“I need you to understand this, youngster. Once they place you here, they are not concerned about whether you are innocent or unjustly convicted. Once you get here, they intend to keep you here. What they do is play the time game with us. You have so many days to file for review to each court, right? If you or a lawyer representing you misses a deadline, that in itself is grounds to keep you from getting any relief on appeal.
“Once you come out of state supreme court, your court-appointed lawyer leaves you to fend for yourself. You don’t have but a year to go from state-direct appeal back to your state district. That’s co-lateral review. Get it? Double. Up. Two chances. If you go a day over the time limit, your case is dead. Some say you have two years. If you wait two years, though, you’re dead. Your best chance really won’t come until you get to the feds. But if you mishandle the state leg of your co-lateral review … that’s right. You’re dead. This is the situation we’re all in. Matter of fact, most of the guys that get held in the parish jail for two and three years after they are convicted are already dead—barred out of court by the time they get here, because of time violations.
“What I’m trying to tell you is that you don’t have time to waste on foolishness, son. These people aren’t playing. When they say life, they mean life. A lot of brothers have a real uphill battle. It doesn’t matter if you have a paid lawyer or not. You have to know the law, no matter what. You have to know your issues. How else are you gonna know if this person you’re paying is working for you, or just taking you fast? You gotta keep up, lil brother. Help yourself.
“This is free game I’ma give you. Take it. Please. And grow it. I’ll teach you how to use this law library to your advantage. Don’t let one of these other chumps that work in here convince you that you need them to do your law work for you. I can already tell that you got a good head on your shoulders. You know how to listen. That’s the most important thing. Law can be hard, or it can be simple. Research, analysis, synthesis, litigation. So, as I believe you youngsters say, are you down or what?”
Lil Chris stands up and shakes Gary Law’s hand. Looks him in the eye and says, “Let’s do this.”
THIRD VERSE
One year, six months later
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
This is for my people
Who feel snake-bitten
For real
I’m feelin’ ya’ pain
Hopes decimated
Contemplatin’ ya’ situation
Compelled to get in the game
Who know the score!
No rules
They makin’ ’em as they go along
Play us like fools
I’m factin’ wit’ you
We winnin’ to lose
Who know the answers?
These people that we read about in newsletters?
Newspapers tellin’ us lies
The truth is
Often we been misrepresented
Invested efforts brought us no returns
Dis-service like augmented
Still we return
Faith in politics?
Politicians are not concerned
Still no return.
But struggle we have
And struggle we will
Till our ultimate destiny is fulfilled
Liberation
I speak these words for confirmation
What’s yet to come
And condemnation
To all who chose to betray the chosen sun
Let this music ride the backs of oppressors
And promise breakers.
We refuse to be what you make us
What does that make us…
Chumps or victims?
HE HAS JUST ABOUT MEMORIZED the material. C-Boy carefully folds the typed handout and slides it into his pocket. He and Wayne stand at the West Yard gate waiting for Sergeant Evansworth to yell for the Education Building call-outs to come through. C-Boy has been up since 4:00 a.m. studying for the political science class the big homie T. Guy teaches for the Angola Special Civics Project.
C-Boy has been doing the same thing since the course started five weeks ago. He lets the whole week go by without picking up the handout. Then, he gets up early Saturday morning to memorize the material before going to class for the weekly quiz. So far, so good. Up to this point, he’s been making nothin’ but 100-percents on all his exams and quizzes.
Wayne shakes his head. He long ago came to the conclusion that it is futile to explain to C-Boy that he’s only registering the material in his short-term memory. Really defeats the purpose of taking the course in the first place. C-Boy is exactly the type of person Wayne usually chooses to avoid when at all possible. The only reason he’s dealing with this obnoxious character is because of Lil Chris, to whom he agreed to tutor this imbecile.
Depending on how you look at it, things have been relatively hard or easy. Crucial or privileged. At least for Wayne that is. He has learned that prison is the wrong place to be civilized. Sometimes you just have to do things that defy reason. Trying to rationalize every move has always been his Achilles heel.
It really got bad after the skirmish. Wayne was well aware that wolves tend to wait in the shadows. To circle in on the weak one who’s caught out there by himself. Backward-minded prisoners are no different.
Not so for Wayne. Word has slowly gotten out that for all his questionable tolerance, Wayne will fight if backed into a corner. As a result, his standard of living—in terms of how other prisoners treat him—has improved.
That’s all Lil Chris needed to hear. Now, provided that Wayne makes a showing for himself, the C’ster makes sure that the homie henchmen have his back when the drama is too much for him to handle alone. Wayne didn’t have any friends, so when the brothers started stepping up on his behalf, it didn’t take long for him to figure out the root of his supply line.
With this added backing, Wayne has put together a proper joust. A comparatively better existence in this place. Not only is he in the Bible College now, he also works in the visitation shed on weekends. It’s not much, but at least now he’s been hooking the homies and their families up with free food. A small token of his appreciation. He’s finding a way to keep his head up.
