Sometimes the drama in a jail just came out of the blue, like when an inmate refused to cuff up and step out of his SHO or isolation cell.
“Bezel?”
“What!” Arrogant.
“This is Captain Perry and I think I have some important news for you.”
Dre was willing to listen to the captain. For the staff to bypass the subordinates of the captain and head straight to the upper echelon prison staff to deal with him forced him to feel honored. Dre had made his mark and after having the entire jail flood their cells and refuse to lock in, and then having the media going mad outside the prison, he needed special attention because no one knew what he would do next.
The captain had a folder in his hand, which he spun sideways and started writing. Inmate is responsive.
“Go ahead. What’s the news?” Dre asked.
“Just a moment ago, I received a call from your attorney and was informed that you have an emergency pre-trial motion tomorrow. He asked me to inform you of that and I am. In exchange, I am asking that you inform your brother to call off this media storm going on in front of the prison. See, I can’t have my staff harassed by the media and I will not be granted the permission to release a statement, or even talk to the media.”
“Um,” Dre said. The captain had run his mouth nonstop and he felt compelled to acknowledge that he was listening.
“Yeah, so we have gotten the jail under control and I can assure you that they will be on lock-down without visit or telephone privileges for so long, your trial may be over. I hear that it’s slated to last three months.”
“Captain, I’m sorry, but can you tell me why I give a damn about any of this?”
“Well, this is the thing. I can have you shipped out of here and lose you over and over. I can accidentally ship you out to make bed space, and then accidentally have you en route to our holdover jail in Warsaw, Virginia when you should be at trial. I could run this game that pushes your trial until there’s snow on the ground.”
“What a threat,” Dre said and stood up from the bed. He methodically walked from the bed to the door, and stared hard into the captain’s face. “You can do what you wish, but I have a promise of my own. I am not done with you and the disruption of your jail.”
The captain opened the folder and read some of the contents. Now we were getting to the meat and beans of this. Dre kicked the cell door ferociously and the captain jumped back. Scaring the correctional staff was Dre’s calling card.
“There’s nothing like making a mistake, but you’re making a good one by fucking with me, Captain Perry. BTW, I am not going back to my cell.”
“That’s fine. I need you too cuff up though. I’m moving you to 7S.”
“The psyche unit?”
“Yes. Precisely.”
Dre thought a moment and had to decide what if anything could come out of him being housed there.
“You threatened to kill yourself and this is my way of accommodating you. You go down there and we have a CO watch you and you talk with psyche’s.”
“Why can’t I do that here? It’s already been done.” Dre’s head was spinning. He smelled a setup. He refused to get cuffed be attacked. There were no cameras rolling and no inmates could even hear his cries because of the location of the isolation cell. It was not on the cell block.
“I don’t have to explain myself. I am the captain here.”
“Right, but I have you by the balls. Don’t let anyone cover your ears as I say this: Fuck you, Captain Perry!”
“Ok, have it your way. I assure you that I will be back.”
“And I assure you that I will be waiting.” Dre had quick wits and analyzed situations more quickly than a lot of inmates. “Hey, tell me this, Cap. How am I supposed to have my brother call off the media if I have no idea what you’re talking about?”
“We’ll give you a monitored and recorded call to him. Would that work?”
“Perhaps.”
“Perhaps we exchange the call for your willingness to move.”
“Fuck that. You need this cell for another basket case I bet. I bet you need this room and you need me to be cooperative so that you can get someone in here that really needs to be, as you probably view me as a joke. This is not a game but I suggest you play by the rules.”
“What rules, Bezel?”
“Mine,” he said and smiled.