ROLL CALL ~ A Prison List (True Prison Story) (57 page)

At the window next to me Damon read, “Shamrock Lane!”

My mind dreamed of possibilities. I saw Troy and all his electronic gear and expertise videoing Raymond Senior telling the truth on a sound bite for us to get to the media. I told Damon what I was thinking and he remembered something.

“I had dinner over here last week. There’s a closet full of costumes here they use for skits. I don’t think there’s any way we can just meet the chairman and co-opt him to put his reputation on the line and clear his conscience that he sponsored a lie. We’re going to have to use some shock therapy to bend him.”

“I don’t know. With Vince’s evidence of his son, we might be able to penetrate his heart.”

“I hope you’re right, but I wouldn’t bet on it. I’m going to take precautions.”

CHAPTER 162

I left Damon and went outside to study the chairman’s horse stall and his house, backyard, and the entrances and exits. I checked the time, 6 p.m., it was an hour before sunset. The chairman’s mansion was the epitome of wealth. There had to be millions of dollars invested into upgrades. There was a third story built with a solar deal to show he was a green friendly component, that gave the otherwise Tuscan architecture a modern look. There were well built decks on the second and third story with impossibly high Tuscan arches. Another part of the house had beveled glass and Italian tile. I studied the acre-plus backyard. It had a miniature dirt bike race track, a tricked out skate ramp and a large rock area surrounding a pool with an electronic cover next to a waterfall cascading down the rocks into a massive spa that wasn’t covered, with stadium-type lights to provide fun 24/7. Then there was a section for dining on more Italian tile with a big silver star in the middle of it. There was an enormous fire pit filled with cut glass in the shape of diamonds that looked like they were on fire. I thought of the video feed of Vince next to the same style fireplace, this is destiny.

I came back a couple hours later and found Damon in the backyard. He had a deep wide hole dug in a garden of soft soil and mulch. He’d thrown a large piece of plastic inside the hole.

“Wow homeboy, you think it’s going to take all this to persuade the chairman to tell the truth as we see it?”

“I hope not, but I’m a realist.”

CHAPTER 163

The next evening we watched the chairman leave the barn with his horse for his daily ride. I asked, “Are you ready to get presidential?”

Damon and Troy answered, “Ready!”

I put on my Gerald Ford mask and watched Damon put on his Richard Nixon mask and Troy put on his Ronald Regan mask. I told Troy, “You stay up here where you can see the horse trail further so you can let us know when he’s coming back.”

Damon and I got in Troy’s flower truck minus his identifying magnets and drove to Shamrock lane and parked out of view. I got out and cut a lock from a fence so we could drive the van right to the barn.

“B.J. he’s coming back on his horse. Lights, camera, action.”

Inside the barn, Raymond Senior was alerted by his horse’s unusual anxiety, and then he heard the vehicle pull to a stop on the dirt outside. He pulled out his cell phone and speed dialed 911 like he’d visualized himself doing it hundreds of times. He put it back in his pocket as his worst thought was realized. Two masked men walked boldly into the barn. He wondered, will my cell phone hold a signal?

“I’ve already alerted the Sheriffs! You’re trespassing, don’t come any closer!”

I saw the chairman drop something in his pocket and closed the distance and pulled it out. The screen flashed the signal was lost. I put it in my pocket and said, “You’re not going to get hurt! I swear that on a stack of Bibles! You are going to hear us out with your undivided attention and we will make that happen!”

We hustled the chairman into the back of the van and Troy met us with some gear and Damon drove.

The chairman said, “Listen fellas my name is Raymond Senior, I’ve got a wife and a son, please let me work this out with you guys. I’ve got plenty of money!”

From the front seat Damon yelled, “Choke on your money and rub it in your chest! This isn’t about money, it’s political!”

Raymond responded, “I’m patriotic and for our troops fighting for the free world!”

Damon yelled, “You’re hypnotized by lies! How are we the leaders of the free world when, in California alone, we have more people incarcerated in cells than any other nation? As a country, we have more people incarcerated than the rest of the world combined many times over!”

“Raymond Senior responded, “We’re a nation of laws to protect the weak!”

“Damon said, “One of our founding fathers, Ben Franklin is quoted saying, “Those who give up essential liberty to obtain a little safety deserve neither liberty nor safety!”

Raymond Senior asked, “What liberties are we giving up?”

“The liberties you had as a kid are gone. I’ll give you one example. When you were a kid there were only five prisons in California and the people that filled those cells were there for murder, rape, child molestation, and strong arm robbery! We’ve turned into a state and a nation that puts everyone in prison for drugs and look at how many prisons we have in California now, within a 25 year period-36! That, my friend, is creating more crime and building bigger criminals! It’s gotten to the point where the prison union in California has gotten so big that they’ve given themselves raises to the point they make up to $130,000 a year and have the power to keep getting more prisons built instead of focusing on rehabilitation. Then you go and sponsor the lie that CHILD MOLESTORS, RAPIST AND MURDERERS would be released, to terrorize the public into voting against redefining the strikes to only target those same violent offenders!”

Raymond Senior said, “So that’s what this is about. You’re right, I did sponsor a lie. I didn’t realize it fully until after the election. But listen fellas, this isn’t how you go about doing this. You can’t do it by force. It doesn’t work like that. You have to campaign for it and do it through channels.”

“Those channels are filled with people who have money like you and a platform to coerce and persuade from. We want to make a video of you to send to the news with you clearing your conscience like you just did to us!”

I studied Raymond Senior’s body language, he shook his head no and I could see he wasn’t ready. He said, “I can’t do that… If I did that I could sink the rest of the CHIPCOM board and our company’s reputation. That would hurt people invested in our company all over the world!”

