She looked at Anna. “You know what it’s like to be a woman . . .”
Anna smiled and said, “Ah, yes. I guess I do.”
“We’re vulnerable in a place like this. We need men who can protect us from some of these less-than- human men around here-not just inmates either. Men like Skipper. They’re more dangerous than the inmates. They make me scared. He even makes the inmates worse than they have to be by all the shit he pumps them full of. Besides, this whole place is one big boys’ club. If you don’t have a dick around here, you don’t get dick done around here. Don’t you agree?” she asked Anna.
“That this is essentially a boys’ club? Yes, I do agree with that,” Anna said.
“I mean, my God, what are all these damn towers around here except huge phallic symbols?” Strickland said with a mean laugh.
“I have to agree with that, as well,” Anna said to my surprise and then added, “And what about the batons the response teams use?” There was the slightest hint of sarcasm in her voice.
“Exactly,” Sandy said.
“What else does Skipper do?” I asked, trying to get her back on track.
“He supplies drugs, fixes disciplinary reports, changes job assignments, gives canteen, and arranges special visits at night, too.”
“What do you mean?” Anna asked.
“I mean, if one of Skipper’s drones misses his missus, Skipper will have her come in and have a conjugal visit with him. What they don’t know is that he has a few conjugal visits of his own with their wives after they are locked back up. He never lets any ugly ones in.”
“If inmates are having conjugal visits, it’s only through Skipper, because we haven’t had legitimate ones in years,” Anna said.
“And half the people who come into the infirmary,” she continued, “do so because of Skipper. Many of them give up their manhood and even humanity for him because it beats having him harass or kill them, and he still treats them like shit.”
“How do they make him money?” I asked, playing dumb.
Actually, I wasn’t playing.
“He sells them out to fat-cat faggots who get off on other men and weird shit like that. They hurt these men, abuse them, emasculate them, violate them in ways you can’t even imagine, and no one ever knows.”
“You mean outside of the prison?” Anna asked.
“That’s exactly what I mean,” Sandy said.
“Do you know who his customers are?” I asked.
“Only rumors, but there can’t be too many of them out here in Mayberry RFD.”
“Is there anybody else involved in this?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Are any of the administrators involved?”
“How could they not be? I mean, I don’t know. But, how can he do all of this without them knowing?”
“That brings up a good point,” I said. “How long has this been going on?”
“He’s been crooked from his mother’s womb,” she sneered.
“He’s been doing all these things the entire time he’s been here?” I asked.
“Well, maybe not all these things, but he’s always broken the rules and gotten away with it. And, no woman could ever have done that. I’ll bet you that.”
“How do you know all of this?” Anna asked.
“Because I’ve been around. I keep my mouth shut and my eyes open.”
We were all silent.
Finally she asked, “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to look into it. Gather some more information and maybe even a little evidence, and then turn it over to the inspector.”
“Well, I’m going on vacation. I don’t want to be here when all of this hits the fan. I told you, he scares the hell out of me. The reason I wanted you to know all this is that I’ve been watching out for some of the inmates that Skipper has been using and I won’t be here to do it for a while. I’m especially worried about Anthony Thomas in DC 101. If Skipper was willing to kill Johnson, I’m sure he would kill Thomas.”
“You think Skipper killed Johnson?” I asked.
“Yes, of course. Have you been listening?”
“Do you know Russ Maddox?” I asked.
“The banker? Yes, I know of him. He died recently, didn’t he?”
“Yes. Do you know of any connection he may have had with Skipper?”
“No, none. Do you think Skipper murdered him, too?” she asked, her voice full of excitement and interest.
“I don’t know. I’m just looking for a connection. You knew so much about everything else I thought you might know if there’s a connection.”
“Well, I don’t,” she said rising from her seat, “but I wouldn’t be surprised. Anyway, please hurry and take care of this. There’s a lot of people at risk, yourself and this pretty lady included,” she said, motioning towards Anna. “And, watch out for Tony and all the men in confinement, okay?”
“I’ll do what I can,” I said. “But, up until now, that hasn’t been a whole lot.”
When she left, Anna said, “She’s right, you know. Something has to be done about Skipper. It’s not safe around here. Not that it ever was, but you know what I mean. What do you think?”
“I’m not sure. You’re the better judge of women, but something wasn’t right. Why, after all of this time, would she come forward?”
“Maybe she sees the net being drawn in around Skipper and feels confident that she’s going to be safe. Who knows?” Anna said.
“I don’t,” I said, “but I plan to find out.”
My head was hurting, and the cut under my chin felt like it was gaping into something the size of the Grand Canyon. I was about to say things couldn’t get any worse when the phone rang. When Anna said that it was for me, I knew instantly the foolishness of the thought I had just had. I just didn’t realize how extremely foolish it was.
“You have three minutes,” Tom Daniels yelled into the phone, “to have your ass in the superintendent’s office. I told you if you stepped out of line, I would bury you. Guess what? You dug your own grave. Now, I’m gonna dump a load of dirt on your ass!”
Chapter 34
When I arrived at the superintendent’s office, Edward Stone sat behind his desk, Tom Daniels and Pete Fortner in front of it. The three men looked as if they were sitting in a surgical waiting room, preparing to receive bad news. The only thing inaccurate about that analogy was that, unfortunately, the bad news was for me.
“Have a seat,” the superintendent said, his voice low and flat.
I sat down between Daniels and Fortner.
Edward Stone looked over at Tom Daniels once I was seated.
Daniels said, “Chaplain Jordan, we’ve received some very serious allegations concerning your conduct while an employee of the Department of Corrections. We’ve made the decision to suspend you without pay until a thorough investigation can be conducted. However, we wanted to give you the opportunity to respond to the allegations before you are made to leave.”
I was in shock. I couldn’t speak. In fact, I found it difficult to swallow. Maybe it was because of all the cotton in my mouth. My mind raced down dark streets and alleyways searching for an incident or the source of the allegations. I could find none. Every street was empty. Every alley deserted. My mind said,
