The thing that stands out in my mind from when I first entered Wilkinson County Correctional Facility is the length of the halls. Brings to mind those scenes from the movie The Shining for some reason. The halls seemed especially long to me because I had to lug/drag/maneuver my property down them while in the restraints I mentioned in Part 2.

HJK Section is where we from Parchman were escorted, where long-term segregation prisoners are housed at WCCF. If memory serves me correctly, it's on the opposite side of where we entered the facility, all the way at the end of the hall. As The Offspring said, "You've gotta keep'em seperated." (A lot of my internal dialogue comes in snippets of songs, images from movies, quotes from things I've read. . .)

We ended up on K-pod which has (20) twenty cells; ten upstairs & ten downstairs. Although the cells are equipped to house 2 prisoners each, the current segregation status of this area limits one prisoner per cell. When you walk through the door & onto the pod, there is an open "dayroom" area to your left with twelve metal tables that seat four each, and a set of four modular showers (that lock) to your right with a waist-high partitioning wall that has seating on one side running the length of the showers. The control tower has a view onto the pod through a barred, rectangular window about 10 feet in length, set about 6 feet high from the floor on the wall opposite the cells. On the wall to the far left after entering the pod, there is a telescoping stand bolted to the wall about 9 feet off the floor, on which the TV sits.

After we were escorted onto the pod, we were directed to stand along the partitioning wall as, four at a time, we were ordered to go through the strip-search process in the showers. When the search was complete, we were put in restraints & escorted -each to his assigned cell. There we waited for our property to be searched & inventoried, & waited to be called to finish being processed in. What followed was a basic orientation, photos taken, info gathered, vital signs recorded, & instructions given.

Something I'd forgotten during the hustle & bustle of moving, I was soon to be reminded of. I'd heard tale that, upon arriving at WCCF, prisoners had to give up all their clothes and would be issued new clothing. Including underwear. The last time I'd had to wear briefs was in 2001, at Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility. When these things, these little boy drawers, were issued to me...I seriously considered going commando permanently. They were like seven sizes too big for me. Two other prisoners could fit in there with me, & though it's cold in these cells, it's not THAT cold.

After awhile I decided to try on these supersize Underoos out of curiosity. When I got them on, I didn't know what to think at first. They weren't briefs. This was a loincloth! I felt like Mowgli in The Jungle Book. I kept looking around, waiting for Baloo to jump out & start singing about "Bear Necessities." Had to be careful so I didn't bare my necessities wearing them. If I have to choose between boxers and briefs, I'll let Mowgli keep his loincloth.
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