I'M A NEW YORKER IN A VIRGINIA PRISON

I recently sat at a table with two men from New York. We were discovering that we loved the same music. That had me chuckling, because when I stepped away, I was instantly surrounded by Virginians that I felt ostracized by. Why? We have nothing in common but prison, workouts, and television shows.

We can't relate to walking to a subway station and going uptown to catch a movie. Or hanging out in Madison Square Garden, catching a Knicks game. I never really focused on any of this, because I'm a social butterfly; I socialize with everybody. But when I'm with my NY brethren, we vibe differently. Like when I'm with my Brooklyn homeboy Lex.

I was in the day room standing around and he approached me talking about the Brooklyn Manhattan beef. He rhymed, "Brooklyn keeps on taking it, Manhattan keeps on making it, Bronx keeps on creating it, and Queens keeps on faking it." We laughed, because we were home, on the block, arguing about whose borough was the best. There's no malice, just two out-of-town men finding solace in one another. I can't do that with those from Virginia.

Now I made friends with men from Virginia, but we always have different tastes: They're about their chicken spots, the Washington Commanders, cars that have big rims and big booty women. I won't lie, everybody loves a big booty, but in New York, we have a variety of different cultures.

It's wild, but being from New York, I have no ethnic barriers. The geeks play Dungeons and Dragons, and I'm right there talking shop. The White, and Spanish community, I fit in easily. I'm a New Yorker, we know how to be in the mix. It's second nature. That's why I get so much love from those around me. Even so, nobody from Virginia can take me to Far Rockaway for a gyro, and Brooklyn for White Castle burgers, while showing me a Kung Fu theatre in Chinatown that has all the Shaw Brothers classics. My New York brethren could.

That's why we link up in the recreation yard and walk for hours. We're back home, strolling through the city, happy. We may be from different boroughs, but we're the closest thing to home that we got, and we make it work.

What I love most is when our sports teams win. We're in the chow line yelling out New York. Nobody pays us any mind, but to us, it's like we're on 42nd Street celebrating a championship.

New York. Concrete jungle where dreams are made. New York...in prison, we made those dreams come true by keeping each other close.

Have you been away from your hometown, finding a connection with someone from there by sharing stories about it?