HOME | DD

Description
“I awkwardly raised my arms up behind me to reach the sliding port in the cell door. I heard the guard behind me jingling some keys and then felt as the metal cuff on my right wrist loosened and I felt the restraint coming off. As awful as it feels to have those things put on, it feels equally good to have them come off. Like undressing at the end of the night before bed, and like the red imprints you’ll often find on your body left by tight socks, underwear, or the straps of your bra, the handcuffs leave their own little red marks around your wrists. Though since they’re metal and can sometimes be put on way too tight by an overzealous guard, those marks tend to last a lot longer, especially if you get left in them for a while.

While the guard removed the cuffs I looked around the cell I had just been locked in. It consisted of two steel bunks, and on those bunks were green matts, rough looking blankets, and a small pillow. The bottom bunk was where my new cellmate was sleeping. She didn’t look okay either, like sick, very sick. There were some audible groans coming from her, and she was tossing and turning quite a bit. It was freaking scary. Like this girl seemed like she was going to get up, turn out to be an actual zombie and bite me. My best guess was she was still feeling whatever drugs she had been on prior to ending up in this place. I was worried she would end up throwing up all over the cell, or worse she’d die and I’d end up locked in with a corpse.

The other fixtures of the cell were the sink, a toilet, and a small metal shelf/desk thing that was positioned like a bedside table to the bottom bunk. Seeing my bathroom fixtures next to my bed was quite the shock. I wasn’t really expecting anything else. I knew what a jail cell was supposed to look like, but then knowing about something and seeing it for real right in front of you can be very different. It made me feel kind of gross. Like suddenly I was aware that I was barefoot in a public bathroom, which also happened to be where I was going to have to sleep. That’s when I realized what the place smelled like, at first I couldn’t figure it out, but soon it came to me. It smelled like cleaning chemicals, body odor... and toilets. I prayed that this girl wouldn't vomit and add the contents of her stomach to that mix of scents.”

Description
“I awkwardly raised my arms up behind me to reach the sliding port in the cell door. I heard the guard behind me jingling some keys and then felt as the metal cuff on my right wrist loosened and I felt the restraint coming off. As awful as it feels to have those things put on, it feels equally good to have them come off. Like undressing at the end of the night before bed, and like the red imprints you’ll often find on your body left by tight socks, underwear, or the straps of your bra, the handcuffs leave their own little red marks around your wrists. Though since they’re metal and can sometimes be put on way too tight by an overzealous guard, those marks tend to last a lot longer, especially if you get left in them for a while.

While the guard removed the cuffs I looked around the cell I had just been locked in. It consisted of two steel bunks, and on those bunks were green matts, rough looking blankets, and a small pillow. The bottom bunk was where my new cellmate was sleeping. She didn’t look okay either, like sick, very sick. There were some audible groans coming from her, and she was tossing and turning quite a bit. It was freaking scary. Like this girl seemed like she was going to get up, turn out to be an actual zombie and bite me. My best guess was she was still feeling whatever drugs she had been on prior to ending up in this place. I was worried she would end up throwing up all over the cell, or worse she’d die and I’d end up locked in with a corpse.

The other fixtures of the cell were the sink, a toilet, and a small metal shelf/desk thing that was positioned like a bedside table to the bottom bunk. Seeing my bathroom fixtures next to my bed was quite the shock. I wasn’t really expecting anything else. I knew what a jail cell was supposed to look like, but then knowing about something and seeing it for real right in front of you can be very different. It made me feel kind of gross. Like suddenly I was aware that I was barefoot in a public bathroom, which also happened to be where I was going to have to sleep. That’s when I realized what the place smelled like, at first I couldn’t figure it out, but soon it came to me. It smelled like cleaning chemicals, body odor... and toilets. I prayed that this girl wouldn't vomit and add the contents of her stomach to that mix of scents.”