Page 75 of Thick

“Warden, this is Perry. No. Everything’s fine. Yes, Sir. No. they’re scheduled for this afternoon. Well, Madden and I have a few questions for you. Is there any chance you can stop by the observation station? No, Sir. Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir.”

He hung up the phone and shot me a look. “He’ll be here in a few minutes.”

“I can’t wait.”

My frustration with Perry soon changed to worry. I wondered, if threatened by the warden, just how I might react. Perry’s claim of my book being pornography was ludicrous at best, but the issue of me seeing Tate was real.

I didn’t do well with ultimatums, and I hoped the warden didn’t give me one.

After exchanging a few meaningful stares with Perry, the warden walked into the office. Perry straightened his stance as if her were in the presence of a superior military officer.

I stood. “Good afternoon, Sir.”

“Perry. Madden. What can I do to assist?”

“Sir, I believe CO Madden is reviewing pornography on her lunch break.”

The Warden looked at Perry. “Pornography?”

Perry nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

He shifted his eyes to me. “Well?”

“I’m reading a romance novel.”

He looked at Perry. “Is this why you called me here?”

“I also believe she’s intimate with an inmate.”

“That’s a serious accusation,” the warden said. He turned toward me. “Are you?”

“Not with an inmate in incarceration, no. I have spent some time with a former inmate, yes.”

“Who?’

“I don’t believe that’s relevant, Sir,” I said.

“I believe it is,” he said.

“I don’t see how it could be.”

“Reynolds,” Perry said. “She’s seeing Reynolds.”

The warden gave Perry a look. “Reynolds?”

“Tate Reynolds. 18 USC 922 (g). Felon in possession. He was released a few weeks ago, and then returned on a dope charge. Both charges were dropped.”

“But he’s a felon?”

Perry nodded. “He sure is. Penal Code 404.6 (a). Inciting a riot. He’s a biker.”

The warden looked at me. “The employment manual clearly states that no corrections officer ‘will willfully participate in forming a personal relationship with an inmate, parolee, probationer, or ex-offender.’ If you’re involved with whoever this ‘Reynolds’ is, you’re clearly in the wrong. If the relationship started while he was incarcerated, your actions were far more than contrary to policy, they were criminal.”

Tate Reynolds happened upon a group of people who were rioting, and was railroaded through the system for doing so. For anyone to tell me that I couldn’t see him because of his actions was to say that Reynolds was a substandard being.

I shot him a sideways look. “I’ll turn in my resignation at the end of this shift.”

His brow wrinkled. “I don’t know that your resignation is necessary. All we need to do is--”