A long and eventful trip

Submitted by Rhonda A - an incarcerated woman 

The prison employees at Lexington were good people, for the most part, but they did something weird too. Usually, when we transfer, as in to another prison, they give us money for food and Uber.

Well, as I checked out of Lexington, at 1 a.m. Tuesday morning, I was given a CREDIT/DEBIT CARD!!!!!!!!!! Yes, they gave me a credit card and $18 in cash.

My first thought? Are they tempting me to not show up at the next prison? Well, I chuckled...put the credit card in my pocket, and then jumped into the van taking me to the bus station in Lexington.

That was interesting, too. There were several bums/homeless people there in the middle of the night. Another federal prisoner, a very large man, had been released too. We seemed to agree not to speak to each other. LOL, I think he was going to the halfway house because he had quite a bit of property with him. Both of us looked at those hanging out at the bus station and wondered why the police had not run them off. It was Kentucky, right?

I had an hour to spare before the bus was scheduled to arrive and I had been advised it was best to sit and wait at the Marathon convenience store...so I did. I got a Red Bull, diet, and some gum. I used my newly issued credit card, since it had my name and picture, and I only had $18 in cash. It went right on through...the charge. :)

I went back to the bus station, and some of those people started coming close to me. I looked on the ground for a weapon, just in case. I saw a large rock, and like Jack Reacher, I planned what I would do if it came to a head. The newly released male prisoner looked a bit afraid, even at about 350 pounds.

The vagrants must have sensed my Jack Reacher-like position that I would not be robbed in Lexington, so they moved on.

Bus was late, but it did arrive.

I got on the bus, and a young lady, about 18, was assigned to the seat next to me. Unfortunately, an aggressive young male, who had traveled on the bus from Atlanta, was lounging across both of our seats. We both politely asked for our seats, but got no response. Another young male started kicking the seat, telling him to get up!

He did, and started cussing and screaming at everyone. He said, "There are no assigned seats, and get in where you fit in." Well, the seat kicker got with him, and said, "Move or be moved." Our knight in shining armor of clearly homeless stature, but in possession of a nice cellphone, was quite intimidating. Everyone held their breath, expecting a fight!

The seat stealer moved, so the frightened young lady and I were able to sit down.

So we proceeded to Cincinnati. Most went back to sleep.

Cincinnati was beautiful at night, crossing a river, seeing the stadium and downtown in all its glory. It was cool.

That joy ended when we passed up the downtown area and went into a residential, older area. It seems Greyhound sold their downtown station for big dollars and relocated about 20 miles away.

Others were as surprised as I was. We wanted some food while we had a 3-hour layover. No cabs/taxis. No businesses that I could see nearby.

Our knight was catching another bus to Detroit. He obviously wanted to fight someone, so he got into it with the bus station manager, calling him many foul names and threatening him. The manager did not back down and called him names too. Scary. Again, everyone expected a physical confrontation. The manager told the knight, since you want to talk "shit," you are not getting on your bus!

The knight continued to call him names and challenge him to a fight. This went on for about 20 minutes. I stayed near the exit door...who knows if these people had guns, right? Well, the bus for Detroit showed up...the manager knew he had a choice: let this troublemaker leave his bus station on the Detroit bus or keep him in Cincinnati, with a possible fight!

He chose to rescind his threat of not allowing the knight on the bus.

I kept looking down this street, and I saw lights that looked like a gas station, so I decided to take a walk. There was a lot of traffic on the street, so while hesitant/cautious, I decided to take my chances. I was hungry!!!

I was rewarded when I walked about 3/4 of a mile to a gas station, which had hot breakfast food! I used the government's trusty credit card again and bought food and drinks. As I exited the gas station, I could see a city bus coming.

I paid $2 for the bus, instead of walking again.

Ate my food, read my Bible, and prayed for a safe journey.

The bus to Indianapolis arrived on time. It was CLEAN AND BEAUTIFUL!!! This bus was not a Greyhound, but called Baron's Bus, where their logo says they will treat you like "royalty." Very cute.

The bus ride was uneventful. I had a young man who had just gotten out of jail and was going to Job Corps, for 18 months or so, to learn a trade. I gave him $5. The Job Corps people were waiting for him at the bus station. He could be anyone's son. He did not ask for anything, but I asked him a couple of times to look stuff up on his phone, and he did. It seems even the homeless and recently out of jail have very nice phones.

