by JJ, Sacramento
I had just returned home, after a time away from my loved ones. I had not been home in a long-long time. I pulled into the driveway, turned off the radio, took a couple deep breaths, grabbed my bag of clothes, and got out of the car. As I calmly approached the front door to the house, thoughts of my past life were flashing in my head. I no longer had the house key, so I knocked. I waited and waited no answer. Did they know I was coming home? I knocked again. Before I gave up and walked back to the car, I heard the slow shuffling of feet inside approaching the door. In an instant, the door creaked opened and to my surprise…
I was just dreaming. It wasn’t real, but it felt like it. You see, I have a release date coming up soon, so I’m trying to play out and imagine all the scenarios of when I’m first released. I’ve been incarcerated for some time now, so I had a while to plan and envision my exact release date.
I tend to have this dream every night upon my release date. Mostly how I start the dream out is the same basic stuff that I want for my life. But as the dream goes on and continues, it starts to change and differ from all sorts of stuff. For example, every night I dream about getting released early morning/night, walking outside the door to my family waiting for me.
I’ll go straight home, take a shower, have some fun times, put some new clothes on, then hit the traffic. I’ll go buy a new phone, call all my close loved ones, family, etc. Then maybe go live after that. I’ll go get something to eat and drink, probably Raisin’ Canes or Stagecoach. But I’m not really picky. Anything is better than jail food.
After I eat, I’ll probably go to the barbershop or the beauty salon. By the time I get out, my dreads should already be dropped and long, so I might get them hit. I might get both though.
After that, I’m going to Ralph Jewelry and buying some custom pieces, probably memory pendants. I’ll get some grills, some rings, etc. That’s about it though. Then I’ll just go home, relax with family, then start my real life.