Oh! Mexico

The following is an excerpt from part one:


My gregarious cellmate provides me with an extensive drug education, direct from an addict’s perspective. He has been clean for a few months. Staying that way has been challenging; many opportunities and temptations are plentiful at his doorstep. I always thought people snort the stuff but Jay informs me how to go about smoking it, along with all sorts of narcotics nitty-gritty. He even fills me in about street workers who provide “blow and blow package plans.”

At the same time, on my strolls in the day room I am getting a coke dealer’s lowdown from a tea-tone-skinned, mid-thirties compadré. For José, the big bucks and excitement are the motivation to becoming a major link in the Mexican-American drug trade. I learn many of the practical aspects of dealing pure and crack cocaine; obtaining, cooking, and blending THC; bribing one’s way across the border; and the process of purchasing and modifying BMWs with secret compartments. (They hold up to a hundred kilos—enough “bricks” to construct a fireplace.)

In return, I train my instructor in the correct definitions and articulation of troublesome terms such as burn vs. born and Thursday vs. Tuesday. Until now, he has been pronouncing them the same, neither being recognizable as any language with which I am familiar. José is preoccupied with the quest of legitimizing the birth of his four-month-old daughter to his native Rhode Islander BM. Due to his lack of citizenship and his prominent Rhode Island would-be in-laws being aghast at their daughter’s incredible indiscretion; marriage is not a consideration.

Nevertheless, he feels that his child should legally carry his name and, by his view, his legacy. I gently impress on him that his daughter would be likely to someday marry and forfeit her surname to obscurity. Far more important is the connection he shares with his child and the bond that blood defines. It transcends far beyond what a piece of paper can officially ratify. Realizing that his effort would likely be futile, he considers my recommendation.