Plead Insanity Chapter 2

Chapter 2: An Innocent Killer

Carlos had long stopped pulling himself up and down on the bar and instead took to playing with a deck of cards. At first he was going to ask if Matthew wanted to join him but the young man seemed more interested in the blank wall. After about two hours of pure silence Carlos started to wonder if perhaps Matthew had fallen asleep. However the man stirred every few seconds. Eventually he turned to lay on his other side and faced Carlos.

Carlos stubbed out his cigar and flicked a few cards on the bed. "So what did you do?" he asked.

"I thought you weren't supposed to ask those questions?" said Matthew, hoisting himself up on his elbow.

"In jail maybe, Pentkuck; not so much," Carlos pouted his bottom lip and shook his head. However, Matthew stayed silent, causing Carlos to ask his question again. "So...what did you do?"

Matthew took in a deep breath. He hadn't said his crime out loud before but knew eventually he would have to tell his room-mate. For some strange reason he felt comfortable telling his fellow criminal insane roomie.

"I killed three people," he said, trying to keep his voice from wavering.

"Shit," said Carlos, clearly not expecting it. "Never woulda expected a kind lookin' guy like yourself to have done that."

"I don't know if that's a compliment," said Matthew, easing himself on his back with his arms behind his head.

"Take it however you see fit," said Carlos, a smirk on his lips.

A few more moments of silence drifted between the two, only the sound of Carlos flicking his cards could be heard. Eventually Matthew hungered for someone to talk to. For months he had been held up in a cell all on his own. Only being able to speak to his lawyer every couple of months. Once his brother had tried to contact him but Matthew refused to even look in his general direction.

Alfred. Matthew missed his younger brother dearly, one of the few people who hadn't ignored him.

Eventually Matthew spoke up again. "What did you do?"

It took Carlos a second to process the question. "Oh, me? I'm innocent."

Matthew was taken back. Carlos looked like a thug what with his intimidating aura and thick body built, so he found it hard to believe that the man was innocent. Carlos saw the surprised look on Matthew's face and let out a hearty laugh.

"My girl was killed by a bunch of gang bangers, so I started to follow them around. Plotting revenge you see," Carlos started to tell his tale. "Turns out these guy were part of this real shitty gang and clearly pissed off the wrong guys they found out I was spying on 'em and framed me for kill 'em."

"Wow," murmured Matthew.

"Lawyer told me I was best just pleading insanity, best bet I had. I told him he could suck himself off and he told me it was either go here or face death row."

Matthew's own lawyer had told him to do the same thing.

"So how long have you got here?" Carlos asked.

"Life," Matthew mumbled, feeling his face for his missing glasses.

"Fuck," Carlos sniggered. "I got twenty-five to life. And I thought that was harsh."

"At least you might be able to get out," said Matthew, putting his hand back behind his head. "How long have you been here for anyway?"

"Eleven years so far...only fourteen more years and I can try to get outta this hell," he shuffled the cards.

Someone in another room started to scream. The scream caused Matthew to jolt up right and almost quiver from fright. However, Carlos just continued to shuffle his cards.

"You'll get used to that," Carlos said. "You'll have to."

Matthew shook his head and tried to calm down his rapid sweating. Carlos took pity on the convicted killer. It was a shame that such a sharp lad would now be stuck here for the remainder of his life. Carlos knew the boy wouldn't be cut out for life here so he mentally decided to take Matthew under his wing. It was either that or watch as Matthew slowly became like the other creepy inmates who screamed for any reason.

"You wanna play?" Carlos held up the deck.

"Play what?"

Matthew sat on the edge of the bed and positioned his elbows on his keens, trying desperately to keep himself from shaking.

"You decide?"

Matthew thought for a few seconds. Back home him and Alfred used to play 'Go Fish' an awful lot and at first he was going to suggest that. However, the memory of his brother was far too painful and instead Matthew just said, "Blackjack?"

