The Second Doublewide on the Right, part 77

I’m Fixin’ To present part 77 of The Second Doublewide on the Right:

When Quantavious was delivered to the Ocmulgee County Jail the first thing they did was take all of his possessions from him. He watched with dismay as they inserted his wallet and all of his gold chains into a large brown envelope. What bothered him the most was the site of the chain with the gold key to his safety deposit box slither down and disappear into the envelope. A sinking feeling of helplessness surged through his very being because he knew without that key all his hard work and plans would be for naught.

After that they took mug shots of him. He had watched this process on TV and in the movies on several occasions, but in real life it seemed to have lost all of its glamour.

It felt good when they removed the handcuffs, but then they coated the tips of his thumbs and all his fingers with wet black ink and rolled the tip of each one onto a surface which he knew could be used to trace him forever.

Then they put the cuffs back on him—they just didn’t seem to be as tight as they had before, as they escorted him to the part of the jail where the cells were located.

The only good thing he had experienced since he first got pulled over was that when they turned him over to the jailer, it was his Uncle Willis. He wanted to say something to him immediately, but from the look his uncle gave him, he knew better.

It wasn’t until they were alone in a concrete block hallway that his Uncle Willis softly asked, “You all right, son?”

“No sir, I ain’t. I wasn’t planning on coming back to Ocmulgee County ever again, but I wanted to come see grandma one last time. Can you help get me out of here Uncle Willis?”

“I already set things in motion. I was alerted as soon as information was electronically received that you had been arrested, but you might have to stay locked up for a little while.”

“How long is a little while?” Quantavious inquired.

“We got to go through the process,” his uncle replied.

“What kind of process—what you talking about?”

“You’ll have to go before a judge in a bond hearing before we can get your bail set and bond you out. After I heard they had arrested you I went to see Slick on my lunch hour. He’ll be in here to see you Monday morning and he can explain things a lot better than I can. I hate it, but you gonna be stuck here through the weekend. In the meantime, as much as it hurts my heart nephew, I’m going to have to lock you up in one of these cells.”

That’s when Quantavious’ mind began to conjure up all kinds of terrible thoughts—like would he be locked in a tiny cell with a crazy murderer or some other dangerous person?

“Am I gonna be locked up with anyone else?” he asked with a quaking voice.

“Normally you would be,” his Uncle Willis answered. This jail is designed for eight inmates to a cell, but we only about three-quarters full right now, so I’m going to put you in one all by yourself for right now. If we start filling up I’ll pick the ones that go in with you. I know all the bad and crazy ones and I’ll make sure you don’t have to be locked up with none of them.

“All the inmates take their meals in the day room. I’ll be gone by the time the evening meal is served, but one of the other security officers will escort you there. Take my advice and eat it. It’s decent food and you won’t get nothing else till tomorrow morning. Lights-out ain’t till midnight, so I’ll send you something back here to read before I go.”

By this time they were at the cell door and Quantavious watched with dread as his uncle unlocked the steel door. When it swung open he heard his uncle say, “I’m sorry son, but we’ll get you out of here as soon as humanly possible. In the meantime, try to be a man and bear it.”

Quantavious felt sick and defeated when he heard the door slam behind him, shutting him off from the world. When he looked around he saw four double-stacked bunk beds with a small metal locker at the head and foot of each one. Other than that the room was bare except for a small stainless steel sink on one wall and a commode on another.

There was a small window high up on one wall. He chose a top bunk nearest that one little connection with the outside world, stretched out on it, and for the first time in a very long time he told himself that he was fixin’ to do some praying.

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