Once I Was a Good Man: By Inmate 7066954

[All royalties are going towards restitution.]

When we arrive at court, the guards have me and the other inmates march in wearing our shackles and instruct us to sit in the seats where the jury would normally sit. I watch as attorneys come and go wearing their expensive clothes and leather dress shoes, carrying files and looking important. I recognize many of them as they stand before the judge representing their clients. I hope none of them recognize me. I think over and over that used to be me. As I see them, I see what I was. Surrounded by inmates in shackles, I see what I am.

The next day as I sit at the booth and wait for Bobbie’s weekly video visit, I wonder, “Why does she still love me?” I badly hurt her and others. I did terrible things. But somehow my wife still loves me. Her love and our kids’ love for me lets me know that I am redeemable. I can be good again. I want to make it right as much as it can be made right. Here is my story. Here is what I did and here is what happened.

I wrote most of this book while in jail using a flimsy jail pen that can’t be used to stab other inmates with and on notepads I bought from the jail commissary. The book does contain language used by inmates, me, and the officers that is offensive.