Chapter 3.
August.
Da' sound of my cell openin' creaked throughout da' long ass hall, over lappin' da' prisoners shoutin'.
A new cell surrounded wit' a bunch of new prisoners.
At first they had me in da' unit whea' everybody was waitin' fa' trial, but na' dat I'm really in da' system I gotta be wit' da' common area.
Which I ain't have no problem wit' as long as nobody rubbed me or fucked wit' me da' wrong way. I wasn't trynna get into no bullshit round hea'. Cause if I'm on my best behavior, I'ca be outta this bitch and back ta' da' real world.
My real world. April.
"Alright. From now on you'll be identified as inmate #8504 and #8504 only unless spoken otherwise by an Officer, got it?"
I nodded.
"I won't be your usual officer other than on the lunch shift and if you're to be taken outside."
"Outside?"
"For emergency purposes,"She explained,"like a death in the immediate family."
"Gotcha."I looked around da' cell a lil bit. Shit actually wasn't dat bad. Only thing dat could've made it betta' is if da' bed had mo' length.
"I'm Officer Anderson by the way."She gave me a soft smile."Lucky for you, you get your choice of bed first. Top or bottom. Around seven o'clock every morning the officers come to do a sweep through."
"What dat is?"
"To rummage through your belongings a bit and make sure your room is clean."She walked behind me ta' uncuff me."So please make sure it's clean."
"Gotcha."I nodded and flexed my wrist afta' she got da' cuffs off.
"And that's about it. You have a tv in here that only has two channels, the one in the lunch room is the only one that provides actual cable which can be watched during lunch or activity time."
"What's activity time?"I scrunched my eyebrows.
"...Haven't you been to jail once before young man?"She laughed a lil.
"Yeah,"I grinned wit' a shrug,"but dat was a long time ago. Stuff changed since then."
"You got that right."She muttered and sighed."Activity time is when it's raining and you guys aren't able to go out on the court. So most of the officers come sit you guys down in the lunchroom to watch tv."
"Coo',"I continued ta' rotate my wrist."Anything else I should know?"
"Quick note, I read somewhere in the paper that you're short tempered–"
I scoffed.
"And if by chance you are, I advise against back talking the officers. They'll do some foul stuff & throw it under the rug. It's been done before. "She shook ha' head."I'm actually glad I have you as one of my inmates. Despite what the media might say, you seem like a fine young man to me. I hope this doesn't change you."
And jus' like dat she left outta da' cell and shut it behind ha'. Unlike while I was in da' custody cell, this cell got me locked in wit' a steel do'. Ta' make sho' I don't try no slick shit ta' get out. Only thing dat seem familiar of a regular jail cell ta' me is da' small toilet in da' corner.
But maybe dat's jus' cause I'm old-school and could only rememba' da' old cell I used ta' be in–back in da' day.
I scratched da' back of my head and sat down on da' bottom bunk. I ain't too much care which one I got, as long as I was able ta' lay my head somewhea'.
