Jibber-Jabber

The idea of being frightened at work came up the other day in a conversation.  I said it was only natural at times, seeing as we worked in a prison, for someone to be frightened now and then.  The secret of course, is to only be frightened now and then or at best save it for later when you are walking out in the parking lot.  Then you can have a full blown case of the whim-whams and nobody will get hurt because you locked up.

I'll admit that I've been frightened a few times here.  But for the most part I've managed to keep it under wraps until later and managed to get the job done.

Heck, I was scared green when I went up to interview for Sergeant.  I walked out of there thinking "Well, I was a nervous wreck and I'm sure it showed!"

And then they promoted me.  Go figure.

Anyway, the question was asked if there were any inmates I was scared of.  To which I replied "Only one.  Freestyle.  He scares the snap out of me sometimes."

Freestyle is a young man, about six foot four, maybe 260 pounds of mostly solid muscle.  And crazy as a water balloon full of porcupines.  When he's taking his meds and in control of himself, he is one of the nicest guys.  He likes me, since we go way back, and considers me to be "family."

I'm not really sure why he likes me so much but I'll take it where I can get it.  That has gotten me out of a few jams with him.

But when he's off his meds and in one of those "manic" stages he's riding a bicycle underwater upside down with a duck in your back pocket crazy.  And right now he is right smack in the middle of one of those stages.

I had to go down to the Hive for an hour or so this evening and old Freestyle was having trouble breathing, or so he said.  We had to get him out so the nurse could examine him and I talked to him the whole time, trying to keep him focused on the fact that I was there talking to him.  I think it helped.  It kept him calm, anyway.

He asked to speak to me afterwards and I stood there and listened politely while he spouted a five minute rant that was all one sentence and went something like this:

"SargeRevmanIneedtotalktoyoumanIneedsomethingtoreadmansomeholybookorscripturesorsomethingitcouldbe
KingJamesortheholybibleorthekoranorthemormonbibleorevensomethinginchinesemanIdon'tcareaslongasit'sholy
scripturesithastobesacredwordsSargemanbecauseyouknowhowIamIneedsomescripturestoreadorI'llgocrazy
youknowhowitisSargeyouareaholyauthorasacredauthorIseeitinyoursoulyoutooareasacredauthorSargeman
it'sjustlikewhenIwasbackhomeIsawthisgirlshewassoflyIthought"Whoo"shehadthisprettyhairandeverythingbutshe
wentandmarriedthisguywhoisdoingfeddrugtimerightnowhecameandngavemeallthismethnotthatnastybluestuffyou
seeonteeveebuttheredcrunchystuffthat'srealheroinmanIwasdoingsomeofitworkinginthisplaceputtingtogether
aluminumsawhorsesanddoingmethandrappingwithmypartnerandputtingtogethersawhorsesandpilingthemup
ahundredtoapalletlikeitwasnothingbuthtisdudewithtesenastybuckteethandamouthfulofgoldslikeallthiscameup
andgavemesomemoneyandsaidifwewantedtheplacewehadtopaintitbutitwastwohundredamonthifwepaintedit
butIwasinjailandIcouldn'tpaintanythingbuthewasn'tgoingtogetmeallcaughtupinthatnastyraplikethatSargemanIwas
toosmartforhimbutsomeonepainteditwhileIwasinjailsoitwasonlytwohundredamonthandifyouseeSergeantWatcher
wouldyoupleasehavehimcomeandtalktome?"

I skipped some of that conversation. Frankly, it went by me so fast I missed large parts of what he was saying.  And my head is still ringing a bit from even being that close to that many words all piled up together.

I was just glad he was back safely behind that big steel door.

Even if he is a nice guy and likes me.  He still scares the snap out of me sometimes.