My First Day Free After Years in Women’s Prison 

My First Day Free After Years in Women’s Prison 

For years, these women lived behind prison walls. Today, the prison gates finally open. After years behind bars, no one really knows what that first day of freedom feels like. For every woman who walks out of  prison, the sentence may be over, but the hardest part is just beginning. We follow four women through their first day of freedom.

This is day one. In 2017, 16-year-old Gloria is arrested after a robbery ends in the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Tyron Simmons. Court records say Gloria was driving the car while her boyfriend, 17-year-old Nathaniel Maldonado, fired the fatal shot. She later took a plea deal and testified against him in court.

Both teenagers were prosecuted as adults. She’s sent to Pville, a women’s prison in Arizona. For the next decade, those walls become her world. Today, those gates finally open. Her family is waiting on the other side.  This is my son. I haven’t seen him since few months. Um, well, the nerves went away.

 you know, the anxietyy’s gone for right now. Um, I’m just happy.  The last time Gloria was free, she was still a teenager.  I was 16.  The girl who went in isn’t the woman walking out.  I’m 25.   Soon after she arrives, she learns she’s pregnant.  I was I was a  month pregnant. Yeah, that’s when I actually found out.

 She gives birth at 17. still a juvenile, still behind bars.  So, I had him when I was a juvenile. I was 17. Um, that was definitely an experience  for sure,  you know. Yeah. And that when I had him, I did not get to hold him. Um, I only seen  him for like 5 minutes and I took him away.  Her aunt raises Santiago.

The next time Gloria sees him, he’s already walking.  And then I didn’t get to see him like cuz you know how they you have to get like approved and go through all of that. I didn’t get to see him till like  he was what, like one, I would say.  Yeah. He was already like walking and stuff. Yeah.  Nearly a decade passes.

 Gloria misses his first steps, his first word, his childhood. Ah, becoming a mom, you know, like I didn’t really have that. I know I am,  but being your mom, being here for you, I didn’t really have like that opportunity, you know what I mean? Like other moms do, always there, um, clothe him, saw his first steps, you know, his first word.

 Like I didn’t get that  experience. Her family kept visiting year after year. Nothing could have prepared her for what was waiting outside the gate.  I didn’t expect this many people to show up, though. You know,  Gloria entered prison as a teenager. Today is her first day as a free  adult.  My goals, well, I do have a job lined up, so I am going to do that.

 Then I also want to get like a vehicle, you know, housing. um just take baby steps at a time, you know.  For years, every meal was chosen for her. Today, she gets to choose where to eat.  Panda Express.  Okay.  Pville operates on a standardized meal program. Menus are centrally approved, portions are fixed, and meals are served on a strict daily schedule.

Instead of a cafeteria tray, it’s crispy orange chicken, smoky chowine, freshly cooked fried rice, and her first meal surrounded by  family.  Did you know you’re that close to a prison? [laughter]  Did not know.  All right, I’m going to have you follow me.  A prison haircut isn’t a trip to the salon.

  Women usually sign up in advance and wait until their name is called. The person holding the clippers is often another inmate  trained to work in the prison barber shop. Every comb, every pair of scissors, every clipper is counted before and after each shift  with tonal clippers.  Oh my gosh.  Yeah. [laughter]  Hair care is basic.

 a small prisonsued bottle of shampoo or an inexpensive all-in-one product from the commissary. No long wash, no relaxing scalp massage. Outside, everything slows down. Warm water runs through Gloria’s hair. Rich shampoo. Careful hands. It  feels good.   Yeah. No more headaches.  I know. Freedom brings something she didn’t expect.

 No, pretty much just overwhelmed, you know, stay positive  and just keep moving forward in life. Don’t look back.  As Gloria drives away, around 3,000 women remain behind the gates of Pville, waiting for the day they will walk out themselves. In the Arizona desert, summer temperatures regularly climb above 110° F.

For years, extreme heat was simply part of daily life inside the prison. But Pville is more than a place where women served  time. Many spend years working, studying, attending  parenting and recovery programs, preparing for life after prison. Some leave exactly as they arrived. Others leave  as completely different people.

After almost 7 years inside Pville,  it’s Payton’s turn. She entered prison after being convicted of aggravated assault. Family is waiting for Payton  outside, but the reunion she’s been waiting for most is with  her daughter.  What are you looking forward to the most?  Spending time with my daughter.

