32 Days in the SHU (Otherwise Known as "the Hole)

 

Did I break a rule? Get caught with contraband? Nope – I’m in the midst of the Covid Quarantine.  Due to the epic ineptitude of the prison where I’ve spent the last five years (officially 600 out of 1200 prisoners infected, 40 deaths and one staff death (real infection rate is much higher – trust me, I heard the labored breathing), the BOP took over and started mass transfers.  Problem being, if all the prisons have outbreaks, where do you send anybody?  But I guess they want to look like they’re doing something, anything, which is how I find myself in the SHU of a strange prison, far from home, with no communication to the outside world, a world I can only assume is still being ravaged by Coronavirus. No books, no radio, no recreation, one change of clothes, a notepad, and a crappy barely functioning flexi-pen. I’m not being punished, I’m being quarantined. This is just how prison transfers happen in the era of covid, so they say.

 

My cellie and I get along, but after 32 days in such close quarters I think even Mother Teresa woulda choked the shit out of Gandhi! (Only if he hadn’t pimp-slapped her first.) We can’t talk about certain topics, however, without him going all Tennessee hillbilly on me. He’s a good guy, we just don’t see eye to eye on much. Picture that stereotypical rural white guy in his MAGA hat, calls Biden a Socialist, views Fox News as Gospel, and believes Black Lives Matter is a conspiracy against the White Man.  As long as we avoid politics we do okay, but sometimes our 90 square feet can feel like about 50. All this being said, you might ask how I can characterize him as a “good guy”?  Borderline racist, definitely prejudiced against Blacks, but yet has Black friends. A conundrum. He grew up in an all White county and is definitely a product of that environment.  You can see how Trump and his scare tactics work on him, the subtle (or not so subtle) messages convincing him that the people advocating for change in our society want to take something from him.  But I’ve never seen him being unkind to anyone. He is generally generous and friendly.  He’s a considerate cellie, and except for his snoring, easy to live with.   

 

We’ve just had enough after 32 straight days. I need time to myself, I need to go outside (walking cuffed and leg-shackled to the bus at 1:30 AM in the pouring rain doesn’t count), I need to just see the outside, which we can’t do because our one window is frosted – anything to break the monotony!  Some guys talk of having done 6-7 months or more like this, at times entirely alone.  What type of “civilized” country are we, when the brilliant minds in America can’t come up with something better than the soul-crushing, punitive, non-rehabilitative form of mass incarceration we are inflicting upon our own citizens?  It takes a lot to soldier through and many guys don’t have the support of family and friends that I have.  I see the pain, suffering, and sorrow all around.  I see my fellow man struggling mightily. I look around, thinking, “Really, America, is this the best we can do?”