Jail-house Nachos and Trashbag Popcorn Balls

Some of the men of the Prison attending my Character Study Group on Tuesday night asked if they could honor me with a party/movie night. I had no idea what that would look like but was promised a couple of delicacies that are not well known to those of us who do not reside inside the prison world; "Jail-house nachos and Popcorn Balls".
I arrived at a few minutes past 7:00PM and saw the men gathered around two long folding tables. They were preparing the nachos which I will describe to the best of my ability; cameras are not allowed inside so I have no photos. Upon the tables had been stretched two large garbage bags which provided a tablecloth of sorts as well as a barrier protecting the tables from what was placed on them. On top of the trash bag table clothes was an 8 feet by two feet strip of tortilla chips covered in a thick layer of canned chili, sausage, and melted cheese. The sheer enormity of it caused my mouth to drop open(wish I had pics). I knew the men must have sacrificed greatly and denied themselves in order to provide such a treat and I was humbled by the thought of them hoarding chips and cans of chili for this one night. We had a wonderful time of prayer and fellowship, watched a movie together as we ate every last bit of the nachos; a couple of men even went to their cells, retrieved their sporks and scraped the tablecloths clean of the last remnants of chili and cheese. At this point in time an inmate said that it was time for desert and he retrieved from safe keeping, somewhere within the recesses of his cell, a large trash bag of what he called, "popcorn ball". This was a strange looking popcorn ball because rather than being round it was instead flat and cut into shapes approximating ten inch by ten inch squares and about 3/4 of an inch thick. It looked as if it were coated and permeated with chocolate but the taste was better than just chocolate. The flavor was a combination of chocolate, honey, peanut, and buttery flavors; very sugary sweet. The man had spent considerable resources to make this prison treat. An apparently large quantity of various candies: Bit-O-Honey, Malow-Mars, and Snickers Bars, Had been melted down into liquid form, poured over the approximately 5 gallons of popcorn, mixed together thoroughly in a trash bag and flattened out to dry. I was amazed at his resourcefulness. One prisoner confided in me that his family on the outside had provided him with extra funds to purchase his share of the supplies necessary for this party. What an honor to have had bestowed on me! I did not deserve it.
One of the men said to me last night, "You can scratch this one off your bucket list!" Yes I can! How many people can say they have shared in this rare treat and I'm not talking about the food here. I mean the rare treat of having friends so dear that they would sacrifice almost all that they have to honor one who has served them. I owe them an incredible debt.