When the gate opens, there’s no celebration, just one  honest answer.  Very nervous.  Very  nervous.  Payton’s family arrives with fresh clothes and a new pair  of shoes. [laughter]  Hi. [crying]  Hi.  I was like, where’s the rest of this t-shirt?  She Where’s  the rest of this t-shirt? After years inside, even a short drive can feel overwhelming.

 I haven’t been in a car in so long.  Payton entered Pville in close  custody. She earned her way to minimum security. On release day, officers who remembered her arrival stopped to congratulate  her.  To finally put close that chapter, it feels amazing. Um, it’s funny because I had several officers  come up to me this morning and they were like just  commending me on the transformation I’ve made while on the inside cuz I came from um close  custody and I worked my way down to a

minimum yard. Some of them have pepper  sprayed me, some of them had, you know, tackled me like so they know like who I was when I first came to prison. So to hear  like and especially the captain of all people like I used  to work for him when he was a sergeant on Maria. For him to be like, “Oh, you did so  like you you did it. You made it.

” Like it was it was good.  Before she can go home, Payton has to report to the parole office.  I think over an hour now.  Yeah.  Yeah. It is count time.  [laughter]  Are you feeling any better? You still anxiety a little bit?  I still have a lot of anxiety. I feel like everybody’s like staring at me and I’m just like, it’s okay.

  Like, you know, it’s all right. Shit’s going to be fine. A little, you know, just ready to see what  what’s going to happen next.  For many women, one of the first stops after prison is a beauty salon. Inside Pville, beauty is limited to basic nail polish from the commissary and simple nail care.

 Acrylics, gel nails, extensions,  and salon services aren’t available. Today, Payton isn’t just getting a manicure. For the first time in years, she gets to choose how she wants to look.  Cool. Do you know what you design? Do you have anything in mind? Um, I like mine squared.  Okay.  And thick. Okay. I like that. Yeah.

 So cool.  Super  pretty.  This is all new to me, so I’m like, gel X. Sure, let’s do that.  Her next stop is lunch. For the first time in a long time, no one tells her when to eat or what’s on the menu. First real meal outside of prison. That’s pretty exciting.  Yeah. How exciting.  They stop at Chili’s, a popular American casual dining chain serving burgers, fajitas, ribs, and TMEX favorites.

  I think I want this.  Yeah, you should.  The chicken. Yeah, that’s and it’s  crazy to say, but being incarcerated for so long, like you don’t get [ __ ] like this. And our fundraisers are [ __ ]  Payton still remembers her last meal inside Pville.  Oh, my last meal in prison was pizza.

Prison pizza. Disgusting. Nasty. But Oh, I like this though. But cuz  I want French fry. Yeah, it’s really good.  It’s really good.  It’s really good.  Payton’s focus now is rebuilding her relationship with her  daughter. She also hopes to return to Pville one day, not as an inmate, but as someone who can help the women still inside.

 Closing the  chapter of my life of seven years and um opening a new chapter and uh one I want to  go back inside badged on the other side and help the women in  there because uh us women we don’t get a lot of opportunity in there. Women with lived experience  can mentor those approaching release, helping them prepare for work,  recovery, family reunification, and the realities waiting outside.

 Work.   Yeah. Work, work, work, work, work. That’s it.  At Pville, women can leave prison with job training, vocational certificates,  and years of work experience. But a felony conviction often follows them into every job interview. A month after her release, Payton  is settling into her new life.

 She’s working full-time,  and most importantly, she’s spending time with her daughter. Every woman leaves prison carrying a different story. Another prison gate is about to open. After 6 years and 7 months behind bars for smuggling,  Marlene is finally going home. I’m feeling really nervous right now.

 My heart’s racing and my  eyes are getting watery. Uh see my kids, spend time with  them. Uh trying to get a job. Um try to learn uh the fortlift and then  do a trade of the welding. I’ll take them off so you can see. [laughter]  Yeah, my eyes are getting watery and I’m pretty excited.

 I just I  felt like this day was never going to come cuz I always look and ask  myself like oh my god I had to do all this time. I feel it it was  not never going to come.  For years freedom was something Marlene could only imagine. Now she’s finally living it. Hair care in prison is basic. Women usually rely on inexpensive products from  the commissary and professional coloring isn’t available.

