Part 1 (2/2)

Kahn remained expressionless I had hoped to disarh so he would see I was not like the other men here, but he wasn't interested in reen shi+rt and a pair of green pants on the floor I straightened myself up and examined my new uniform The pants were too small, and the shi+rt was horribly wrinkled

The suits and shi+rts I had worn on the outside were always professionally pressed A perfect outward appearance, I believed, would accurately reflect the quality of my work and assure clients that my attention to detail had no boundaries

”Do you have an iron?” I asked Kahn as I held up the shi+rt, exa buttons

Kahn didn't answer He didn't even look at , turned it upside down, and ehto the floor items he said would be sent home The items he kept on the table would stay with me He held the stack of books I'd packed and toldsome southern classics I had never made time to read-A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, by John Kennedy Toole, Good Old Boy Good Old Boy by Willie Morris, and by Willie Morris, and The Moviegoer The Moviegoer by Walker Percy-but two other books were more important to me by Walker Percy-but two other books were hth birthday, I could count on one Christift from my father: a copy of The Guinness Book of World Records The Guinness Book of World Records From the world's fastest human to the tallest radio tower, froest blue whale, froo stick to the world's biggest pancake, the people in the pages of the Guinness book were not ordinary These individuals had status and prominence and i else, I'd wanted to be listed in the book But I had a few early setbacks My pogo stick got stuck at jurowth spurt hadn't taken off like Robert Wadlow's, so I had to face the fact that I ht feet, eleven inches And while practicing to break the world-record discus throw-a record I just kneithin h the back windshi+eld ofwas a race I raced against a clock when I mowed our lawn or held my breath underwater or scarfed down food I was completely unconcerned with the exact exact record I would break, as long as I ultimately accomplished one act, one conquest that no other hu as I ultimately accomplished one act, one conquest that no other human had ever achieved

I told Kahn I would keep The Guinness Book of World Records The Guinness Book of World Records I chose the Bible as raphs of Little Neil and Maggie in the back

With aon the back of ift from Linda and the kids Kahn tossed the watch back to me ”03290-043”-my inmate number-was scratched on the back

”Do you have any money?” he asked

I had a 20 bill in the side pocket of”Paper money is contraband Inmates can only have coins,” he explained and handed me two rolls of quarters He started toward the door I couldn't let hin on the door ”Research and Develop and Discharge,” he answered

”But I saw a patient earlier,” I said ”What kind of-”

”Hansen's disease,” Kahn interrupted, walking toward the door Without looking back, he added, ”It used to be called leprosy”

Kahn left the room and locked the door behind hi Surely, healthy people-even inmates-would not be imprisoned with lepers But that would would explain the ers Everybody knew lepers' body parts fell off Or uards use in ers Everybody knew lepers' body parts fell off Or uards use in movies to break prisoners

A nurse rushed into the roo chairs She told me to sit at the table, and she asked , chronic diseases, and depression, to which I answered no

”Any family history of mental illness?” she asked

I hesitated ”Define ested I tell her about any faory, so I explained about le day before she was corandmother, who did a couple of stints in the state mental hospital and then ran for president, twice- The nurse interrupted ”Of the United States?”

”Yes,” I told her, ”but it all happened when she was off her medication” Then I mentioned that my mother sees auras and claims to have been Mary, Queen of Scots in a for to mark this yes”

When she finished, I asked if there were really lepers living here

”They prefer to be called Hansen's disease patients,” she said ”But, yes, about 130 live here”

I asked if they were contagious and if we ever got close to theet transferred to another prison The nurse cut me off and said I'd hear all about it at admission and orientation

My mind raced as she collected her paperwork I could recover froether with ahand or a deforht leprosy, I would lose ie I was frantic, but I had no way of letting anyone knoas happening to athered the two books and the few clothes Kahn let ave e that I'd been left to wander around without a guard or escort

The hallway srandmother Richie's farmhouse, that earthy scent of dust in a closet that had been closed up for years

Arched s lined the elevated hallway that went on as far I could see The sunlight, tinted by thick screens, threw bands of syainst the wall, like dozens of sepia toraved

The hallways forle, and inside was a lush, almost tropical, courtyard with banana trees and ined a prison would be like It felt tranquil, like a beautiful island paradise I'd expect to find in Hawaii

Through the screen I saw in horseshoes, and walking around a concrete track I heard soft chatter and laughing and the sharp snap of do a table

I walked out into the courtyard The crowns of the buildings were contoured with extravagant sculptured designs and plaster cornucopia scrolls The pungent srass reminded me of the slow su in the shade Soreen like mine Some of the men were old; others looked not much past their teens A feere in wheelchairs There were blacks, whites, and Hispanics At one table sat four of thedohes, the world's fattest ht in The Guinness Book of World Records The Guinness Book of World Records

Threeon a shuffleboard court Another rass on a se bags He drove the vehicle in ine and let out a loud howl like a coyote

”You know they got lepers here, don't you?” he said

”I've heard”

”And you're a convict, right?” he asked

”I guess so”

The hed, threw his head back, and howled again Then he cranked the engine and drove up a ra my way, so I hurried up the ramp and into the hallway that led toeverything I noned in my arms, an elderly black woman in an antique, hand-cranked wheelchair rolled toward , vertical chains ran from the handles to each wheel She cranked the wooden handles like a child pushed pedals on a bike With each crank, the wheels on her chair turned The skin on her hands was shi+ny and cracked She wore a turquoise striped dress that hung from the seat of her chair like a wrinkled curtain She had no legs

With each churn of the handle, with each rotation of her hand, the wheelchair ht in contrast to her dark sockets Her hair was silver and black Her fingers gripped tightly around the wooden handles With each crank the wheelchair wavered Her earrings swayed with the tempo

This was a prison for men, which meant she wasn't an inuard I ar in the French Quarter I took satisfaction in being polite to the down-and-out Had I encountered this woht have stuffed a few bills in her cup, but here, I ary of getting too close She smiled and looked me directly in the eye I stepped to the side of the ay to make room for her to pass, took in as much air as possible, and held my breath I had perfected a technique in elementary school when my teacher, Ms Cauthen, who had terrible halitosis, would lean over ht-lipped smile When she moved away from my desk, I would cover my mouth with my shi+rtsleeve to filter the air and escape froined she had left behind