Prison Visit
Years ago, before the routes is St. Paul were all renumbered, there was the 12 line, Rice-East 6th Street. It had limited service all the way to Stillwater. On Sunday this was great work. The work I did pulled out at 10:16AM to Hamline and Hoyt. From there it went to Stillwater, where there was a 51 minute break by the St. Croix river. Nice. The bus went back to Hamline and Hoyt and then back to Stillwater for a one hour break. This was really nice. On the trip back to St. Paul the bus went to Stillwater Prison and picked up the prisoners’ visitors.
The bus filled up with parents, wives, girlfriends and children. To get to the prison many of them had spent at least an hour riding buses to St. Paul. The trip to Stillwater took another hour. Then they had gone through what was, no doubt, the difficult experience of the visit in a prison. Now they were facing the prospect of another two or more hours on buses before they got home. Everyone was exhausted. Looking in the mirror, I saw many people leaning together in their seats, sleeping. Others were looking out the window, drained of all energy. With nearly a full load on the bus, all was silent.
Silent except for one person. From somewhere in the back a piercing, hostile voice rang out, “So I told the bitch, get out my face or I’d kick her ass.” I checked the mirror and still couldn’t see anybody awake. When the bus emptied in downtown St. Paul, I’d watch to see who might have been the voice from the back. Nobody seemed to go with the voice. I thought I might advise her to seek friends who weren’t bitches in need of having their asses kicked.
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