Day 22 - 7/14/21 - Wed.

The "Hey Shorty" Drama through the Vent and starting "Walking Distance"

Actual Journal Entry:

“Pretty good night… eventually. Still off and on, but no 3 AM temp check, so that was cool. Slept in for me, up at 8:30 AM. Did a lot of dreaming, but struggling to remember any of it. Too bad; this place might be a good spot to explore some dreams and use them as a springboard into stories. Going to do a ‘to-do’ list: one for now in this place (that should be a short list, hopefully) and one for the camp. Going to work on Null today, probably finish the current storyline, set it aside, and then do something else. Visiting Hours, which I am now calling Walking Distance, shouldn’t be a very long story. The struggle will be to get through it emotionally.

BREAKFAST: Standard Cereal Breakfast. I ate the cereal, bit of the nasty cake, and saved the apple.

I think the loud yeller and banger, the “Hey Shorty” guy from my old row, is now right below me. He seems to be getting angrier and angrier from time to time. But I can’t tell if he’s yelling at the guards or other inmates. I can hear him clearer if I listen through the vent in the floor. Fun Times at the SHU. Might get interesting. I will update any developments.

LUNCH: Something resembling a hamburger with a roll, large potato wedges. I ate it all, except for the onions that were on a separate part of the tray. Thankfully.

One thing I’ve noticed is only two, maybe three, of the guards treat the inmates like real human beings. The rest treat us like animals at the zoo or cattle they’re prodding to keep in line. At first, I was thinking it’s because they don’t want to be here, but it’s more likely it’s the training they’ve been given. The SHU is the worst part of prison (or so I’ve been told).

From BELOW: The ‘Hey Shorty’ Guy: (sobbing) ‘I want to go home. I want to go home, Judge. I want to go home. I can’t take this anymore. I WANT TO GO HOME!’ (Yelling now)

Trouble percolating. Do you think? I’m not sure how long he’s been here, but he was here on my first day, and I think he was among those who were sanctioned for bad behavior and lost good time and had more SHU time added. Yikes. Now near suppertime, he is banging again and laughing up a storm.

Slow afternoon (most are). Going to shower, work out, and work on Null. Not in that order. Maybe something will happen tomorrow. By the way, I tie E’s SHU record tomorrow. Not something to brag about, just saying.

SUPPER: Nachos with Beans, cheese, lettuce, and gross-looking meat. I ate it all again, except the Stewed Tomatoes (I think, was a hard pass). Cake with frosting, which I ate half of. Now I feel that was a mistake (oh, well, some inedible meals for me are coming for sure). I plan on working out more and walking on my new leg when I get to camp.”

Notes for Day 22 (Four Years Later)

A pretty standard SHU day. This was the first time I mentioned Walking Distance, which was the finished title for that story. I did complete it while in the SHU. I can’t remember if I first completed that one or The Man Who Loved to Die. I am going to start rewriting those too, as I want to submit them for publication elsewhere before I self-publish the Kindle version, in about two years, when I finish this Prison Journal. Right now, the tentative title of the book will be Shadows: Stories I Wrote in Prison.

The “Hey Shorty Guy” incident was a one-time thing; I didn’t hear him again after this day. Later, at Camp, I asked ‘E’ if he heard him crying. He said no, he was probably just fooling around. I don’t know. He sounded desperate, like he was losing it and begging for mercy from a Judge who wasn’t there. If he was faking, he’s a great actor. The whole thing was pretty surreal.

#walkingdistance #prisonlife #heyshorty