Another one of Wayne’s problems is that he thinks too highly of himself to just come out and say thank you. However, he is extremely loyal to Lil Chris. This is why Wayne went ahead and signed up for this class that Rise’s folk, T. Guy, put together. Lil Chris wasn’t getting visitins, and this way they could kick it. He hadn’t banked on Lil Chris being so serious about the curriculum. It was at this point Wayne decided to at least try to help Lil Chris’s cohorts.
“Alright, come on, ah … A.S.C.P.,” Sergeant Evansworth finally called. “All you boys that’s tryna learn about the government. Yeah, you ah, politicians. Come on here. Hey, hey … ah, Calvin English, ah, French—whatever yo’ name is—C-Boy! You know I’m talkin’ to you. Whatever they call you. Yeah, just stand there and pull them britches on up around ya’ waist like a decent, ah, convict. Yeah, what? You lookin’ crazy, huh? Well, g’on on back to the dorm and put on some jeans that fit you. Yeah … g’on, now. Hurry up, for you say I’m makin’ you miss ya callout. You didn’t wanna go, anyway. That’s for smart people. Come on through, Wayne. No! I don’t wanna hear it! That boy stuntin’, anyway! He’ll meet you up there, later on. He didn’t really wanna go. He know how to come up to this gate when I’m working. What?! Y’all g’on on now!”
C-Boy heads back to the dormitory. Wayne heads toward the Education Building. He shakes his head. These are the type of people Lil Chris is so drawn to and down with.
“Question three: what was the problem with the Articles of Confederation?”
As Rise finished writing the question T. Guy just posed on the chalk board, Lil Chris collects his thoughts. I can’t get none of this wrong. He and Rise have some kind of a grudge going. Rise, who volunteered to help T. Guy, is willing to accept nothing less than excelle
nce from Lil Chris. Their relationship has really developed over the last year and a half, since the C’ster came back from the blocks. Although they stay at each other’s throats, they make it an unspoken rule to never disagree in front of an audience.
“Question four: what was the difference between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan?”
Wayne jerks his paper and slouches further down on his desk to shield his answers with his left shoulder and elbow.
“Say, mayne, wuz happenin’?” C-Boy whispers harshly, forgetting himself.
“Is everything alright over there? C-Boy? Wayne?” T. Guy asks.
Manipulator starts snickering. Taco kicks his foot.
Muse says, “Oh, excuse me, brah. I got gas.” Everyone laughs.
“And, for your last question, explain both The Great Compromise and The Three-Fifths Compromise.”
A low groan emits from the student body. All except Lil Chris. He drops his head and begins to write.
“Brothers,” T. Guy begins. “The thing that we need always remember about the U.S. Constitution is that it is only what we call the framework of government. It does not specify each law that we should live by. What it does is simply provide the parameters, or boundaries, within which the laws should fall. You gotta give it to ’em. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they were an assembly of hypocrites who fought to shake off enslavement by one nation only to enslave others. But never let your resentment blind you from acknowledging a very, very important truth: these men, most of ’em young, in their twenties and thirties, put together a truly timeless document. Laws will always change and develop with the times, swinging moral values, new belief systems, and growth customs. But the constitution provides the scope. Okay, look, it’s like a basketball court. Think of all the—”
“Man, come on,” Manipulator says. “We know what scope is.”
“No, Nip. We don’t. So, for the benefit of those of us who don’t know … I know we’re all men, and men sometimes have a problem admitting they don’t know. Let me finish. Anyway, like a basketball court, the Constitution provides our baselines. I mean, think of all the amazing things that go on on a basketball court. Yeah, the rules are subject to change. Safety concerns, game expedience, and advancements in skills and abilities, but … but! All of that has to take place within the baselines, or outlines, of the basketball court. Are y’all gettin’ the picture, now?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, we can dig it.”
“We got it.”
“Now, I’m not a basketball expert, but the same court measurements that Bill Russell played on are the same court measurements that Shaq and Kobe have won basketball championships on. Of course, the rules have changed along the way. They’ve added the slam dunk and the three-point line. There are goaltending and illegal defense violations. They say these changes were made to do everything from make the game more exciting to preserve fair play. Negotiating the challenges presented by the amazing physical skills that have developed in ballplayers over the years,” T. Guy explains.
“Believe that. I bet they ain’t have nobody flying from the free-throw line when Russell was playing,” C-Boy puts in.
Everyone chuckles. T. Guy capitalizes on their open minds. “That’s the same situation we have with the Constitution. No one back then could have imagined the wealth of the robber barons or Apple. The complications of the Great Depression. What to do with freed Black folks, evolved women, and alcohol. The Constitution’s articles simply establish what’s in or out of bounds. Although there is a deeper history, it’s still as easily understood. Since 1788, the framework has been in place. And, almost immediately, they began to make changes. First major change, the first ten amendments, were in place by 1891. Then they began to lay down the intricate laws. Through the course of time, they have changed over and over again.
