Death Row and A Mennonite
Oops, I forgot to tell you all about my latest trip to death row. I love talking about these visits because I feel it's important to break down the walls and bars as much as we can, to shed some light on the inside.
First, B the Mennonite picked me up exactly at 10am. We had a great talk on the drive down to Jackson. It turns out he was a missionary in El Salvador for 14 years in a Catholic parish! I was impressed. He was there when Archbishop Romero was, but he never saw him preach. B has a great personality. He's on fire! He's working with refugees now from all over the world, mainly from the Middle East and Africa. He's very respectful of Catholics, and in fact, once a year the abbot from the local Trappist monastery comes to visit him. They're old friends.
We got to the prison and went to work before our prisoner pals showed up (it takes a while for the prison to get the prisoners out of their cells and out to the visiting area.) We had a lot to do. There are vending machines out in the "population" visiting area and of course the death row prisoners love to eat that stuff. I was starving and ate most of it myself so I had to go back in later to feed my friend.
Finally X showed up and I was let back in to see him. The way GA does it is different than most places. You go through 3 barred doors (electrically opened by officers in a glass booth) and finally are let into a locked room that looks very much like any waiting room: except for the bars and chicken wire everywhere of course. This is the death row visiting area. There are usually about 4 other prisoners visiting with their family and friends here as well. There's a little jug of water and paper cups on a ledge if you're thirsty.
Now, X is not technically on death row anymore, but he has been in the hole for weeks because of a series of issues, ranging from a write up to 2 hunger strikes and one fast. Also, he tried to flood his cell out in protest so basically he's in the doghouse.
X gave me a tight hug, almost killing me, and we began to talk. It'd been a long time since I'd last seen him. I asked him to check my head for gray hairs. This is an obsession of mine and I told him I could use him for slave labor. After about a second, one of the guards yelled for him to leave me alone. We started laughing. X said he gets away with a lot in the visiting room. Like what? I wanted to know. Like this, he said: he was wearing his wristwatch out of his cell.
"See, this is why you're in prison," I told him, "You can't be trusted in regular society. You belong here."
"No I don't!" he protested. I always love jiving him about being in prison. He IS a troublemaker sometimes. For his birthday last year he made alcohol in his cell. SOMEone has to keep him in line.
I got to meet Troy. Troy's a bit of a celebrity as prisoners go. I was on a committee with his sister who's a big anti-death penalty activist. Everyone thinks Troy is innocent. I don't know all the facts, but there's a good chance they're right. I shook his hand and waned to talk to him more but X hit him up for a photo ticket. I thought that was rude, too.
To take our photo we were let out into a hallway by an officer and then another prisoner came to take a Polaroid shot. I told the officer to keep a close eye on X. He was a cool cop.
The photo came out well then we stood around shooting the bull with the cop. We were all joking around but I chastised the cop, saying he should be watching over his prisoner better. He sobered up and told me, matter of factly, that there's a time to laugh and a time to be serious. X, he informed me, is trustworthy, so he knew what he was doing. I wondered if he knew about the wristwatch-wearing. I didn't say anything.
"You need to crack down on these prisoners!" I complained a bit later. All three guys stopped, shocked, and stared.
"You do NOT say 'crack' in prison!" the officer shouted, only half-kidding. I was silenced and confused. Was that a reference to a whip or something? Then it dawned on me. The drug. Oops. You learn something new everyday. X and the cop talked for another minute or two, insulting each other for fun. X said he talked to the cop's wife and she told him she was disgusted with her husband. Then the cop told X he couldn't drive without blue flashing lights behind him. I still think that one's funny.
X and I went back into the visiting room after I ran to get us more food and went to the bathroom. We had a lot to talk about and time always goes by too quickly. We talked about our friend Jack, who passed away a few months ago. I taught X how to pray before and after eating, and we said the Our Father together. He'd gone to the Muslim services for a while but he doesn't anymore. He said he's not adverse to the Catholic Church.
Finally, at 3pm, visiting hours were over. We hugged, kissed on the cheek and I assured him that I love him. I do. I've known him since I was 16. That was 8 years ago. He and I have been through a lot together. We've fought, played, listened, taught, learned, and laughed. Who else is there to keep him in line? Who else is there to pick out my gray hairs and braid my hair too?
On the drive back B invited me out to the refugee camp (just a 30 min. drive from home) anytime. What a great day.
posted by The Kozak's Daughter @ 6:39 PM
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