Saturday, January 21, 2012

Going to Jail in Prison

It's called "the hole". It's intended to be a jail within a prison reserved for the malcontents of the already incorrigible. But it is often used as a tool to strip you of any humanity you may have left.
Today was my turn to have my teeth kicked in and my soul sucked out by a stystem that is about retribution, not rehabilitation. My crime was complaining about having my visits suspended and filing in court to have them reinstated. The warden didn't like the scrutiny the courts will put him under, so he decided to teach me a lesson.
You are thrown into a cold concrete cell without the comforts of clothing, reading material, or the other comforts of life. A day goes by - you get boxers, maybe a sheet. By day four when you have your skivvies and sleeping gear, you are accustomed to the 60 degrees this place is kept at (unless it's winter like now and it's kept even colder).
At  any given time, half of The Hole is filled with the mentally ill they couldn't manage in general population. In Lieu of heavy medication, the went bezerk. The guards make it a point to stagger the cells, so one crazy man is on either side of you. This way, you get to hear the chalkboard screeching, bloody Mary murder screaming, all night long.
Once a week you witness a shit bomb. That's when one of the nutcases takes a couple days worth of feces and flings it in the face of the guards. It may seem funny, if the bombee were one of the sadistic asshole guards, but that's usually not the case. The victim of the shit bomb is usually some young rookie, scared to death of working in a house of murder in the first place. The foul stench of the shit bomb is left to linger for several days. A reminder of the house of horrors you know call home.
Food is served in lastic trays, but depending on the guards working, its 50/50 whether it was spit in or not.
They came by with mail a few minutes ago. Some dude down the tier is crying because his mom just died. I think to myself - sad, they are both dead now. He died the minute he got here.

No comments:

Post a Comment