Saturday, May 19, 2012

Jerry Byrne's second day...

...from his memoir, My Road Home:

Sunday, June 24th 

I wake up at Rikers from my first real sleep in 48 hours. I'm still in a shock and expect I will be for some time. Today is Visitors day and my girl friend Eileen is coming to see me. How loyal and supportive she has been, from the minute I learned I had to "go away." She has promised to bring the NY Times and three paperbacks, what a treat. Already I have discovered that those little things, ya know the ones we all take for granted, like a newspaper, will become precious as my time rolls on. 

To gain access to the Visitor's room I have to change out of the clothes I'm wearing and into a gray, 100% polyester jump suit that probably hasn't been washed in years. It is beyond filthy. I also have to put on old rubber sandals, again ones that seem to have never been cleaned or fumigated. Some kind of foot disease can't be far away. I dread Eileen seeing me like this (I will not allow anyone else to see me during my Rikers stay) but I am desperate for company and to get out of my cell for an hour. 

Eileen looks great and we hold off the tears for as long as possible, but inevitably they flow. The one hour of allotted visitor time flies by. It seemed like just five minutes when the guard informs us it's time to leave. We hug and Eileen is whisked away, I must remain seated, the strip search awaits. Again I wonder how can I survive this. I'm craving a cup of coffee.

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