Chapter 1238 1238 Trip to Prison

Hugo sat quietly in the gray-black pickup truck, leaning on the back of the seat, staring out the window motionless.

The dust-covered pine forest undulates in sight, the disorganized weeds under the bushes sway their teeth and claws recklessly, and the hot sun draws a halo on the gray green, but it lacks the gentleness and venomousness of the West Coast. The golden light seemed to be killing the remaining life in the air. The dust particles floating in the air are like the devil in a nightmare, lurking in the gloomy forest, ready to attack passersby who let their guard down.

Occasionally, you can see a mottled dark red billboard erected on the side of the road, pasted on it is the advertisement of the real estate agent in the city not far behind, but the bright smile is changed by a large piece of rotting moss on the cheek. Ugly. With a glance, you can see a mess of wires and a pile of abandoned railway tracks around the billboard, and there are a few rotting logs next to it.

The distance of the woods is not long, but within a few tens of seconds, the obstacles on both sides of the car were thrown behind in an instant, and the entire field of vision opened up. There are no rice fields and no crops, only scattered weeds stretch their branches and leaves unyieldingly on the dry land. A gust of wind blew, raising a piece of sand, making people unable to open their eyes, and even the slightly distant woods could not be seen very clearly.

Hugo stretched out his arm, and the gust of wind instantly completely wrapped his arm, and the boiling air penetrated through his fingertips, but he did not have the pleasant feeling he imagined, because the dry air was mixed with sand and dust. Constantly rubbing against the skin, the hot sun danced recklessly on the skin, as if it wanted to tear the skin out of wounds, and then melt the flesh until the bones were exposed.

Joseph, who was focused on driving, glanced at Hugo with some uneasiness, and then looked at the road ahead. Now, there are no vehicles on the road, as if traveling in the desert. But the slightly changed scenery on both sides reminds the driver: this is not a desert. But for Joseph, he would rather drive in the desert, because the surrounding scenery reveals an indescribable dilapidation, which makes people feel uncontrollably depressed.

"It's less than a mile away." Joseph tried to break the silence in the car, but after he said it, it seemed as if it was directly evaporated by the scorching sun around him, and disappeared into the air.

Hugo didn't look back, just replied "en", and then he didn't say anything more, the sound that came out of the car returned to calm again, only the wind outside the window could be vaguely heard under the scorching sun. The subtle sound of hula la blew all the life around it bit by bit.

After a long silence, a trace of life finally appeared on the horizon. In the distance, a wooden tower with a white base and red strokes could be seen. There seemed to be people moving on the tower.

If you get closer, you can see that there are layers of barbed wire on the right side of the tower that extend out as a fence, just like the barbed wire that the nobles built to keep their prey in captivity in the past.

On the left side of the tower is a toll booth-style passage, with right in and left out, and people on both sides standing guard. If you look closely, you can see the machine guns hanging around their necks, which don't look like toy guns at all.

The whole building was wrapped in yellow sand and heat waves, like the mouth of a sleeping giant, slightly open, waiting for the food to be automatically delivered to the door, and after entering, it could not come out. The giant beast was lying on the barren loess land, consuming all the vitality in the vicinity bit by bit, and even the air became sticky, and the movement of raising a hand was full of heaviness and irritability.

Joseph slowed down and drove towards the entrance on the right. There was no one around. There was only Joseph and Hugo in the front and back, as if the only survivors at the end of the world. The font above the toll booth gradually became clear as it approached, "Louisiana State Prison", the dilapidated blood-red font became decadent because it was stained with a layer of yellow sand.

The car stopped at the entrance of the toll station. There were three uniformed staff standing in the middle pavilion, and two staff members with guns came up. A young man in the pavilion looked over and saw the driver. After Joseph in the seat, he turned back to the two armed guards and said, "It's okay, it's Hugo and Joe."

The two armed guards stopped, waved at the car with a smile, and backed away.

Joseph got out of the car window, took out a stack of documents and handed it over. The young man took it and showed an apologetic smile, "The procedure still has to go, sorry." Joseph waved his hand lightly, saying that it doesn't matter, Then the young man laughed and said, "Hey Clark, good morning. Why are you on duty again today? Where's George?"

