Part 2 (1/2)

Sued his flashlight against the end of my cot and pointed it at ht down It was still dark outside I looked over at Doc's alaret another job”

I had been assigned to the 4:00 AM AM to 1:00 PM PM shi+ft in the cafeteria, six days a week My pay: fourteen cents an hour I was short on sleep The in do the dominoes down on the table, they slapped theuards finally did break up the ga started A half-dozen men, most of them over three hundred pounds, suffered fro machines, and their snores echoed up and down the hall If the noise weren't enough, two lights in the hallway remained on twenty-four hours a day One of theht onto my bunk I learned to sleep with reen unifor, empty corridor toward the entrance where the leprosy patients lived The hallways s the two sides was secured at ht and was still locked, so I walked downstairs and joined a group of other in to be escorted to the cafeteria

The buildings and corridors of the colony forles The one closest to the river was reserved for the leprosy patients The patient quadrangle contained a few gardens planted by the patients and a to the first one hundred individuals who died in Carville, so le was ours Surrounded by the two-story concrete ay, the inmate courtyard was outlined by a quarter- track Inside the track, the prisoners had access to a weight-lifting area and stationary bikes The cafeteria building had been built in one corner of the leprosy patient quadrangle

The stagnant summer heat, even at this hour, was heavy The colony rarely felt a breeze because it sat at the base of the levee The dead air and hurees onoutside, I felt perspiration soak into uard, I noticed the other inloves, winter caps, and heavy jackets I asked Jefferson, a skinny kid froear

”He don't know shi+t, do he?” he said to the others Then they tapped one another's fists I was out of uard finally arrived, and alked together to the cafeteria

I had two jobs: washi+ng dishes and writing uards would bother with a menu board since we didn't have a choice about as served But food was iested that weapons or drugs or whiskey or some other contraband would be the convicts' primary concern Here food was currency, particularly fruit, which was reserved for the leprosy patients Leht up to five dollars each Strawberries, cantaloupes, and honeydew et fruit was for an inle it from the cafeteria

The lunch menu included barbecue pork, so on the menu board, I sketched an illustration of President Clinton skewering a pig I finished both boards in less than an hour Since I didn't have to be in the dish rooh the industrial kitchen to see what the other in

The kitchen was eoods warehouse The stoves and cutting stations and e walk-in cooler The shelves were stacked with vats of allons of etables At the rear of the cooler, I saw a boot propped on top of a produce box Jefferson and five other inht over their ears, hands stuffed into coat pockets The ainst the back wall, sound asleep With each exhale, soft steam floated out from their noses and mouths

I went back into theNew Orleans chicory coffee I picked up a copy of USA Today USA Today The rooh reh school cafeteria I sat, sipped my coffee, read the paper, and wondered how breakfast would ever be ready with everyone napping in the cooler The ”Life” section of the paper featured a soon-to-be-released su Little Neil to see it We would go on opening night, maybe to the Prytania Theatre, where the lines wouldn't be as long, or maybe Canal Center We would have a quick dinner at Gautreaux's, get to the cinerab a seat in the front roith the other kids

For a otten My son would see thethe prisoner and patient dining roo around in the leprosy side of the cafeteria She sawaccustoh at first I didn't want to breathe the same air, for some reason, she see about how she had been abandoned as a young girl

I folded the paper, grabbed my coffee, and walked around the lattice

”You're up early, aren't you?” I asked

”Yep,” she said ”Already hadher some coffee

She nodded

”How do you like it?”

”Black with sweets-and-low,” she said ”Lots of sweets-and-low”

Rather than handing her the coffee cup, I put it on the table I wanted to talk, but I also didn't want to get too close I sat down opposite her Each square table was set with two chairs-the other two sides were left open for wheelchairs She picked up the plastic coffee ers looked like she had just applied lotion She had all ten of her fingers No sign of her body's absorbing digits like Doc had described, but she wasbecause, I assumed, she could not actually feel it She took a sip and carefully placed the cup back on the table

”My na for her name in return, but she just smiled and nodded ”What's your name?”

She answered, but I couldn't understand her I wasn't sure if she said Cella or Ella or ain

She spelled it out in a gravelly voice, ”E-L-L-A”

We were all alone and I had an hour before the inmates arrived for breakfast, so I continued ”I live in New Orleans,” I said, ”but Mississippi is hos, Louisiana,” she said ”But this is ain She held the cup between her palotta stay?”

”About a year”

”Long ti time”

We sat quietly for a uest,” she said, ”least 'til you get back to your place”

Ella was trying to h she had been here for decades feel better, even though she had been here for decades

”So,” I asked, ”how did you end up here?”

Ella leaned back in her wheelchair, settling in ”Abita Springs,” she said in a whisper ”Nineteen hundred and twenty-six I was in grade school”

According to Ella, a doctor had visited the one-room schoolhouse to adht his attention He pricked the blotches with a needle Ella felt nothing

”Next week, white man drives up,” Ella said, ”and I seen the Carroll boy pointin' outside 'Oooh, Ella,' he say, 'bounty hunter fixin' to carry you away' I look out and seen the lasses, arh to be seen fro farms and which would later be nailed to the side of her family's tenant house-extended from the back of the whiteword scrawled in large red letters Later she would understand: ”Quarantine”

The schoolteacher put a hand on Ella's shoulder, pulled her up from her desk, and led her outside The other children ran over to theThe teacher walked her across the se of the field The bounty hunter uncrossed his arms and pushed back his coat to expose a pistol The teacher stopped and took her hand off Ella's shoulder The man pointed to the back of the truck, and Ella clih the wooden slats Her teacher stood with her hands over her mouth Her classmates' frozen faces filled the schoolhouse

Ella sipped her coffee and took a break I didn't say a word I waited for her to go on with her story For the first ti as I could res No deadlines

There was so remarkable about this woman The way she held herself, and her eyes She seeth But at the saentle and friendly

For a ious She was so vibrant My mother would have been able to tell me all about her wonderful aura It was hard to believe Ella carried a debilitating disease

A guard pushed through the swinging kitchen door and called out for me ”Inmate!” he yelled ”Get over here”

I hurried toward the kitchen The guard was a short white man with red hair and a ht The gray hs He looked unco with patients,” he said

Ella heard and looked directly at the guard ”We jes talkin'”

”Yes, ma'am, sorry to interrupt,” he said, with deference ”I need this inmate in the kitchen”