[Sneak Peek of "When God Had My Back" (Coming Soon)]I was new to the prison yard, being in the building for only  few months at this point, but I was no stranger to playing basketball with the brothers.  I’m an athlete by nature and though it had been several years since I last won a high school basketball State Championship, I jumped right back into the poised position of point guard.  It seemed as natural as riding a bike.  In spite of it being prison, I had previously scoped out who could play and was confident of  how I would do--even though I was the lone white boy on the court.I knew not to embarrass anyone in these conditions, but the competitor in me doesn’t think beatin’em would be classified as embarrassin’em.  Nonetheless,  an inmate named ‘Little’ was the recipient of my God-given ability to cross just about anyone up and hit a jump shot at the drop of a dime.  It wasn’t necessarily my fault that this lop-sided performance weighed in my favor, and his own homies rooting me on certainly did not help my chances of making friends with Little.  And little did I know that Little had gotten fed up with my athletic dominance and decided to introduce me to prison ball!  Actually, when I think about it now, I introduced him to prison ball and he introduced me to prison.I was coming off of a pick and just about to receive a pass from my teammate when from the blindside I caught more than a pass.  I caught a punch. I had ran right into a right hook from my opponent Little and though it phased me, it also engaged me.  My automatic response, being the youngest of 4 athletic boys and  not one to back down, was to show no fear and let Little know that he’s not messing with a jail-house athlete, he’s messing with a professional athlete.I got right up into his face with enough time to let him see my eye’s tenacity, and a short enough time for the other ballers to break us up.  Any fight in the prison yard will sound a Code 33 alarm, making all inmates immediately drop chest first to the ground and head down.  The brawlers however, are usually left to fighting, beating, or stabbing it out until one or the other person gives up.  It’s never a fair fight in prison, depending on who you know, who you are, and what the beef was about.Well, I was a nobody.  I knew nobody.  And I wasn’t sure what the beef was even about.  Being 0 for 3 in the prison fight category, I figured we would squash this immature act and continue to play.Right?  Wrong!!Again, I knew little about prison, and Little was all about prison, being a member of the Bloods, a dominant gang in the New Jersey prison system.  I vividly remember wondering why those not even playing in the basketball game were gathering with their backs against the wall of the prison to the side of the court.  “Perhaps spectators,” I thought.  Actually it looked more like vultures hovering over a soon to be carcass, but what did I know.  I was new here.  New to the prison yard economy.  New.  But my God knew……..“When God Had My Back”  To Be Continued……….