THE IMPACT OF INCARCERATIONPrecious Gem Spoking Words By Ms. Lakesha Jones Part 1

To be honest with you I did not want to get in that shower. I tried to tell the officer I did not have to take a shower because I took one before I got on the County bus to come down state. She said if you do not get in the showr she will give me a blue sheet. What the fuck is a blue sheet I asked? She said a charge that will take your skinny ass to lock up and your smelly ass can sit back in a cell alone smelling like musk. I was so angry that I had to take a showr with all these strangers. When I got in the shower I held my back against this dingy ass wall and washed as quickly as possibly can. I heard all the smart remarks, but I ignored they thirsty asses. I was ready to fight whoever came near me. I missed my shower mat in my tub. I miss my mother and siblings. I wanted to go home. I wanted to be at home with people who I love and not laying next to strangers that only knew me as a number. I wanted to cry, but I had to be that strong "Tea Bag".

Part 2

I did not know how these strangers were coming. When I say these words how they were coming. I mean what they would do to me while I was sleep. I saw movies about prison but being in the institution physically was not like the movies i watched. The place was dark the stenched smell irritated my stomach badly. I stayed up and watched the ceiling and prayed to my higher power because he was the only one that could have gave me peace that surpassed anything that I was enduring at that time. Earlier that day I got one of those smelly old books that sat on an old bookshelf in the small day area. The pages was yellow and I saw small bugs on the pages, but I didn't want to kill them because I was in dire need for some company. I read this book all night until sunlight.