Jimmy the Handsome has been over here in “Gaywood” a lot recently. In fact, sometimes he actually administrates some of the white domain from here, as various supplicants come to him to adjudicate minor issues. For example, we have just gone to “store,” and those who have spent more than $25 are expected to contribute some tobacco and a hygiene product to the white “kitty.” The tobacco is distributed to detainees in Cedar Hall, where they are cut off from regular prison commerce during their orientation. The hygiene products are for indigent inmates. So last night, for example, Jimmy had to decide whether to get harsh with someone who kept promising to contribute “next month” but never did. (I am always extremely prompt with my contribution!)
He also shared about an exchange he had with a C.O. here named Miss Gaither. First let me describe her. She is young, around 30, African-American, and more attractive than would be indicated by her nickname, “Chewbacca” —which probably stems more from her personality than her looks. None of her colleagues, of all genders and races, feel compelled to lecture us about being on our bunks and quiet at count time, and to threaten us with searches if we are even just next to our bunk, instead of on it. She is the type of nitpicker that one comes to expect from C.O.’s who have something to prove, often young women with a chip on their shoulder who feel they have to be tougher than the men to be taken seriously.
I had slight difficulty with her on my first day here, when I didn’t know where to go for pill call, and she said oh-so-condescendingly “We don’t hold your hand here, Mr. Olmsted.” Since then, we’ve had a little more contact over perfunctory matters like ducats and passes, but nothing remotely untoward. Yet this morning when I said, “Good Morning, Miss Gaither,” she practically snarled back a return “Good Morning.”
Still, I was surprised earlier today when Earl told me that last night Jimmy told him, quite seriously that he was “tired of having to stand up for us to Miss Gaither.” According to him, she’d said “they’re getting too comfortable in here.” Earl has been alarmist before, and he tends toward melodrama. But he knows when Jimmy is joking and he said Jimmy was quite serious. And this had a ring of truth to it.
I’m not particularly worried about this having any impact on me, because I am leaving in 19 days. But I am a little concerned for Earll and any of my other gay brethren who will remain here after me, so I am sharing this in the hope Chino Authorities read it. Miss Gaither also arbitrarily canceled “day room” for the afternoon, punishing all of us because one inmate was caught running to his bed at count. More ominously, she has voiced a willingness to look the other way if someone got “taxed,” i.e. beat up for “cause.” “Don’t make no difference to me if you ‘slip’ in the shower.” she warned.
I am intrigued by the sentiment behind “they’re getting too comfortable around here.” The idea behind it is that the “normal” state of affairs should be one in which homosexuals are tolerated, but only as long as they are uncomfortable. Well, hopefully, the pen is mightier than the C.O., and her supervisors are reading this, and will take note.
I got my ducat (like a pass) for “re-entry class” today. Five days of that, then “S-time,” meaning no more bathroom scrubbing until release. Yay! Hopefully, the class will provide fodder for a blog of two of interest.
MCO 2004
P.S. I just pleaded with Jimmy the Handsome not to engage in “enforcement” tomorrow of an undetermined but clearly physical nature (in another dorm). I doubt he’ll heed me. Violence has been part of his vernacular so long that he understands non-violence only in the abstract, now.
It’s particularly tragic because he’s a very sharp and extremely charming guy. Why the hell can’t he stay out of jail?
