Each days bled into the other until the line between days blurred and then, finally disappeared. The older guys passed the time fishing and playing cards. Some of the middle-aged married men took to sneaking out and having illicit affairs with the women in the populated half of the island. The younger guys smoked and talked, some rolling their own cigarettes, which surprising was quite cathartic. We had one laptop and the guys sometimes grouped together to watch porn. It did not take long for the women who came to sweep the area every morning to start looking attractive. Tyler, the douche from Police section, took to wearing sunglasses and lounging where they swept to catch a glimpse of cleavage.
One of the guys started to weave a hammock to pass the time. He hung in between two coconut palms and Michael, one of the stouter guys lay on it while we were shooting the breeze. It gave way and he crashed to the ground. Midfall, he managed to yell ‘fall break’ while spreading out his arms to maximize his surface area and minimize injury just like how we were taught in judo class. That was the one and only time we used judo during our entire two-month tour.
The gym was not too bad. It had all the basic equipment nothing fancy. I started working out regularly. There was a small library right behind the office to which I found the key to after rummaging around. The books were crisp and new, it was obvious no one who’d ever stayed here was big on reading. The medicine cabinet had mostly expired pills and some basic bandaging. I found some pills for constipation and for a second, I entertained the idea of playing a prank. This place was getting to me. I resisted the temptation and threw most of it out. I sent a list of inventory back to base knowing very well that they’d refuse half of it.
Sometimes I sat in the control room watching the monitors for the cctv cameras. The prisoners knew when we watched them since zooming or scanning around made noise from the camera. Some of them would give us the finger. Others would flash us. A guy took to hitting one camera with a volleyball repeatedly for one good hour. One guy in isolation made entire banners and posters around his cell with profanity involving the president’s wife. There seemed to be a lot of activity inside the mosque back wall which was a camera blind spot. They were probably smoking joints which were smuggled in. The cameras were hi-tech. You could turn it in any direction and zoom so much that you could see up close, people walking around on the beach in the neighboring island.
One of the prisoners had caught hold of the prison staff’s walkie talkie. They would usually wait until midnight and then start broadcasting profanity. It would include the government, everyone in our base and then move on to singing. It was entertaining in a way. I walked back to my barracks one night after listening to one such broadcast. I had a coke can in my hand. The lid had fallen inside and I rattled it repeatedly as I walked in the dark behind other barracks. I just wanted to annoy whoever was trying to get some sleep.
The next morning roll call , we stood in formation as the days announcements were made. One of the older guys spoke up. He requested the flood lights be switched on , in the darker areas behind the barracks. I did not think much of it until later that day. When I joined the guys in the evening the conversation was about some urban legend. Apparently one local was refused a proper burial and his restless spirit is said to haunt this area. All the torture and evil that was perpetuated for years in the prison made this place unholy. This was evident since last night some had heard an ominous rattling in the dark. One of the older men sagely warned everyone. The rattling could only mean one thing. The Djinn who inhabited the trees nearby were getting restless.
And suddenly there it was. A scheme came into my mind fully formed.
The old man and the books 