Part 26 (1/2)

”Today we had a probleustedly at Shark, ”that we shouldn't have had Don't y'all knohat's going on in Folsom and San Quentin? War, that's what And it's just a matter of tiotta be ready! They ain't gonna walk up to our face and stab us They gonna bring they sneaky asses up from behind and stab us in the back! So we have to watch out for each another Secure one another, dig? And another thing, I want to apologize to the co Shark in public when I should have taken it to a discreet area It won't happen again”

A few others spoke and the iven orders by Kidogo to plant one in a renegade fro erupted in an all-out knife fight The Southern Mexicans attacked the Northern Mexicans and the pigs started blasting away The Americans were herded into the dayroom Since the Southern Mexicans and the Americans were allies and the New Afrikans and Northerners were allies, the New Afrikans attacked the A seven of the this tiet flack frouard was attacked I was implicated in the accident and three days later, Buck, Zaire, and I were locked in solitary confinehtUnit (SHU) Buck and I were sent to San Quentin and Zaire was sent to Folsom We appealed the decision to put us in the Hole based on confidential information, but the appeal was denied They did, however, reduce our sentence to twenty-eight in to describe how I felt as the prison bus rolled through the ates at San Quentin An incredible sense of destiny seemed to overtake me And with each successive foot the bus moved forward, additional layers of the ”oldaround the lower yard and I saw the Native Nation-Aes enclosed by a chainlink fence, I sat upright in my seat

”This is the house that George Jackson built,” Buck said He had been here several ti here Bro, you'll read books here, see things here that are gonna change the way you walk, talk, and think This is the best place for an aspiring young revolutionary This is repression at its best”

We filed off the bus under the watchful eye of gunun had been phased out because it failed to disable attacking prisoners The mini-14 is an assault weapon It shoots a 223 round, as does the M-16 and the AR-I5 We e industrial wall's catatching us from above

San Quentin is one hundred years older than Chino, and it shows As soon as we got inside of R & R, the pigs took Buck to the Adjustment Center, which is like the triple-max unit I would be spared this ti sent to East block, and two others-a Chicano and a Native brother-were being taken to North block They were escorted out first Tenand wrist chains, marched up across the upper yard and into East block

When I stepped in I was astounded I arfed by the unit It looked like a huge slave shi+p There were five tiers, and they were so long that if you were at one end it would be inize soe and stripped The chains were removed, and I was handcuffed The awesome size of the block continued to blow me away I was apprehensive, as well da house, the real penitentiary It was the ultith

I was taken up two flights of stairs to the second tier and walked down I gotthe way New Afrikans, Chicanos, and Ale-hbor in 25 was an Aht in nuot in my cell the handcuffs were res that could be used to make ice-pick knives-a sink, and a toilet There were two circular vents, one above the sink and another below it

The Aly about nothing in particular But just by hearing them talk I knew that the Chicano was a Southern Mexican and the Aan to feel around under the bed for looseI could pull or yank out that I could fashi+on into a weapon for spearing Might as well start et speared

I found a piece of et my hand under, so I slid halfway beneath the bed, braced an to pull violently Heave-ho, heave-ho Back and forth I pulled until it moved with ease under pressure Just a feweleven inches long Now I had to sharpen it, get some newspaper, and roll me up a spear I'd attach the blade and then just wait for either the Surrat or the Mzungu (European) to come out

”Hey, twenty-six?”

The American and Chicano went silent

”Hey, twenty-six?”

Twenty-sixthat wasmy cell number

”Hey, twenty-six?!”

”Yeah”

”Get that line in front of your cell”

I looked out on the tier and a clearwith a white, thin line attached to it was in front of my cell, so I retrieved it

”Pull it,” said the sender

Attached to the line was a kite I opened it and read

Salau,

Where did you come from? I am Li'l Bit from Bounty Hunter Next to you is an AB and on the other side is an EME Stay up, stay alert

Blood Love,

Li'l Bit

”Hey, Li'l Bit”

”Yeah?”

”I need a pen to get back”

”All right, pull the line”

I retrieved the pen and wrote back telling him that I was Sanyika from CCO and that I came from Soledad I told him of his people from Bounty Hunter ere down there and I added that I planned to bust onet to his tier captain He withdrew his line fro it down the tier toward the front with an ease that came from experience When he pulled his line back, there was another line attached to it He told ed into the tier captain He told me to pull, and I reeled in his line There was another kite attached to the end It read: Hujambo Sanyika,

I am Italo from the Black Guerrilla Family Perhaps you know some of my tribesmen? All your people are in the back We, BGF and BL, have a peace treaty with the AB and EME on this tier I suggest that you get at your folks about a cell le,

Italo

Peace treaty? What was that? I wrote hireeot no treaty with them But out of respect for the brothas on the tier, I wouldn't jeopardize them He then sent ood to me because I couldn't read that well And at that time, Franz seemed very, very heavy to me I tried, nevertheless, and continued to fashi+on my weapon

Three days later I was moved to the back bar, where my comrades were I was put in cell 2-East-54 All around hbor in 53 was Lunatic Frank froether in '73 He and I were friends We had saved each other's lives during our participation in the war

He and his hoht China and ht when I was not strapped We had been ather there, pushi+ng Li'l Monster's bike as ent, when they rolled up on us in Pie's Monte Carlo

”damn, Sixties,” I whispered to China ”Just be cool” They jumped out of the car

”Well I'll be damned,” said Pie Face ”If it ain't the Bonnie and Clyde of Eight Tray-Monster Kody and China”