When I touch his hand now days it reminds me of the first time I held his hand. Which then leads me to the first time we met. I had been getting out of a taxi at...
the intersection of Powell and Market. I put the 9mm back in the holster under my jacket and stuffed the cash I'd just jacked from the driver into my pocket before breaking into a run heading West on Market. In retrospect, I probably should have had the driver head to the outskirts of town as Powell and Market is probably the busiest intersection in San Francisco and I was spotted and apprehended only about a block and a half from where I'd left the cab.
After my 'speedy trial'. I was sent to San Quentin. After being processed, I was led down the corridor to what would be my cell. The keys jingled as the first guard unlocked the cell door. The second guard led me into the cell and released me from my handcuffs. I watched as the first guard shut the door and locked me inside. Then they bothed walked away, leaving me to my captivity. 'S'up, roomie' I heard the voice, but my eyes had not yet adjusted to the dark cell. It took only a few seconds before my eyes adjusted and I saw him for the first time; a big, burly guy with dark, short-cropped hair, brownish complexion and a nose ring.
"Get this through your head before we start, I don't want to be here and I am fairly sure you don't either so leave me alone and you may walk out of this with all you fingers still atached- Got it?" I replied, probably ruining any chance of having someone to talk to in this hell hole of a prison. "Ha!" He laughed in response as if I was joking (which I was most certainly not!). "I'm not gonna to hurt you, and your not gonna hurt me so let's just get the worse over with." "The worse?" I asked, momentarily confused. "Introductions. Can we just start over?" When I nodded he continued. "My name is Jamie-well it's actually James but I haven't been called that in a while." "I'm Avrila. But I need a slammer nickname so...Avry it is." I smiled at my newly found identity. "Avry." He repeated the name, testing it. He smiled and motioned for me to take the top bunk. "So what did you do?" I asked, sitting down, suddenly wanting to make conversation.
"I chewed the face off of my next door neighbor, hacked his body to pieces, battered and fried him up and fed him to my roommates" He smiled up at me. "Holy crap! are you serious?" I was near panicked, ready to call the guards back when he broke into raucus laughter."No, I'm not serious. Can't you tell when someone's messin' with you?" He shook his head in disbelief, still laughing. "I missed a court date for jaywalking, so, here I am. Can you believe it?" I wasn't sure I did at this point. "Do they really put people in jail for something so trivial?" Then he continued. "Course, the first day I was in here, I beat a guy to death.. so it looks like I'll be here a little longer than the two weeks I would otherwise have been in."
To his credit, Jamie put up quite a fight. Smuggling his body out of San Quentin wasn't easy. I had to call in a lot of favors. Disposing of his body was no big deal, nothing a sharp axe and an industrial-grade incinerator couldn't take care of. Of course, I needed a souvenir. But how to preserve it? That was going to be a problem. Fortunately, I remembered a class I took in college on ancient Egyptian mummification. A thorough rub down with a bit of natron salt and several days in my warm oven, and now it will last for decades, perhaps even centuries. The very though makes me feel all gooey inside. When I touch his hand now days it reminds me of the first time I held his hand....
the intersection of Powell and Market. I put the 9mm back in the holster under my jacket and stuffed the cash I'd just jacked from the driver into my pocket before breaking into a run heading West on Market.
ReplyDeleteIn retrospect, I probably should have had the driver head to the outskirts of town as Powell and Market is probably the busiest intersection in San Francisco and I was spotted and apprehended only about a block and a half from where I'd left the cab.
After my 'speedy trial'. I was sent to San Quentin. After being processed, I was led down the corridor to what would be my cell. The keys jingled as the first guard unlocked the cell door. The second guard led me into the cell and released me from my handcuffs. I watched as the first guard shut the door and locked me inside. Then they bothed walked away, leaving me to my captivity.
'S'up, roomie'
I heard the voice, but my eyes had not yet adjusted to the dark cell. It took only a few seconds before my eyes adjusted and I saw him for the first time; a big, burly guy with dark, short-cropped hair, brownish complexion and a nose ring.
"Get this through your head before we start, I don't want to be here and I am fairly sure you don't either so leave me alone and you may walk out of this with all you fingers still atached- Got it?" I replied, probably ruining any chance of having someone to talk to in this hell hole of a prison.
ReplyDelete"Ha!" He laughed in response as if I was joking (which I was most certainly not!). "I'm not gonna to hurt you, and your not gonna hurt me so let's just get the worse over with."
"The worse?" I asked, momentarily confused.
"Introductions. Can we just start over?" When I nodded he continued. "My name is Jamie-well it's actually James but I haven't been called that in a while."
"I'm Avrila. But I need a slammer nickname so...Avry it is." I smiled at my newly found identity.
"Avry." He repeated the name, testing it. He smiled and motioned for me to take the top bunk.
"So what did you do?" I asked, sitting down, suddenly wanting to make conversation.
"I chewed the face off of my next door neighbor, hacked his body to pieces, battered and fried him up and fed him to my roommates" He smiled up at me.
ReplyDelete"Holy crap! are you serious?" I was near panicked, ready to call the guards back when he broke into raucus laughter."No, I'm not serious. Can't you tell when someone's messin' with you?" He shook his head in disbelief, still laughing. "I missed a court date for jaywalking, so, here I am. Can you believe it?"
I wasn't sure I did at this point. "Do they really put people in jail for something so trivial?" Then he continued.
"Course, the first day I was in here, I beat a guy to death.. so it looks like I'll be here a little longer than the two weeks I would otherwise have been in."
To his credit, Jamie put up quite a fight. Smuggling his body out of San Quentin wasn't easy. I had to call in a lot of favors. Disposing of his body was no big deal, nothing a sharp axe and an industrial-grade incinerator couldn't take care of. Of course, I needed a souvenir. But how to preserve it? That was going to be a problem. Fortunately, I remembered a class I took in college on ancient Egyptian mummification. A thorough rub down with a bit of natron salt and several days in my warm oven, and now it will last for decades, perhaps even centuries. The very though makes me feel all gooey inside. When I touch his hand now days it reminds me of the first time I held his hand....
ReplyDelete