One thing about prison in Michigan is that you can almost be guaranteed that you'll have a bunk-mate, or bunkie as it's commonly called. Very few prisons have single-man cells, and those that do usually reserve them for predatorial inmates.
The problem with having a bunkie is that it's a crapshoot. You could get anyone, and you sleep either right below or right above them. You have no choice in the matter.
I've had a cornucopia of bunkies in my six years (so far) in prison. I was fortunate to have my own cell for two of those years, but the trade-off was that i was housed in the only all single-cell prison where many of the difficult to manage predators were located. Of 1300 prisoners, over 350 of them were designated as predators for one reason or another.
The bunkies I have had include Sunni muslims, Nation of Islam members, Moabites, Christians, gang members, robbers, murderers, rapists, and homosexuals. I've had clean-freaks, and nasty bunkies, and everything in between. I've had bunkies threaten and try to intimidate me for no reason, hate me because I'm white, steal from me, encourage me, share with me, and teach me the ins-and-outs of prison life.
Getting a bad bunkie is, I imagine, like being stuck in a bad marriage. But here you have to learn to make it work. Sometimes it's these "small" things that make a huge difference in how you do your time.
I'm fortunate to have a great bunkie right now and I feel blessed. I'm fortunate to have the size and respect of others that makes someone think twice about following through on threats, and the conflict resolution skills to avoid it coming to that in the first place. But ultimately I give God glory for keeping me safe in the midst of people who need no reason to do me harm.
