be more to come.

I do like the way things are handled here as opposed to the county jail. Inmates in the county jail resolved their own issues using violence. This made me very uneasy, especially in my last week there. I was fearful of leaving my cell not knowing what would happen next. By the same token, I was also fearful of NOT leaving my cell for fear of an inmate thinking I was “ratting” on someone. It really was a fine line which lead to my paranoia.

My first allegiance is to my wife and children which means I need to stay safe. There are a few ways to do this and hopefully I can continue to lay low, mind my own business, and get back to my family sooner as opposed to later and in one piece. Paranoia – here – has not set in as yet but again I must remain on my toes and mind my “apples”. This is certainly a learn as I go situation and I do look forward to the day when this is all just a good story which will happen soon enough.