***The First Five Days of Freedom***
Tisha was now a twenty-nine year old Afro-American woman with almond colored skin. She was five-four, had an oval shaped face, long dark hair, dark eyes, skinny eyebrows, a wide nose, large lips, a long smile, noticeable dimples, and a rounded chin. She was in tip top shape, had girl muscles on her arms, a two inch scar on her left cheek from when she was sexually assaulted by the three female inmates, and an awful looking scar above her right kidney (it was currently covered by her top). Both men and lesbians liked her noticeable backside and wider hips.
Her feelings toward her breasts changed. Soon after arriving in prison her breasts developed. They were now a 32C, they were close together, her small dark nipples were right of center on the softest part of her breasts. A huge change in perspective was observing other women's breasts. She currently felt her breasts were perfect for her size and shape. She was especially grateful her areolas were small.
She was nervous waiting for her Mom and her Brother to pick her up. Her Mom's name was Dawn and her brother's name was Jimmy. Dawn was forty-two years old when Tisha was arrested, she was now fifty-two years old. They wrote one another just about every other day. Because Tisha's family lived in Minnesota and Tisha was serving in Florida her Mom was able to visit her seven times. Tisha appreciated this. There were inmates who had family living less than an hour away and never received visitors. Tisha couldn't wait to embrace her Mom.
Jimmy was fifteen when Tisha was arrested. He visited Tisha twice before graduating college and twice while in college. While in college he brought girlfriends with him. Tisha was happy when he broke up with the first one. She was happy he married the second one. This was one of many weddings she wished she could have attended. Tisha couldn't wait to meet her three year old nephew.
Tisha was overjoyed to be wearing a well fit flower patterned bra and pantie set. She was thankful to be wearing a conservative pair of dark blue Bermuda Denim shorts. She thought it was wonderful to turn the cuffs up and to be able to wear a nice leather belt. She matched this with a soft pink graphic tee; the graphic was of multi-colored spring flowers and a butterfly flying above the flowers. She was delighted to wear light green and pink gingham print sandals. She loved the fact they had one inch sols.
When her Mom entered the visiting area Tisha couldn't sign out fast enough. But, like everything in prison, she was forced to go the speed of the correctional officers. As soon as the door was buzzed, Tisha flung the door open, and ran to her Mother. Tisha dropped everything she was carrying and embraced her mother. The two of them held onto one another and cried. Her brother Jimmy watched and waited; he held in his tears.
Her first surprise was seeing her brother. Since his last visit he turned into a man. She walked up to him and gave him a hug. This was difficult for how tall he was. She could tell he was slightly uncomfortable with hugs. She didn't care. She sobbed. He forced back tears. She gained her composure and let go. She collected her small amount of possessions and they left the facility. She was determined to never be incarcerated again.
Immediately she started asking questions and wanted to hear about everything.
As they drove from Florida to Minnesota she became silent. The world seemed so different. Her Mom seemed different. Her younger brother, who drove most of the way, was so different. It was strange having Jimmy drive. It was difficult to fathom her Brother owned the SUV they were in. She was amazed at the electronics in the vehicle. She was surprised when his phone connected to the radio. She felt his cell phone was intimidating. She was surprised to see a screen in the vehicle that showed where they were backing up.
Something both exciting and stressful was anytime they stopped at a gas station. The most stressful stop was at a large truck stop. Being among so many people and all of them having free movement put her on edge. She tried not to be this way but she couldn't help it.
She stuck close to her brother and made sure to go to the restroom with her Mother.
Even with all the anxiety; she was excited to shop at this truck stop. She picked out: a pink baseball cap with a butterfly on it, a pair of sunglasses, a 7-up, a slice of pizza, a cookie, a candy bar she hadn't eaten in over ten years, her brand of feminine products, her brand of toothpaste, and a package of string cheese. Her Mother purchased the feminine products, the toothpaste, a small purse, soap, shampoo, breath mints, a brush, and a charm key chain. Her Mom slid onto the key chain a copy of the house keys. Tisha held back tears while her Mom purchased these items for her. She savored the 7-Up and the candy bar.
While filling her purse she felt the weight of being free. This was the first time in ten years where an institution wasn't involved in her decision making.
She had trouble sleeping in the hotel because of how quiet it was.
When she arrived home she changed into warmer clothing. After spending ten years in Florida her body was no longer used to the temperatures of the Midwest. The temperature during a Minnesota April was the coldest it ever got in Florida (Tisha was grateful her Mom bought her winter clothing). After changing her clothes she called her parole officer.
She noticed every change to her mother's house. She wept over the family pictures hanging on her Mother's walls. It was obvious she missed so much.
She didn't recognize the nineteen year old who lived in her old room (her parents had never changed her room). The room was so uncomfortable she slept in one of the two spare bedrooms. She spent the next two days boxing up ninety percent of what was in her room; Dawn took these things to a thrift store. Tisha moved into the spare bedroom with an attached bath. This gave her an excuse to avoid going anywhere. She felt safe in her parents house but was unsure of the world outside of this house. (She would redecorate her new room as time wore on. Dawn enjoyed redoing Tisha's old bedroom.)
The following day her parole officer made a surprise visit. Both Dawn and herself were gracious to this officer. Her parole officer gave Tisha a list of organizations that were dedicated to helping convicts adjust to life on the outside. This officer was encouraged to hear Tisha had been clean for over ten years (both knew taking drugs in prison was available). The parole officer wanted to believe Tisha would avoid being a repeat offender. She based this upon: the house, the neighborhood, Tisha's attitude, and Tisha's Mother. The Parole Officer encouraged Tisha to call one of the organizations or herself if she needed anything. Tisha was thankful her parole officer was fair and encouraging. While in prison she heard of parole officers being nightmares.
Tisha spent the next day with her Sister Vanessa. Vanessa was sixteen when Tisha was sentenced to prison. Vanessa was now: twenty-six, married, a mother of two girls, and spent a lot of time volunteering at her church. She was a leader in the churches prison ministry. Vanessa made a point of visiting Tisha at least four times a year and twice six times. Three of these times she brought her family. Vanessa hoped this would encourage her daughters to stay out of trouble and to show her daughters why she was so passionate about prison ministry.
You could tell Vanessa and Tisha were sisters. They had the same dark eyes, skinny eyebrows, same shaped foreheads, the same wide nose, similar dimples, the same long dark straight hair, similar voices, and their backsides were shaped the exactly the same. Vanessa's was slightly smaller. Where they were different: Vanessa had a darker skin tone, she had a more squarer facial shape, she had larger lips with a smaller smile, smaller breasts, was slightly heavier, her waist was not as wide, and her legs were longer. Her husband adored Venessa's legs.
Vanessa and Tisha's plan was to spend the day shopping. After they would have dinner with Vanessa's family. Tisha was thrilled to be spending time with her Sister. She was excited to visit with her nieces and her Brother-in-law. Tisha still owned many of the pictures her Nieces had sent her.
Tisha was looking forward to visiting her favorite mall. When Tisha was sentenced to prison this mall was two stories of retail space. It had a variety of clothing stores, three large anchor stores, a movie theater, a fairly large food court, and a huge play area for children.
This mall had changed a great deal since Tisha was there last. The top floor had been turned into condo's and office space. The food court had been changed into sit down restaurants and a convenience store. They had two anchor stores. Instead of these anchor stores being two stories they were only on the first floor. One was a large grocery store and the other was a chain department store. Instead of a large amount of small stores the mall was filled with outlet type of stores, a thrift store, and a discount shoe store.
