You'll probably be here all day. We're backed up, so you probably won't see a judge till tomorrow. That's the way it is. Get in the cell.

I stepped in, the cell doors clanked shut. My hangover was hitting me now. Three Dominicans in suits immediately ceased their conversation and began staring at me. I looked at them, and then around the cell. There were about seventeen men. A few were white and spanish, but mostly everyone was black.

All the benches were taken, a lot of the men had taken to sleeping on the floor. It was Wednesday morning, around 9am. I had been up all night.

A lot of the men in the cell were crazy. The kind you would see aggressively muttering to themselves in the subway. That type. I sat down next to one who offered me space on the bench beside him. He was far gone.

Time passed slowly. An infection on my knee was out of control, a result of sleep deprivation, alcohol, and the night before. I hadn't eaten anything in awhile. My last meal was bourbon.

Amongst all the screaming I heard one man yelling. His head was in his hands.

Sobriety sucks! Ohhh...I need a drink!!