Two days ago, I found myself in a very frustrating position. I had just been given a bunk. His name is Danny. Danny had just gotten out of the hole.

I woke up at 5:00 a.m. to Danny having a conversation. I said to him, as politely as one could after being woken up at 5 a.m., “Hey Danny, you’re keeping me up.” Immediately, he got an attitude. He told me, “I’m not even loud. That guy over there is snoring all loud. But you know what? Whatever.”

Then he hopped off the top bunk and went out to the hallway to continue his conversation. For me, it was over. However, I didn’t think it was for him. Turns out, I was right.

Later that day, the orderly Mike came by to tell him he was moving to 215. He got upset. He came into the room talking to himself — really wanting everyone to hear. He went on and on about how someone had complained about him and got him moved. I ignored him. I knew I hadn’t. But he kept going. Becoming more aggressive. Name-calling. Accusing people of defending “chomos.”

I found that ironic — all but one of the people he was assuring “I’m not talking about you” had sex offenses involving minors. There was only myself and Dre left. I said, “Just so you know, I had nothing to do with you getting moved.”

He got more aggressive. Threatened to spread false information among his group. “How about we make it real hard for you around here.” I didn’t like that. I’ve learned that statements like that have power — the power to influence and energize a certain group of people — and when things go wrong, they go wrong very quickly.

Still, I took the high road. I told him what it was. He didn’t accept it. “Whatever, man. If you choose to believe otherwise with zero supporting evidence, that’s on you.”

Though I was still furious, I realized it was out of my control. Any attempt to make him see things more rationally could have turned into a bigger problem. I can’t afford that. My mind is focused on my release. I don’t have any disciplinary incidents, and I refuse to let someone draw me into one. So I swallow my pride.