Rabid Sharks
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Prison Blog

In which Possum recounts his experiences as an offender in the system.

Possum Bones is autistic. He has identified as a dirty kid in the past, and he’s attended multiple rainbow gatherings. He has several years left to serve in the Washington Correctional system.

He has been making art since he could sit up. He communicates better in writing than speech. If you are interested in the experience of an autistic person doing prison time, check out his Prison Blog. If you are a fan of comic art, underground/outsider music, Lovecraft, Clarke Ashton Smith, Murakami, Cixui Liu, etc.

Blog #3

Straight from the convict's mouth - so, in county, I live with 8 others. I have my own cell because I'm in the "protective custody" pod whewre they put mentally handicapped (me) people, trannies, creeps, and people who can't stand being in a space smaller than half a tennis court with 19 other people (me).  When I first got moved to this pod, it was pretty cool -- normal enough types of inmates, better than normal, nice people by comparison. No openly racist people, thieves, cell warriors, or needlessly aggressive, badder-than-thou guys. 

Dear Reader, things have changed over the past few months.  Now out of the original 8 other people I used to live with, 2 remain.

Now among our number count one pedophile, one racist, one rapist, one silent schizophrenic guy.  The silent schizophrenic guy is actually hella cool, he just isn't much for company. 

One of them is a also a drooling idiot.  I don't make fun of him like the others, but he's fucking annoying.  Now I'm just waiting for the sad day the last dude I can break bread with without swallowing my own vomit leaves here and I'll be surrounded by confederate flag-waving, kid-groping, freedom-rapists.  I'm depressed all the time, but I'm still alive and I'm guaranteed to get out someday and share a half gallon with my pops. 

For the uninitiated, negotiating a deal with a lawyer is akin to selling jewelry to a pawnbroker-- you just don't know if they're giving y ou a fair deal, you can't know.  It's very frustrating.  The other inmates say that this time in county is the hardest time you'll do.  One says this jail is worse that federal prison in his opinion.  I envision how time would seem to fly by if I had a tv and a job, after 6 months of living in a small cell with a small dayroom on the 10th floor, never placing my feet on solid ground, never trusting another person.  At this stage, you can't discuss important details about yourself with anyone, you're still on trial.  And in county, the limits on property are much higher.  They inspect cells every week too.  Very intrusive, having your home torn up once a week by police.  I'm told they don't really do this in prison.

Everything is more expensive in county jails, too -- for instance, 4oz of coffee is $5, but it's $2 in prison.

Elisa Carlson