Two Worlds, a prison story

I entered a contest at another site and its theme was ‘Write a story about being in Prison.’ I sent Wil the rough draft and he showed me the corrections and helped me add/delet stuff. I got second place!

Here’s the story:

Two Worlds

In here it’s two different worlds. There’s the white and the gray. White being the inmates gray being the officers. No matter what color you are, you have to watch your back either way. Inmates are cruel and can have dangerous minds while the guards can be just as cruel and dangerous. For the correctional officers, they watch their backs by both. You never know when a criminal will jump you from behind and try to attack from behind. Butso might the other officers.

There are two types of officers these days. The good and the bad. You can be a natural like Officer Brown and Sergeant Burn. Or, you can be a bad officer who can’t handle the job. I’ll get to that soon.

My name is “Big Johnny” or Jonathan Camin. Big Johnny is my prison name. I’ve been here for five years now and I got two more to go before I’m out. My sentence was seven years in jail for grand theft auto with aggravated assault, which means I stole a vehicle after attacking the person inside the car. I got pretty far but the black road blocked me and caught me while I was on the run. Another term we use out here; The Black. The black is what brought us in here, the police.

Although my temper is short and I get irritate really easy, I’ve tried to keep my disciplinary record clean and obedient to the gray. It’s hard but one thing kept me from pounding the officers into the ground; Freedom. Every night before count, I’d think about getting out of this hellhole and once again be able to eat a McDonald Double Stacker Cheese Burger. Being able to wear my own colors instead of white. The fresh air of the outside world and the sun being a little more friendlier outside of these walls. That kept me from being like most inmates.

I recall a time when Ms. Brown was taking count for outfield workers. She looked at one inmate. It was Joey Que, a tall, skinny Mexican with short black hair. Joey had black eye shadow and red lipstick. His cheeks were pink with powder. By the looks of it, the Que boy wanted a date with one of the other prisoners. Officer Brown took one good look at him and said, “Get back to your cell and clean that makeup off.” Joey looked like he wanted to cry but walked back to his cell as ordered.

Even with inmates you’ll find a lot of ‘my hoe’ or ‘my prison bitch.’ The only females we ever see is the officers. So, what can you do but be male on male? Mind you, I’m a straight guy. This is also a case of becoming a bad officer.

Some of the women officers are dirty with some inmates and other officers. I remember one guard had sex with an inmate and was pregnant the next day. That is one of the ways you can be a bad officer.

But there are the good. Some of the gray out here have been in longer than I have. Like C.O. Four, (Correctional Officer Four) Ms. Sage who has been here for seven years now. A small, skinny woman but she knows how to do her job and how to get things done right.

Some inmates have been here just as long as her. Like “Bull Killer” Jimmy. Jimmy was sentenced because he is a Blood. (A local town gang. Highly dangerous.) The Daddy, (top guy of the gang) sent Jimmy and his friends to a gas station. Without warning, he and his group ran into The Blood’s rival; Texas Mafia. Guns were drawn, three innocents were shot and killed. Jimmy isn’t an easy tempered guy. He’s very violent and argumentative.

One day, Ms. Sage was calling for a supervisor and a camera for Jimmy was giving her trouble. She turned her back and before you knew it, Jimmy hit her square in the face and she was down. Bull Killer pounded Sage on the ground and kicked her. Luckily, more officers stopped him. If helped hadn’t come, Sage would’ve been severely injured and possibly dead. As for Jimmy, I haven’t seen much of him lately.

With my two years almost up, not much has happened. I’m getting excited about getting out of this cold prison. ‘Two more years.’ I keep reminding myself.

One good memory I’ll always have about this place, (hard to say if any of it is good.) was when Ms. Brown was out at the courtyard, and there was a dead rabbit there. Ms. Brown looked at the cook boss and said “That’s part of dinner in the O.D.R…” O.D.R. is the Officer’s Dinning Room. Later that night, when they went to clean up the mess after that cats ate it, half of the rabbit was gone. Over the radio, a lieutenant beeped up a captain. “Uh Captain, the item we were sent to dispose of… half of it has disappeared…” The Captain walked in First Building and asked Officer Brown. “Do we need to send out a search party?”

The white kept in by the gray… it’s something I’ll never forget when I’m out in the real world again. Many things I learned from this place, such as the attack from Jimmy is that you always watch your back, whatever the reason is. As far as Joey goes… I keep clear of that kind of thing. But as I said, it’s two different worlds out here. You have the white and the gray.