I'm awakened by the sound of a locker shutting or perhaps the rattling of a bag of instant coffee as another inmate in my cube is up at 5 am getting ready to work his shift in the kitchen serving breakfast. After straining to see the time on the clock in the hallway outside my cube. I sink back into my pillow for a few more minutes of rest on my lumpy mat that rests on a steel plate.
My internal clock wakes me again a few minutes before the alarm on my wristwatch goes off at 6 am and wakes me and any other light sleepers in my cube. I debate laying in my bed a few minutes longer, but my commitments win out and I get up to prepare for the day. Before leaving my bed, I drink heavily from the cup of water I filled the night before, satiating the deep thirst the dry, warm air from overnight has caused my parched throat.
After carefully slipping off my top bunk so as to not wake my sleeping bunkie, I dress quietly and put my shoes on. Now it's my turn to make some noise, no matter how hard I try to unlock my locker quietly. I grab my toiletry bag and my face towel and head to the bathroom to freshen up before breakfast. As I walk quietly down the hallway some other inmates are already up watching music videos on BET, MTV, CMT, or Centric, while others are catching the early morning news. A few other inmates are likewise getting up and preparing for the day. Every morning, at least one inmate shuffles his feet down the entire length of the hallway, too lazy to actually pick up his feet while he walks, oblivious (or perhaps intentionally thoughtless) to the noise he's making. As I make my way down the hallway, I pay attention to the empty beds to see if anyone was snatched up and transferred during the night.
I enter the saloon-style doors of the bathroom and try to find a sink that looks somewhat clean - a difficult task in a unit of 160 men. After I wash my hands and face and brush my teeth before breakfast. Not all other inmates are courteous enough to eliminate their morning breath before sitting around a table for four talking as if their breath isn't ruining my already bland breakfast.
As I wash my face, my nose begins to bleed from the dry, hot night air. Healthcare refuses to prescribe the allergy medication I need telling me instead that I'll have to "suffer through it."
At the sink next to me a Sunni muslim performs his ritual washing while other inmates wash their faces and brush their teeth. Each man is polite and conscious of the fact that everyone is still half asleep. After stashing my toiletry bag in my locker I grab my English Composition book and notes and head to the quiet room to study with a couple of other inmates before breakfast. Breakfast is called between 6:45 am and 7:30 am so there's not much time to study.
After breakfast a busy schedule of studying, tutoring, and working out will quickly fill the morning. As the hive of men awakens, the peace and quiet of the morning will give way to loud, banal conversations.
Before this happens though, I enjoy the peace for a few minutes, setting my mind right with time in God's Word and preparing to meet the stresses of the day.
It's just another typical morning in a Michigan Prison.
