I have been in FTC Oklahoma City for two weeks waiting for transfer to SPC Texarkana. While some inmates are transferred within hours, some have to wait days, weeks, or even months to arrive to their final destination. Here's what happened in the last week after I wrote a brief review of my first week's experience that was somewhat uneventful. The past week proved otherwise. While the portions of the food have slightly increased, it still has been unhealthily skim, especially when one of the stews had maggots floating in it. I kid not, one inmate found two maggots cooked into the stew...yet, beggars can't be choosers right, especially with a protein shortage? Overall, I am grateful for the food, and the main courses remain scrumptious, even if the secret ingredients are less than apparent. Ok, now, the juicy stuff.
A few nights ago during a routine patrol, a correctional officer noticed three men gathered in a room with the window on the door covered. The officer opened the door and immediately called for back-up. He caught the guys crafting and sharpening shanks, obviously a huge security threat. The inmate population in this cell block consists of either campers (me) or drop-outs (former gang members). As the rumor mill spins, the three men caught crafting the shanks were former MS-13 guys. Many unanswerable questions bombarded my mind: why did they need these shanks? were they planning an attack? were they really drop-outs? did they have a targeted drop-out? While this incident happened right before bed-time, the entire cell block was immediately locked down. In the morning, the daily routine of going to breakfast and lunch continued. We were instructed to go to our cells for count. This was a typical instruction for a typical census count. We were told exit our cubes and place our hands on the walls outside our cells. Everyone complied. Suddenly, 15-20 officers flooded the cell block. They began patting us down and asking if we had anything sharp on our person. In prison terminology, this event is referred to as a "Shake Down." One of the guys (another former MS-13 member) during the shake down accidentally dropped a small shank in front of an officer. He was immediately apprehended and arrested. Once cleared, we were ushered to a small TV room and locked down, while our cells were inspected. This unexpected raid caused quite the spectacle and reinforced the seriousness of the necessity of security protocols in prison. A half-hour later, we were able to return to our cells. Mine cell area was barely search, which was a relief that I did not have a mess to clean up...and everyone was safe 🙂
Due to staff shortages, we had experienced a few half-days of lockdowns, which means we were locked in our cells for that duration of time. This type of lockdown is equivalent to being in "the hole" or what is known as Special Housing Unit (SHU). While the lockdowns only lasted a few hours, many guys not used to being confined in a 9x9 concrete cell do become quite animated. Upon release, a few new guys showed up, which also means some deuce (the RAID-sprayed paper drug), had been warmly welcomed by a few of the cellblock junkies, as I call them. All they talk about is dope and their next high. When they are high, they become like a zombie and just "freeze" in place, it's both fascinating and utterly sad to witness. Yet, I have to remind myself that many of these men have 20+ year sentences so they do these drugs to escape in their mind. We had several of the guys start smoking, even in the cell block, which is a huge no-no. Whelp, one of the guys stayed in his room and couldn't even move when the officer came to inspect his cell - he was frozen or stuck in place, he also pretended not to speak English was he was unstuck and acted like the smell of smoke was already present in his room. Deuce smells like a burning plastic...it's foul, bitter, and stagnates. While the thought of another lockdown seemed inevitable, the individual was appropriately addressed and made to wipe down his entire cell with a cleaning product. Phew that was a close call.
Other than these exciting moments, I keep busy by reading and on occasion playing a card game called Phase 10 (it's like Uno and Rummy if you haven't played). It's super easy and helps pass the boredom of confinement. Thank you for taking the time to check on my journey. I'm safe, doing well, and appreciating all your incredible support, love, and prayers. I wish you a wonderful week and continue to look for any little miracle in your life this week 🙂