My Brief Stint in Prison
I’ve done time. Jail time. Depending on which words you’d accept from Webster as its definition, I was an ex-convict.
Here’s the story. I rear-ended a car driven by a German expat. In Saudi Arabia. Without a driver’s license. I was an innocent-looking handsome 23 years old. Driving without a license is not allowed in that country. Let alone getting caught in an accident.
Immediately after the hit, the German driver walked over to me to ask if I was alright. I was shaking all over. Even my ears and nostrils were flapping wildly in fear. Other than that, “I’m ok,” I responded. To cut this short story shorter, I was whisked away by the Royal Army before I could say Gesundheit to the nearest jail.
There I was, fair-skinned, untattooed, clean-shaven, looking very pretty inside the cell that was full of hardened criminals and jaywalkers. At least that’s how I saw them with my petrified eyes. The stories about abuses inside jails scared me like a kitten in the rain.
Around me were my inmates, a stinking, waterless toilet bowl, and an old Arabic magazine. There was graffiti on the walls that looked like decor to me because I don’t read Arabic. Without making unnecessary moves that may provoke any wild beast, still, like that rain-drenched kitten, crouched low on four, I slowly and steadily reached for the magazine and settled back to my lonely corner. I flipped through the magazine, looking only at the pictures. The text resembled the graffiti on the walls. In it, I saw an image of the Virgin Mary and the Child (Mother of Perpetual Help). That prompted me to pray. I prayed like there was no tomorrow. Actually, like there was no later.
But later came. People from my company negotiated for my unconditional pardon. I was released in an hour — not enough time for a tiny tattoo on the arm. The next day, tomorrow, came.
I’ve come to realize the hard way that prayers penetrate thru thick walls. I did jail time and survived it.
Cheers to freedom!
Since I still do not qualify for Medium Partner Program — the Philippines is not among the countries included in the program, but…
