Stone Sharp Vol.1

by White, Walt

  When Stone entered Prison, he lost it all. It was a rapid decline. Stone had never imagined that the countless years of hard work could get destroyed in such a minuscule amount of time. His world crumbled within weeks. Having his reputation, money, and possessions ripped away was bad enough for him, and all he had left were the few friends and family who knew him. His acquaintances stopped calling, and his co-workers acted as if he had never existed and when someone brought up his name, they asked, ‘Who is he?’ Then, being stripped of his dignity, his wife divorced him, taking the three kids and the dog. It was as if the world had given up on him and he got dragged into a hell he didn’t deserve. He got left alone to deal with something he was innocent of.

  His youngest daughter who was five at the time and was the sole person who refused to give up on him, however. She craved to see him and forced and begged her mother and grandmother to take her to see Stone so she could speak with him. This daughter would become his beacon in a rough, tremulous sea. He thought of her constantly, holding on to her image to get through the dreary days. He would replay the countless memories he shared with her and pictured her innocent, joyful features whenever he was close to giving up on himself. Her love would garner him the strength to continue, endure the pain, keep out of fights and make it out of this awful place in the least time. She gave him Hope, and if hope leaves you, your soul becomes empty and lost, and you’ll meet a slow, meaningless demise.

  Stone was a Mortgage Broker right out of college and let’s say he got spoiled when he made twenty-five thousand dollars in a week on his first Mortgage Loan Commission. He got hired to work for a Regional Mortgage Lender right after he graduated college at the University of Oklahoma. After working at the company for one year, he bought it from the owner in a confident power play. He told the owner at the time he could either buy him out or his let his business fail and he would just go start his own company, resulting in the owner coming out with nothing. So, the owner took the money and sold out. It was a good business deal for both men. He had cornered the owner into a decision that would leave him with an adrenaline rush that would last for years. His love for the rush of the business world got confirmed.

  Right away Stone hired celebrity athletes and coaches from his college football connections. He realized connections were everything in the business world and the more connections he had, the more he thrived, moving him up the ladder. He opened offices all over the United States, focused in the Center of the Country.

  He was making moves left and right, his confidence fueling him to take chances and become successful beyond his wildest dreams. As Stone progressed with his Mortgage Banking Corporation, he got lines of credit to fund his own Mortgage Loans. He ran a Multi-Million-dollar Mortgage line of credit turning it each week. Then he opened his own Real Estate Company because it made sense to get the Loan Commission and the Real Estate Commission.

  At twenty-five years old, he was the youngest person in the State of Oklahoma to hold both a Mortgage Banking License and a Real Estate Broker License.

  Was it a conflict of interest? Hell, yes but he didn’t care he wanted the taste of success and the immense money that came with it. He felt untouchable. His confidence was through the roof, and he felt as if he were on top of the world. He got convinced he was invincible. The thought appears to be conceded, but even others viewed him in the same way. It was hard to argue against considering he was flourishing. Stone at this point had Fourteen Mortgage operations in fourteen states and one hundred and twenty-five Realtors in one big real estate office in downtown Oklahoma City.

  From college to now though he never stopped partying. He partied hard. He went to charity balls, after parties, business parties, private parties, you name it he searched for activities where he could relax and feel the music pulse through him. But he knew how to keep a balanced life. He never missed work. He always did his work first, then he partied. He got little rest but he still never missed a day. He was one of the few people who could get lost in himself every night and still be able to rise early the next morning and function at an advanced level at work.

  He married his college sweetheart and had kids with her right away. With all the partying, you think he would have cheated on his wife, but he didn’t, he liked partying with beautiful women, but it ended there. Some call it will power others call it stupidity. Stone didn’t need to have sex with all the women he partied with. This made each woman want him even more, and they almost attacked him. The thoughts and images dancing in his head were enough for Stone. He always said fantasy was better than reality anyway and he’d always return home to his wife. He felt like he had life figured out and nothing would, nor could, ever go wrong.

  In 2005, a guy approached Stone about helping him with a Land Development, and Stone took the risk. Fifty-Two Condo buildings were designed. Before they could complete the infrastructure, an investor offered them one and a half million over what they had in the development and Stone was hooked. His next development, however, was his downfall in the Great Recession.

  His partner was his best friend from his college days. They got paired together on the first day of college and did everything together until the day Stone got indicted. They were inseparable, which is why his partner’s crimes blindsided him so much. He had known him for so long and felt like he would have at least noticed his best friend scheming something illegal.

  However, whenever they were together, his friend never seemed skittish and nervous about anything. Nothing he did showed he got involved in an illegal activity like said before, he was an educated and calm man. The actions of his partner during the time in the country of the Great Recession might not even get decided crimes if it happened five years earlier. It seemed like in the United States the public wanted blood and individuals to pay if you were in the Mortgage Banking Business. The Business that caused the Great Recession.

