Leaving Ugly
In order to catch-up to myself, I'm gonna have to digress:8 days ago I walked away from a very ugly place. They didn't make it easy. I was allowed to shower, but the guard made me stay in my cell till I was called. When I wasn't called, and I wasn't called, I went down to the dayroom with my television and sat. And stared. Then paced. Then stared some more. There were no sighs (a sigh can get you smacked in prison), but the sighs were lurking. Finally my impatience got on her nerves and she called down to property for me.
"You can go now."
They were the four sweetest words I think I've ever heard.
In property the guards were wondering what happened. "Your family's here," said they. "What took you so long?" Nothing. "Was it the block guard? Which block guard?" No one. This was not the time for me to interject myself into some internecine rivalry. So I just smiled and said it was all okay.
I hated to keep my mouth shut though. After nearly four years of complete compliance (read: silence), I wanted to speak my mind. The bitch wanted to keep me under her thumb for a few more minutes. That's what she does. That's how she is. Ad infinitum.
Of course I said no such thing. An audible observation like that can get a cat's paperwork very lost.
So I dressed ("looks like he's going to a disco"), and I smiled some more ("he sure looks happy"), and I waved goodbye to all that. And when my brother William opened the door to his truck I knew I'd never be back. Tah tah you useless institution. Hope you had your fill of this Hoodlum, 'cause you ain't getting another bite.
Inside the truck was like taking a nicotine bath; my brother smokes and smokes heavy. So I smoked too. It was stupid. And it was delicious.
Key. Gas. Shift. We were off. This way and that. I didn't even mind the wrong turns. The last time I was in a moving vehicle I was shackled and handcuffed to a belly chain. When we wronged turn right back past ol' Chester though, my heart broke into a roar. This was where I'd been caged? What utter ugly.
I'd never seen it from the outside.
posted by John Hood. @ 5:10 PM
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