In the Hole Yet Again

Yesterday, one of my guys I’m fond of, but has a lesser place in the pantheon was caught smuggling illegal substances into the facility. Mr. Biggs was on a program that takes guys out of the prison and rents out their work to local governments. They mow grass, clean up cemeteries, roadsides, etc.

One of the most meticulous guards, who knows I am connected with this guy, made it his business to track me down at lunch and tell me, “your friend,” got busted bringing in drugs. Apparently he is in Seg, now, awaiting investigation.

I check his ticket out and it is grim. He was hoping for Parole. He explains to me his thinking and what he owed on the unit and that this maneuver would set him free from his debts. He accrued a debt. His brother did not put enough money in his account to meet it. Now the debt has trebled, and the gang holding the debt suggests he bring in $2000 worth of drugs in to meet it. How he imagined he could smuggle it in his underwear during a strip search evades me, and in fact evaded him.

Instead, he is in the hole. He has no other tickets; odds are he won’t be ridden out elsewhere, but he has this smuggling/substance abuse ticket that makes him look rather bad to the Parole Board. He wants out for his children. His five year old daughter believes he is someplace else on the planet “working” which is why she is not with him, but can talk to him.

He is forlorn. It is possible he will catch another felony for smuggling. No point in telling him this, learning it from the Hearings Officer will be soon enough. He tries to put a brighter face on it by recounting his bunkmate who was paroled after a series of fairly serious tickets, and I suddenly suspect Mr. Biggs was bunking with Mr. Stark. I ask a few questions to ascertain it is Mr. Stark. We toss this idea around for a moment through the meal slot, and I end the conversation and retreat to the Seg office to write my note in the Log.

Halfway through the note it occurs to me why Mr. Biggs didn’t just tell me his bunkies’ name. I checked with him, “Mr. Biggs, you didn’t tell me who you bunked with because you only know his nickname (Highboy), and didn’t want to let me in on that bit of information, hmm?” He blushes and nods. So careful of my sensibilities and potential naiveté.