The food's horrible, but the view ain't bad: PART 4

jail has been a little rough on my soul, but i'm slowly going to add entries from the notes i've taken the last several trips. this one is from july 1st.

so it turns out that extreme heat summons feisty, law-breaking behavior. this comes as no surprise to me, and i feel blessed that the home stretch of my jail time is happening when temperatures in portland are peaking. upon checking in, we were informed that the entire justice center was full to capacity and that lisa, myself, and three other women were to be transferred in an honest-to-goodness paddy wagon across town to the INVERNESS JAIL! the six of us were chaincuffed together and placed in one of a three-part truck that smelled like rank gym shorts and swamp foot. needless to say, the ride was a bit unpleasant. imagine riding the tilt-a-whirl at a carnival placed directly next to a sewage treatement center with a strong breeze. i'm all about random intimacy with strangers, but this was a bit much.

when we finally arrived, inverness turned out to be very much like a college dorm room filled with women that were all received the same memo about what to wear that day. there were sixty beds, about twenty tables, a television, book shelves, games, a shower room, and even an outdoor basketball court! i was given one of ten beds that was elevated. yeah! top bunk! when we finally arrived, all i wanted to do was sleep, which i did for about four hours.

when i awoke, it was dinner time and we were actually given the privilege of eating dinner at tables with other human beings! as newbies to the scene, lisa and i had no idea there was a hidden seating arrangement. if i were still a seventh grader, i would describe the glares sent in our direction as "dirty looks". even when we tried to sit with a couple of seemingly harmless gals, the response was very unwelcoming. we found seats at separate tables, much to my dismay.

i can't remember much else about this visit, except that at one point in the night i awoke to the sound of so much unanimous laughter that i wondered whether i had lucid-dreamed myself into a comedy club. in a stupor, i sat up in my bunk and said "what the hell is so funny? and do they have ear plugs in here?". i was told by one of the women to tear apart the cotton in the maxi-pads provided, which i did and it did not work. i ended up tying my socks together and making a head piece that covered my ears. at 4:45am, lisa and i were taken in the paddy-wagon back to the justice center, where we sat in a holding cell for 3 hours and listened to a woman ramble on about her three children living in mexico city with their daddy. she was going to be released with us at 8:00am and couldn't wait to go buy a crack rock. it's moments like these that have, over the past several weeks, made me more excited than ever that this whole experience is almost over.