I had to go directly to jail
from the courtroom. After I was strip-searched and booked, I was led through a
maze of cement blocks. I was handed a plastic cup and told to grab a bed roll
and a mat. If you’ve been to jail before, you know to grab the blue mat as it
has a built-in headrest; there are no pillows in jail. The bed roll consists of
a blanket, two flat sheets, a towel not much bigger than a hand towel, a small
bar of soap (marked “luxury bar”), comb, short-handled toothbrush and
toothpaste. (And the blankets are exactly like the ones on “Orange is the New Black”.) Once you get to
your cell, you are instructed to make your bed. Your bed must be made properly
whenever you’re not in it. If you’ve never been to jail, making your bed is
difficult. The polyester sheets slip off the vinyl mat. If you’re cellmate is
not puffing herself up, she’ll tell you to tie together the two corners at each
end to help hold the sheet in place.
I had spent about a week in
KCCF when I spoke to someone who had been housed at RJC. She raved about how
different it was from downtown. She made it sound like Disneyland
and, walking in, I absolutely felt the same way. While KCCF is dark and dirty,
RJC is bright and clean. You have a cell to yourself, which is a blessing. (I
had two very scary roommates at KCCF.) In the “day room” there is a two-story
atrium which lets the sun in with a courtyard directly off the unit. There are
two separate areas in the day room; the carpeted “quiet side” where one can
watch TV quietly. And a tiled area with another TV and tables and chairs where
you can talk freely, play cards or games and generally hang out. There are also
vending machines with soda, food items and actually decent coffee along with a
microwave.
The days in jail are spent on
a strict schedule that is essentially two hours out of your cell (rack out) and
two hours in your cell (rack in). If you’re out you’re out; you cannot go back
and forth into your cell. (Though the guards will let you in pretty freely.)
You can also been “racked in” for various offenses such as not making your bed
or arguing with another inmate. While I was terrified for my safety downtown, I
never thought twice about it at RJC.
Lights come on at 6:30 and
breakfast is at 6:45. Breakfast includes cold cereal or oatmeal, milk, two pieces
of bread with margarine and an envelope of “milk substitute” which is basically
Kool-Aid. After you eat, you go back to your cell until 8. You are racked in at
10:30 where a bag lunch is served at 11. It consists of a piece of fruit,
bologna or salami sandwich, crackers and cookies. And “milk substitute”. Dinner
is served at 4:30PM in the day room. After dinner, you are racked in until 6 or
7PM depending on whether the guards have “training”. In my 90 days at RJC, I
got up for breakfast exactly twice. I am not a morning person and decided it
was simply too irritating to have people asking if they could have my food. I
couldn’t stomach the bologna and not once ate lunch except some Wednesdays when
we had PB&J. Rack in is at 8:30PM with lights out at 10PM.
One of the benefits at RJC
are the worker programs. For 50 cents per day, you can work as a Trustee, in
the Laundry or as a Baker. There are six Trustees for the unit and they do most
of the cleaning, organizing, helping the guards, etc. They also can stay out of
their cells nearly all the time. There are multiple laundry workers who go to
work at 3PM, return at 8:30 and can stay out of their cells until 10pm or so.
The best job, and the one I did, was baker, of which there are only three. We
went to work at 9PM, finished up around 1AM, came back to the unit, showered
and then we could stay up for an hour or so. We were also the only people
allowed to turn off the lights in our cells until noon or so. Super bonus.
If your only exposure to
living with a bunch of women is in a college dorm, you’re in for a big
surprise. There are some really funny things you learn but it takes awhile...
For one, just like in “Orange
is the New Black”, maxi pads are used for all kinds of cleaning. You can also
pull out the narrow string that holds a tampon string in place and use it for
dental floss or for threading your eyebrows. You definitely want a friend to work
in the Laundry so they can bring you back brand new skivvies and bras. And the
most coveted of jail uniforms are the soft, old-style, cotton ones that have a
V-neck instead of the stiff crew necks. Since you’re in a uniform basically all
the time, these comfort factors are important. I had new skivvies, white socks,
soft pants and two V-necks by the
time I left. (Thank you Maria Apodaca!) Yes, I was a Princess even in jail.
There are also some really
silly things that go on in jail. Bakers and Trustees don’t get their cells
searched very often but I got caught with too many books, extra clothing and
once a sugar packet that I swear wasn’t mine. Lots of women get in trouble for
keeping food in their rooms which I never did. (Why save something that’s bad
anyway?) The “training” the guards did some evenings consisted of going into a
dorm and randomly choosing six rooms to search. (“Toss” is a more accurate
term.)
Commissary is probably the
most important process that exists in jail. Once a week, you place an order for
food, hygiene items and, most importantly at RJC, coffee. People would get so
excited for commissary delivery. Plus, there is a huge commerce opportunity
with commissary. One woman sold items for double the price towards the end of
the week when everyone had run out. Some people could never catch up and get
ahead with commissary.
There were some funny times
in jail that I will get into next time. Please feel free to comment and ask
questions. The time spent there really was fascinating in a bizarre way.