Carlos smiled and sat up on the edge of his own bed. He shuffled the cards again and handed two to Matthew. Matthew nodded at Carlos and mumbled a 'thank you'.

The two inmates played with the cards until a someone loudly called, "Supper!"

Carlos gathered up the cards and groaned loudly before standing up. Matthew mimicked the mans movements and followed him out of the cell.

Matthew took note of the fact that it was night-time and yet they were serving a meal.

"Why do they serve dinner so late?" he asked Carlos, as they walked down the halls.

"It's not dinner," Carlos said. "They served dinner just before you arrived. At supper they give us our nightly meds and a snack really."

"What do they serve?" asked Matthew, trying hard not to look any of the other inmates in the eye.

"Toast mostly, they give you a piece of fruit too," Carlos shrugged his shoulders and pushed past a few of the slower inmates.

The two arrived at their desiccated dinning hall. According to the tour Keith had previously given him, each ward was assigned to its own hall for meal times. Each inmate was to line up by the serving counter, before they got their meal every inmate should take their medication in front of a member of staff before taking their tray of food.

Matthew lined up behind Carlos. Looking around the room Matthew noticed the group who were trying to entice Millie with treats. The tabby cat was perched up on their table, eating out of her own tray along with them. The group gently stroked her as she nibbled at her food. Matthew found it strange to see such gentleness in such a hostile place.

After a few minutes of waiting Carlos reached Keith who was handing out the medication, which was stored in small paper cups. Carlos tipped his head back then swallowed a small sip of water before opening his mouth a small way for Keith.

"Next," said Keith as Carlos collected his tray of food then went to find a seat.

Matthew was handed his small cup and he looked inside. More pills. Matthew had been on pills like these for most of his life. Every time his dosage was made higher he always felt glum. Forever he would be a slave to the white medication. Forced to endure the side effects that went along with them.

He tipped the pills into his mouth and dry swallowed them, refusing to take a sip of water offered to him. Keith told him to open his mouth and Matthew obliged.

"Lift your tongue," said Keith.

Matthew found it odd that Keith didn't ask Carlos to lift his own tongue. However, Matthew never disobeyed. He placed his tongue to the roof of his mouth and Keith quickly called, "Next!"

A silver tray was thrusted into Matthew's hands containing two slices of dry toast, a cup of orange juice and a green apple. Matthew looked down at his tray then shuffled away in search of Carlos. He found the Cuban man at a table near the window. Matthew set down his tray before sitting.

"Who said you could sit here?" said Carlos, his face stone.

Matthew stopped and looked at Carlos, his face turning beat red. "I just...I-"

"Yeah well you thought..." Carlos tried hard to control his laughter but it escaped either way. "I pullin' your leg. Sit down."

Matthew let out a long breath and lowered himself down on his seat. Carlos continued to laugh at the practical joke he had just pulled on his new roomie. He could see the panic slowly fade away from Matthew's face. Perhaps a decade ago Carlos would have felt guilty for playing such a joke on the poor young man but after spending so long in a place like Pentkuck Carlos had very few reasons to laugh anymore.

"Please don't do that again," whispered Matthew, holding up a slice of toast to his mouth.

Carlos chuckled but nodded his head nevertheless. "Keep an eye out on the nurses for me will ya?"

Matthew looked up from his tray and moved his eyes along the room. Many of the nurses were preoccupied with giving out medication and meals. The few that weren't had the task of calming down a few berserk inmates. One nurse was even holding down an inmate, forcing food down his throat. Matthew shuddered and set his gaze on Carlos who was spitting something into his hand. Matthew leaned over slight and tried to narrow his eyes in order to stop the blurriness his glasses left behind.

"What are you doing?" he asked, quietly.

Carlos opened his hand in front of Matthew's face exposing his unswallowed pills.

Matthew's mouth went slack. "You didn't take them?"

Carlos wrapped the capsules in a napkin then shoved it in his pocket. "I'm not crazy, these people only think I am."

