Seventieth Visit to Taft

Friday morning the phone rang, and it was Mr. 74 calling. That's the new way Ron answers the phone when he calls me, with the number of days remaining. Today he is Mr. 71. I thought he should call himself agent 74, or agent 71, but then I thought those people recording our conversations might think that was some kind of code or something. This was a super day because Phil and Ellen, our friends from Phoenix were back for another try. They're the ones that were turned away a few months ago for driving over the 20mph speed limit. This time Phil crawled through the complex aat 15-20mph. With license in hand, he was immediately admitted to the visiting room, where we have a wonderful four hour visit.

A correction from last week. Ron's new bunkie is Iffy, not Izzy. He's got a long name with about 14 letters so they call him Iffy for short. He's a devout Muslim, and must pray 5 times a day. The little cube in which the three of them live barely has room to move around in, much less pray, but several times a day he pulls out his prayer rug and puts it on the small space in the center of the cube and prays. I guess the men at Taft learn to adapt. I'm sure that's not the optimum setting for his prayer ritual, but it's all he's got.

Ron was excited because he and his old bunkie were going to have BLT's for dinner. Bacon is a new item on the commissary list. I asked Ron if they were going to have it on toast, and he said "No, there is no toaster." He said that once in a while they have toasted grilled cheese sandwiches made with an iron, but the men that use the iron to actually press their clothes don't appreciate cheese on the iron. I got a big chuckle out of this, just picturing someone making a grilled cheese sandwich with an iron.

Other meals of distinction recently have included a chinese beef and broccoli dish, made by one of the Asian inmates, for the whole camp, all 550 men. Evidently he was given permission to cook for the whole camp, and Ron said the food was delicious. Ron also said that they have been barbequing things like chicken lately, and it tastes so much better. He's got to leave, just when the food was improving!

Phil and Ellen commented to me at the end of the visit that they felt Ron was just about back to his old self. They have seen him several times during his incarceration, so have really seen a transformation. Initially he was quiet, reserved, kept to himself and didn't socialize too much. Midway through his stay he loosened up, started telling jokes and stories and socializing with everyone. Yet Phil and Ellen felt there was a bitterness about him. Now, at the end of his stay, they felt the bitterness is gone. I find him back to his old self in terms of self confidence, personality, joking and story telling, and planning for a great future. I still think there's plenty of bitterness, and whether this will always be with him or not, I don't know. I do know that when he gets home he intends to write a bit about his experiences and feelings, things he hasn't felt comfortable to have me share right now. We shall see what he has to say. In the mean time, I look forward each day to a phone call from a new man. Today it was Mr. 71, and tomorrow it will be Mr. 70. Soon it will just be Ron at the end of the phone, with no security recording and listening to our every word.