Chapter 4

I quickly settled into the routine of jail life. The lights went on at 6:30, which gave us plenty of time for sex, in the form of hand jobs or oral, before being taken out of our cells for breakfast at 8:00. After breakfast we were given five minutes in a cold shower and got dressed. Officer Bowers had us on a county work crew repainting and cleaning the local public schools. The work wasn't that hard and it was good to get out of jail for a few hours. Usually we ate sack lunches on site and got back around 3:00. We were strip-searched every time we got back to the jail. Since the air conditioning in the jail left a little to be desired, we often walked back to our cells naked and stayed that way until dinner. Joel's parents had sent him a sponge, which he used to carefully clean our feet, preparatory to sucking them. It felt surprisingly good, like getting a little massage. The washing and foot sucking typically led to more sex, with Joel making his way up the recipient's leg and to his cock. We swapped partners, although I was starting to develop a preference for Jesse. When the finished we played cards or read the books our parents sent us in their weekly care packages, which also included whatever goodies the jail would let through. Sometimes we were up for another round of sex after dinner. Otherwise, it was back to the books until lights out at 10:00. Jail was turning out to be surprisingly good for my education.

Weekends were our 'days off' from the work crew. This was actually a little disappointing, because there isn't much to do in a jail cell, and you can only have sex so many times in one day. That's why I was glad when, about a month into my sentence, Officer Bowers approached our cell and announced "Bailey, Fitzpatrick, you've got visitors."

He opened the cell door and led me to the visitation room. It had a vending machine and a series of small cafeteria-type tables bolted to the floor. Jesse Small was seated at one of them, talking to who I assumed were his parents, and there were a few other inmates scattered around the room talking to their wives or girlfriends.

Officer Bowers motioned for me to sit down at one of the tables. He bent down and handcuffed my ankle to the leg. "Sorry about this, but we've got to follow procedures." He repeated the procedure for Sean a few tables down, then opened the door.

Our parents, and Sean's little brother, came in and walked over to our tables. Mom kissed me on the forehead. "Sorry we didn't come before, it's just ... hard."

"I understand, thanks for coming."

"Are they feeding you well? You look a little thin."

"Let's just say I really appreciate the cookies you sent, and so do my cellmates."

"Are they nice?"

"Yeah, I'm in a cell with Joel and Jesse and Sean. I think they're trying to keep us guys together."

"That's good, I worry about all of the sexual stuff you hear about in prisons."

"Actually, I kind of wanted to talk to you guys about that. The four of us have been doing sexual stuff together. So anyway, I think I'm bisexual. I realize this isn't exactly the best way to come out, but I figured I shouldn't keep it from you."

"At least you're having a little bit of fun in here," Dad said, "are you kids being safe?"

"I mean, we can't get condoms in here, but we don't have any lubricant, either, so we aren't doing, you know, that stuff."

"Should we send you some?"

"That'd be great, if you can get it through the jail."

They spent the remainder of our two-hour visit catching me up on news from the outside world, including the recall campaign our arrest had inspired against the DA. One of our alumni who had just graduated from law school was planning to run against him, and they were going to drum up student turnout when school started back up.

When our two hours were up, Officer Bowers unshackled me, let me hug my parents goodbye, and led Sean and me back to our cell.

The next care package I got included a jar of Vaseline with a note that read "Use this if your feet get cracked." I put the Vaseline on the sink and opened the book they'd sent me, A Farewell to Arms. A roll of condoms in various sizes fell out of the spine.