. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P A R O L E . C A L L

We have all heard of homie, meaning from the same neighborhood but it goes deeper than that. Cellie is the guy or gal you shared your cell with. Crimie, that’s the person who was your partner in you guessed it, crime.  Very often a parolee will come in and recognize a former crimie or even more exciting an old cellie.  It’s like a reunion with lost family. Many of these guys have spent more time in their lives with their cellies than with their own family.

At work, two of the most unlikely students recognize each other, Edgar and Jeff.  Both know one-armed Paul and one-legged Charlie from their time inside. They sit and reminisce for a bit about their stolen Harleys and one-armed Paul and one-legged Charlie. They sound like pirates, and it makes me laugh.

— from a 2004 journal entry