Ottis Johnson steps out of prison after 44 years, convicted of attempted murder, into a strange world.
serves him right. rightnyt?
Reminds me of Brooks Hatlen in The Shawshank Redemtion…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kotNxb2YApk
[I]Dear fellas,
I can’t believe how fast things move on the outside. I saw an automobile once when I was a kid, but now they’re everywhere. The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry. The parole board got me into this halfway house called “The Brewer” and a job bagging groceries at the Foodway. It’s hard work and I try to keep up, but my hands hurt most of the time. I don’t think the store manager likes me very much. Sometimes after work, I go to the park and feed the birds. I keep thinking Jake might just show up and say hello, but he never does. I hope wherever he is, he’s doin’ okay and makin’ new friends. I have trouble sleepin’ at night. I have bad dreams like I’m falling. I wake up scared. Sometimes it takes me a while to remember where I am. Maybe I should get me a gun and rob the Foodway so they’d send me home. I could shoot the manager while I was at it, sort of like a bonus. I guess I’m too old for that sort of nonsense any more. I don’t like it here. I’m tired of being afraid all the time. I’ve decided not to stay. I doubt they’ll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me.
P.S: Tell Heywood I’m sorry I put a knife to his throat. No hard feelings.
Brooks. [/I]
The reintegration policies here in Kenya are not as accommodating as such with certificates of good conduct being a requirement almost everywhere you go… I think the government should set up ways of getting these guys accepted into the community once they get out. If someone committed a crime and they served their time I do not see why they should walk with a mark on their head for the rest of their life. Even in the states it is not that easy because one has to state their criminal record and this can lead to discrimination in the vetting processes of employment. The saddest thing is that every electoral candidate vies on a platform of being hard on crime and forgiving former convicts seems counterintuitive. This means none of them will do anything about it lest they be termed “soft on crime”. Sadness of life.
3 Likes