The young man named Clark shrugged helplessly, "George saw his father-in-law last night, he was so drunk that he couldn't go to work, but Ellie was terrified, she called me temporarily in the morning and asked me to come over to replace the shift. ."

"Poor George." Joseph showed a look of regret, took his ID from Clark, then turned to look at Hugo, Hugo handed a roll of paper over, and Joseph moved away , so that Clark could see Hugo, "This is for you."

Clark bent down and waved Hugo with a smile on his face. Hugo also showed a shallow smile, "Hey, Clark, good morning, how are you guys?"

Clark turned to his partner behind him and shouted, "Hey buddies, Hugo greets you." Then whistles rang out everywhere, accompanied by a roar of laughter, echoing through the space.

Clark took the paper tube and Hugo explained, "This is the poster you mentioned last time, I hope you like it."

Clark immediately opened the paper tube with joy, and said excitedly, "Is this the poster of 'Before the Sunrise'? The one signed by you and Charlize?" Hugo chuckled lightly, "Charlie Let me say hello to you on her behalf and, of course, Jenny."

"Oh God, Jenny is going to be so happy, Hugo, I swear to Jesus, I love you," Clark said happily, then turned back triumphantly to show off to his mates, but took a step. Only then did I realize that there was still business to do, so I stopped and turned back to the car and said, "You can go in now, I hope everything goes well today."

Joseph and Hugo thought of the surrounding guards and greeted them, and then drove slowly into the prison.

Just when the media reporters joined hands to block the "Death Ramble", Hugo, an important party, left Los Angeles early, away from the place full of countless concerns of right and wrong, and began to prepare for the shooting of "Death Ramble".

Hugo has spent the past three weeks in the Angola Prison in Louisiana. He not only wanted to know what Matthew's state of mind and emotions was like after nearly six years in prison; he also Want to understand as criminals, their views on the death penalty; including the criminals' psychological state in the process of being sentenced and committing crimes.

While Miami has always had the highest crime rate in the country, and New York City is on a par, but the prisons in Louisiana are the most heavily burdened places in the United States, in this land—land not far from Mexico, poisoned. In lands eroded by goods and violence, lands once ravaged by slavery, an average of fifty-five inhabitants is in prison, and many receive life sentences.

In Louisiana, the highest security prison is Angola, which is also the most famous prison in the United States. Because in history, this is a witness to the persecution of African Americans, and this barren land is deeply soaked in the blood of African Americans.

Angolan prisons were plantations that drove black slaves to cultivate in the nineteenth century, a land under slavery. After the Civil War, slavery was abolished, and the botanical garden was converted into a private prison. However, because it is a private prison, it has been operating and renting "prisoners" to provide labor, and the slave system has changed its soup rather than its medicine. In 1901, after the US government took over, they not only did not reform the cruel private prison system, but also maintained the original system and intensified their efforts to make huge profits.

In the cruel and inferior environment of this prison, the prisoners had to endure worse living conditions than slaves, because the prisoners who were sent to this prison were all "heinous prisoners". By the 1960s, Angola's prisons were widely known as the bloodiest prisons in the United States for their violent environments.

It was not until the civil rights movement of black Americans in the 1970s made a breakthrough that the rights of blacks were at least legally treated fairly, and the situation in Angolan prisons improved. But even so, three-quarters of the more than 5,000 inmates in Angolan prisons are black, and only 200 of them are likely to be released.

"Death Ramble" Matthew's prototype Elmer-Patrick-Saunier was detained in an Angolan prison. Hugo has always been curious. After six years in prison, Elmer began to turn to the nuns for help. Is this related to the prison environment? There are relationships. You know, Elmer was imprisoned in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the conditions at that time were still not good.

For the past three weeks, Hugo has been talking to inmates in Angolan prisons willing to volunteer, even staying in prison as long as the prison allows, feeling maddeningly enough. repressive environment. With the advancement of time, Hugo's words are decreasing and his mood is decreasing. He has been inevitably affected by this prison. It is like an abandoned place of despair, bit by bit eroding hope and hope. life.

Today, once again, Hugo and Joseph entered the prison slowly, their heavy feet as if they were walking in a swamp.