After the hard cell flood, Nathan was moved to the Hospital cell. We had turned off the water in the Hospital cell. Concrete floor, iron walls, iron bars, and a cold steel bunk attached to the wall. The Sheriff’s orders were for Nathan not to be given anything except food and water, or until he calms down. However, Nathan soon found a weakness in our strategy.

The next morning around 09:00, a trustee rushed into the book-in exclaiming that Nathan had barricaded himself into the hospital cell.  I thought that he couldn’t possibly barricade the door because it opened outwards. Nathan was already cackling as I walked into the cell area. Nathan had taken a bedsheet and twisted it taught into a fine rope. One end of the sheet was tied to his metal bunk. The other end was tied to the handle of the barricade-proof door. Nathan had reverse-engineered the door’s main design. The knot looked impressive. A Gordian knot so to speak. By now I am pissed because I cannot get any of my work done. The Chief Jailer and the Sheriff came to the hospital cell. They were angry and the Sheriff had his gnarly-looking stick. “Earl’s Stick”, meant business when he pulled that out.

“Open the door Englett!” said the Sheriff. Without speaking I jostled the jail keys until I found the hospital cell door key. Nathan was taunting the Sheriff and Earl was telling him what he is going to do to him when he got in. When I attempted my best to yank to the cell door, it only opened about 6 inches. The Sheriff was pulling on the door with all his might, but that knot held fast.

“Go get a knife Englett!” I ran to the kitchen where Ms. Louise gave me one of her butcher knives. It was impressive. It looked like the knife in Psycho. When I got back, I gave the knife to the Chief Jailer. George began to cut at the bedsheet through the 6-inch gap. When George would cut, Nathan would grab at the tip of the knife. Well, the 6-inch opening was open just enough for Earl to get his arm and stick through. When George would cut, Nathan would grab it. When Nathan would grab it, the stick would come down. The sergeant began cutting furiously. This routine went on until Nathan snatched “The Stick” away from Earl. “I’m gonna break your stick sheriff!” “I’m gonna break your stick!” Said Nathan in his shrill voice.

“You do, and I’ll break your ass”, said the Sheriff.
The sheriff told George to stop cutting at the bedsheet. As Nathan taunted the sheriff about breaking his stick, the sheriff began to back away from the door opening. Earl began to insult Nathan’s I.Q. level. Nathan became furious. Nathan’s anger gave him the courage to stick his face through the 6-inch opening and confront Earl face to face. When he did Earl let him have it right in the face with mace. None of that pepper spray B.S., but military-grade MACE. Cold war, Vietnam era chemical warfare. Nathan repelled backward dropping the stick and shrieking in pain. His hands covered his eyes as he raced for the toilet. George started cutting while Nathan was face down in the toilet bowl. He was using both hands to fling the toilet water into his eyes. It was at that time I wondered what fluids Nathan was using. The hospital cell’s water supply had been turned off for some time.

George cut through the sheet. I bolted inside and dragged a still-screaming Nathan back to the hard cell. It had been cleaned from his downstairs flooding. A swift investigation took place. The sheriff had ordered that only a hospital gown was to be given to Nathan while he was in the hospital cell. Where did the bedsheet come from? The investigation found that a night shift trustee had given the bedsheet to Nathan. The trustee said that Nathan complained about being cold, so he gave him a sheet. Another trustee went back to the population. We referred to trustees as riskees’.