Edward's Dilemma (12 page)

“Oscar, my boy, we’re way past that.  I need you to stick a shank up his a**, and then cut his tongue out ‘fore he talks.  You understand me, Oscar?”

Once again,
a shiver ran up Josh’s spine – and for a minute or two he was frightened.  But then, a grim sense of determination gripped his mind. 
Bring it on, you little prick!  Mess with me, and I’ll show you what it feels like to get shanked.

Marcus wrapped up the conversation with a few brief instructions about how the deed should be carried out.  He wanted it done soon, preferably that night or the next.  Oscar listened intently, but he was a little leery about placing his future on the line for Marcus, or anyone else, for that matter.

When they left, Josh breathed a sigh of relief. 
A storm is coming
, he thought,
and I’ve gotta be prepared.
  About ten minutes later, he surreptitiously returned to his bunk.

Serenity Lane Apartments, #205

18 September, 8:35 PM

BEN WAS watching a “Die-Hard” movie with Megan, his girlfriend, when his phone rang.  After the third ring, he “Paused” the movie he was watching and picked up the phone.  On the other end was his brother, Josh.  Right away, as soon as he heard Josh’s voice, Ben could tell that there was something wrong.  Josh’s voice was a little strained, and he was clearly eager to share something important.  The conversation began with the two brothers saying “hello,” and then quickly progressed to discussing the reason Josh had called.

“Hey, Ben, there’s something I need to talk with you about – but I’m not very comfortable discussing the details over the phone.  I think dad’s
gonna need a hernia operation.”  The last part of what he’d just said wasn’t at all true.  It was merely a coded distress message; a prearranged method of indicating that there was something important that needed to be discussed face to face.  The two brothers had worked out the details of this code during Ben’s first visit.

“Alright...” Ben replied.  “Go on.”

“Well, I need you to come in as soon as you can so we can discuss what to do about him.  That’s about it.  I didn’t really have much more to say.”

“Ok – alright.  If you’ll put in the visitor request, I’ll come in as soon as I hear from you,” Ben replied.  “Are you doing
alright, Josh?  Is there anything I need to know about – like, right now?”  Although he was breaking protocol a little bit, Ben couldn’t help himself.  He was worried about his brother, and he wanted to double check that whatever it was Josh wanted to talk about could actually wait until the next visit.

“Yeah – I’m fine.  No worries, Ben.  You can go back to watching TV, or whatever it was you were doing.  I’ll talk to you later.”  Josh was in a bit of a hurry to end the conversation.  His mind was so focused on how he’d deal with Oscar, and the other lieutenants, that he didn’t have it in him, right then, to small-talk with Ben.

“Alright – rock-on, dude.  I’ll see ya when I see ya.”

“See
ya, Ben.”

Stuart Co. Jail, Tank 3D

19 September, 2:19 AM

HIS EYELIDS were closing for longer and longer intervals.  Every time they closed, Josh would say to himself, “Just for a few more second
s
– just a few
–
more
.”
  But as the night wore on, those few seconds eventually became minutes.  By 2 AM, Josh was falling asleep for periods of five minutes or more.

When he’d gone to bed earlier that night, at around 10 PM, he was so wound up by the conversation he’d overheard that he thought he’d never be able to sleep again.  But now his mind had entered that foggy boundary between consciousness and sleep.  It was a place where everything seemed distant, almost peaceful, to his dulled senses.  Except for the sound of a few inmates who were snoring or wheezing in methodical fashion, and the occasional odd grunt or cry – no doubt the result of a disturbing dream – the tank seemed very quiet to Josh’s ears.

At around 2:30, there was a disturbance in the tank.  Someone who was nearby to where Josh had just fallen asleep suddenly cried out in a loud voice:

“WATCH OUT!  The dogs are coming!”

