The Tee Shirt
– Nonfiction by Nicole Mark –
Faded screen-printing of the seven chakras adorned the black cotton tee I’d hurriedly grabbed from a cubby in the lobby as I was escorted from the studio into the parking lot.
I thought it was the shirt I’d worn over my tank for the first part of class, when everyone was warming up. But as I slipped my bra strap down my left arm, I realized it wasn’t mine.
A rush of cold, institutional air sprouted a rash of goosebumps across my chest and arms. I am not my body, I tried reciting silently, recalling the meditation technique from yoga teacher training.
“What size shoe do you wear?” the correctional officer asked.
“Eight, eight-and-a-half,” I replied.
She tossed two orange plastic slip-ons in my general direction. In an effort to keep my bare feet from touching the dirty linoleum, I stood atop my big black Dansko clogs.
I stuck my right big toe into one of the worn, cheap shower shoes, managing to shimmy it underneath my right foot so I could step onto it.
“Which one is the right foot?” I asked, confused, as I rolled my leggings into an efficient little bundle the way my mother had taught me. She’d been a flight attendant before I was born. I applied the same method to the t-shirt that was definitely not mine.
“In the locker,” the CO said, “and they don’t have rights and lefts.”
The CO’s fine, bleach-damaged hair feathered away from her face like it was 1985. She casually grabbed a bright orange jumpsuit from a waist-high pile of them and draped it over her left forearm.
“Turn around. Squat and cough,” the officer said.
About the Author – Nicole Mark
Nicole Mark, a Tampa-based data visualization designer, writes every chance she gets, for therapeutic value, creative expression, and technical communication. She earned a B.A. degree in English Communications and Technology at the University of Maryland Baltimore County before stumbling into a career in data science. Nicole puts her English degree and love of writing to work in her blog and newsletter. When she’s not vizzing or writing, Nicole practices yoga, bakes vegan treats, and explores Florida’s many natural wonders with her dog Potato.
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