Flo to the Hole - May 30, 2010

There was a bit of excitement in the building this morning. “Flo” – my former cot mate – was taken to the hole at 5:00 am. He apparently was verbally abusive to a female officer last night during the Lakers-Suns game.


I changed cots last week and moved up by 2 of my closest friends in here: “E” and “Big S”. The 3 of us eat almost every meal together. My old cot mates – “Max” and “Flo” – were decent enough guys by prison standards, but they were grade A slobs. Both guys had trash piled everywhere: dirty clothes, empty containers, apple cores, orange peels. Their cot areas were pig sties.

I moved into a clean area with guys I like talking to and just being around. Space is at a premium. We literally have 3 feet between our bunks. Cot mates – the 3 other guys you live directly around – affect how easily your time goes by. I felt like I won the lottery with my move. I went from living around 2 extremely sloppy guys, one of whom (Flo) was the loudest guy in here, and moved up by guys who keep their areas clean and organized. And, these guys get along with themselves and others.

Back to Flo going to the hole this morning. He clearly crossed the line last night with a female officer. Many of the CO’s (corrections officers) are relatively young females. Because this facility is a low custody prison, female staff actually outnumber male staff. This creates natural tension.

For one thing, a great many of the guys locked up have not had contact with women for years. Many of the women working here are young, single, and attractive. While fraternization between officers and inmates is strictly prohibited, flirting occurs daily. Some CO’s are more friendly with inmates than others.

For another thing, some of the guys flat out do not like being ordered around by women officers. Some women do use their position and power more forcefully than others. The vast majority, however, just come in and do their jobs the best they can.

At any given time we have 2 – occasionally 3 CO’s handling both sides of our building. That’s 3 CO’s for almost 200 men. Last night, the overnight shift (6:00 pm to 6:00 am) consisted of 2 early twenties females and an equally young, skinny male CO.

Flo is a huge Lakers fan. Anytime they’re on he can be heard yelling and cussing. Last night, game 6 of the Lakers-Suns series and Flo was being, well Flo. The CO on the floor – a very petite, young officer known to have a good attitude but who will “write a charge” if an infraction is pushed in her face (charges normally can carry fines of $2 all the way up to segregation – “in the hole” – for 20 days, plus loss of job and good time) is making a late evening round.

So the CO hears Flo cussing and shouting after lights out in the sleeping area (11:30 pm) and asks him to keep it down. His response, by shouting: “Who you talkin to? Come ‘ere girl an say it to me!”

Now Flow is here for (1) running a prostitution ring (aka “pimping”) and (2) attempted murder of a police officer. He’s been locked up for over 10 years and is scheduled to finally be released in November (that doesn’t include the number of years he did in Florida on various gun and drug charges).

They waited until 5:00 am to get him. A sergeant came in and escorted Flo out of the building. All his “stuff” (in his case bags and bags of trash) was packed up by 2 CO’s and hauled away to property storage. At a minimum, he’ll be in the hole 3 days. It’s possible, given his record that the female officer could say she took his remarks as a threat. In that case, he’ll be moved to another prison.

No one will ever say inmates make good decisions (certainly not me - I may be the biggest idiot of them all for my actions!) but Flo just earned another advanced degree in stupidity. Ten years apparently hasn’t taught Flo anything.

On another matter; E, Big S and I made real pizza Friday night. E “found” real pizza dough and we made 2 crusts. Sauce, olives, onions, pepperoni, sausage, bacon, Italian seasoning and provolone cheese topped our pies. About 8 minutes in the microwave and we were eating real pizza and washing it down with ice cold Pepsi.

It was a great meal. It’s been a good week. I had a visit from a minister friend and another visit from my cousin and her husband. It’s easy to forget how truly blessed you are living in a place like this. But, everyday feels like a blessing. You may not understand it, but God is here in this place and He is so good!

Hopefully, Flo will figure that out while he has a chance.