The officer took my ID and looked at it.  "Which sunglasses guy are you?" he asked, but I didn't really understand the question.  "Oh, okay, Kent.  Go wait in that room over there until the Lieutenant is ready to talk to you."  He pointed towards a door made out of darkened glass.  I went inside and sat on a hard wooden bench.  I could see back into the main room, but it was hard to hear anything through the door.  Moments later Mr. T came in, and they had him wait at the desk until a short, angry-looking woman came out of an office.  As Mr. T was facing away from me, the only part of the conversation I could hear was hers, but it was clear enough what was going on.

"Now why don't you explain to me why you're here and what happened...uh huh...uh huh.  What you're telling me doesn't make any sense...if he stole them, why is it that you are the one who was them?...uh huh...riigghhhtt...did you ever hear of something called the truth?...okay, fine, if you stick to that story you're both going to get locked up...if you just tell me he didn't have anything to do with it I can let the other guy go...okay fine have it your way."

It didn't sound too good for me.  They led Mr. T away, and about five minutes later a guard came by and motioned for me to follow him.  It appeared the Lieutenant had decided not to bother talking to me at all.  I wasn't sure if they'd wanted me to hear the conversation with Mr. T or not, but clearly from the audible portion I had now confirmed that the only reason I was being locked up was his attempt at blaming me for his own crime. 

The guard brought me through a metal detector and into a large control room, then directed me to a small room the size of a closet, with no door.  He handed me a large clear trash bag, filled with some clothes.  "Take off all of your clothes, put on what's where, and put your old clothes back inside the bag."  That seemed easy enough.  There was a pair of old ratty bluish boxer shorts, think bluish socks, a light blue t-shirt, and a big bright-orange jumpsuit.  Some blue canvas sneakers completed the outfit.  I felt like I was ready for a prison fashion show.  The only thing missing was the shackles, and those were added moments later: your standard handcuffs (behind my back).

Another guard took my arm and I walked slowly down a flight of stairs.  We stopped at a huge metal door, which  a very tall CO opened for us.  It revealed a long concrete hallway with metal doors on each side all the way down.  Immediately on the right were two small rooms with no doors, which were the showers.  After that each closed metal door had a small window at eye level (covered in thick plastic) and a large slot two-thirds of the way down which opened to the outside with a keyed lock.  To the side of each door was a space for the ID card of each inmate held within.  Most of the rooms held one or two inmates, but the one I was led to had two cards already; three, once the guard slipped mine in an empty space.  The CO banged rudely on the door. 

"One coming in, approach the door!" he shouted.  He opened the slot, and moments later a pair of hands came sticking out.  The CO put cuffs on them, and waited until a second pair of hands appeared.  Cuffing those as well, he slammed the slot closed and peeped through the window.  "Stand back!" he bellowed, and then opened the door to reveal my new home - at least for the time being.

I didn't get much of a chance to look around when I walked in, as the two other inmates and I each had to bend down one at a time, stick our arms backwards through the slot in the door, and have the cuffs removed.  Once that was finished, the slot slammed closed again.  I rubbed my wrists and examined the cell.  

The floor was a cold concrete.  Immediately on the right was a stainless steel toilet and sink combination.  The sink was just a tiny basin on top of the tank area of the toilet, with a button to push for hot and a button for cold water.  There was a tiny spout between them where the water supposedly came out.  The toilet itself had no seat, just a bowl which contained no water, and a flap mechanism at the bottom instead of the usual open drain.

The room itself was about ten feet by eight feet.  In the opposite corner to the toilet was a steel bunk bed, bolted to the floor.  Both bunks had a green plastic mattress on them which looked to be about an inch thick, and a couple of thin sheets.  One had a pillow.  On the floor over to the other side of the room a similar mattress lay by itself.  Clearly, being the newcomer, that was going to be my bed for the duration.  Next to that mattress was a tiny one-piece desk/stool, also bolted to the floor. There was a decent-sized window on the far wall, but it was thick frosted glass and blocked by a steel cage wall, so it didn't even let in any light from the outside.  Our light was provided by two fluorescent lights in the ceiling.  Aside from a stack of five or six paperbacks against one wall, and four rolls of toilet paper, that was basically the grand tour...your standard prison cell, into which three guys had been crammed; looked like it would be about as much fun as a trip to a leper colony.

(to be continued - watch for Part 5 in the next few days)