Josh was startled from his sleep, and sat up in his bed almost immediately.  Looking around, he quickly realized that someone was having a bad dream.  For a few seconds, Josh just sat there in his bed, quietly looking around the tank.  When he was satisfied that he wasn’t in imminent danger, he started to lay his head back down on the pillow.  But before he did, he cast one last glance in the direction of Oscar’s bunk.  Suddenly, a chill ran up his neck and down his arms.  A second or two later, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and goose bumps appeared on his forearms.

In the distance, Josh could see Oscar sitting up in his bed – and he was looking at him!  The whites of Oscar’s eyes were clearly visible in the dim light of the tank.  He wasn’t moving around, and he certainly didn’t look like someone who was thinking about getting up to go to the bathroom.  Josh pretended to ignore him,
and put his head on the pillow.  But then he thought better of it. 
What if he comes over – right now – and tries to kill me?  I’d better let him know I’m on to him.

Gathering his courage, Josh sat up again in his bed and stared right back at Oscar.  Adrenalin surged in Josh’s veins and arteries.  He felt invincible, almost like he could walk right over to Oscar and rip his head off.  The two briefly exchanged angry glares, before Oscar raised his right hand to his throat.  With one finger, he swiped his neck from ear to ear, and then used that same finger to point at Josh.  Though he thought that Josh was probably shaking in his socks, he couldn’t have been further from the truth.

At 4 AM, Josh awoke to the voice of the CO yelling that it was time to get up and prepare for breakfast.  The inmates in the tank stirred, and another routine day began.  Surprisingly, when breakfast arrived a short time later, Josh was actually impressed with the meal.  The faux eggs were good, for a change, and the apple wasn’t bruised.

Stuart Co. Jail, Tank 3D

21 September, 1:16 AM

THE TANK was relatively quiet, except for the usual sounds of snoring and grunts.  In the distance, far away from Josh’s bed, the CO was flipping through the pages of a magazine about guns and bows.  His face was illuminated by a small lamp, and he appeared to be happily engaged in what he was doing.  Josh watched him for a while, but grew tired of it after a few minutes so he turned his gaze toward the bottom of the bed above him.

Josh considered his situation.  He knew he couldn’t stay awake forever, and that he would eventually succumb to sleep. 
Perhaps
, he thought,
I should approach the CO and let him know my life is in danger.  Maybe he’ll move me some place else.
  He considered this option for awhile, and decided it was the proper thing to do. 
In the morning, I’ll talk to him.  He’d probably get ticked-off if I came to him now, in the middle of the night, and made a request to move to another tank.

Bu
t then Josh had second thoughts. 
If I approach the CO about moving, everybody in the tank will think I’m a big, fat chicken – and then I’ll be fair game from here on out.  Soon enough, word will get out to the other tanks, and I’ll be pegged as a coward.  And before ya know it, I’ll become somebody’s b****.
 
HA!
  Josh smiled. 
That ain’t gonna happen to me, I can guarantee that! 
For several more minutes, Josh continued to think about what he should do.  Finally, he came up with a plan; he called it “
Option Two.”

Stuart Co. Jail, Tank 4NorthB

21 September, 1:20 AM

JERRY WAS also wide awake.  Although he wasn’t worried about his safety, he was fretting about the fact that he was now being labeled a “murderer.”  Over and over in his mind, he replayed the events that had led to his incarceration. 
Think, Jerry, think.  There’s gotta be something you’re forgetting – some little detail that will blow the lid off this case.
 
This can’t be happening to me.  There’s gotta be something.  Think!
  Sadly, nothing new came to mind.

Stuart Co. Jail, Tank 3D

21 September, 2:05 AM

THERE WAS an emergency somewhere in the jail, and the dinging sound could be heard in Josh’s Tank.  But it wasn’t so loud that it woke anyone up.  Josh decided he’d better wait another fifteen to twenty minutes – just in case – before he put his plan into action.  Though he was anxious, he was rearing to go.  In the dim lighting of the Tank, Josh managed to scribble a note on a piece of paper.  And then he waited.

