Those days at Mountain View

 When I arrived at Dorm 10, Mr. Hallmark was our morning shift guard. Mr. Hallmark to my surprise was a man who loved to see young guys fight without gloves. Besides we had no gloves, not even for work or winter cold. In winter we were issued only a blue jean denim jacket with no inside liners. And as I was saying I was shocked to find out that every morning when Mr. Hallmark was on duty; which was five days, the first thing that we would have to do because this was the morning ritual for those five days, was fight before going to breakfast. I remember that we would be woke up at about 5 a.m.. Then we would be allowed out from our sleeping area that was monitored by a night shift guard who was perched up high next to the ceiling between the partition wall that separated Dorm 9 and Dorm 10. This guard would always leave lights dimmed so that he could see everything below. And as a side note, we could never hear what was going on in dorm 9 because of this space between walls. So when Mr. Hallmark came in to relieve the night guard, he would first blink the lights and wake us up. Then we cleaned ourselves at the wash basins and then unlocked and opened a single door at the center of the bedding area and day room area. After he opened the door he would stand at the wide and high picture windows that faced in both directions and watch us come out of our sleeping corral from the Day Room area. The first thing we would do is head to the half door at the clothing room and pick up clean clothing to wear during the day. At night, before showering we were issued our clean underwear every night. And so once we had been issued our clothes from inmates that had been assigned to work the Clothes Room, we moved on to our assigned folding metal chairs situated against the wall and dressed there. There were no female civilians allowed to work anywhere here except at the school. Nevertheless, once dressed to our waist, we could not put on a T-shirt or shirt.  And then we would sit down in complete silence in our chair and watch Mr. Hallmark put on his yellow leather gloves on and do his slow walk all around the day room in circles as he would look at each one of us in ours eyes and as he went by he would point to an inmate and then another at random and pair them up for the fight. Once called to the center the two guys picked first would fight the classic chest and body punch fight. There was no hitting in the face and if someone did lose control and hit someone in the head or face, Mr. Hallmark would stop that fight and deal with the violator personally. This went on until at least four pairs fought each morning for about 8 to 10 minutes each before breakfast. The fights were brutal and we knew that sooner or later we would have to fight at least once or twice every two weeks. At Dorm 3 it was common knowledge there that Mr. Sassy had employed the same gladiator system there too. Mr. Sassy was also a morning guard. I believe that other morning guards at other Dorms had the same policy but not to the extent of Dorm 10 and Dorm 3. At times other Dorms like Dorm 12 and 13 would bring their best to fight our best. I got to fight El Cabezon from Houston from dorm 12. El Cabezon and Joel Roman from Houston from my Dorm employed what we called The Double Hammer Blow. This hit was employed like lightning fast with both fists and it was painful because they could break collar bones if they got you good. I got to fight both of these guys but they didn't get me. Oh!, But their hits were painful. It was here that I learned to fight street fight like never before. I was paired with guys like Happy Skull, La India, Little Eye, Sleepy, Fat Judy, Dunkentail, Slim, Bugger, Joel Roman my best friend, and Joe El Negro de Houston, The Big O; Oscar Lott, Derrick, and so many others. All these people and the others were my friends. Even El Cabezon the great Baker at the Kitchen. And if you will remember Joe El Negro was the guy fighting across my cell at Diagnostic the first night that I got to Gatesville in 1965. Julio from Dallas, was the other guy that Joe was fighting there and Julio was at Dorm 13. Julio was a good friend who stabbed me with a pencil on my thigh one day at school. And as he dashed to get away I stabbed him with a pencil hard on his right arm after catching up to him. So Joe El Negro was with us at Dorm 10 and Julio and Joe El Negro were real fighters too. And please let me inject here with respect to all the other bad asses there then, I am not leaving you out either. I just can't  remember all the peoples' names now. But we can't forget L. C. the six foot seven inch young Black guy from dorm 13. I can still see the faces of these guys. And I know what life was like here. And I learned to Love Mr. Hallmark and my evening Guard Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones was not callous and or brutal; he loved to read his western novels and let us behave ourselves properly or he would send us to the Supervisors who were brutal. A guard by the name of Mr. Jones was his relief guard while Mr. Jones, our regular guard, was off. The relief guard Mr. Jones we called Red Jones because of his red hair. Mr. Ramsey the Black guard relieved Mr. Hallmark in the morning. Both these relief guards were good guards. So in closing let me tell a sad story that I personally witnessed on a late beautiful sunny morning as I was coming out from school. A good looking middle aged White woman was my teacher the 22 months that I was there, and for history's sake, her name was Mrs. Reynolds. Now as for Mrs. Reynolds student teacher she was a very young beautiful woman in her early 20's.The date of this sad day was sometime