Last visit

February 12th, 2018

Yesterday, Karin and I went the jail to see the one we love. In some ways it was a difficult experience for me because I won’t be able to visit the young woman for a while. We have at most ten minutes together each week, but those ten minutes are precious. I think the visits mean something to the girl. They mean something to me.

We spoke on the phone and looked at each other through the Plexiglas. The day prior to the visit had been the girl’s twenty-seventh birthday. I asked her how that was.

She gave me a hard look and said, “Well, it was better than last year’s birthday.”

Ouch. Last year at this time she was freezing on top of Bly Mountain in Oregon. She is still pissed about that adventure. It’s a long, ugly story. Too long to relate at this time.

“The other girls made me a birthday cake”, she told me with a hint of a smile.

“How did they do that?”

“They took a Honey Bun and put chocolate pieces and other candy on top.”

Just thinking about that made my pancreas hurt.

The girl continued, “They sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to me. It was nice. Later two of the girls got in trouble, and got sent to the ‘hole’ “.

“Is the ‘hole’ the same as solitary?”

She nodded.

“Ooooh, that’s no good.”

She nodded again.

Then the loved one said, “I bought myself a couple sodas and some coffee to celebrate my birthday. I haven’t slept in twenty-four hours.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I had the Honey Bun, a Mountain Dew, and Pepsi.”

“Sugar/caffeine high?”

She nodded and smiled.

She told me, “I finished reading It. That book was kind of slow. I like fast-paced books. It’s hard for me to concentrate on slow books because of my ADD. Are all his books like that?”

I said, “Yeah, for the most part. I think Stephen King’s best book is The Shining.”

She thought for a moment and said, “I think I saw the movie. Is that the one with that old guy in it?”

“You mean Jack Nicholson?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s the story.”

“I am reading Children of God now. That’s the sequel to The Sparrow. That is faster-paced. That book about Las Vegas went really fast.”

“Fear and Loathing? The book from Hunter S. Thompson? Of course that one is fast-paced. The guy was on speed the entire time he was writing it.”

She laughed.

Then she asked me, “When are you going on your walk?”

I told her, “Tomorrow.” (which is actually today).

I went on, “The guy in charge wants me to do media stuff for him.”

The girl gave me a hard stare and said, “Don’t get shot.”

That sounds like sage advice. I told her that I would avoid getting shot, and I would try not to get arrested this trip.

She seemed satisfied with my remarks.

A guard walked past her.

I asked, “Are we done?”

She nodded.

I blurted out, “I love you. I think about you all the time.”

She nodded.