At approximately 2:23
AM, Josh slipped out of his bed and began crawling on the floor in the direction of Oscar’s bed.  The floor was unexpectedly cold, and cluttered with property-storage bins and sandals.  Surprisingly, even though the tank was cleaned on a daily basis, there were a lot of dust bunnies.  Josh carefully navigated around the bins, and under the beds.  The last thing he needed, at this point, was to generate a noise and create a disturbance.  His progress was slower than he’d hoped, but he wasn’t concerned; he only had to crawl about thirty feet, anyway.  At the rate he was going, he guessed that he’d be under Oscar’s bed in about five minutes.

As Josh approached the target bed, he stopped for a moment to observe his adversary.  He
was snoring very softly and appeared to be sleeping soundly.  Josh smiled when he noticed that the lumbering giant was drooling out of one side of his mouth, and onto his pillow.  Every few seconds, a little slurping sound would issue from his mouth. 
HA!
 
Rest now, little princess, rest now; in a minute or so, things are going to get real exciting.

After searching under the bed for a few seconds, Josh withdrew the note from his pocket.  He looked at the words on the note, and read them to himself one last time. “
Oscar: I was under your bed, and I could have easily killed you.  Yours Truly, Josh.”
   He then placed the note in a location where it would be easily found.  Having done that, Josh emerged from under the bed and stood next to Oscar’s sleeping body.

ALL OF
a sudden, Josh began screaming at the top of his lungs.  “OSCAR!  OSCAR, YOU DUMB BRUTE!  YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL ME?  THEN COME ON, GIVE IT A SHOT!”  The tank exploded like an atom bomb.  Most concerning to Josh, was that Oscar practically flew out of his bed.  Fortunately, when he landed on his feet he was still groggy and confused.   Josh took a step back, and paused for a mere second or two.  As he did, a thought flashed into his head:
Do it, Josh!  Teach the jerk a lesson.
  Meanwhile, inmates throughout the tank were waking up and staring in shock and disbelief towards the disturbance.  The CO, who had just about jumped out of his shoes when he heard Josh scream, had already called for backup and was racing up the stairs.

The louder speakers again sounded an alert:  “DING!  DING!  DING! 
ALL ESCORTS, THREE DELTA.  ALL ESCORTS, THREE DELTA.  DING!  DING!  DING!”

Josh didn’t waste any more time.  Not wishing to completely forfeit the element of surprise, he slammed his right fist as hard as he could into the left side of Oscar’s face.  A cracking sound could be heard as the blow landed firmly on his jaw.  The blow was devastatingly effective, and Oscar was virtually incapacitated.  When he began to crumple, Josh then kicked him in the groin as if he were kicking a forty-yard field goal.  Oscar could only grasp his crotch and moan in agony.   As he fell to the floor in a heap, Josh retreated a bit.  He then lifted his hands up into the air, as if in surrender, just as the CO arrived with his backups.

The altercation ended with Josh going back to the Hole, and Oscar going to the hospital.  Because it had been so dark, there were no reliable witnesses.  Some inmates thought Oscar had been the first to lash out, and others thought it was Josh.  As a result, no charges were filed against either of the two men.

Stuart Co. Jail, the Hole

21 September, 2:37AM

JOSH DIDN’T create any waves when he arrived in the Hole; at this time of night most of the inmates were fast asleep, and had already inhabited the world of their dreams.  The lighting was dim, and the tank was fairly quiet.  Here and there, however, a lone insomniac stared blankly out the window as Josh walked by on the way to his cell.

When one of these guys tried to engage Josh in a conversation, Josh ignored him and continued walking.  This little slight didn’t seem to bother the insomniac very much; he simply giggled to himself, turned around, and then slowly paced the interior perimeter of his tiny cell.  When he reached the cell door after completing three rotations, he again looked out the window, giggled a few more times, and continued walking.