  COUNT

  AS STONE CRAWLED up into his bunk for a night of restless sleep he could hear the loudspeaker crackle and blare.

  “Count, Count, Count!”

  He sat up, confused at the sudden shuffle of noise he heard throughout the cells. He watched as the inmate he shared a bunk with hopped off his bed.

  “Where are you going?” Stone said.

  Stone wasn’t used to the count of inmates yet.

  “Just get your ass in line.” He said.

  All the inmates lined up along the middle and back walls, forming a giant circle. Stone followed and fell into position in front of his bunk just as he saw two guards walk down the rows. Their features were expressionless as they made eye contact with each inmate. The clank of their keys echoed through the halls as they walked. It would become a familiar sound for Stone as he did his time.

  “How long is this going to take?” Stone said.

  “Depends on how fast the guards are walking,” The inmate said.

  The inmate watched as the guards shuffled through the rows. His keys were clanking as he walked.

  “Don’t look like it’s going too fast, today?” The inmate said.

  “Shut up.” A guard shouted.

  The inmate glared at Stone as if it were his fault they had gotten yelled at, and they both fell into silence.

  Count took about fifteen minutes with two-hundred people to count and make sure they were in the building. At night after lights out, the Prison guards would count the inmates in their bunks while they were sleeping. But during the day it was always stand up counts at least five a day. You would be in the middle of your favorite movie or TV show and boom count. If you tried to argue they’d use force to get you to comply.

  They had the counts at random times as to always catch everyone doing something. Some guards were cool and would call count then dismiss everyone like they counted, but they were too lazy to do it. They just wrote the counts from the previous shifts to not have to fuck with it.

  “They're the same fucking number of guys here as there was two hours ago.”

  Inmates wou
ld mumble as the guards hurried down the row without even looking up.

  Then there were the guards that relished in power they lacked on the outside. Guards loved the power and where mini Nazi’s calling the count three times in a row to fuck with the Camp. No one feared these guys as they were the tiny insecure douche bags that tried to make life hell for anyone bigger than them.

  Once they voiced out of the loudspeaker

  "Clear, Clear, Clear!”

  Stone returned to his bed, ready to reflect on the day.

  “Recount, Recount, Recount!”

  The loudspeaker sounded just as Stone laid his head on the pillow.

  “Why?” He said.

  “Some idiot was in the damn shower or taking a shit. Or some lucky bastard got out.” Big Tokey said.

  Stone couldn’t believe he had to stand again for another fifteen minutes because there could be one inmate missing. It was ridiculous.

  Stone’s eyes caught on the young female guard who swayed her body back and forth as she walked past the men for the second count. She was a well-built Black girl in her twenties that sometimes walked rounds. The Black girl would walk by as a display, and every guy in the camp would picture having sex with her in their minds. When she walked by each man’s head would turn and stare at her ass, the whole way down the row. Then you would hear all kinds of cat calls, groans, and moans. The whole ordeal made one wonder if she enjoyed the attention or got disgusted by it. Two guards always had to do the count, so someone was always with her, preventing any chances of physical misconduct from the inmates.

  Most inmates realized how none had a chance with the woman, yet some still tried. They’d use the smooth talk that so worked on the outside and got laughed at. Their charm was irrelevant in the can. They had nothing relevant to offer, and the young woman knew it.

  “Why don’t you try again when you aren’t a Prison rat.” She would say.

  The guys would try to laugh it off and tell her to stop playing with them, but she’d roll her eyes and either write them up if she was in a bad mood or just walk away. On occasion, she would blow up at them if she was already irritable that day, but no one knew for sure. She was hard to read but worth the trouble.

  If someone took off and skipped town for the count, they would always cancel visitation for the following week as a warning. Like anyone of the inmates had anything to do with someone taking off. They assumed punishing the inmates would make the guy come back. It was a familiar thing for the Prison officials to punish everyone for the acts of a single man.

  Several guys would get into the Prison Camp with no physical bars or fence and take off the first night there. Inmates heard about them getting caught in another state and word would get back to our Prison Camp they got caught. If you left for over three days, you would get another charge, but if you came back and self-surrendered before the seventy-two hours, then you would just get time in the hole. Then put ‘behind the fence’ as they would call the guys doing time inside the FCI Low Prison next to the Camp. Stone couldn’t even fathom how some guys wanted to escape. He wouldn’t even want to attempt it.

  As the days passed Stone realized why so many inmates got annoyed at hearing the word “Count.” It grew tiresome having to stand and listen to silence while two guards who weren’t even paying attention strolled down the rows. They had no reason to go fast because they had to do just a few counts per shift. The inmates had to experience it gruesome multiple times a day.

