Fight Club (2)

There are some things that occur with such frequency in here that it just seems like it’s all part of the routine: Guys throwing haymakers at each other, bloody eyes and lips, plastic handcuffs attached as the combatants are led from the building to the hole, yup it’s just another day here, another round of fight club.

            Tuesday it happened once again in our little corner of paradise. It resulted from a basketball game, but it started years earlier. The college dorm has two teams in the under 35 rec league and they played Tuesday afternoon. Coincidentally, one team is all white and the other all black. I bet you think that caused the fight – nope. It just happened that the two teams formed with guys who work out together. There was no animus between the squads. In fact, most afternoons you can find the guys playing pickup out back.

            The two teams meet Tuesday in the gym. And everything is smooth. There’s a lot of laughing and good-natured trash talking as they run up and down the court. One of the black guys is just pure sweetness in motion; he’s the best athlete in the building, a great kid who makes any sport look easy. Surprisingly, the game is close – three or four points is all that separates the two squads. And, “Divine” – the star athlete’s moniker – is playing well. He’s laughing, carrying on as he’s defending Wes, a white kid who’s alright. Both are in college; they’ve lived together three years in this dorm. You think everything is cool, but it isn’t. See, buildings are in upheaval; everyday new men show up in here who are “ready” for re-entry. By ready, I mean they’re down to their last eighteen months of their sentence. But, they aren’t “ready.” They have baggage – anger, self-pity, and ignorance to name just a few issues they haul around. “Divine’s” teammate is a young black kid named James. I don’t know his last name, but it’s probably “Samsonite” because of all the baggage he’s hauling.

            The game is close and James is getting pissed. “We’re gonna lose to these stupid white mother f---” he shouts more than once. He hacks Floyd hard on a layup and tries to take the legs out from Blond Will. “Calm down Bro,” Divine barks back. James eyeballs him. The game ends – black guys 46, white guys 43; most guys dap up and hug it out at center court. Not James. He marches back to the building with fire in his eyes.

            Is it just the game? No. A couple of us saw it the day James moved in. He stalked around the building quietly, like a lone big cat on the hunt. You see that in a lot of guys down for more than a minute. They come in messed up in the head to begin with. Many are the offspring of bad families, bad neighborhoods, and schools. They’re scared to death. No bullshit – jail and prison are scary places. Most like James come in young. Young guys are followers and they run in packs inside for protection and to fit in. A guy like James learns early who to hang with and, he learns how to fight.

            You do that for a few years, you settle things with your fists – or worse – and you grow accustomed to it. Nothing in here addresses the baggage; nothing in here tells a man violence is wrong. So, the game doesn’t go the way you want, you aren’t as good as you think, and you hate this place. You’re angry, you’re frustrated, and you’re amped up from ball. That was James. He comes in and immediately confronts Divine. Words get intense and then … James lunges at Divine and tries to throw a wild haymaker punch. He misses and it’s like watching a sparring session: whap, whap … whap. Divine lands three quick shots – left, right, left – to James’s face. Divine bulrushes him and you hear them hit the hard floor.

            A crowd gathers as Divine weighs into a prone James. “It’s over man. Stay down.” And the booth officers look to see what’s happening. One, Ms. Olds, leaves the booth to walk the floor. People disperse. James bleeds from the eye, nose, and mouth. A small pool of blood is on the floor where Divine dropped him. But, the fight’s over. Everyone has scattered so no one knows who did what. No one, except James who isn’t through.

            He’s scared and embarrassed. Scared because he thinks if he stays Divine and his friends will beat him senseless. That’s how things go inside. James is alone; Divine is connected. And, he’s embarrassed. He called a guy out and got pummeled. “I fought the mother f ---er!” He shouts and runs up to the CO who can see his bloodied, swollen face. This CO hits the red button on her radio and gives a “277” (fight in building) call. In the meantime, James sees Divine back by the rec door. He runs toward him, arms thrown in a punch-drunk fashion. Divine measures him up, then drops him again. All this takes place in the ninety seconds it takes ten officers and unit managers (one of which included morbidly obese Lewis, looked like he was going to have a heart attack after the jog over to the building). The two combatants were separated and hauled to the hole.

            Then there’s the aftermath. For James, the beating was the worst of it. He’ll do ten days in the hole then head to the other side of the yard and “cognitive community,” also known as re-entry. Not so for Divine. He’s been dropped from college.

            After the fight, a few guys – Divine’s friends – came to me. “Larry, you have to talk to Ms. C and let him stay in the program.” Everyone knows there’s a no absence policy and a no charge policy. College is a privilege and not a right. I looked at the guys as they told me, sincerely, that Divine doesn’t deserve to be booted.

            “So, you want me to help, yet you guys did nothing.” They looked at me, “You knew what Divine was risking if he got into a fight; you knew he’d get thrown out; none of you stepped in and got him away from that nut.” And they reminded me, “You don’t get involved. You mind your own business.” That’s the problem in here; guys go to settle things with fists – and worse – instead of walking away. Is life inside really that different from the “real world?” I’m not so sure anymore. But, if Divine and James were the only fight this week that would be one too many. Instead, they were one of three on Tuesday.