As Jess entered the detention center, a cold sweat broke out. The guard led him into a room where he was booked in. Afterward he was given a physical to check his incoming health, and to establish a baseline for the rest of his incarceration. He was then given his uniform, an orange jumpsuit with the number 099340D on the sleeve and pocket. After he was dressed, they led him to the commandant’s office.

“Jesse Oliver Aarons Jr. 275 days drug possession. I see here that your UA was clean though, that’s good; we won’t have to put you in detox. After you get done here, you will be given a psych evaluation and assigned a cell. The rules are pretty simple, follow directions, and stay clear of fights and you will do fine. I understand you were in a fight before you left.”

“Kind of sir it was more of an ambush.”

“Well just keep to your business and you should stat clear of trouble. Now follow officer O’ Leary and we will get your psych evaluation out of the way.”

“Yes sir.”

“Sir; I like that, guess we won’t have to train you very much.”

Jess followed officer O’ Leary to the psychologist’s office. He sat down on the couch and waited for a couple of minutes.

“Sorry I’m late, I had to use the facilities.”

“That’s okay. So what is this for?”

“Well I will give you a series of tests, and then in a week or so, we will test you again to see how you are adjusting. Also it will place you in a class for the rest of the year.”

“Alright let’s get started I guess.”

After what seemed like hours and hundreds of questions, they were finally finished. Jess was determined to be average, and was placed in general population. His new cell was in cellblock A-225. Officer O’Leary placed him in the cell and closed the door behind him.

“What up dude. I’m Dan.”

“Nothin’ much man, I’m Jess.”

“So what brings you here?”

“Well they left me holding the bag…literally.”

“Hah that’s funny.”

“No it really isn’t.”

“Whatever, I always find it helpful to laugh at yourself.”

“Har har har.”

“That’s better. So how long you in for?”

“9 months.”

“Lucky. I’m here for two years.”

“Oh man what for?”

“I stabbed a kid.”

“Why did you do that?”

“He ratted me out. So what’s with your arm anyway?”

“I was in a fight.”

“Sweet, between us we can really fend for ourselves.”

“Whatever man, I’m just here to get through my nine months… not to get into fights over stupid stuff.”

“Well, when you’ve been here longer and gain the knowledge of the inside, you’ll change your mind.”

“Whatever you say. So how long have you been here, that you have come across this “knowledge”?”

“Oh, about 5 days.”

“5 days that’s all?”

“Unfortunately, only 725 more days to go.”

“Well I guess you can keep tally marks like they do in all of the old movies.”

“Hah I just sit here till they tell me to leave.”

“So how’s the food around this place; is it any better than where I came from.”

“Yeah the food is great, it’s catered in from some fancy restaurant downtown.”

“Really?”

“NO. It’s the same slop as anywhere else. Oh I forgot to tell you gullible is written on the ceiling.”

“Where?”

“Oh my you are so gullible, no wonder you got left holding the bag.”

“Shut up. They left me holding the bag, because... because…”

“Because you are gullible, that’s why.”

“Alright… alright I’m gullible so what.”

“Well in here, you have got to question everything that’s told to you or you will get into big trouble.”

“Huh, so how am I supposed to trust you?”

“Well, let’s just say I don’t want to have to sleep with one eye open for nine months if I steer you wrong.”

“I suppose that’s a good enough reason. So how do you sleep with one eye open?”

“I don’t know; but if I had, to I guess I would learn.”

*BUZZZZZ

“What’s that?”

“Dinner, Now let’s go so we don’t get the burnt stuff at the bottom of the pot.”

“Yum, I can hardly wait.”

Dan led Jess to the mess hall, and they went through the line and got their food. Dan then sat down at a table with his friends. After dinner, they went back to the cell and Dan worked on an assignment for class the next day.

“So how was your first dinner?”

“Not bad, it wasn’t nearly as horrible as you made it seem.”

“Really, you hardly ate anything.”

“I wasn’t very hungry.”

“Whatever man you need to eat or you won’t do to well. I need to do my assignment, do you know how to do algebra?”

“A little bit… so do they give many assignments around here?”

“No not really, I just hate math and it takes me awhile to do it.”

