This is my story and I'm sticking to it
Friday, June 21st at approximately 6:00 pm I reported to the Delaware County Correctional Facility for the first of two weekends that I'm required to serve.
About 35 people stoop waiting in the parking lot for the corrections vans to come. Mine was the first one. I piled in with 13 other guys and we were taken beyond the prison gates. They drove through several security points before entering a garage in the back of the prison. Inside the garage we were told to drop our belongings on the ground, remove our shoes and stand back against the wall. They brought out one of many K-9's that they have on the grounds to sniff through our stuff to check for contraband. All of us were deemed clean by Fido.
Next we were taken into a large holding cell where we waited to be searched some more. One at a time they called us out and we were taken into the next room and strip searched. After redressing we were taken to another large holding cell until the strip searches were done. One of the guards came in and took the 13 of us that had been on the first van to another much smaller holding cell where we wait to be processed. We didn't see any of the others until the next morning.
After about an hour they took one of us out of the cell and directed him to the medical ward as specified by his sentence. The 12 of us that remained waited patiently as we were slowly called one by one for booking, and mug shot taking. One guy that we called "pinky" was taken and never returned because he apparently had taken 4 valiums before he came in. We never saw him again.
Three hours later most of us had been booked and we were now being called one by one to medical for an evaluation. This process wasn't complete until about 11:00 pm. At that time we were to be moved from the intake holding cell and moved to B-block where we would live for the next two days. It didn't happen, the guards had some trouble with the count and then there was a shift change. No one moves during a shift change.
2:00 am, 11 grown men had been sitting in an 8x10 holding cell with nothing but two metal benches and a metal toilet in the corner for 7 1/2 hours. We were all starting to get really pissed and very stir crazy. Some, like "Byers", "Big Ben", "Schubert", and "Sew" chose to sleep on the benches and floors. Others like "Biggs", "Thompson", "skins", "Konstantine", and myself told stories of this and that while trying not to go nuts. "Farrell" read the entire time, and I don't remember but the other guy stayed quiet until he was eventually taken to another part of the prison, we never saw him again either.
3:00 am, most of us had fallen asleep by this time. We were awoken by the sound of the cell door. It was finally time to move. We were taken one at a time out to the corrections van. A few minutes later we were in the building that houses blocks A-C. We were given a briefing by the head Guard on duty and then given our sheets and shown to our bunks. Needless to say we all fell right to sleep when we finally had something to lay down on.
5:00 am, breakfast call. You either wake up or you don't eat, I woke up.
Saturday June 22nd, 5:00 am, I woke up when "chow" was called for B-block. Groggy as hell from less than two hours sleep and sore from the two thin prison bed that I managed to muster that sleep in. I fell into the line of zombies as we made our way to the chow hall. It was like a chorus line of moans and growling stomachs. Once inside the even colder eating area I made my way up to get a tray of "food". I was like eating a school lunch that went terribly wrong. Dry tasteless eggs, oatmeal that could be used as wallpaper, something else that I didn't eat because I couldn't figure out what it was. As soon as I was done eating I shuffled back to B-block and crawled back into my bunk for a few more hours of sleep.
At about 10:00 am I woke up to what almost seemed like a party all around me. After winning the struggle with my neck, I managed to lift my head to see 40 or so men playing cards, chess, dominos, watching TV, or just wandering around aimlessly. I rolled over and finally met my "neighbor". He was an older man, maybe 50-55 years old named Charlie. I never bothered to ask what he was in for, but I know he was more than a weekender. He already had a the Senegal vs. Turkey World Cup game on the TV at the foot of our bunks so I laid there and watched that while we talked about prison life. He told me a lot of useful things about being in jail that for some reason I don't feel obliged to tell in public. It's almost like I was entered into a sacred trust. I eventually got out of my bunk and headed to the showers. I was lucky enough to get in there at a time that I was by myself. The water was cold even when it was warm, but I didn't really care, I just wanted to get clean.
Once I got dressed I knew I had only one thing to do, get me a cigarette. It was incredibly easy to do considering that everyone on the block was smoking. Cigarettes on B-block go for $2 a piece or $20 a pack. I bought two cigarettes the entire weekend, the rest of the time I took a few drags off of other people's cigarettes or did favors like making up a bed or trading some of my meal in exchange for one. It was amazing to me how rampant smoking and cigarette sales were in this non-smoking facility. I knew that it happened, but I never thought it would be that blatant. The block was cloudier that some bars I've been too.
Before lunch was called I sat on an unoccupied bunk to talk with "Thompson" for a while. My guess is that he was the youngest on the block and he seemed pretty scared. He only left his bunk twice the entire weekend outside of chow call or using the bathroom. While we were talking the guy in the bunk below him woke up. He was a big mother fucker that I would have been scared of had I not met him right at that moment. He immediately introduced himself and offered us each a cigarette and a cup of coffee. The three of us indulged in the wonders of things that we should only have on the outside until lunch was called at noon. Yet another line was off to the chow hall. This time the zombies were a bit more upbeat.
