Last night the lieutenant came to my cell and told me to pack up to move back to my dorm. Just as he had assured me, I got out on Tuesday. When I got back in the dorm, the guys congratulated me on getting our and asked how my vacation went. They said that when Buzz Cut came in to gather my stuff, he said that I would be gone for a long time. When someone asked when I'd be back, he said probably never.
"Don't you know he runs 75% of the unit?"
I just started laughing when I heard that absurd statement. I don't run anything except a D&D game every now and then.
Turns out that the dorm went to commissary yesterday, so everyone has lockers full of food. I missed out, being back in solitary. I'm glad a few of the guys share with me because there are some days when the dining hall just doesn't cut the mustard.
This morning I went to the lieutenant's office to thank him for being so level-headed about the investigation and not just laying down the law like some of the other guards do. I also asked if there was anything I needed to do. He said all I needed to do is never share my blog with any staff again.*
"It is a very vague infraction," he said. I asked when I could get my property back and if I could go to commissary because my dorm went the previous day. He said commissary was probably out of the picture, but he would talk with the property officer about getting my stuff back.
Now it's back to normal prison life starting with class this morning and the moving picture box that makes evil distractions.
* Note to prison staff from the blog editors: We hope that you enjoy reading this blog. It is here primarily to help the writer maintain relationships with his friends and family on the outside and, as stated in the very first entry on December 8, 2007 -
"This blog is a way for me to not only make sense of the other culture on the inside but to process and share my thoughts on prison life and the experiences that I encounter. My hope is that what you read here offers you a glimpse into what it's like to be incarcerated and what goes on for those Waiting On the Inside."
Happy reading! - The Editors
Early this morning I got my mattress and blanket. Not long after, a big, bald guard told me he was going to put me in the holding cell cage so we could go through my property to decide what I wanted with me in solitary. Another guard, an ex-military guy with a buzz fade, came to help. The big guy said he doesn't usually do the inventory with the inmates, but it was his Friday to work and he needed something to do.
The big guy found my Japanese phrase book quickly and told me I could be missing it when I got out of solitary. He was joking that he wanted it for himself and kept blurting out phrases to Buzz Cut. Buzz just rolled his eyes and said, "Let's get this finished."
There were a couple of empty peanut butter jars that I keep to store things in, usually cocoa and milk, that most guards throw away, but Big Bald said there must be some peanut butter left in there, and let me keep them.
When it came to my hygiene stuff, I didn't ask to keep much because the lieutenant told me I would be out by Tuesday night. Buzz Cut said. "You probably want more than that. You're gonna be down here for a long time." I just said, "Nah, it'll be alright."
Once everything was inventoried, I went back to my cell with some of my stuff while the rest went back to the property room to wait for my release from solitary. I finally got to sleep about 5 AM.
Tonight has been crazy. This story is just weird. I was talking with a couple guys, sitting on my bunk, when a guard came in asking for someone to come out and sweep the hall. Three other guys volunteered, but the guard asked me to come because she said the others were too loud. As I swept the hall, we chatted about random stuff.
Before I went back into my dorm she asked if I had written entries for the blog lately. I had given her the blog address a couple months ago, but she said she lost it and wanted it written it down again. I told her I would write it down and give it to her when she came around to count.
About an hour after count, one of the sergeants came in and asked me to come to the lieutenant"s office up front. When I got there, the lieutenant asked if I had anything to say. I didn't even know why I was there, si I said no. He started peppering me with questions about my blog and why I was sharing the address with staff.. Was I trying to get one of them to sneak contraband into prison? Was I part of a gang? Was I being extorted by a gang? I said I wasn't part of a gang or being threatened by anyone, and that I only shared my blog with some of the staff so they could see what prison is like form my perspective.
The lieutenant pulled up my blog on his computer and said that he had read through a lot of it and the only thing he saw that was bad was the entry in support of TCU. "We can't have any horned frogs in San Saba," he said in jest.
After talking to me, he said he didn't think I was doing anything wrong, but he was going to put me in solitary for a couple days to "maintain the integrity of the investigation" while he talked with other staff about it. I was put in handcuffs (never a delightful experience) and taken to a cell with a bunk all to myself. The cell was about seven feet wide and twenty feet long with a shower, toilet, sink and a bunk taking up space. There was also a table jutting out of the wall with a steel stool mounted to the floor.
Sitting there without any of my property, including my mattress and blanket, I was nervous about what could happen to me. The case that I could get - "establishing a relationship with an officer - has very bad consequences, including taking away up to a year of good time. I certainly didn't want that. I didn't want anyone else to get into trouble, either.
After an hour of worrying, I had a peace come over me. I thought. "I didn't do anything wrong and there's nothing I can do for the situation. God's in control, so I'm just going to trust Him for whatever happens." That was a cool feeling to have.
"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. " - Matthew 10:16
