July 15th "Off the Boat"

My name along with six other names boomed over the intercom system at 1:00 am. My time on the boat was up and Iwas transferred to a regular cell. I was wondering when and if I would be transferred to a regular cell because I had heard earlier that the Detention Center was fined earlier (By whom, I don't know) if someone was on a "boat" more than ten hours. I was entering my third night on the boat and everyone who came before and some after me on similar boats had been transferred so I knew it was only a matter of time. The call came over the intercom and I gathered up my belongings - mattress pad, sheets, blanket, toothbrush,toothpaste, towel, washcloth and storage box.

I made my way over to the front of the common area also known as the "dayroom" where the entry and exit door had been. Six of us were at the door as the guard shouted instructions at each of us. I was told to make my way to Dayroom 1 - Cell 2. Dayroom 1 was a few short steps around the corner and I made my way to the entry/exit door. The door slid open and I quickly picked up all my belongings and headed for cell #2.

As I entered the dayroom, I noticed all the even number of cells were on the bottom level and thus all the odd number cells were on the top level. I scanned for cell 2 which was at the far left of the dayroom, sort of hidden underneath one of the two stairwells. I noticed the cells on the left hand side of the dayroom, both bottom and top levels were darker than those cells on the right hand side but didn't think much of it.

I made my way to the cell door and the guard at the top of the pod (aka Pod God) who watches over all four dayrooms, buzzed me into the cell. I opened the door which was very heavy especially now that I was carrying all my earhty belongings. As I closed the door behind me, the cell was very dark, very warm , and very stuffy.

I took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. The only light was coming through the cell door, but the light only illuminated the very small area by the door. I noticed there was a toilet and sink to my left as I entered the cell and also on the left were bunk beds. The bottom bunk was occupied with a fellow inmate which meant I had the top bunk.

Quickly, I unfolded the the foam mattress pad and placed it in the top bunk. I also quickly laid the sheets and blankets so I could make the bed. I was doing all of this in complete darkness and I didn't want to wake my fellow cellmate (aka cellie). I did the best I could and appeared not to wake him. I put my foot on the outer portion of the lower bunk and pushed myself up to the top which rests about five feet off the ground. I didn't see the stainless steel stool and metal desk in the back of the ten foot long cell which would have been an easier way to enter the top bunk. But I managed to get into the top bunk without much noise. I did knock over a piece of paper on the way up which did not appear to disturb my cellmate.

I finally laid down in the bunk and felt a little more anxiety than I have felt since I got here on Wednesday. While I was placed on the "boat", I was in a very open area, the air was circulating nicely and the lights were always on. Now I was in a place which was the exact opposite. The cell is about ten feet deep and six feet wide. The ceiling is about 8 foot from the ground. I was in the top bunk which was only 3 feet from the ceiling. The air was not circulating very well and it was very dark. I thought I was going to have a panic/anxiety attack as I laid in my bunk at 1:30 in the morning. I felt my chest tighten and I took a few deep breaths and recited the "Serenity Prayer" over and over until my chest loosened. My eyes adjusted to the darkness and I felt much better. The panic/anxiety attack had subsided.

I am not sure if I slept at all because it was very hot but the call for breakfast came at 5:00 am. My cellmate stayed asleep and did not come out for breakfast. I came out and again scanned the common area where there are stainless steel tables with wooden stools. There appears to be enough seats for 50 inmates. This means that the bottom and top sections cannot come out at the same time.

There are 16 cells on the bottom and 16 cells on the top. Each cell houses 2 inmates for a total of 64. Breakfast is broken up into 2 sections: one for the bottom tier and one for the top tier. The 15 minute rule for eating is adhered to because everyone needed to be finished with their breakfasts and back in their cells because the guards change shifts and there is no movement whatsoever at shift change.

As I came out of the cell, I made a mental note as to where the empty seats were as well as where the Caucasian people were sitting. I learned in my short time that even though there is less "politics" in Protective Custody (aka PC) than in general populationeveryone sits with their own race at mealtime (aka chowtime). I saw a few empty seats at the "white table" and quickly sat down. This seat thankfully was unoccupied and the three other people nodded their approval. I was relieved to have made the correct choice. I ate my cereal (cheerios), gave away my eggs and sweetbread which made the other inmates at my table very happy. As I stated, my cellmate did not come out for breakfast which meant (unbeknowst to me at the time) I being his cellmate was entitles to his breakfast tray. After being informed of this, I quickly gave away the eggs and sweetbread on his tray and proceeded to eat a second serving of cheerios and a second orange.

Breakfast appears to be the only meal where I can get enough calories to carry me through the entire day and having a second helping of cereal and fruit is certainly an added bonus. I had to hurry and finish the cereal because the 15 minute limit was fast approaching. I finished it in time and brought the extra orange back to the cell for a later snack.

