T-Bone v Scooter (by T-Bone)
T-Bone - Radiating power and strength, this deeply-spiritual massively-built African-American towers over most inmates. He is a prison gladiator with more stab wounds than Julius Caesar. A good man to have on your side.
In 1998, I was in the joint up north and there was a guy they called Scooter. When I got on the yard, in a very condescending tone, he called me, “Big Boy.”
“Big Boy, carry my bag for me,” he said.
I was in a position of do or be punked considering there were no other black men there. I stepped back from him and tried to kick him upside his head. He blocked it even though it knocked him down. He rolled on the ground and came up in a crouch like a Greco Roman wrestler and said he's a cage fighter.
The cops ran over saying they saw it and they wanted to handcuff me. I said I’d walk to wherever I had to go. One cop pepper-sprayed me and Scooter hit me and the sergeant and lieutenant ran over saying that I’d just got there today and I was trying to cause trouble already. So they took me to C.D.U. (Complex Detention Unit) and I stayed there for seven days until the D.H.O. (Disciplinary Hearing Officer) came. I got released back to the yard with a major ticket for fighting. But this time when I came through the gate there were several black men there. They said they heard what happened and they had my back.
I went to Building 1 Able Pod and Scooter lived in Charlie Pod right next door.
“Scooter wants a piece of you in the gym. When we get let out for rec, go to the gym so you guys can get down,” said the head of the whites who was running the pod.
So I told the brothers what was up and some of the white guys in the pod said they were putting their money on me.
We went to chow, ate chow, and came back and went to the gym. The rec officer was on the payroll for the whites also or he was their punk. We met on the basketball court and there were between 85 and 90 guys in there. We started circling each other. He rushed my legs in a wrestling technique, and I pushed down on his shoulders and threw my legs back and got away from him. He got pissed off and pulled off his sweatshirt and this boy was ripped. I’d say he weighed 235 or 240 on a 6’3” frame and I was only 257 at that time.
We started throwing blows at one another and we both missed. I settled down and took my time and started to hit the guy. I hit him with my right hand over his left eye and it ripped him wide open, but he wouldn’t quit! I hit him in the sternum and his left lung. It slowed him down but someone threw him a shank. I looked over at the cop to see if he was going to break it up, but he just stayed in his office doorway.
I knew then that I was going to have to do something extremely serious to this guy in order to end this and make it stop. He stood there breathing with nothing but hate in his eyes. He rushed at me and tried to stab me in my head, but his own blood was on his hands and he didn’t have a good grip on his weapon. I sidestepped him and grabbed his right wrist with my right hand and hit him with my left elbow and stunned him good. I let go of his wrist, put my right foot behind him, grabbed him by the throat and slammed him to the ground. His head hit that cement with a crack and the whole place went quiet.
His homosexual lover or should I say his punk, rushed me and I hit him with a right square in the forehead and followed it with a kick in the nuts. Then I chopped him behind the neck when he bent over and that was all she wrote.
All the guys there put the homo on top of the dude and the cop got on the radio and called for backup, and people were trying to wake him up. For the minute or so it took the cops to get there, those two were holding on to each other because they were out of sorts.
The cops grabbed them, tackled them, handcuffed them, and took them to Medical. They started snitching. The captain and warden didn’t believe that I had anything to do with it and sent word to the yard that these two guys were no good! I gained my respect and ran my side of the yard.
Click here for T-Bone's letter - The Attack on T-Bone.
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Shaun Attwood
10 comments:
Big Dawg!
Also, can we have a good description of T-Bone?
I see him as like the DeeJay character from SUPER Street Fighter II - see link (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c3/Dee_Jay_SF.jpg/150px-Dee_Jay_SF.jpg).
Lots of love,
Chris H
T-Bone
Writing from Texas I must tell you that every time I read one of your entries I immediately anticipate rooting for you as you prove your strength but also compassion for your fellow brother, it truly inspires me. Have you always had to prove yourself when you move to new prisons and do you feel that your size contributes to people wanting to challenge you?