in 1968. Somehow another very handsome young guy who by all appearance looks like one of those Golden Boys... is sentenced here. He is assigned to Dorm 1 or 2 on that side. I remember that he looked like one of those just completely decent and innocent rich kids who never gets in trouble. I don't understand how he was sent into this place? Well, some Blacks over at his place started coming on to him and he got scared. Then a powerful White guy from the Aryan Clan who I can't remember his name now, but he was over on Dorm 3 with my friend Louis Gerhart or Dorm 6 with Marcos Martinez my friend and other people like The Waco's and Santana. Anyway this White guy was trying to keep this young White kid from being raped and making The Whites who "Counted" there look bad. So the Tough White tries to recruit the kid and offer protection because this White Badass had a lot of Power with the Whites there. The Mexicans and Blacks respected this White guy also. But the innocent one chose to hang out with the Blacks on that side instead because he was a free spirit type of person. And everywhere this kid went The Blacks surrounded him and he laughed and continued to hang out with the Blacks. Well on this morning, as I came out of class and  I was walking out the school front doors, I saw the young Golden Boy was happy talking with other White guys walking in a cluster rushing to our dorms on this wide concrete walkway. And as I am walking closer to the paved road in front of us, and behind this out of place kid, I see Myers; I think this guy's name started with an  "M" so I will call him Myers for our purpose here. the Tough White guy. So there is Myers standing in front of the Kitchen where the Volleyball nets were all alone and he is facing us coming out of school. Then I saw the nice kid enter the paved road when Myers walks up to him and gets his attention and this 16 or 17 year old kid stopped to see Marvin and gets stabbed twice in the heart. As the boy stands in shock blood gushes out of his chest like a faucet turned on wide open. Then I see the look on the poor kid's face as he is still standing looking at Myers in shock, and then falls to the pavement dead. This thing happened so fast and furious that the Supervisors standing at their picture window looking north couldn't even react to this murder fast enough. Even though the school building and dorm 9 was right in front of their view. And those guys were only about 100 feet away. These Supervisors had to stand watch at these critical hours at these windows everyday because of fights. Myers probably worked in the garden because he had taken a pair of 8 inch long blade pruning shears and separated them and with one blade with a handle stabbed the non militant kid. And I saw stabbings and crazy mad fights, but that one was the second death I saw with my own eyes myself. People, it never fails that if we leave a good operation over to man, we will screw it up badly. Myers was a good guy too, and if one had got to know him I'm sure you would have liked him. But he had been programmed to survive in a world of wolves and alligators. Just like all people of any tribe. And as a result of killing the misplaced kid, he had to finish out the rest of his added time at T.D.C.. And yes, Atoning for my sins has not been easy either regardless of having repented of my sins. This World is very sick!!!!! And I contributed to its defects. So I want to record these stories because someday people will be forced to look at the bad reflection of us in the Mirror. Poor Golden Boy, who will remember him? He was definitely out of place here. And he refused to obey the Rules of the Brotherhoods that exist in all Correctional Institutions. And do you know that after that day, there was no mention of Myers or the dead kid. Or about how the dead kid didn't even get to eat lunch or write a love letter home later that evening. Everything went on as usual; like as if these two people didn't ever exist. And I never even learned where these two were from or what kind of crimes got them both here at this time? Or who their parents were or nothing at all about them. Yes..., Waylon Jennings said it best when he said in a song, I burned up my childhood days. And after I was release from there and was at my house, Mr. Hallmark drove up at my dad's driveway and paid me a great visit. He was all slicked up in his Sundays' best going out clothes. And he did look sharp and extremely happy to see me. And I was happy to see him too. His visit was a complete surprise for me. And I did leave out the punishment that he administered to us after each school semester  if we brought him anything lower than an "A" grade in any and all subjects at school. Needless to say, it was a lot of us who got beat those days right after that. But, if I recall correct perhaps I did briefly. Anyway, he was always harping on us about being educated and smart. And I owe him a lot for that. Let us sleep on that, guys. This finishes up the Mountain View School saga for me. In  May of 1969 Providence had it that my Brother David and I were paroled on the same day. And I do apologize sincerely to all my friends at this place at this time who I didn't mention their names. There are so many of them, like all my Mexican friends at Dorm 10. There was Felipe from Lockhart, Louis Hernandez from Montopolis in Austin, El Marano y Sammy del West. And at Dorm 2, El Tanke from San Antonio too. So many more! Thanks again.                                                                                                                            Respectfully,                                                                                     Ruben N. Gutierrez