“Can’t say for sure. Gots no watch. I come in at four. Wasn’t too long after that.”

“You see Jacobson and Johnson fighting around five?”

He shook his head. “I’s still gathering up the trash and cleaning up. I’s all over the building.”

I walked back to the nurses’ station and called the trash officer, who I had been in the back of the truck with yesterday.

“Officer Shutt?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s Chaplain Jordan. Just wanted to see how you’re feeling.”

“Better,” he said. “A lot better. Thanks. And thanks for your help yesterday. I just freaked.”

“I understand,” I said. “I’m surprised you’re back at work so soon.”

“Just trying to stay busy,” he said, sounding a little defensive. “Tryin’ not to think about it. That’s all. Wasn’t . . . It was just an awful accident.”

“I just keep wondering how he got into that trash bag in the first place,” I said, trying to make it sound like an idle curiosity.

“That’s a good question. I wonder that too. I usually pick up the trash from every department early in the morning. They set it outside their back door, and me and an inmate pick it up. But yesterday, there was no trash outside of Medical.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I parked between Medical and Laundry like I always do. I usually stay in the truck, but I had to ask the laundry sergeant about an inmate who used to work for him so I walked over with the inmate. When we came back with the bags from Laundry, Medical’s were already gone. They must’ve put them in themselves.”

“They ever done that before?” I asked.

“Sure, but not very often. And usually we see that old black inmate ’cause he’s so slow, but we didn’t see anybody. Why all the questions?”

“I’m just trying to figure out exactly what happened.”

“I’ll tell you what happened. A dumb inmate tried to escape and became a dark meat shish kebab. Everybody’s saying what a great thing I did. Hell, I’ll probably get Officer of the Month. And if anybody has anything else to say about it, they can say it to my lawyer.”

“Your lawyer?” I asked.

“Hell, yes,” he said. “I been grieved and sued so many damn times by these dumb sons a bitches I had to get one. What kind of world do we live in? A bunch of stinkin’ inmates can make me need a lawyer.”

7

Every eleven minutes, someone in the US died of AIDS.

In Florida state prisons, those with HIV outnumbered those in Florida’s free population two to one.

Many inmates came into the system infected with HIV—primarily the result of shared needles and unprotected sex.

In the close confinement of prison it spread rapidly.

Tattooing, drug use, unprotected sex caused HIV to spread inside prison the way the virus was designed to.