New job, new friend

My job assignment here fits the schedule I had at my previous unit. I am a dorm janitor on the night shift along with my cellie. He cleans our dorm while I clean the one next door. We turn out at midnight and stay out until 5 AM. All I do is sweep, mop and wipe down the tables. I have a co-worker, Matt, so it doesn't take more than an hour to finish. Then we sit around talking, go to breakfast at 3:30 AM, shower and hang out until we can go in. Depending on the guards who are working, we might go in early.

I've also been blessed with a great coworker in Matt. He's a couple years older than me and reminds me of a lot of the guys I hung out with before my incarceration. We have plenty of time to just chill after we finish working, so we've covered all kinds of topics. We joke around, talk about family and old girlfriends. We found out that our charges are similar, both committed at a young age.

Matt is still very angry about how his case was handled and some friends who left him because of it. Like me, he grew up in church, but many people turned on him instead of embracing him like I have been by many folks. I've tried to be an encouragement and I hope he finds some hope for himself. Until then, we'll continue to play catch across the dayroom with balled up socks and quote stupid movies.