Nonhlanhla - Fortunate

Six

Every bump in the road is being amplified by the sound of chains clanging against the prison transport floor. An hour ago, a police officer came to the cells and told us we were being moved, just before we were herded like sheep to the slaughter, into a prisoner transport to be taken to Pollsmoor Maximum Security prison.

I resist the urge to hit my head against the bars that are welded to the small windows in of the truck. My back is against the wall because I don't trust any of these guys, some have prison tattoos, others have gang ink and but most have no markings affiliating them with any gang.

When I was walking into the truck I spotted one of the younger recruits of one of our rivals and I have a feeling he might try to do something stupid, something like trying to kill someone to prove himself.

The easiest way will be to kill me, or any other unaffiliated guy in this truck. I can't let him think he can get at me, not with so much hanging in the balance.

We have been standing for over an hour, some of the guys are sitting down, and I understand why, my feet hurt but I can't show any sign of weakness.

I'm scared, I'm terrified they will try and  kill me and the last thing I would have done in my life is make my wife cry.

It was never supposed to go this way. This was never part of the plan...

The truck came to a stop, I heard what sounded like a gate opening and then we moved again. Then we came to a complete stop, the guards opened the doors and the  guys start getting rowdy, shouting and whistling.

We get off the truck single file and are greeted by tall walls, with barbed wire fences. Even the air smells different out here, it smells, damp, dirty and oppressive.

I could tell, for some of the guys, this was not their first time here, some even seemed jolly, joking, greetings some of the guards by name. The guards looked like they would crack your skull open if you looked at them the wrong way.

Welcome to Pollsmor Corrections.

The sign was big and bold, it may as well have read Welcome to Hell .

Processing was one of the most humiliating things I have ever experienced. After my brush with captivity years ago, I vowed I would never feel so vulnerable, so exposed and so humiliated again. So much for that.

After I was processed, stripped of all my belongings, hosed down with a water pipe and given a full body cavity search, the guards made us stand in a line for separation.

We were split into two groups. Those going to the general population and  those going into solitary confinement. I'm going into general population and I see Rich looking at me. I stare back at him until the guards tell us to start moving.

Inside, walk through four gates, each with a manual and electronic lock, and cameras in each corridor and armed guards at each gate. This place feels like an inescapable fortress.

We finally turn into the cell blocks and that's when we are assaulted by the shouts, whistles and banging noises made by the other inmates. I force myself to look forward, shoulders back and try to look as if I am undaunted by their noise as possible.

The guards start allocating us to cells and I could barely hear them calling our numbers over the other inmates whistling and shouts of 'fresh meat' and banging their cells.

The boy in front of me kept sniveling and flinching everything there was a loud noise or shouting from the cells. He is the definition of fresh meat in here, I have a feeling the real predators in this place already have their sights set on him.

I am not getting involved, I have my own problems to worry about. I feel bad for him but like everyone else in here, he probably did something to deserve getting locked up. Before long the guards move us along and I am assigned to a cell.

I share my cell with 4 other men and as the last person to join the others in the cell, I sleep on the floor... I really hate this. I didn't bother to introduce myself, neither did the other guys. Three of them kept to themselves mostly, one guy though, he's a chatter box and can't keep his mouth shut.

The week goes by quickly, I can't believe it's been a week since my life was turned upside down, since I was brought from the police station to one of the worst maximum security prisons in the country...

Built to house 300 inmates it currently houses over 600 of the worst criminals this country has ever seen. I guess I am one of them now, inmate 76537.

They make us sleep together, eat together and shower together. There is no personal space in this place at all, zero boundaries or privacy of any kind. Guards and cameras are everywhere, always watching. The only saving grace is that no one has given me any real problems...yet.

I just want to survive this place and go back to my family.

I miss my boy so much, it's driving me crazy, and I can't sleep. My insomnia is back with a vengeance which is making me more irritable than ever. Today is the first day that I will be able to call and I have been standing in line for about an hour waiting for my turn to use the phones.

The last time I spoke to my wife, our conversation did not end on pleasant terms, who am I kidding, she looked so angry after she slapped me, I couldn't even get a word in edgewise. She paced across the room, venting mostly to herself and to me, her hands were shaking so violently, I was afraid she wouldn't be able to drive herself home.

I was pulled out of my reverie by a man who bumps me while walking passed me to the front of the line. I look up to see him glancing back at me then smirking, that's the guy who has been giving me the side eye since I got here.

I've heard his guys call him Max, I don't know him and I don't know why he keeps pushing me, but one of these days, I am going to push back. The thing is, he is big and he's taller than me. He has bulging muscles, which he clearly relies on to intimidate and dominate others and his possie is never far behind.

I am not afraid of him. There is nothing anyone can do to me in here that makes me afraid. My heart and my whole world are outside and as long as they are safe, I will do what I must to survive in here.

I get the feeling he is trying to get me to start a fight with him but I don't want to fight, at least not yet. I'm thinking twice about making the call now. With him here and his possie not far behind, they may listen in on my call. Try to find out more about me.

Because I am not affiliated I need to keep a low profile, but I just want to hear her voice, it's been too long since I have even spoken to her. I'm still learning how everything works in here, I don't even know if she will take the call and when I will get another chance to call.

And my boy, even hearing him on the phone will make me breathe easier... The line moves slowly as I try to decide what to do. Let me just call uMa, the last time I spoke to her was the weekend before i got arrested. By now I'm sure Nhlanhla has told her everything, or at least what she knows.

Its finally my turn and I put in the numbers on old phone, i wait and then I hear my mother's sad and familiar voice, 'Sana lam?!" (My baby?!).