Moving on...the bus was late, so I missed my connection from Indianapolis to St. Louis, Missouri. This was at around noon, and I was informed the next bus was at 8:20pm!

What a problem, right? Not like I was in a hurry to get to another prison, but I did need to call the prison to let them know I would be late(no biggie to them, they know the bus service is unreliable), and my little friend going to Job Corp was gone.

And...who wants to walk up to someone and say, "Can I use your phone? I need to call the prison to let them know I am going to be arriving on another bus?"

So, I walked around the Indianapolis bus station, thought about asking the police to use their phone, but I did not want to have to report any interaction with the cops, right?

I walked down the street, got into the downtown area, and I saw a TJ Maxx. I went in for the air-conditioning. It was hot in the downtown area. I bought a pen and bottle of water. I saw one employee had a badge that said, "Manager," so I asked if she had a house phone I could use. She said no, but handed me her phone.

Wasn't that nice?

I called the prison. The officer who answered said there was no one in R & D because they had just had a fight in the prison, 101, but he would let them know to send the town driver at 11 p.m., instead of 4 p.m.

PAUSE----I have not mentioned who was scheduled to pick me up at the St. Louis bus station...an inmate! Yes, an inmate, which just goes to show you all these people are not needed in the prison system, but more about my inmate chauffeur later.

After the call, and being rescheduled on the bus, I still had about 7 hours to kill in downtown Indianapolis. I had a family member send me some money by Western Union, so I had a big fancy meal at a nice restaurant. No alcohol!!! I am not a drinker anyway, and I sure wasn't going to take the chance of a breathalyzer, right?

After I ate my fill, I walked all over the downtown area. Very nice. They were preparing for the men's Final Four. I could see the setup for the television people. I went to Kroger's to check out the grocery store. Bought a couple of treats for the bus ride. Went to Starbucks and enjoyed the clean store and iced coffee. Did some people watching.

It rained, so I had to run into a CVS. Bought some expensive candy, a magazine, and a newspaper.

Then I went back to the circus at the bus station.

While there, I was followed a couple of times by vagrants like those in Lexington. The police were present at this place and were watching. After I got up about 5 times, the police came near, without saying anything to me, gave the vagrant a hard look...and they left.

Finally, it was time to board the bus to get to the prison. I was never so happy to go to prison. I was exhausted. I had been up for most of the day Monday at the Lexington prison, so I was ready to get to Greenville, shower, and go to bed.

We boarded, and then were told...NO AIR-CONDITIONING ON THE BUS. This was a Greyhound bus, not Baron's, so there was no royal treatment! LOL!!!!

The people went crazy, screaming and hollering at the bus driver, demanding air conditioning, etc. I was in this seat, behind a very tall person who had reclined his seat all the way back. It was like being in a hot straight jacket, and I did not know how I was going to make it 4 hours. Truly, I was getting claustrophobic.

The bus driver, a woman, said, "If you don't stop complaining about no air-conditioning, I am going to turn the bus around and you will not arrive at your destination." This did not stop the people. After all, these are people who are banned from the airplanes, feel me?

The bus driver started crying and pulled over!!! My goodness, I started tearing up...I was thinking the prison officials will never believe this one! She got off the bus and called someone, and she said the bus trip was being cancelled.

Well, whoever she spoke to must have told her the show must go on....so after some minor drama of her being told off, and others apologizing, we continued on.

PRAISE GOD, I made it to St. Louis...very beautiful at night, and the Arch was nice, even taller it seems than all the buildings downtown. All very lovely...

As I limped off the bus, I started to panic because I did not know who to look for to pick me up. But, the inmate town driver was a lovely young woman from Nebraska, Andrea, who the FBOP had allowed to drive, all by herself from Greenville, Illinois to St. Louis, Missouri, to pick up the infamous litigator, RHONDA FLEMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe they let a prisoner cross state lines to pick up another prisoner, who had a prison credit card!!! Yes, I am still tripping about that.

The trip to the prison was uneventful. I arrived, took a shower, and praised God that I made it to a federal prison...I am still in pain from all that walking, being cramped up for hours in a small seat, and the stress!!!

Hope you enjoy the story!

- Rhonda A.