Character Catch Up

For those of you following the embedded stories in this blog, let me catch you up.

Mr. Stewart was saved from riding out. (Read previous few blogs) I was able to do this by cashing in chips not yet in existence. The day he was let out of seg was beautiful out, and I called him in to read the riot act before group the next day. I didn’t think I could tolerate him in group if I didn’t have a moment to vent my frustration on him. It was his one free day on the yard before three weeks of Top Lock (where you can’t even leave your bunk to pee without permission) and Loss of Privilege (where you can work and pee at your discretion, but are otherwise contained to your bunk). The first night out of Seg he received a letter from a friend.

A mutual friend of theirs, somebody he had known for over 20 years had killed herself. She had a period of significant sobriety, gone back to school, graduated, found employment, and then been sucked back into the drugs and laid down on the railroad tracks. This is a favored way of death in this area, something the Amtrak people must dread with every fiber of their being. She lived for 20 minutes after she was crushed into some mass of tissue and shattered bone. I leave you to imagine his response. It was poorly timed, but as one of my coworkers mentioned, at least he could show me the letter and obituary. He was not in a foreign place with no support.

Mr. Rose is back as of night before last. Two stints in the hospital and one in an intermediate care center. He came back nominally stable, and refusing treatment. As fragile as he was, he is not allowed back into the yard until I clear him. As he came in late, he spent the night in Seg, and I saw him in the morning. Five days without meds. He comes back to a yard where he was threatening people and left a legacy of incipient violence, and now he needs to walk back out. If you’ve read me for a while, you can imagine how I snatched him up. He signed back up for service and took his meds.

He explained to me today that he was feeling so good on his meds – no need to try to hurt anybody, no mood swings that he had to stop. He had to make sure he was still there. Last night on the yard he tracked down a guy that owed him money. Apparently verbally terrified this kid enough he went to custody. Mr. Rose was pulled in and asked to explain himself, which he tells me he did. I was too tired tonight to check and see if his story held up to custody’s understanding. He expressed regret today, as he had suggested he ride out to a higher level, then realized he was better off where I knew him and could follow his case. Might just be bullshit. Hard to tell with this guy. He seemed rather embarrassed that I had the nooses he gave me in Seg tacked onto my corkboard.

I told him I would put a cot in the corner of my office and keep him where I could watch him. The meds had kicked in enough he could smile at the image. He has parole, and I will tell him tomorrow. Hopefully this will keep him focused on not acting like an idiot.

Mr. Stark (second blog) has been having one success after another. He has beat two tickets, one legitimate, one not. He has practiced “soft eye contact” with the officer that takes offence to his alpha male stance. This dodged another potential ticket. But he is also curbing his behavior to avoid more trouble. He explained to me today he had made me a promise. Regardless of all the insanity, he feels honor bound to follow through, so thus has been trying to make a change. Next week we will talk about how he changes his image on the yard. It should be interesting.

Mr. Sotheby continues to work under the radar. His knuckles were all bruised and scabbed last week.