I just got back from the recreation yard...
I was taking off my workout clothes and getting ready for my shower. It was four o'clock, and many of the men were returning from their work assignments, when two correction officers walked up to my neighbor's cell with an iron chain and a large padlock.
Everything seemed to come to a stop. Padlocking a cell usually means the inmate, who was assigned to that cell, has died. Even if a man doesn't pass away in the cell, it still gets padlocked, according to policy and procedure.
As it turned out, my neighbor had a massive heart attack while he was at work at the prison's industrial shop. He was one of the best neighbors I've ever had. A heavyset black man in his early forties. Friendly and easy going, he was a quiet but jovial person. And now he's gone.
The cell block is abuzz with the news, and the atmosphere is solemn. For now, a huge chain and a big padlock keeps anyone from going into his cell. All I know is that my friendly neighbor is dead. He left for his work assignment in the morning, and he never returned.
D.B.
Everything seemed to come to a stop. Padlocking a cell usually means the inmate, who was assigned to that cell, has died. Even if a man doesn't pass away in the cell, it still gets padlocked, according to policy and procedure.
As it turned out, my neighbor had a massive heart attack while he was at work at the prison's industrial shop. He was one of the best neighbors I've ever had. A heavyset black man in his early forties. Friendly and easy going, he was a quiet but jovial person. And now he's gone.
The cell block is abuzz with the news, and the atmosphere is solemn. For now, a huge chain and a big padlock keeps anyone from going into his cell. All I know is that my friendly neighbor is dead. He left for his work assignment in the morning, and he never returned.
D.B.
