The Island

By Allan Wilcox

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 27, 2012
• ISBN: 9781479703197

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Copyright © 2012 by Allan Wilcox.

ISBN:          Softcover                                 978-1-4797-0318-0

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4797-0319-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Contents

Chapter One      The Island

Chapter Two      Sakatah

Chapter Three      The Pen

Chapter Four      The Second MCS

Chapter Five      Texas

Chapter Six      California, Then Home

Chapter One

The Island

May 1st was a memorable day. I received a call from an old friend and political ally, who was now the CEO of Minnesota Correctional Solutions, headquartered in St. Paul Minnesota. He asked me if I was tired of retirement, and if I would be interested in a position with the company he thought might interest me. I said I would certainly be interested in hearing about the job, and in catching up on the news of him and other old friends.

I visited MCS headquarters, and was escorted to Gene’s office. He suggested that we adjourn to our old political hangout, the Gopher Grill, which in our politically active days was the favored meeting place of state politicians and activists.

Gene said that Minnesota Correctional Solutions was one of many companies formed to take advantage of the recently passed law by the legislature which authorized private correctional institutions as a means of improving the dismal prison system, and to save the state money.

Gene was hired by MCS at its conception because of his political connections and administrative experience as CEO of a large chain of nursing homes, which was rated highly for their effectiveness. He had grown with MCS as it did, and had become its Chief Executive Officer ten years ago.

Although his formal position was CEO, in the terminology of MCS, he was Captain. When the firm was established, the board took a page out of the book of the first successful airline startups, and used navy style uniforms and terminology. Gene said that a new position had opened up at a location I would like.

One of the first facilities built after Gene became CEO was called The Island, on land formerly occupied by Isle Royal National Park. When the National Park Service reorganized during the second Great Depression, the land reverted back to the State of Minnesota, and MCS obtained a perpetual lease on the island to build a correctional institution. MCS subsequently leased a small piece of land on the mainland, which was part of the local Chippewa Nation reservation, as a docking facility for ferries to facilitate traffic to and from The Island.

I flew into the Minneapolis airport, where Gene and his driver met me. Gene had insisted that I fly on a first class ticket, something I almost never did on my own dime.

We headed straight to Duluth, Minnesota, where we took the scenic North Shore Drive route, stopping for lunch at the Grand Portage Inn and Casino, run by the same Chippewa Indians who had leased its land to MCS for the mainland ferry dock.

After a grand lunch of walleye, we proceeded to the ferry landing, where the driver dropped us off at the passenger terminal. After transferring our luggage to the ferry, the driver headed away to return to his office in Grand Portage, and await further calls for the limo.

We were met at the ferry dock on The Island by an electric taxi, which took us to the dormitory building on Main Street, where we were housed in comfortable but small quarters, which I was told were fairly typical of the dorm rooms for The Island detainees that MCS called students.

As arranged the night before, I met Gene in the lobby and we walked to the Student Mess (the dining hall), where we were joined by my second-in-command Rob Nelsen, who had served in the same position under my predecessor, and Darryl Jensen, a student who would be my steward.

I asked Darryl how he had become a detainee. The word prisoner was never used, the preferred term being student, in keeping with MCS’s avowed purpose of teaching detainees to become useful members of society. Darryl replied that he and his chief chef George, who were managing a very upscale golf club in Saint Paul, had been indicted for willful evasion of the Workman’s Comp provisions, by classifying some employees as independent contractors, a ploy used by many firms, but frowned upon both by the state and the IRS. They were prosecuted by the state when a random audit discovered their purported transgression.

Darryl told me that both he and the chef because they met the guidelines as first time, non-violent offenders had been assigned to The Island. He further informed me that when appointed as Captain’s Steward, he had requested that the chef be appointed as Captain’s Chef, who was also Master Chef of The Island. In a short time I came to appreciate Darryl’s efforts, one breakfast to be exact, when I was served Eggs Benedict that equaled those The Criterion served. Darryl also told me that all of the residence staff was chosen by him from the labor pool of students, since this was not only easy on the budget, but qualified some of the students (especially the kitchen staff, under the chef) as engaging in a learning experience.

Well satisfied with Darryl, I then turned to Rob, and asked him why The Island was graced by his presence. Rob said that he had been convicted of sales tax fraud while running a vending machine company. He had served in his present capacity through four Captains. I made an appointment with Rob for breakfast the next morning to discuss the general layout of the facility, and asked him to bring a map if one was available.

I asked Gene to explain to us how we could best please the corporation, and specifically, what they expected of me. Just two main goals, Gene said. Show long term profits, and get high marks from the regulators.

I asked Gene what regulators I would have to deal with, and he informed me that in addition to the usual suspects like OSHA and fire inspectors, we faced even more critical inspections from The Bureau of Corrections (formerly The Prisons Department), and most importantly, The Department of Human Relations, which was responsible for ensuring the humane and civil treatment of those entrusted to us. At this point, Rob said that this department was chaired by the wife of a former Governor, who inspected the facility herself, and was extremely well-qualified. She was fair but demanding, particularly in the area of nutrition.

Gene pointed out that we had a good record, that MCS expected it to continue, and that he had every confidence in us. On that happy observation, we adjourned our informal meeting.

As arranged, I met with Rob the next morning. He spread out a large map of The Island. Rob pointed out a large area holding several sizable buildings, and informed me that this was the first industry on The Island, The Sawmill, where a large amount of pine was sawed and rough-finished to provide the lumber to build the original housing and other buildings on The Island, including the ferry landing buildings. Today it is used to saw hardwood trees into lumber for export to the mainland, and is a major profit center second only to the next enterprise, which Rob pointed out on the northeast side of The Island. This was where a huge limestone deposit was found, quite close to the surface. The dirt overlay (called overburden) was quickly removed and stored by a GM Terra-former bulldozer, and The Quarry was opened, carving out large limestone blocks and slabs, which became the chief building material. Later, a cement factory was built to transform the chippings and spoiled slabs into cement, which when mixed with our plentiful supply of sand, and became the mortar used to put up the buildings, as well as build sidewalks and trails.

You probably noticed the three completed high-rise buildings, and the one under construction that dominate the skyline of The Island, when we took the ferry to the Island, said Rob. "The three