She’s here!!! Yes, my woman did make it back, after all. I figured she would.

Woodruff worked for the first time ever. The one that was rude to me at Visitation. She was very nice to me today, though.

Baldilocks woke Misha and I up, but I managed to sleep on and off till 12:30 when our hour out came up. I shaved and washed my hair in case I’m too tired to go out tomorrow.

I gave Tiffany a few extra pieces of paper and I wrote: Be quiet and don’t beg!

She laughed at that one.

Anyway, my woman was smiling brightly when she saw me waiting at the door for her when she came through the door.

“Is this the day?” she asks, but I know she knows better. Just one more full day!

I gave her the kite and the rat picture that lived in the door for the last few weeks. She was happy to receive them.

I tried to ease any concerns she may’ve had about us talking, by letting her know Misha sleeps a lot, and she said, “Oh, she doesn’t mind?”

She hasn’t checked out the properties yet, she said, because her other job threw more work at her.

She just did her third walk, offering Tylenol. I asked if she requested to be here, and she confirmed that she did. She said she tried to get in yesterday, but couldn’t, and doesn’t know where she’ll be tomorrow.

I wonder what she said to get in here. Certainly, she couldn’t have come out and said, “Well, there’s this inmate I like that also likes me that’s leaving soon…”

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She’s been busy moving people on her last couple of walks. One of the Mexican girls is freaking out right now. Teddy Bear just asked her something in Spanish, but all I could hear was “por que.”

Before this, she passed by while I was on the bed browsing through papers, and she goes, “Hey, Dawn,” in a soft, singsong sort of voice, then said a few more words I couldn’t make out before moving on.

I’d have to be hit by a Mac truck not to know she likes me.

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Wow! That’s the first time I was complimented on my many gray hairs! I always hated them because these gray hairs don’t look like normal gray hairs. The fucking things look like spider webs. They’re so shiny that it looks like I walked into a giant web or something. Anyway, I asked for her opinion on whether or not I should dye my hair red, and should I go with auburn or a bright, pinkish shade of red, and she said she always thought my gray hairs were so attractive because I have the perfect coloring for that salt and pepper look, and it goes well with my blue-green eyes (which I pointed out are really olive). She said she liked that because they’re unusual. I told her I like her brown eyes which are the color of weak coffee, and often wished my own eyes were brown.

Normally I don’t like red hair, but hers is gorgeous. I don’t like bright fiery red or orangey-red. Hers isn’t like that. It’s a softer shade of red with beautiful gold highlights.

True to Misha’s word, she’s been sleeping ever since Teddy Bear came on (or at least pretending to). She’s not very happy right now. She really counted on getting out of here Wednesday and hasn’t gotten her psych meds.

Although I’ve heard Teddy Bear yell at a few people, it hasn’t seemed to put a damper on her jovial mood. She said she hasn’t read the kite yet because they’ve all been driving her crazy and keeping her busy.

They picked the wrong fucking night for this shit! And why couldn’t Misha have disappeared just until 3rd shift?

I hear Marla bitching at her right now.

Mace the bitch, Teddy Bear!

Dios mios! Miss Mexico’s crying again now, too. Water and electricity don’t mix. Why don’t you zap those tears away, Teddy Bear!

I know I sound so mean and insensitive, seeing that I was pretty hysterical myself when I first came here. I just needed that fucking inhaler, and everything went wrong that day so I got fed up.

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My second to last dinner was this gross meat patty of some kind in runny, bland mashed potatoes that neither of us ate. I’m sure my last dinner will be hot dogs.

Although Misha only got up for dinner, then made earplugs and went back to sleep, Teddy Bear admitted she had been a little hesitant there, but I assured her she couldn’t hear shit, and she chatted with me. That is after things simmered down.

She doesn’t blush anymore with me. Misha thinks it’s because she’s comfortable with me now.

Misha thinks she smokes. I hope not! But I don’t think so. Her teeth are too white for that. I don’t think she even drinks coffee. I never smell smoke on her. I never smell anything on her. No perfume or anything like that. No drugs or alcohol that I can sense, either.

I asked Teddy Bear why she didn’t have more of an accent being from Georgia, and she said she was not originally from there. I asked her where she was originally from and she said California.

Unfortunately, her bird’s sick. I guess the AC got to it, so she put it outside. That bird’s going to die. I saw it, but I didn’t tell her. How sad, though. I hope she finds another one she likes that’ll live longer.

When we came up with our dinner trays, I told her to let me know when it was her final walk, so I could tell her something that I wanted to wait till then to tell her. She said OK, and smiled happily.

I’ve never seen this woman smile so much. I swear she’s been acting like she won the lottery for the last few weeks.

I showed and explained to her about my ear from the surgery I had in Boston in the 70s to build an outer ear, to dismantling it in ‘94 and getting the surgically drilled canal. I told her that although they built an eardrum, I didn’t get shit for hearing in that ear, but am used to it because it’s always been that way.

She said she’s seen my ear before.

She has? Must’ve been when I had it pulled back in a ponytail.

She said I did really well with the Spanish in my kite.

I told her the names of those who I thought were the worst and best-looking DOs. When I said she was one of the best, she said, “How sweet.”

There is one thing Misha and I actually agree on and that’s that we don’t think she’ll wait a whole year. I think she’ll contact me before Christmas. She’s definitely not going to contact me within a few months because she’s testing me. Just like I tested her, she’s got to make sure I’m for real. Seeing is believing for most of us, and she’s got to see that I’m not some psycho stalker and that I don’t return here like most of them do.

The reason I tested her by telling her things like how I broke my arm, my ear, and my driving phobia, was to make sure she knew up front that I’m different, although the jumping out windows isn’t that unique. More people try to kill themselves than feel uncomfortable driving or have 1½ outer ears, 1 fake ear canal, and no hearing on one side. So far, I’d say her accepting people as they are is one of her best traits. That and her sense of humor and her being so brainy. I wonder how many languages she knows.

Misha and I have been debating all kinds of things about her like a couple of trial lawyers. It’s pretty funny. Besides, what else have we got better to do?

Anyway, her best physical qualities are her height, her eyes, that nice, firm ass and believe it or not, I really do like her hair color. It’s hard to tell in her uniform, but I think she might have nice legs, too. It’s as if anything that’s a part of her suddenly becomes beautiful. If she’d been a blond, she’d make that seem beautiful too, and I was never a fan of blond hair, either.

As far as window-jumping and funny ears go, she seems to be pretty accepting and doesn’t seem like the type to judge me by my past or anything like that. Even so, I probably won’t tell her too much more about my back east life. Too many people have either gotten uncomfortable with it or thought I was seeking their pity. What was I to do, though, when people would ask about my life? Lie? I don’t think so, and besides, they asked. So if they couldn’t handle the answer, that was their problem. I could care less about what 99% of the population thinks about anything as far as my past or present goes. I’ll tell a complete stranger my life story. I just don’t care. But Teddy Bear’s different. With her, I do care. Unlike with Teddy Bear, I don’t care that my own mother-in-law read that bullshit article on me.