As the door was shut behind me, I took in the contents of the room. A bed of sorts in one corner and a steel toilet – minus lid – in the other. Prison chic.
The bed itself was a thin, unyielding mattress, covered in a tough PVC-type material of a nondescript blue. The mattress sat atop a concrete slab.
I took a few deep breaths and waited for my fluttering heart to settle. Being an eternal optimist, I reconciled myself to the utilitarian surroundings and accepted the fact that I was going to spend a period time in police custody. What I found harder to come to terms with is the poor judgement that I exercised that had me arrested and placed in police custody in the first place. This will take time and I suspect atonement on my part. I need to see redemption in the eyes of the people I love to feel peace.
I made my way over to the bed and sat down. A strong whiff of industrial strength disinfectant came from the mattress, and it was amusing that I found the smell reassuring. At least the place was clean. The floor was of a similar nondescript blue. The floor was clean in high traffic areas of the cell, that is the middle bit. The corners were very grubby. Perhaps the cleaners had to work to unrealistically tight timescales making it hard for them to clean the corners. Or perhaps they didn’t care.
The police were kind enough to find two books for me to read. Neither of them were appealing. But I had to pass time so I started reading one of the books which was written by a celebrity ‘author’.
My mind drifted to the surreal conversation that I had with one of the coppers about books. Turns out both of us liked the same author and had a nerdy moment about his work in the holding area of the police station.
I had to hand in my phone, watch and jewellery as I was ‘checked in’ at the station. But for some reason they failed to take away my wedding band, bracelet and hair clip.
I have never previously had run-ins with the authorities, but lately it seems I am unable to avoid it. To witness the bluntness of state apparatus in action is both awe-inspiring and soul-crushing all at once.