"Is that why Keith didn't ask you to hold up your tongue?" questioned Matthew.

"We have a deal," Carlos shrugged his shoulders and took a bite out of his apple.

"And that deal is?" Matthew wasn't sure if he should ask such a question but it escaped his mouth before he had any second thoughts.

Carlos smirked through the apple in his mouth. "A lot of people can't cope in here. Especially those in other wards. So they come to me for some...help."

"So you're like a drug dealer?" Matthew tried to hide the shock in his voice but it seeped out anyway.

Carlos' eyes narrowed at the boy. "Look," he snapped at Matthew. "I do what I can to help people. Granted I get some things in return but I'm helping anyway. If that makes me a dealer then I'm a dealer."

Matthew dropped his gaze and continued to eat the dry toast. The two didn't speak again until they were ushered back into their cell for lights out.

Carlos seemed to fall asleep almost instantly, Matthew had a lot more trouble. Their room door was left wide open as were all the other rooms. At the end of the ward two heavy looking guards were stationed, every hour they would get up and check along the rooms, making sure everyone was still in their beds.

It was around the third time the guards did their checks on the cells that Carlos spoke to Matthew again.

"First night's always hard," he mumbled quietly. The Cuban man turned to face Matthew before reaching underneath his bed and handing a book to Matthew.

"I can't see," Matthew pointed to his eyes. "My glasses broke before I got here."

"Oh," Carlos put the book back under his bed. "Ask your physiatrist for a new pair tomorrow."

Matthew nodded. "I will."

"Who did you get anyway?" Carlos prodded himself up on one elbow.

"Dr. Zwingli," shrugged Matthew.

Carlos let out a toothy smile. "The Swiss guy? Oh, he's good. Needs to work on his bedside manner but he's good at his job. He'll get you a pair soon."

There was a screech from one of the rooms and a stationed guard ran past their room to deal with the disturbance. Matthew flinched again at such a sudden noise.

"Are all the wards like this?" Matthew questioned, assuming that Carlos would know.

"Just Ward F," Carlos commented, craning his neck trying to see out the door. "Ward F holds the really fucked up criminals."

"You mean murders?" Matthew said, having small flashes of his crime in his head.

"Yup," Carlos nodded his head. "A lot of these guys here are total fuckin' physcos. My first night here I got stabbed by that Smith asshole." Carlos pulled up his shirt, exposing a small scar near his hip.

Matthew remembered the rusty toothed man Keith sedated earlier in that day. "He seemed really creepy," mentioned Matthew.

"They should make an even harsher ward for that sonofabitch," Carlos grumbled. "Scratch that, they need a new institution for that crazy fucker."

"Why is he in here?" asked Matthew. "Did he kill a lot of people."

"Worse," said Carlos.

"How worse?" Matthew wondered what could be worse than murder.

There was a flash of real anger and hatred on his face. "He..." Carlos struggled to get the words out, it was like if he even so much as spoke Smiths actual crime then he was just as guilty. "Destroyed a lot of little girls."

Matthew bolted up right. "You mean he rap-"

"Yeah, the only mercy he showed to those girls was ending their lives before he could destroy them even more," Carlos quickly cut Matthew off. "Whatever you do, steer well clear of him, Matthew."

Carlos turned his back to Matthew in hopes of getting some more sleep. It left Matthew alone again in his thoughts. Matthew knew that he was an animal for doing such a horrific act but Smith was a new breed of animal. One who could never regain any hope of cure for his insanity.

Matthew had a strange feeling of glad sped through him. If he was still in jail then he'd be on death row. However, here he knew he'd had much more to deal with. This was a better payment for killing those innocent people before. If Matthew had accepted death then his punishment would have been over quickly. He deserved to stay in a hospital along side insane killers and rapists.

I am an animal. I am an animal. I am an animal.

I deserve this. I deserve this. I deserve this.