Half of Paradise

“Try the docks. You can make good money handling freight.”

“Nobody is hiring ex-cons,” Avery said.

“You ain’t got to tell them where you come from.”

The breakfast whistle blew. They lined up outside the dining hall.

“Stay out of trouble. Don’t let them send you back to this place,” Toussaint said at the table.

“They never will.”

“Them parole boards can send you back for the rest of your stretch.”

“They won’t get me in here again,” Avery said.

“Don’t give them no excuse.”

They finished eating and lined up outside for roll call. The captain told Avery to return to the barracks after his name was called and wait for the guard to come get him.

“So long, whiskey runner,” Toussaint said.

They shook hands.

“Take care,” Avery said.

“Worry about yourself. They can’t do no more to me.”

“I’ll write you a letter.”

“You ain’t got to do that.”

“Maybe I’ll see you in New Orleans,” Avery said, and then felt stupid for saying it.

That’ll be a long while.”

They shook hands again.

“So long,” Avery said.

“So long.”

Avery went to the barracks and waited for the guard. Rainack came in with a brown paper bundle under his arm. He dropped it on the bunk.

“Here’s the stuff you come in with. See if it’s all there,” he said.

Avery broke the string and unwrapped the paper. The package contained the clothes he had worn when he was arrested. They had been washed, pressed, and wrapped in a bundle nearly a year ago. He looked at the scuffed brown shoes, the print sports shirt faded almost white, and the gray work trousers. There was a brown envelope on top with his name and prison number printed across the front. He opened it and shook out a pocketknife, three quarters, a billfold, and a leather-band wristwatch with the crystal broken.

“What happened to my watch?”

“Talk to the trusties at the office. Is everything else there?”

“Yes.”

“Change into your own clothes. You got to go by the warden’s office before you leave.”

Avery got dressed. He sat on the bunk and put on his shoes.

“You can take your boots with you. We never issue out boots twice,” Rainack said.