It was now close to 5:30 am and the cell was still dark. I brushed my teeth and decided to do some push-ups. The last time I had exercised was Thursday and I wanted to get some type of routine. I did 150 push-ups which I deemed enough for now. The cell was still dark so I climbed up into my bunk to lay down. A little past 6:00 am, the sun or at least a distorted ray of light came through the three foot long six inch high window.

I am not sure if I should call this a window because I cannot see out. The glass is distorted with bubbles, but it does let the sunlight come in. It would be nice to see outside, but this is a jailcell after all and having a view is not part of the deal. It appears, for some reason, that this ray of light is the only light in the cell. A little while later, I came to find out half of the cells have the same dilemna. The lights in the cells on the left-hand side of the dayroom do not work and have not worked in sometime. It appears to be an electrical problem but still remains broken even after weeks of complaints.

I did finally doze off to sleep - then the intercom boomed - "Clothing Exchange". Every Saturday morning all of the inmates turn in their dirty except for the blanket. I don't know when the blanket gets cleaned but it has been so hot that I rolled the blanket up and put it under my mattress to be used as a pillow. I use it as a pillow because one, we don't have pillows and two, the blanket is of the wool variety and is very itchy along with the fact that I sweat at night and I don't even use a topsheet. But, I'm digressing - sorry - back to "Clothing Exchange". The guards call 8 cells at a time and we strip down to our boxers unless we are turning those in and then we wrap the itchy blanket around our waists.

As we are called to exchange our clothing, two guards search the cells. They are searching for any contraband and this is performed each and every Saturday morning. I approached the clothing exchange, wearing my bottoms and boxers. I was told I couldn't keep my bottoms so I exchanged them for a new pair along with the tee shirt, socks, top, towel, washcloth and sheets. I was asked if I was going to keep my "chonjes". I had to ask the guard to repeat and I deducted that chonjes meant boxers. I then wrapped the blanket around me and quickly exchanged my "chonjes".

I got back to the cell and saw the storage box was left open from the guards searching the cell. I certainly didn't have any contraband and for the quick look I had of my cellmate's things, he didn't have any as well. When we got back to the cell, I started to talk to my cellmate. It looks like I got very fortunate having him as my cellmate. He is in his mid to late twenties (28) and had just been sentenced to two years in state prison for spousal abuse and child endangerment. The more we talked the better I felt NOT about my situation but about my recovery. As it turns out, he had a fairly bad childhood and has both a drug and alcohol addiction. He has already been in prison on very similar charges some 7 years ago where he served 13 months. Those charges were with a different woman and his first two children. He has done something very similar this time due to his alcohol addiction which was exchanged for his drug addicition. He understands what he did was wrong which is why he pleaded his guilt so quickly and was arrested 3 weeks ago. This is extremely fast because I have spoken to other inmates who are still fighting their cases two years after being arrested. But as my cellmate stated to me, he was guilty and he wanted to serve his time so he could get out of prison sooner as opposed to later.

I found speaking to him so refreshing and even though we have very different backgrounds such as dropping out of school in the 7th grade whereas I am college educated (which incidentally does not make me better because afterall we ended up in the same place) he had a bad childhood and I had a very good childhood. However, we both succumbed to our addiction. My addiction - compulsive gambling - and his addictions - drug and alcohol. I do hope and pray he gets help and breaks this awful cycle. He really is a decent guy and I was very fortunate to have been put in the same cell with him.

After lunch we were confined to our cells because the entire facility was in "lockdown" mode. We were in "lockdown" due to several power failures. The heat has been relentless this summer and apparently the electrical usage has been way up which has caused some power failures.

Prior to going back to the cell after lunch, I noticed a tattered copy of J.D. Salinger's A Catcher in the Rye lying near one of the telephones. It was a very unlikely sight so I had to do a double take and YES it was A Catcher in the Rye. It didn't look like it belonged to anyone so I picked it up. I needed something else to read because I had to leave the books I was given in my former dayroom. I was told that if I were transferred to another dayroom, I had to leave the books which I did. So, seeing this book was a blessing.

I remember discussing this book when I was in high school but I don't remember ever reading it. I probably just read the "cliffnotes" which is silly because the book is only 214 pages long. Back in high school - as has been the case my entire life - up until 17 months ago - I always looked for the shortcut. There are no longer any shortcuts in my life so I have decided to make the best use of my time and right now I will read just about anything that is put in front of me.

I started reading A Catcher in the Rye and realized that I never did read it before. I finished reading the book and really didn't understand why this would be a "classic". I just don't get it! Yes, it is well written and the story interesting but a classic? I don't get it. Maybe it is just me, I guess I am not that deep. I did finish the book in time before all the daylight had disappeared which was a little past 7:30 pm. Good thing it is summertime because without the lights working, this place would be much more depressing with more hours of darkness as opposed to light. Around 8:00 pm we were still confined to the cells and now it was dark. We could no longer read or write so we talked some more. It was going to be a long night~