Tales from the Inside: Ida Mae

Ida Mae Parker was on a federal hold in the county jail…she is a hefty 5’ 11” wall of a woman, a crack addict, who had already sat in the county for over a year when I arrived in her “pod”. I sat at her lunch table during one of my first few days in general population. I asked her what she did to get put in jail (I was curious about why everyone was there – I did learn later that it is considered rude to ask what people did- because of course they are all innocent)…Ida told me that she was a get away driver for a bank robbery…I jokingly said “obviously not a very good one.” Silence hushed over the table as everyone within ear shot looked at me…then looked at Ida, they were waiting to see if she was going to come across the table at me with her plastic spoon. She didn’t. But I did learn that my big mouth and quirky sense of humor might not serve me well in jail.
Ida and I ended up becoming friends. God still brings her to my mind on occasion. On those occasions I whisper a prayer for her.