“Brothers, always remember, a nation is a state of mind. It isn’t a body of land, or a group of people. It is the understanding that a group of people share. It is the common understanding I speak of. This is what’s embodied in the Constitution. Why is it important that you all should be familiar with this? I mean, what difference does it make?” T. Guy asks.
No one answers.
“Lil Chris,” Rise speaks up. “Lil Chris knows the answer to that question. No sweat. Ain’t that right, lil homie?”
“Because the constitution, as America’s social contract, represents the nation’s conscience. It’s almost like … like a … a civil philosopher’s stone. No, let me try, again—”
“No, you had your—”
“—Hold up, man!” Lil Chris cuts Rise short. “Now, as I was sayin’ before the big homie’s interruption—whenever there have been people in the history of this nation, existing under the nation’s Constitution, that have felt that their living conditions were sub-par—when people felt like they weren’t getting a fair shake, then they would say that their livin’ was unconstitutional.
“It’s like this,” he continues. “The Constitution, especially the Constitutional Amendments, which people call the Bill of Rights, is like a promise. Not a promise that people can have these rights of freedom, or individual ownership, or the pursuit of happiness—the Declaration says we were born with these rights. What the Constitution does is promise these rights will be protected. And that they won’t be violated.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Manipulator puts in. “That’s why when they had movements and whatchamacallit, ah … ah, mass … mass protests! When they have mass protests, the first thing they do is throw the Constitution in them fools’ faces.”
“What fools?” T. Guy asks.
“The, ah, government. They go to the government with the Constitution.”
“But wait a minute. Didn’t y’all just tell me on y’all quiz answers that the form of government in America is democracy? Government by the governed. Rule of the people and all that,” T. Guy shoots at them. “It’s a lot of people in America. You mean they—”
“Nooo!” Taco puts in. “They tah’m ’bout the, ah, Congress!”
“Okay, now we are a little bit further ahead of what we’ve covered in this course so far. But I wanna go wit’ this. What’s Congress?” T. Guy asks.
“The, ah … House.”
“Repa—”
“The Congress is politicians and shit.”
“Ha, ha. Come on, man. No cursing during class.”
“The Senate and the House of Representatives,” Wayne says. Involved, in spite of himself.
“Yeah, that’s what I was saying at first,” Manipulator says. “I was sayin’ that when people feel like they being messed over, they go to the government, Congress, or the legislature, which is the same thing.”
“Okay, well, what are some examples of protests?” T. Guy pushes.
Muse says, “The Civil Rights Movement was a protest. And, the, ah … women’s right to vote.”
“And, they fought with the Constitution?”
“Yeah.”
“Was the legislature, or Congress, the only government body, or branch, they approached with their grievances?” T. Guy asks. “Nip, help me out?”
“Nawl, they go to the courts, too,” Manipulator says.
“The judicial branch. That’s right. And there are several other resources wronged people will approach with the Constitution as their backing. We’ll break all of these down later in the course. However, the reason why we went down this road is because I wanted y’all all to see why studying the Constitution is important to you.”
“It’s because the Constitution is what we have to fight with to get out of jail,” Lil Chris cuts in. “Whether on the state or federal level, we stand in front of the courts with the Constitution as our weapon and our protection.”
T. Guy looks at Rise. Rise smiles and shakes his head.
“Yeah, Lil Chris. You’re right. This is one reason. Right now, probably the most important reason why we should know the Constitution in and out.”
Ironically, C-Boy
has learned how to beat the security checkpoints by reading a book written about the prison’s warden and his unit management security strategy. The book, Cain’s Redemption, has all kinds of fly lil tidbits that helped him get a better understanding of the controlled chaos that has been his prison experience for more than a decade.
Now, having easily made it through the network of locked gates, he has a couple sugar bags in his pocket as he turns off the East Yard walk and onto the yard. He takes a left, followed by a right by the back basketball court, and spots Lil Chris sitting on the far end ledge, talking to the big homie.
“What it do, soul,” Lil Chris greets him.
Rise nods and asks, “You a long way out of pocket, huh?”
“Check … c’mon, Rise. It’s good. I’ll be back on the West Yard before the whistle blows.”
“Had to come kick it wit’ ya’ folks, huh?” Rise observes. “I can dig it. I’ll see what I can do about getting you moved over here. Looks like Wayne could get it done on his own.”
“’Preciate that, big homie.”
“It’s nothing,” Rise assures him. “Okay. I’ma leave y’all to whatever you’re about.”
With that Rise pushes.
“Rise don’t really be hangin’ out, huh?” C-Boy observes.
“He coolin’,” Lil Chris puts it. “His head on his court order right now.”
“Word,” C-Boy says. Excited.
“I know he prob’ly anxious as hell. Boy! He ’bout to see that free world!”
“You ain’t neva lyin’,” C-Boy replies. “So, you still smokin’ or what?”
“What,” Lil Chris chuckles. “Askin’ me that crazy. Mayne, roll that up.”
C-Boy fishes the two sugar bags out of his pocket. “This dat purp, right here. This shit go’n knock yo’ socks off.”
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