Eerily Quiet

During afternoon yard, I went directly to the telephone sign-up area in order to obtain a time for Sunday afternoon to call my wife. The process takes much longer than it did when I first arrived; what used to take 20 minutes now takes 40 minutes. The prison has to be completely filled with overflow bunks inside the gym. On Wednesday one of my dorm mates was transferred to a fire camp and by the time I got back in the afternoon, his bunk was filled. There were empty bunks but now there are none to be found. I wonder if there is a “busy season” for the prisons because over the past month, they have been busy bringing people in.

After signing up for the telephone, I stood with my friend. I noticed his eyes started to lose focus almost as if he was going to fall asleep. I asked him if he was okay and he assured me he was, but he was tired since he had taken two muscle relaxers. The end of the PFT class cannot come soon enough for him and hopefully he will hold together until next Tuesday.

The alarm sounded while I was in the yard doing my workout. Most of these are false alarms but I can now figure out when they are real; when I see the CO’s running in unison to a specific area I know it is real. Some of the CO’s are not in the greatest shape and when they run, I worry whether they will make it to their destination or whether they will have a heart attack. This time they raced to the dorm directly above mine which was unusual. Three inmates were taken out in handcuffs and I later found out that members of two different races had a fight inside the dorm. One of the races was the same race I am categorized in. From the accounts I heard, it didn’t seem like a fair fight because the sides weren’t equal and someone pulled a razor. I didn’t notice anyone bleeding as the CO’s took them out of the dorm so it couldn’t have been that bad. However, anytime a weapon is used it doesn’t sit well for a “normal program.” Because of this dinner, was delayed 2 hours and the release of the dorms was two at a time.

I finished the John Grisham book which was an excellent novel – a little far fetched but really good - and went to sleep. I had a very uneasy sleep and awoke several times and even had a few dreams. Normally, I am encouraged by these dreams but my sleep didn’t feel deep enough for dreams yet I still had a few. The dreams centered around my family – specifically my father. The dream wasn’t bad nor was it good it was somewhere in between, I won’t go into specifics but I will say the message from the dream was that my father certainly cares about me. I lay in my bunk until after 6:00 am as I had nowhere to go and I had a feeling breakfast would be delayed due to the incident yesterday.

As I arrived at the dining hall, the CO who gave me such a hard time earlier in the week was there. When I requested the vegetarian tray, there was no problem from him, he didn’t ask for the card, was very accommodating, and requested the tray for me! I thanked him and headed for the table. I guess this is a way to keep me off balance because I don’t get it! The consistencies of the inconsistencies continue to amaze me!

Walking back to the dorm around the track after breakfast was eerily quiet. It was almost frightening quiet. Normally, there are a few hundred inmates returning to their dorms at this time but there were only 30 or more. It was very strange to say the least and something is in the air. As we arrived inside our dorms, the clotheslines on all the bunks had been cut down by the CO’s. This same thing happened yesterday as my clothesline was cut down. Usually, I take all the clothes off before going to breakfast and the clothesline remains unharmed. However, yesterday I took the clothes off but the line was cut anyway. Apparently, a directive had been given to the CO’s to cut down any lines during the breakfast hour. This morning I not only took the clothes off but I detached the clothesline and hid it under my pillow. My dorm mates weren’t as fortunate and had to make new ones. Making a clothesline is not that difficult but it requires a plastic bag and our supply of the bags is limited. It appears I will be detaching the clothesline on my bunk each morning before going to breakfast in order to save it.

Due to the commotion yesterday, the mail was not delivered until this morning which brought me 4 pieces of mail – one was the Time Magazine – and 3 letters. I received information regarding Delancey Street from my mother and it sounds like an outstanding facility for ex-convicts. It is a fantastic concept which has been in operation over 30 years. I was very impressed with the literature.

Today was the annual TB testing for all the inmates and the medical staff was out in the yard pricking everyone for the test. I will know the results on Monday for today’s test. The testing was completed before noon but the afternoon yard was never opened. I have no idea of whether the incident of yesterday had any bearing on the yard being closed in the afternoon, but I’m sure I will find out shortly. The afternoon was extremely quiet with no activity whatsoever inside and outside the dorm. Eerily quiet is the best term to describe the atmosphere all day. Hopefully, this is not the “calm before the storm” and is the “calm after the storm.”