Behind These Bars

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

    When I walked up to the guard station at the exit of the detention center, I could taste my freedom.  I was thirty feet away from my new start.  The guard at the station patted me down to make sure that I didn’t have any dangerous weapons on my person - though if I had I would have most likely used it three corridors back - and then gave me clothes to change into.  I went into the women’s bathroom across from the guard station.  The warden was guarding the door as I went into the bathroom.

   The first thing I noticed as I went into the bathroom was the horrid fluorescent lighting that cast an eerie glow on the entire bathroom.  Another thing I noticed was that the toilets were porcelain and not metal.  Also, the doors on the stalls actually locked.  Never once had I notice how much comfort and privacy I had had in my life before juvie.  Now, I cherished the locks on stall doors.  I quickly unbuttoned my shirt and took off the t-shirt underneath.  I slipped on the white, generic shirt that the guard had given me.  Just the feel of the tag in the back on my neck and the feel of cotton on my skin made me smile.  I took off my pants and put on the gray sweatpants I had been supplied with.  These clothes felt like home, like a new beginning.  I folded the clothes I had taken off and unlocked the stall door and walked out.

    My eyes immediately zeroed in on my reflection in the mirror.  My hair, which was a curly blonde, looked almost green in the lighting and my curls were flat instead of bouncy.  My green eyes were dull and dark.  The bags under them were large and purple; I looked sixty years old instead of fifteen.  While in school I remember everyone thinking I was Hispanic instead of part French because my skin was so tan from the sunlight in North Carolina always shining.  My olive skin tone had gone from tan to almost completely white during my stay here.  I quickly looked away and headed for the door.

    Upon my exit, I am greeted by the warden’s hard stare.  I stare right back at her as I extend my arms to hand her my old clothes.  She takes them from me and proceeds to turn around and continue down the corridor.  “Follow me”, she states levelly.  I follow her down the rest of the corridor until she suddenly comes to a halt.  I thought, “this is it, my freedom begins today”.

    “Outside of these door, there will be a car that will take you to your place of residence.  The driver has already been told your address and has been paid.  A guard will accompany on your trip to make sure you get there.  Do you understand?”  I looked at the warden and nodded my head.  As I walked to the door her voice stopped me.  “Oh Evangeline”, the warden said as I looked over my shoulder at her.  “ I never want to see your face here again.”  With that final statement replaying in my mind I opened the doors and let the sunlight embrace me as I got in the white car that was going to take me to my home and therefore my freedom.