  VISITATION ROOM

  STONE GOT SCHEDULED after one month of time-served to get his first visit from his mother, father, and children. A nervous tension engulfed him as he waited to see them. He had paid Old Man Q a sausage the day before they came to iron his green visitation uniform and Shorty a snickers bar to shine his shoes. He had crafted a necklace for his daughter with two stones in the middle that look like tiny birds. It had taken him weeks to make, but it was a good substitute for getting into any trouble. When you pressed the birds together, they looked like they were kissing. He planned to tell his daughter anytime she wanted a kiss from him to put on the necklace on and press the birds’ mouths together.

  The visitation room was just the same dull TV room only cleared and set up with rows of chairs in the middle. A hefty looking guard would sit at the desk and hold a list of approved guests for each inmate. Only immediate family and spouses get allowed most of the time. After about an hour the guard would let everyone go outside to a small yard with picnic tables so fathers could play with their younger children and attempt to make up for lost time.

  Stone waited outside the visitation room for his name to come over the loudspeaker so he could enter the room and greet his family. He envisioned their excited faces and his daughter’s laugh ringing through the room as they spoke.

  Some inmates never got a visit from anyone, and some got greeted by loved ones every time there was a visitation day. Lots of things would get attempted during visitation. Men always had a loved one try to smuggle in cigarettes, food, money, and drugs. Often, they’d have a family member plant it on a child to make it less obvious of a scheme. Certain guys thrived on their hustles by requesting outside visitors to bring them the items each week.

  Wives tried to have sex with their man at the visits. Though any sight of PDA would lead to a warning shout and if repeated, the visit was over. However, you could pay off the guard a fee of one hundred dollars and get to go to the restroom with your girl and get it on. The one catch was you had to be quiet. Guys who had no interest in paying off a guard or didn’t have the money to do so tried to sit outside on the picnic benches and turn their backs to the guards so their girl could jack them off.

  You could buy Cokes and stuff from the vending machines in the room during visits, so most guys took advantage of this the moment they stepped into the room and ate lots of junk on these days. If you got caught by the guard for doing anything out of line, regardless of the degree, you went straight to the hole for months.

  When Stone’s family got there, his mother had forgotten her driver’s license, and they would not let her stay in the room with Stone. He was guilt-ridden as she had driven five hours one way to see him. One could hear her shouting and sobbing at the guards as she tried to get her way. The spawn from hell guard showed no apparent remorse and demanded her to leave.

  The only ones allowed through were Stone’s dad and his daughter. Though he wished to see the soft, understanding face of his mother, he was thankful to at least see someone.

  Specifically, his daughter.

  About halfway through the visitation period, a loud-mouthed Black girl checked in with the guard. She had large breasts and a huge ass. She got dressed in a revealing pink top with skin-tight jeans. As she so boisterously pointed out, her name was Kisha, and she was eager to see her man Big Tokey. She carried an enormous fake designer purse with countless amounts of pockets stitched onto it.

  “Big Tokey” the guard yelled over the loud speaker.

  Stone watched the two as they interacted. The meeting between the two was strange yet entertaining to watch. Kisha either didn’t know how to be subtle or didn’t care when the exchange of cigarettes and other items happened. Big Tokey was all over her, the display of affection was uncomfortable for those who were nearby. He had paid a guard to keep quiet as he fondled her. Almost every visit ended with her strutting into the bathroom with Big Tokey following close behind. You could hear them getting it on in the bathroom, and not one person said anything. The guards would glance over a few times, and if it got loud, they’d give one knock on the door to inform them they were too loud, but not much else happened. Big Tokey never failed to emerge with big, victorious grin on his face.

  Z also had a visit that day from his wife and three children. His wife dressed like a traditional Muslim woman in full-length gear with a cloth covering her face. From what I could tell she seemed like a decent woman she walked across the room and eyed her lover. When the call came for the visit to move outside, he would
always sit with his back to everyone outside on a log watching his children play with a soccer ball in a small field next to the Prison. He found peace and comfort in being alone with his children, in an area that, when focused on enough, felt separate from the Prison. He didn’t even need to talk to his children, all he wanted to do was watch them be children while they still were ones.

  Stone had the disturbing sense that Z felt left out of his children’s lives and feared they were growing apart from him. He had revealed once his worst fear was the day when his kids would realize they didn’t need him. And being in Prison gave that realization more gravity. They were growing up without him, and he was aware of it.

  Some children when they saw their fathers would run into their parent’s embrace, though a few were timid and spiteful. Stone couldn’t help but ponder whether his daughter would be angry with him for disappearing from her life. She was only five, so he knew she wouldn’t even fathom what was happening to him. She wouldn’t be able to recognize and understand the full gravity of the situation. All she saw was her once loving father had left and gone to what her mother called ‘a bad place.'

  He hoped her malicious mother wasn’t filling her brain with false accusations of Stone. Losing his wife was hard enough, he couldn’t stand to lose her too. The thought made him more than prepared to do anything to make sure she would never look at him the way some kids looked at their criminal fathers.

  The guards sometimes allowed everyone to go outside on weather permitting days. They needed to get fresh air and enjoy the day with their families. The visitation room can get stuffy with one hundred people inside at one time.