Most have to cut or dye their own hair. Marlene knows exactly what that’s like.   When I got arrested, I was in the run. So, uh, I dyed my hair blonde. So, whenever I got arrested, my hair was blonde  and it was burned cuz I was I was dying it like every two weeks. It was so damaged and burned and everything that I had  to cut it most of it.

 So the blana already came out and all this is  real hair.  Gracias. [laughter]  Thank you.  In most American women’s  prisons, makeup is limited to a small selection of approved products sold through the commissary.  Full palettes, professional brushes, and many beauty tools aren’t available.

 Even behind bars, many women still find small ways to  feel like themselves.  Wow.  So, this was my eyelash  cer.  Their next stop is Benihana, a Japanese tanyaki restaurant where chefs prepare every meal right at the table.  When I when I was in county, um I was eating the food and between the knee, I  got a rock.

 Oh,  I didn’t know like I wasn’t expecting to get a rock in the meat.  Right.  So, I was just eating the meat. I shoot it and it broke my mer.  Oh,  so from that m I got an infection.  County didn’t want to do anything cuz they were like, “Oh, no, you’re going to piss.

” And they have no better  medical things and stuff.  Medical care often changes when someone is transferred from county jail to state prison. For some women, even painful  injuries can go untreated while they wait.  This is going to sound  crazy cuz thanks to prison, I got off from many um vicious articles and pe bad people  and everything.

 It helped me transform my life. I’d discover many skills I didn’t know I had. And I really learned many  things and thinking to just keep looking forward and learn  a a lot more things.  Behind Pville’s walls, Marlene found opportunities she never expected. She joined a wildland fire crew  where she learned to operate chainsaws, clear dry brush, and fallen trees,  and build fire brakes that help slow the spread of wildfires.

 I signed up for the lift program. So, they’re going to certify me and train me for the forklift.  And then through a I’m going to do the welding trade  cuz I’m really interesting in learning that. The skills she learned in prison are shaping the goals she’s set for herself outside. Every woman leaves prison with a different path ahead.

 Marlene’s  is only just beginning. The last woman we meet is Lyanna.  All right, today is my first day out after 7 and 1/2 years. And uh this is my next step. So to the biggest life I want. I have never lived a real life. So  this is my chance. Anybody else is out there and struggled, you guys got it. You can make it.

  Just pray and keep faith.  Today isn’t about the crime that sent her there. It’s about the ordinary moments prison took away. Her first stop is Walmart, where she buys her own clothes for the first time in 7 and 1/2 years. Next, she heads to Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, a restaurant known for traditional southern comfort food for her first meal outside prison.

 It actually tastes like business and dreamy. I’ve worked in that kitchen for years. My whole time down, I’ve I’ve been a cook.  Working in the prison kitchen gave Lyanna a front row seat to daily life behind bars. But some of prison’s best known recipes were created by the women themselves.  You get the Thai noodles and you break them like crunch them up, you know, the sizes that you want as a French fry.

 And you get the mayonnaise packets and you put them all put the mayonnaise over it. It’s like oil. Put it all over it. And you get the seasoning that come in the Thai noodles. You put that all over it. And you just shake it up real good in a bowl. And you put it in the microwave. And they they crisp up like French fries.

 Like many American prisons, Pville has a commissary,  a small prison store where women can buy food with money from their inmate accounts. Over the years, instant  noodles, tortillas, honey buns, mayonnaise packets, and seasoning became more  than snacks. They became the ingredients for an unofficial prison cookbook.

Well, see the fat bastards in in  in our um prison is it’s a honey bun. The meat  honey buns and then you put the meat sauce. That’s what when you asked for the  honey buns and all the meats. I was like, “Oh, he’s going to make  Is there honey buns in there?”  Yeah. [laughter]  Oh, I’m so excited.

 There’s honey buns in there, the the jalapeno pretzels, everything that you guys asked for. There’s a stinger in there as well.  That’s crazy. Yeah.  Gloria spent her first day finding her way back to her family. Payton spent hers reconnecting with her daughter and reclaiming  the parts of herself prison couldn’t take away.

Marlene spent hers trying to build a future from scratch. And Lyanna  spent hers discovering a world that had kept moving without her. Four women, four different stories, but the same first day. The prison gates  open this morning. Tomorrow they’ll wake up outside for the second day  and then the third.

That’s the part no one gets to see.  This was only day one. You had one day of freedom after years away. What’s the first thing you  do?