Shaun, when you post "letters" / "entries" from your friends in prison, do you post their letters (hand written) verbatim or do you embellish and / or correct them?
I ask for two reasons:
1. Prisoners are uneducated, scourge of the earth, so certainly they cannot spell or form sentences, much less form fluid and concise rhetoric worthy of reading; response.
2. If in fact, the contributors to this blog (your "cast of characters") are submitting "verbatim", why the hell are they being treated like (less than) animals and their talents not being utilized????
I already know the answers, but thought I'd put this out there.
And you KNOW I am being sarcastic.... my GODS, there are amazing people incarcerated... You, Shannon, Tony, Two Tonys... etc.
As Wood Song says:
"An inmate's being there lays "paid" to their debt to society. What happens while they are there determines how that person is returned to society. The goal should always be to return them with more than they left with; too often, though, they are returned with less. In those cases, society fails society."
There is great talent and heart in prison right now... what are we, as society going to do to decrease recidivism and "gentle" our world?
Love.
Pixie,
In order to convey authentically the individual voices of my prisoner friends, I leave their grammatical peculiarities intact. For example, Two Tonys use of an exclamation mark after nearly every "Hey" and Frankie's use of "cuz" instead of "'cause."
Shaun
Thank you for your response.
Ok.
You get a 8.2 in avoidance...
:)
No worries, Pixie-Shaun is as guileless as they come. Believe me. It's almost annoying. And certainly, IQ never stopped a person from doing wrong, lack thereof or numbers in plenty. It's just human nature. One thing I've learned is that I can't make a distinction. The only reason I'm not behind bars is because I made good choices and was incredibly fortunate in certain respects.
Pixie,
There are many talented prisoners. There are also many who have trouble reading and writing. If your government chose to invest in prisoner education, recidivism would plummet. Instead, the prison system is a money-go-round whereby contactors' political contributions keep the taxpayers money flowing back to themselves as opposed to educating prisoners. The prison-justice system is the second biggest shakedown on the American public after Bush's plunder of the Middle East.
In further response to your earlier question: I rarely correct the inmates' letters other than the likes of occasional spelling mistakes. To edit their letters to the standards I enforce on my own prose would take away from their individual voices. I believe the nuances of their writing styles help convey who they are as individuals.
Shaun
One thing I would add to what Shaun said-probably equal with education inside is aftercare outside. I had the happy privilege of talking with a young lady who was inside just 3 months ago. She is clean now and is also pregnant. Because of her drug use and subsequent bout with hepatitis, she needs a C-section and a liver transplant. But the thing is, while inside she was connected with Providing Hope and related services, so now is in a privately run maternity home getting her GED and working as she can. She will be assisted with living arrangements and is taking advantage of all sorts of community programs. Funding is also needed for these things, but much of it is privately donated. Ordinary citizens can have a HUGE impact on recidivism.
Here is a point: Shannon has been limited to 5 LETTERS A MONTH that he may send because he is "indigent". He "owes" the system over $2,000.00 because of medical treatment. The phone calls out are $15.00 and the price of gasoline (over $4.00 a gallon) makes it difficult to travel to visit him.
Basically, they are slowly (but surely) cutting our incarcerated off from the ones they love and depend on.
The activities provided to them are weak and dwindling rapidly, in terms of "bettering themselves", education, cerebral stimulation etc.
Letters don't arrive; go "missing".
Educational texts (or any texts) sent are arbitrarily deemed contraband and returned (or not) to the sender.
I am watching, first hand, the department of corrections treat inmates more and more like animals (worse) and less and less like human beings.
Few can afford to be in prison (medical care costs money, money posted to books is subject to a surcharge for "substance abuse classes - manditory", and a percentage is skimmed off the top (up to 20%) for restitution.
The cost of commissary is RIDICULOUSLY inflated... and in some cases the only option for food as the special diets have been taken away.
I see NO indication of the department of corrections doing anything of any value or being pro-active in ANY WAY in helping the men and women "reform". This only appears to be happening in the private sector i.e. prison outreach programs provided by churches and private groups (Joannie).
What in the hell has to happen to change this?
I am.
Irate.
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