CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
2002 – Kouche
Two weeks after my sentencing, I arrived at FCI Fairton. It was in New Jersey, about a three-hour drive from my parents’ house. I put both of them on my visitation list, as well as Hopeton. My mom told me she’d work on getting my dad to drive over with her- I told her not to push it. My father would start visiting when he was ready. I knew he loved me. That was enough for now.
I spent my first week at Fairton waiting for administration to get me released into general population, so they kept me sequestered in a tiny one-person cell.
In Haiti, when you receive the lwa, there’s a practice called kouche that takes place immediately following your ceremony. For seven days and seven nights you're confined to one small room. You spend your days alone, praying and sleeping. People come in and feed you. But this is a period of complete and total introspection- the time you need to get right with yourself and your lwa.
I saw my first week in federal prison as my own personal version of kouche.
I was in fully activated ghost mode and needed to make sure my spirit was grounded.