Lunch was even worse than breakfast. There was something that resembled vegetables that tasted like styrofoam. I washed that down with seemingly fake fruit. The main course was a spy burger that tasted like onions, I hate onions. I quickly forced the mess called lunch down and went back to the block. Having nothing better to do I laid down to read for a while and eventually fell asleep for a few hours.
When I woke up a C.E.R.T. officer came on the block and raided some guys locker. he managed to seize 5 packs of cigarettes. A small win for the Warden's team I suppose. It was determined that there was a snitch on the block. The locals were furious as hell and I just hoped that they wouldn't accuse any of the weekenders, namely myself.
Saturday June 22nd, 6:00 pm, "B-block chow" rings over the loud speaker. Once again the locals shuffle down the hallway to eat more disgusting "food". Dinner was the most tolerable of all the meals. We had some sort of stir fry with cornbread, carrot cake and iced tea. I ate my fill and went back to the block for an after dinner cigarette. Most of the night was the same shit over and over again. I'd read for a while then watched TV, then watched a few guys play chess. After dinner is when the poker games start up, and they sure are competitive. I've played a little poker in my life but I didn't dare to get involved in these games.
Time lollygagged it's way until midnight when the lights were finally shut off. One of my bunk mates, a guy named Reef made some Chi-chi and gave me some. Chi-chi is a wonderful concoction that many inmates love and enjoy. It's made up of Ramen noodles, crushed cheese curls, and chopped up pieces of beef stick. It was by far the best food I ate all weekend.
After we finished eating I sat in the back of the block with Reef, Lou, and two other guys whose names i never caught. We watched TV and told stories of our bad days while smoking cigarettes and eating snacks that Reef had snuck in. I finally went to my bunk at about 2:00 am and read by the TV light until around 3:30 am. The guard came in a few times and threatened to take our TV if we didn't shut it off but he never did.
I did eventually fall asleep and woke up scared as hell when morning chow was called. Sunday's breakfast was even worse. Nasty plastic looking grits, some kind of dry cake, and two pieces of terrible fake sausage. I ate as little as possible and once again crawled back into my bunk for an after breakfast nap.
I managed to sleep until about 10:30, then began watching a TV movie with Charlie. The other weekenders were getting anxious knowing that we had a little over six hours until our discharge.
Lunch was called early, around 11:15 am. I didn't even eat it, never even thought about it. It was a tray of unidentifiable crap that would surely make me keel over had I touched it. I went back to the block and talked to Reef for a little while until once again the guard chimed in over the loud speaker. This time we were all directed to immediately leave the block and report to the day room, which they use for visitation. As we left the block we were searched by officers from the K-9 unit then told to sit and wait for further instruction. It was a raid, they were searching everyone's bunks for contraband. After about a half hour we were allowed back on the block, four people at a time and told to stay at our bunks. They had seized about a hundred packs of cigarettes, but found no drugs, which is what they were looking for.
Once the K-9 unit left the block the sound of 20 or so lighters echoed through the building and smoke immediately filled the air. The officers obviously didn't get all of the cigarettes, it's a battle that they will never win.
The rest of Saturday afternoon slowly dragged on. Everyone went back to what they had been doing but it seemed that everything had now shifted into slow motion.
Byers and Schubert played a game of chess that seemed to last for hours. Biggs was highly involved in a game of dominoes. Farrell read as he did most of the weekend. Big Ben seemed to be walking in circles. Thompson continued to sleep. The entire block might have well been a scene out of "night of the living dead".
I watched a TV movie called "roommates" with Charlie to pass the time. Time, what a funny thing it is. Minutes turned into hours, hours became days. We began to feel like we would never be discharged. I drifted in and out of sleep while watching "roommates", every so often slinking out of my bunk for a walk around the block and maybe a quick cigarette.
5:00 pm rolled around, time slowed even more. We had one more hour until discharge. Byers and Schubert were still playing chess. My movie was over so I was now simply a chess spectator, calculating every move that I would make had I been playing the game. I no longer felt like reading or watching TV. My boredom tolerance had been breached and my need for change grew terribly strong. It didn't help that people kept asking me what time it was. Damn me for being the one guy on the block that was wearing a watch.
5:50 pm, the familiar voice of the guard rang out over the loud speaker once again. A series of 5 names were called for discharge, I wasn't one of them. Five minutes later another five were called and I still sat on my bunk talking to Charlie. Again and again names were called five at a time and I still sat upon my bunk growing anxious to hear my name, worrying that I might not hear it over the noise. One last time they called five names, I was the last one called. I shook Charlie and Reef's hands and power walked my way to the door. One more time through the metal detector, one more time stating my full name to the guard. The van pulled up outside and I piled in with eight others. We were all smiling from ear to ear as we were driven back outside the gates.
Our rides were all waiting for us. We were excited to smoke cigarettes legally and take showers and use the bathroom privately. We were free from our weekend at the Delaware County Correctional Facility.
It's too damn bad I have to do it all again next week.
