Book Excerpt - Part Three: The Journey
The Journey - Poughkeepsie
Somehow Allan was able to pull it all together. He found a basement-apartment in Poughkeepsie, near Dutchess Community College that was affordable Student housing was usually reasonable and was available for short-term students. Allan had one last semester to complete before he satisfied the requirements of an Associate in Arts Degree. His plan was to apply to NYU’s, Continuing Education Program, that ran classes at night for students that worked full time. Allan felt reasonably sure he could get into the program.
He also had a job waiting for him when he expected to move back to the city. He would work for his friend, Ken Jackson, who had just started an adolescent rehabilitation program called, “Offender Aid and Restoration”, a/k/a O.A.R. Ken was one of the founders of the Fortune Society, a not-for-profit, ex-offender program, that offered rehabilitative services to clients coming home from jail or with pending cases in Criminal or Supreme court. He continued to serve on the Board of Directors of The Fortune Society.
His new program had a different twist. Rehabilitation was the new theme for the Justice Department. Offender Aid and Restoration was an experiment to created and train community volunteers to work with violent juveniles and adolescent offenders by counseling them in jail and becoming a big brother or sister for them on the outside once they were released. That was basically it. Most of the office employees were not ex-offenders, but a few were. Allan was one of those few.
Board members included, Governor Mario Cuomo, Judge Bruce Wright, a sitting Criminal Court Judge, and the Hon., Ramsey Clark, who currently ran a small international law firm in lower Manhattan but had previously been U.S. Attorney General serving under President Johnson’s administration and whose father was a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. An impressive Board.
Once Allan completed his last semester, at Dutchess Community College, it was his plan to move back to New York City and stay with a friend until he could save enough money to get his own apartment. His friend Tony Arrighi had a criminal record and was a recovered heroin addict but because he was clean and employed for over 10-years, Allan was allowed to live with him.
School was a breeze and Allan continued to do well. Unfortunately, his newly discovered self and his need to express himself after so many years of silence often got him into trouble. A good example was when his English teacher, during his last semester was coming on to some of his young female students. Allan found it to be very offensive but wasn’t sure how to deal with it. It bothered him that a middle-aged man with power over grades would flirt with his female students. But what could he do? He didn’t have any power to change it. If he opened his mouth, it wouldn’t go well for him. But still Allan had a bad taste in his mouth. The interaction between Allan and his professor ended poorly. He got a “B” in the class. It was the only “B” Allan received as an undergraduate. Retrospectively he realized he must have driven the poor guy crazy and that’s why he got a B in the course.
During Allan’s last semester at, DCC, he made a few local friends, mostly women. He studied most of the time understanding it was important to keep his GPA high if he wanted to get into a good bachelor program. His relationship with Toni, blossomed. They spent lots of personal time together, but she would did not introduce him to any of her friends or her parents. She was afraid they wouldn’t accept him. She was worried that he had tattoos and spoke in a gruff manner. She loved it, but she knew her parents would hate him. Allan didn’t give it much thought at the time. She was the first professional he was ever involved with in a romantic way, and he liked it. She knew how to push back when necessary and helped tremendously with his transition from jail to society.
Although, Toni, was very supportive of Allan’s rehabilitation efforts, she was not terribly encouraging about his prospects for success. She believed that too much damage had already been done and that Allan’s expectations were unrealistic. He wanted to be a professional. Because of the way he looked, and spoke, and carried himself she was very skeptical about his possibilities. And she made it known to him.
He, on the other had felt like he was in love with her. He had never been intimate-with a professional woman. His world was changing. In one of his English classes, it was suggested that Allan keep a diary. In it he would write poetry, or abstract thoughts that just popped into his head. He was high on life, feeling romantic and privileged to be accepted. But he was still an outsider. It would take many years for him to be accepted. Many, many, years and a lot of hard work. (Could be a glossary of sample writings from my diary; check for samples)
Shortly after Allan was settled into his Poughkeepsie apartment his local parole officer told Allan that he would be making a home visit and that when he did, he would be telling Allan’s landlord about his criminal record and the fact that he was on parole.
Allan was quiet for a moment and then spoke slowly and deliberately.
“And exactly why are you telling her about my criminal record and the fact that I am currently on parole when you can tell her you are checking my references, and that you wish to verify my current living address? You can ask her if I am a responsible tenant, do I bring visitors into my apartment? Things like that. Anything relevant to your investigation is fine with me. But if you tell her about my record and I lose my apartment because of your actions everything I’ve worked for will have been in vain.
I need a place to live and if I can’t find a place to live, I cannot continue my studies and I cannot satisfy the terms of my parole-release obligations. How do you think that’s going to wash with your supervisor, or for that matter, with the Commissioner of Parole who I intend to communicate with if you go in that direction? This is not a threat, it’s a promise. You can’t just chop off my legs even before I learn to walk and not expect me to react.
I don’t want any trouble with you, and I don’t want to be treated any differently than any other parolee. I’m really trying very hard to change my life. Help me out here.
Doesn’t what I just said make sense? Talk it over with your supervisor. Please. I’m begging you! I promise you, that you will not regret it. I’ll be your best supervisee. All I’m asking is just give me a chance to prove myself. Please don’t make it impossible for me.”
Allan, quickly put in a call to his friend Kenny Jackson. Kenny was well connected to people in higher government who might be able to help. One of his close friends was, Deputy Parole Commissioner of Parole Services, Edward Elwin, who worked out of Albany. Kenny reached out to Deputy Commissioner Elwin and Allan’s parole officer was told to back off. He never mentioned it again to Allan.
And then it was over. Allan graduated and received his Associate in Arts Degree. He was so proud. He never thought he would see that day. He was grateful for the opportunities that were made possible to him. He remembered conversations he had with inmate friends while in prison. They would laugh at him because he was going to school. They would say things like “you’re a 3-time loser; no one will hire you; no one will accept you; no one will trust you. Why are you wasting your time? You’re too old to go to school. Do you know how old you will be by the time you graduate?” and on and on and on.
And he remembered his replies. “Right now, I’m having fun. You’re never too old to go to school. I’m not looking at the big picture. I’m only taking it one semester at a time. Let’s see where it goes.’
