America the Poor: A Wanderers Tale, Vol Two

Chapter 5: Enter the Cafeteria, and my 1st meal

I noticed all I could in the dayroom, but at that moment, the intercom announced dinnertime, and I watched all the patients shuffle out of the TV room, and many came from the square hallways, going past me, staring blankly but they still walked on by. They all slowly headed past the staff office, and towards the original entrance in the main hall where I was dragged in. Their destination was the small cafeteria that I'd noticed when I first entered the ward. I followed them last, since I was quite hungry by then, and hadn't had a bite all day.

I followed the last in line, and again saw the cafeteria, like many I've seen before in life, but this one was a bit smaller. The chairs were also thick plastic, and the tables were bolted down, to discourage any unconventional potentially violent uses. Made sense I suppose.The staff did not wish to be subjected to a wooden or metal table to the head, that tends to ruin a workday im sure.

The bolts were big under those tables,, and looked strong, those tables weren't going anywhere anytime soon. If there was such a real thing as being "set in stone", those cafeteria tables certainly qualified. I sat down at a far table, but noticed something interesting on the far wall behind me.

There were a long set of metal lockers on the wall, with laminated names on each one, and each with a padlock on the front. I wondered then what they were there for, and found out later, but for the moment, they caught my attention, as undrugged as I was. I sat across from a blonde tall kid, with ear length hair, and he seemed almost congenial. His first name was Chris, and he had been there a month, for a crime he refused to talk about. He was friendly otherwise, and told me in direct terms the food there utterly sucked. He had only had a few meals there that he actually enjoyed, so I shouldn't expect much.

They brought the meals in from another magnetic door in the cafeteria, two quiet workers in white rolling in a metal tray cart. The meals were hot, and they distributed slowly and orderly. Within 5 minutes, we all had a tray, and a single kool aid type drink in a plastic cup, plus a half pint of milk in a paper carton.

 None of the utensils were metal, we had sporks only. A plastic combination of spoon and fork, very harmless(sadly). I remember little about that first meal, but beans were involved, the kind with hot dogs, and therefore somewhat digestible.

All my life I had never heard such a quiet meal being eaten. During my years throughout different public schools, it was always a cacophony of voices, young laughter, taunts, conversations, threats, jokes, and everything in-between. If sadness had an actual physical sound, it was that very first meal with boys in the prime of their young lives in that horrifying place of madness.

Chewing, swallowing, gulping, sips of drink, and no happiness or joy whatsoever. A graveyard would seem cheerier. That cafeteria was the very heart of tragedy to me. All the joy and laughter was sucked out somehow, and I had never seen anything more pitiful. Hateful threats would have been preferable, any noise of life was better than that utter silence. We ate in a quiet that was sadder than the tomb itself. Trays were moved, glasses were lifted and put down, and plastic utensils were lifted, but those were the only sounds audible, noises of utter hopelessness.

Eventually, trays were dumped and stacked on the same foodcart, and we shuffled out, singly, and sadly. Of course, myself being undrugged as of yet, and fully cognitive, I didn't shuffle then, I walked out, but most patients seemed slow and lethargic, not all of them though.

I guess different drugs and treatments had other effects, but the most common one was zombification from what I observed. Some had the shakes, and could barely hold their sporks to eat. Amazingly sad to watch, and I wondered, would I be one of them, sooner or later? Was that my destiny, to be a zombie boy, not knowing, and not really caring for anything, just stumbling and shaking through my days? I vowed right then and there to fight this, in every possible way I could. So many things I didn't know yet about that horrible place, but resistance was built into my nature regardless. Whatever happened, I was determined to fight them every inch of the way. As you my readers know by now, I am, and was, a creature of principles.