“Math isn’t bad. You just need to concentrate.”

“Concentrate, yeah that’s the key………NOT.”

“Easy man, I’ll help you, after all, you are helping me adjust to prison life.”

“Alright. So how do you do this one?”

“Lets see here… x-23= 4. Well, you always want to get x by itself.”

“How do I do that?”

“Well, you have to get rid of the -23 so what do you do to get rid of a negative number?”

“Ummmmmm… add it?”

“Yeah. Okay, so whatever you do to one side, you have to do to the other. So add it to the other side as well.”

“Okay.”

“Alright so you have x=27, good job! Now try the next one.”

“Okay we have 2x+4=12. So we get x by itself… and we have……… x=4”

“Exactly, see you can do it if you concentrate.”

“Okay, now let me finish this, then it will probably be time for lights out.”

“Alright…just try to hurry, I have some questions for you.”

“Ask away.”

“Well you need to concentrate remember.”

“Oh yeah.”

-----------

“LIGHTS OUT!!”

“Did you get finished?”

“Basically, I had one left.”

“I guess you can do it in the morning.”

“Morning HAH.”

“Why do you say it like that?”

“Well, they get us up at 5:30, then we run for an hour.”

“Wow I guess I should have eaten more!”

“Then we get a shower and breakfast, then its time for class.”

“That’s a lot, you do it everyday?”

“They have done it everyday but yesterday since I’ve been here.”

“Oh man this is gonna suck.”

“So you said you had questions…”

“Oh yeah. Well I was going to ask about the morning, but I guess we covered that already. So how old are you.”

“14. You?”

“12”

“12! 12?!? You’re only 12”

“Yeah. Why do you say it like that?”

“Well, I think you are the youngest in here.”

“Oh well I guess I’ll be 13 in 3 months.”

“That always sucks, having a birthday in jail.”

“How do you know?”

“Well I spent my 14th birthday in jail.”

“Hmm so you’ve been here before.”

“No. Today is my birthday.”

“Wow. I guess Happy birthday, I know it probably doesn’t mean much.”

“Thanks man.”

“So you said you stabbed someone cause they ratted on you, what about?”

“Well, I sold some drugs at school, and some nerd saw me and told the principal. So how much were you caught with?”

“Well I think it was about the size of a baseball.”

“Huh, that’s some party.”

“Yeah whatever.”

“Well we better get to sleep, or morning will suck even harder.”

Morning came and Jess got out of bed a drowsily rubbed his eyes before joining Dan in line outside the cell. The block was led outside and began running. It was a long hour, and Jess was never more ready to stop running. After a quick shower, it was time for breakfast, and Jess was so hungry he could eat a cow. Unfortunately, he found himself at the back of the line, where the cooks would have to scrape the bottom of the pot. Jess didn’t care and he nearly inhaled the food. He put his tray in the return line, and went off to find his classroom. It seemed like forever, but Jess sat at the back of the classroom, and worked ahead. At the end of class, he was already finished with his assignment, and he returned to his cell, where Dan was already there working on the assignment.

“Jess, you gonna work on the assignment?”

“Nah.”

“You better, or they’ll give you extra running in the morning.”

“I already finished it.”

“Sweet, can I copy?”

“No man, but I can help you out.”

“Whatever.”

---------

“See, you don’t even need my help.”

“Thanks man. How has your first day been?”

“Well the shower turned off when I still had soap to rinse off, I was at the back of the breakfast line and got burnt food.”

“That sucks, but I guess you’ll learn not to do that again.”

“Yeah. Where were you at breakfast?”

“I was with my friends from back in Norfolk. Did you sleep okay?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought I heard you crying so I wanted to make sure.”

“Yeah I was.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I was just nervous and scared.”

“That’s understandable, I felt the same way my first night.”

“So when’s lunch around here?”

“Anytime now.”

“Do you mind if I sit with you and your friends?”

“Sure man, after all you are a huge help with this damn math.”

“Norfolk, is your dad in the Navy or something?”

“No, he’s a electrician, but my moms in the Navy.”

*BUZZZ

“There’s lunch, let’s go.”

“Alright.”