From the front seat Damon sent the cue. “I guess we have to take him to that hole we dug off the Ortega Highway then.”

Troy wrapped a bandana around Raymond Senior’s eyes and bound him up tight with plastic wrap. Damon drove to the freeway and got on as if we were headed to the Ortegas, a remote stretch of lonely hills a few miles away. He drove back to the gated community and we parked in the garage.

Troy walked the blindfolded Raymond Senior to the hole and set him in it. Then he wrapped the plastic lining around him and held him while Damon shoveled dirt in. Standing on the edge I said, “Remember the first thing I said to you that I swore on a stack of Bibles.”

Raymond Senior tried to move his arms and legs and couldn’t. The plastic wrap in the van was like a seal and the plastic wrap he felt inside the hole was another seal. He felt the dirt raining down and the pitch ink black darkness closing in until he thought, I’m being smothered alive. I can’t breathe! For the first time since the barn, Raymond tried to scream and felt his bowels release. Then he calmed down enough to think of the first thing the guy in the Gerald Ford mask said. “You’re not going to get hurt! I swear that on a stack of Bibles. You are going to hear us out and give us your undivided attention and we will make that happen!” Raymond Senior took another shallow breath and remembered putting up the money against the three strikes provision and thought, I lied to them in the vehicle. I did know the TRUTH that the charge of “Petty theft with a prior and certain residential burglaries” were not going to be defined as strikes and they were the only ones who would get relief. Not child molesters, rapist and murderers, I just wanted to be a big shot and be involved. I remember rationalizing that the prison union would have got the money from someone else anyway and that the only victims of the lie were criminals who shouldn’t have any rights anyway. Raymond felt his legs being pulled by something attached to the plastic tomb.

I pulled the line we had attached to the plastic wrap and got Raymond Senior out. We un-wrapped the plastic and not a drop of dirt got on him but the smell of his fear was evident. I said, “I swore we weren’t going to hurt you but we had to scare you to get you to really listen to our stories with an open mind, so we can bridge the gap between your generation and ours.”

CHAPTER 164

Damon and I showered Raymond Senior while Troy pulled up some statistics on the computer. I said, “We’re going to show you statistics that approximately 70% of those incarcerated in the U.S. are there for drug related crimes that aren’t violent in nature. You said that we’re the leaders of the free world. If we’re the leaders, don’t you think we should lead by example and show more compassion to our own people who are addicted to drugs rather than breed them into more violent criminals? If you follow history, our country takes these tough on crime stances first and other European countries like Italy follow our lead. Italy has similar drug crime policies and 70% of their incarcerated are for drug crimes. Now it’s time to introduce you to your real son. He told our friend that he wanted to tell you what he’s been up to but hasn’t been able to bridge the gap because the communication between you two hasn’t been that established.”

Raymond Senior sat in the bonus room with a stunned look on his face. “I would have never guessed he was selling drugs!”

Damon showed Raymond Senior his marijuana charges that sent him to prison. “I wasn’t moving a hard drug like your son and I lost my freedom, wife and son over it!”

I said, “These days you can grow and sell marijuana legally with a prescription card!”

Damon and I talked to Raymond Senior for a few hours about prison life so he could see what his son would have gone through while Troy set up the video equipment. At the end of our political science lecture on prison culture, strategies and environments Raymond Senior had a suggestion.

“We need to change our government so we help our youth go from being a drug dealer into a legal dealer instead of sending them to prison. I have a lot of money and resources so it would be easy for me to turn my son’s illegal trade into a legal one by getting him a job in sales, or helping him start his own business so he’s utilizing the same selling and advertising skills you use to sell drugs.”

I said, “Now you’re getting the picture. Imagine your son went to prison and he didn’t have a rich father like you. He does his time and can’t help but be affected by the violent racial prison culture and gets released with that barrier to get acclimated back into our free society. Now he has even less chance of getting a job. He doesn’t have any new skills. All he remembers is his drug dealing was profitable and had a social structure that made him a god. Are you starting to see the futility of the way we’re dealing with this drug war? All we’re doing with the current strategy is exporting trillions of dollars out of our country to Mexico which is creating massive cartel violence and breeding massive crime with a massive underground culture. Just turn on the radio; every other song is about it!”

Damon said, “My homeboy gets philosophic. That’s enough of the big picture. I went to prison for marijuana and was housed in Southern California Central Sycamore Level 4 a couple years younger than your son. I was housed on the second tier right next to two high profile child molesters…”

I watched Raymond Senior’s face and body language register shock, understanding and empathy during Damon’s story.

Damon said, “We caught our strikes on those child molesters!”

Troy took off his Reagan mask and told Raymond Senior, “I have a good feeling about you. I think you really care. Are you ready to clear your conscience in a video recording we’re going to send to CNN?”

We dressed Raymond Senior in an Armani suit, presented him an antique Louis the 14th chair to sit in, set up the chess board on a table to the right of him and took the first cut. On the third cut we got what we wanted!

I watched him look directly into the camera and introduce himself. “My name is Raymond Senior. I’ve been blessed to live the American dream and have always prided myself on being a patriot and my wealth has given me the opportunity to donate to causes. My pride got in the way and I donated over a million dollars to sponsor what I believe was a lie regarding California’s three strike proposition. My money sponsored the governor telling you that CHILD MOLESTORS, RAPISTS AND MURDERERS would be released if the proposition passed. The truth was that the new law was going to redefine only two current strikeable offenses. The charge, ‘Petty theft with a prior’ wouldn’t be considered a strike and some residential burglaries that didn’t offer the chance of violence wouldn’t be a strike…”

I studied Raymond Senior. He was passionate and wanted to make another video. I took off my Gerald Ford mask and told him, “Let’s see if CNN will play this one first. Do you think your wife has reported you missing yet?”