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bicycles and headed to the door.

Chapter Seven
     
    The next day, James went through the daily routine a
bit more smoothly as he began to assimilate into the scheduled
existence of life in his new prison home. He had reviewed the
weekly schedule posted on the wall in the diner and seen that today
there was a group session after work. The manual was fairly vague
on many of the topics it covered, and mention of the group session
was no different. It simply stated that : “The group session is
designed to assist the inmate in facing and overcoming the
challenges of life in the prison environment and in preparing them
for returning to normal life as a fully functioning member of
society.”
    After dinner was over and the cleanup was complete,
everyone headed out the door to yet another building James had not
been to yet. The building appeared to be a well-cared-for
19 th century house. The wooden siding was painted a
colorful yellow and the large windows revealed period rugs,
furniture, and decorations on the inside of the house. The group
ascended the steps onto the spacious wrap-around porch and James
noted the ornate carving on the porch railing, spindles, and posts
– all painted white.
    They filed inside and the women grouped together and
went down the hall while the men in the group entered the first
door on the right. James followed along. The room was spacious,
with twelve-foot ceilings and a large oriental rug laid out on the
wooden floor. There was a circle of chairs in the middle of the
room and a water-cooler in one corner. Bedsides those items, there
was nothing else in the room. Everyone took a seat and began
talking among themselves as James looked around silently, taking it
all in.
    Moments later, from the back of the room, a door
opened and a man in his mid-forties entered, wearing a tweed jacket
and dark-rimmed glasses. His hair was coiffed to perfection, but
didn’t totally eradicate the slightly nerdy aura he emanated. He
was looking down at a computer tablet he was carrying as he crossed
the room and sat down in one of the chairs. When he looked up, he
quickly scanned the group and fixed his gaze on James.
    “ Ah, James,” the man said with a
smile. “Welcome to your first group session.”
    The man reached out his hand and noticed James'
reluctance to respond.
    “ It's o.k., this is one of the
locations in which the monitoring software is not programmed to zap
you.”
    James reached out and shook the man's hand. The man
then settled back in his chair and addressed the group.
    “ Hello everyone. Let's jump right
in. As is protocol, since we have a new member of the group, we're
going to start with principle one.” Turning to James, he continued.
“James, this is a twelve-step group somewhat akin to A.A. I could
go into a long explanation, but you'll catch on soon enough. Let's
introduce ourselves; then I'll read the rules and the first
principle and we can begin sharing.”
    He looked around at the whole group before he
continued.
    “ My name is Greg, I struggle with
commitment issues and insecurity.”
    When he stopped speaking, everyone but James spoke
in unison.
    “ Hi Greg.”
    J.T. was seated to Greg's left, and continued the
introductions.
    “ My name is J.T.. I struggle with
stealing and pridefulness.”
    “ Hi J.T.,” everyone but James
replied.
    When it came time for James to introduce himself,
Greg interjected.
    “ James, you don't need to tell us
what you struggle with today if you don't want to. You can just
tell us your name and something else about yourself if you
want.”
    James felt strange telling everyone who he was when
they already knew, but he did it anyway.
    “ My name is James, and as you all
know, I’m the new guy.”
    “ Hi James,” everyone
responded.
    Once the introductions were completed, Greg clicked
on his tablet and began reading. He read some rules about not
interrupting and not trying to tell someone how to fix their
problems, as well as a few others. The