So, after they questioned us at the police station, which really gave the absolutely no new information, they brought us all to jail. They sat us in these little adjoining holding cells, where we could look at our boyfriends through the glass and say I love you and my boyfriend could cry like a little bitch. One by one, they booked us. Took mug shots, read off charges, took DNA samples(they do that for all felonies in my state). They even let me talk to my dad on the phone because he kept calling the jail freaking out. My female roommate and I are just sitting in this little holding cell kind of looking at each other like…what the fuck are we gonna do. She cried a few times, I kept it dry.

I can still remember trying to sleep on that cold cell floor. IT was late, like 3 AM, and I was VERY tired, the one dose of methadone that I had had was still in my system, so I wasn’t sick yet. They start to bring us back one by one to “shower” in this nasty little crook, in front of a guard. Then they have us do the whole “turn and cough” deal and give us our orange jumpsuits. I was actually kind of relieved to finally be moving this along to get me to my bunk.

They take the boys away after a tearful goodbye. We didn’t know when, or if we would ever see them again. I didn’t see mine. On a good note, those two are still together. They have 3 beautiful children and are doing well. I wish I could say the same for myself.

The female CO comes and gets my roommate, from here on out known as Becca, and I, to bring us tomorrow bunks. All I was looking forward to, all night, we getting to that bunk. We get there, and not only is Becca all the way across the facility, there is no mat on my bunk. I am supposed to sleep on cold metal. “I’ll find you a mat.” The CO says, with ice in her voice I’d never heard… She never came back.

The next morning, I woke up on my metal cot using myahndry bag as a pillow, and the other ladies in my cell didn’t even seem to notice me. I was this skinny little white girl that they all assumed got arrested at the wrong time and was just waiting in my bond hearing to get out… Oh how wrong they were.

My first friend in jail, Deb, apparantly made friends with every we girl because no one stuck around long. I sure didn’t. It had bee about 36 hours since my last hit, so I was starting to feel pretty sick. I’m a pretty quiet girl so I hadn’t really bothered anybody coming in. A group of girls in the next cell over offered for me to move in so I could detox in peace. I was very grateful. These girls, we’ll call them Jessica, Joanne, and Amy became my family in there but more on that later.

At this point, I was so sick I could barely move. As I lay up in my top bunk, sweating, shaking, Aand throwing up all over myself because, yes, even if you are dope sick as hell you still get a top bunk if you’re a newbie. I got no comfort meds. I got no extra blankets. I got nothing. I was left there to detox completely alone and without any assistance from medication whatsoever. A few months later a friend of mine almost passed away in a jail nearby, I think it was because of synthetic marijuana withdrawal but they aren’t sure. You’d think they’d do some testing but that’s just not the way things are done in Louisiana.

After a few hellish days of not eating, shaking in my bed, and laying awake all night, I finally started to feel better. I finally started to eat the three “hots” that were provided to me and get onto a regular sleep schedule. I didn’t eat nor did I take a shit my entire first week in jail. So by the time it was time, it was time. My roommates were nice enough to give me a little privacy along with a sheet that we used as a bathroom “door”.

My first week there was one of the worst of my life but I made it through and learned a lot. Little did I know, there were many more weeks to come and I do have a lot more to learn. I’ll give you the rest of the story next time thanks for reading and have a good day.

Almost forgot! Here’s my pic for the day! I am still using, so don’t expect much to change.

❤

Crystal