81. Interview with Jesús Hernandez: Part 1

Jesús  Hernandez is a probation officer in Queens, New York, and was the assigned P.O. to Earl upon his release from prison. Mr. Hernandez’s office desk is covered with folders and Post-It notes, and Mr. Hernandez himself seems extremely fatigued, his tie loosened and the top few buttons on his dress shirt undone. He yawns and scratches his graying temples before speaking

12 July 2011

– Earl Bishop. Earl goddamn Bishop.

– One month. That’s all it took for him to violate. A month. [Mr. Hernandez sighs and shakes his head] I was surprised myself, actually, I admit. I gave him a week or less.

– I knew he’d violate, after that first conversation. He just had that look, like a chained animal? How they’re willing to chew off their own arm if they have to?

– You work long enough in this job, you get to know the type of people that come to see you just by their mug shot and the charges. I got the call from Florida, says that Bishop’s returning to the city and they need to have his papers sent over and processed. So I get his file and he looks like a decent guy. Small arson conviction, no priors, I can handle that. A lot of stress off my back, you know? Less I got to worry about.

– Then this kid walks in, and there goes my day.

– He sits across from me, on the other side of my desk, and doesn’t say a word. I’m reading through his file, sizing him up, trying to figure out exactly what it is about him that seems so—off.

– He’s looking around the room, at those certificates and the picture of my wife and son and everything, then he looks at me. Gives me this real beady stare, like he’s calm on the outside but seconds away from snapping, you know?

– He stares at me for a good ten seconds, then says “What now?”

– “What now?” All he said. And I just knew.

– Right then, I just knew. He hadn’t learned a goddamn thing in prison.

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