TERRY GROSS: Do you ever dream that you're in prison? 
Transcript
GROSS: Do you ever dream that you're in prison?
BETTS: (Laughter) Yeah. Yeah, way too often actually - yeah, way too often. I think I said that before, you know, maybe one of my fears was that I would come home and find out I never left prison. And I've sort of learned to embrace that because if I - when I dream about prison, I recognize that there are people that I know who are still in prison. And so, yeah, I mean, the only dreams I have are about prison.
GROSS: The only dreams you have are about prison?
BETTS: Yeah. I mean, you know, like 90 percent of them - those vivid dreams, where you wake up and you kind of actually know what's happening. Yeah, most of my dreams are about prison.
GROSS: Is it a relief when you realize you're not actually there?
BETTS: I've actually never said that to a person before (laughter). But yes, it is a relief. One of the things that is so visceral and is so haunting is because sometimes, I have to force myself to wake up. You know, one of the things about prison is it's trying to avoid hard decisions. And I mean - and when I mean hard decisions, I mean decisions that revolve around violence and revolve around you doing things that may lead you to get more time. So sometimes I'll be in a dream, and I just have to force myself to wake up because I was fortunate to have never been confronted with those decisions. And I think sometimes in my dreams, I end up being confronted with those decisions.
BETTS: (Laughter) Yeah. Yeah, way too often actually - yeah, way too often. I think I said that before, you know, maybe one of my fears was that I would come home and find out I never left prison. And I've sort of learned to embrace that because if I - when I dream about prison, I recognize that there are people that I know who are still in prison. And so, yeah, I mean, the only dreams I have are about prison.
GROSS: The only dreams you have are about prison?
BETTS: Yeah. I mean, you know, like 90 percent of them - those vivid dreams, where you wake up and you kind of actually know what's happening. Yeah, most of my dreams are about prison.
GROSS: Is it a relief when you realize you're not actually there?
BETTS: I've actually never said that to a person before (laughter). But yes, it is a relief. One of the things that is so visceral and is so haunting is because sometimes, I have to force myself to wake up. You know, one of the things about prison is it's trying to avoid hard decisions. And I mean - and when I mean hard decisions, I mean decisions that revolve around violence and revolve around you doing things that may lead you to get more time. So sometimes I'll be in a dream, and I just have to force myself to wake up because I was fortunate to have never been confronted with those decisions. And I think sometimes in my dreams, I end up being confronted with those decisions.
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