Last night as I head back to the unit from the chapel, I cross paths Mr. Dominguez from the medical department.
“Hey, are you Valdes, Eduardo?” he asks me.
“Yes sir I am” I replied.
“You have a CT Scan scheduled for tomorrow; do not eat anything after midnight” he tells me.
“No problem, and thank you”, I reply to him, “have a good night”.
I moved rooms once again, but I stayed within the Glasshouse. My new room is in the bottom tier, and my new roommate is Mr. Aquino.
Mr. Aquino has been incarcerated for a little over 8 years now. I have had a good and professional relationship with Mr. Aquino since I first met him some time after I arrived at this compound last year. He is part of the Spanish Christian service group and was the one that referred and recommended me to the chaplains to be their clerk. Now in this room I have a clear view to the five televisions. I had a busy day yesterday, so it took me a while before I finally accommodated all my things in the room neatly, thankfully being it is an open dorm I am able to shower at any time. Once I showered, I got into bed to watch a little of the nightly news before covering my eyes, and going to sleep.
I decided to skip breakfast this morning, but I was up and about by 8am. At 9am I take the move and head over to the chapel. Mr. Kulungu is in his office, I knock and open the door. Immediately he starts talking to me about how much work he has going on, that there is a psychology class going on in the chapel, then asked what was I up to. My first words were, “well good morning to you too”, then I let him know that I had a CT Scan scheduled for 11am, that I would be back in an hour when psychology finishes so I prepare the chapel for the Catholic service because I don’t know how long the scan will take, and I want to make sure everything is set up ahead of time.
When I arrive back at the unit and walk over to my room, shortly behind me an officer from the medical department walks into the Glasshouse and yells out my name. As I approach him, I see him pull a familiar container out of his pocket as he then hands it to me. I drink the complete container of berry flavored liquid that is part of the whole CT Scan process, and he asks me to follow him to the medical department where I wait to be called. One hour or so later, he returns to the medical department and calls my name along with a few others, and we all walk over to the west side of the compound where the mobile CT Scan trailer is stationed.
Today was the first time ever that I get a needle put into a vein on my wrist, it hurt like crazy, but this was not the moment to show pain. This was going to be used to put the iodine into my veins to get the contrast on the CT Scan. When they push the iodine in, I think it is such an interesting, warm feeling up my arm, through my body, and you feel it all throughout. After the CT Scans, the officer walks me out and over to the west gate where I head to lunch for my Wednesday burger.
Leaving the dining room, I see Chaplain Estrin talking to some of the Jewish guys, so I wave as I continue walking around the lake over to my unit. I grab my water bottle, pens and highlighter, then head back to the chapel where I sat a few minutes to wait for one of the chaplains to arrive and open the door. Once inside, some of the usual movie goers arrived for their daily dose of religious films, so I set them up each with their preferred movies, and to those who did not finish the movie last time, I skip over to the right spot they left off.
Thankfully the CT Scan was over with early, and I was able to eat and get to the chapel in time to setup for the Catholic service, because I was not able to make it earlier. Chaplain Estrin opens the Catholic locker, and I begin setting up the altar as needed for the service. The microphone is setup, sound-check completed, and sign-in sheets are ready to go. Chaplain Estrin returns from the lobby with the volunteer and as we are talking for a few minutes, and waiting for a compound move, we hear over the officers radio the Lieutenants calling for a “total recall”, which means every AIC back to their units and locked in their rooms. Apparently they spent too much time looking for a certain AIC and they could not find him, so they do a total recall to count everyone and find the correct person.
Now the rush begins to remove the whole Catholic service setup, remove the DVD’s from the televisions, put them away, return the ID’s to the owners, put the sign-in sheets away, turn off the lights, close my locker and head back to the unit. Good thing the chaplain escorted me back to the unit, because the move was over. Days like today I thank God I moved into the Glasshouse, and am still able to use my email, make phone calls, watch television, and not be locked in a small room.
I grab a cup of coffee, my tablet with headphones, and sit down on my bed to watch some television. Until I see one guy moving rooms by himself, I put my stuff down and offer my help. Once again, do not understand how people could sit there and see a guy like this one, who walks with a cane due to his certain handicap, yet no one offers to help him with the move. Once we finish, I sit down again to enjoy my coffee and television.
“Across the top”, someone yells, as they see the officers walking on the top tier in the main side of the unit. At this time everyone in the Glasshouse heads back to their concrete cubicles to wait for count. Once the officers leave the Glasshouse, everyone scatters back to what they were doing before count. Right before 5pm I call dad, he is doing okay, we finish our call, and I head over to check on Mr. Rivero, to see if he is interested in heading to dinner for “cheese pizza”. From afar I see him walking towards the phone with his cane, wearing sandals, I stop him in his tracks and ask him about dinner, then he turns to head back to his room, sits on his bed to put his shoes on while I pull the wheelchair out of his room. In the meantime while putting his shoes on (in slow motion, due to his age), he is also complaining to me about his roommate. My job, is to listen and just make sure he doesn’t get too angry.
“CHOW” is called and thank God for that!!!!
Mr. Rivero sits down in his wheelchair, makes an engine starting noise, and we wheel on down to the dining room. We were served what seemed to be like cheese pizza, some dry lettuce and green beans. I top my pizza with the lettuce and green beans, fold it in half and eat it like a sandwich. A second slice would have been nice, but one was enough for today. I drop off Mr. Rivero in his room, stow away his chair, and head to the chapel for the Jewish study which was lead by Chaplain Estrin.
Back in the unit, I help a new gentleman with an electronic request to medical, check my own email and any new bulletins that have been posted, then I go grab a snack in my room. I have grab a peanut butter jar, and some saltine crackers, while I sit there and have a few laughs with Mr. Ballester, also known here as “Bon-Bon”. Not sure why he was given that name, but its not so bad as the name he gave me, which is, “Mantequilla” (‘Butter’ in Spanish). Time to call mom, so I rush over to the phones, and dial the number. Instantly my mom answers the call as she was waiting for my call with my step-dad and mima nearby.
Night time lockdown, I wait for count, and once they finish I come over to finish my journal for today. Tomorrow morning is commissary after two weeks of it being closed, so I will be up bright and early. Mr. Gibson already made sure to ask me several times if tomorrow was commissary, and if I could make sure he wakes up to go, so one more task on my to do list for tomorrow.
Thank you dear Lord for the life you have given me and for all you do for us each and every day.
Thank you for my family, thank you for their love and support.
Thank you for helping me get to a point in my life where I have been able to slow down and see life in a completely different, positive, more humble manner.
Allow us all a good and safe night, and a new day tomorrow to achieve even more than we did today.
