Randy called me tonight and told me that he got a black eye last night in the game room. He was playing monopoly with someone and these two guys got into it. The one guy went to punch the other and before Randy could duck out he got punched in the eye. I guess the other guy was about to pull a razor blade out on the other. Thankfully it was nothing more than that and obviously Randy isn’t in trouble. He said he was going to swing back at him but he thought of me because fighting = automatic box time of 90 days which is 23 hours of solitary confinement with no visits, calls, nothing. You’re let out for an hour of sunlight and to shower. Nothing more. Those two are in there but.. *shudder*

To me he’s not in prison, it’s not reality. I don’t see prison like they depict it on TV with shackles and cuffs. I think of it as another world. I’ve been to it so many times it seems regular to see guards and have to be buzzed through gates, get UV light stamps, and get past the metal detector. It’s normal to get assigned a table, show my ID 3 different times, and be watched like a hawk when showing any affection. That yellow line the inmates can’t cross is just a fact of life. Them not being able to hold money or roam around. The separate bathrooms for inmates and visitors. Watching them all line up at the end to walk back into the “yard” area but not before they get strip searched to ensure nothing was smuggled in. It’s all…. normal to me now. No packages over 35lbs, don’t wear an underwire bra, and no money over $50 but prepared to have 1/2 of it taken for fines and fees. Oh, and $.25/hour is a good job in there.

This is all too real for me and it’s somewhere I never thought I’d be but I’d do it all over again if it meant standing beside him because I know he can’t do this alone. He needs me and I need him.

I worked today for 4 hours, do 4 hours on Thursday, and then work 11-7 Friday and Saturday nights. Not bad. I can’t wait to have a regular paycheck coming in.