He contemplated leaving more than once, usually after pulling the short straw and having to do janitorial duties on the cells. Overall though, he was happy enough at his job. He got to pick his start times most of the time, got every second weekend off and got to chat with other guards all day. Most of the time, the job involved just sitting and waiting for nothing to happen. He’d caught up on a lot of reading since he started here and if worse came to worse, he always had his Gameboy. Sometimes, when he got really fed up with the job, his friends would remind him that he’d be doing a lot more for a lot less at any shopping mall or fast-food joint around. All in all, the minuscule pay seemed worth it.
Last month, that changed.
The Pen had been assigned a new inmate, a high profile one at that, forcing shifts to change and more staff to be hired on to accommodate the extra manpower needed to deal with him. Clarence had even finally been offered his much-coveted full time position, but had turned it down almost instantly. Suddenly, the risk no longer seemed worth the reward.
Clarence stared vacantly into Adam Genblade’s cell, watching his shoulders rise and fall every time he took a deep breath. A shiver ran down his back as he watched, even though he felt warm and there were great circles of nervous sweat forming under each of his arms, staining his bright blue uniform a deep navy. He didn’t want to look at him, yet couldn’t turn away even when he focused all his energies on it. Wiping a speck of drool from the corner of his mouth, he waited anxiously for Genblade to move. To do something.
Genblade sat cross-legged on his mattress, the cold from the concrete floor making it one of the most unbearable places to sleep imaginable. He stared at the wall with a blank look in his eyes, just as he had been for hours ever since that visitor had come to see him. He seemed to fixate on one point on the wall, burning a hole into it with his eyes. A small sliver of warm drool oozed its way past his jagged teeth and onto his chin, rolling down his face, then hanging for a moment before finally dropping onto the floor with a quiet plop.
From out here he looked harmless, or even helpless. If Clarence hadn’t seen the photos of what he had done himself, he wouldn’t have believed it. This monster had killed children. Dozens of them, resulting in almost eight liters of blood on the walls at the Grendel home, so much that the family had to move. He had read once that serial killers as demented as this were often cold and emotionless. That, at least, he could have understood if not condoned. But this monster, when he did choose to speak, was filled with a kind of gleeful fascination. Like a child playing a new game.
“What the fuck is that guy doing?” a skinny guard with blonde hair remarked, stroking his unshaven chin as he eyed the inmate.
Clarence nearly jumped out of his skin, his hand immediately clutching his heart as it started to throb violently. After a moment he let out a sigh of relief, forcing a jittery smirk.
“A little high-strung are we?”
“Forgot you were there, Rudy,” Clarence laughed, taking a deep breath. “What were you saying?”
Rudy motioned towards Adam Genblade again, his upper lip curling noticeably when he did. “This fuck in here. The whole goddamn departments bending over backwards to make sure he don’t move a muscle. All the men we hired on and now I can’t pick shifts anymore. Had to hire someone to look after T.J. when Janet’s working. All because of that fuck in there.”
Clarence’s gaze went from Rudy to Genblade (who had just taken another of those large lungfuls of air) and then back again. “He’s a child killer, Rudy. What do you expect?”
“Oh, for god’s sake!” he scoffed, leaning in for a better look at the killer. His fingers weren’t even moving like they had been an hour ago. “He looks like he hasn’t had a coherent thought in hours. How in god’s name does a loser like that rate all these guards?”
“Rud - -”
“Watch,” Rudy interjected, raising a finger for pause before bending down and picking up two small pebbles from the floor. Craning his head around Clarence to make sure nobody was coming, he leaned in close to the cell, holding one of the small stones between his thumb and forefinger. He tossed it, watching as it bounced harmlessly off of the mattress and onto the floor.
“Come on, Rudy,” Clarence urged, nudging his friend’s shoulder, “Give it a rest.”
“No, watch,” Rudy chuckled, fingering the second stone. “I’m gonna prove to you how bullshit this is. Watch.” He closed one eye as he aimed, the tip of his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth ever so slightly. After a few phantom swings he let the tiny projectile go, flying through the air in a wide arch and bouncing off of Adam Genblade’s right cheek.
Both men watched with anticipation as they waited for some sign of movement or reaction.
After a few seconds, another glob of saliva dripped from his chin and plopped into the puddle on the floor.
“Fuck,” Clarence sighed, allowing himself a laugh as he started breathing again.
“See? What’d I tell you?” Rudy grinned, turning toward his friend and shrugging childishly.
“Still man, it does look like the D.A. is gonna be pushing for death row. Never know what someone that desperate might do.”
“If he’s that bad then someone should just take him out back and shoot him. Solve all our -”
Rudy stopped in mid-sentence, his lower jaw trembling.
It took less than
