The Unusual Suspect by Ben Machell

Author:Ben Machell [Machell, Ben]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2021-01-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Breakfast on suicide watch consisted of powdered egg reconstituted into a pallid slop, two slices of soggy toast, and a small carton of milk. As he ate, Stephen learned that the strange young hyperactive inmate, the one who talked in his sleep and traced invisible patterns on sheets of paper, was called Matt. The older bald man who just seemed to lie on the floor underneath a blanket was called Steve. Matt was delighted with the eggs and wolfed them down. He then proceeded to help himself to the food on Steve’s tray. He asked if Stephen would like the spare carton of milk. When Stephen said he would not, Matt threw it into the air, letting the carton land on his head. He then stashed it under his blanket along with half a dozen other unopened milk cartons, vibrating with a kind of giddy joy.

The bald man was refusing to eat. He just lay there on the floor, curled up, barely speaking. On each breakfast tray there was a plastic cup containing a clear red liquid. Stephen took a sip and was hit by a tongue-burning sugary sweetness. “The juice is drugged,” said Steve, who spoke from the floor in a distant monotone. Stephen recoiled. He thought of his mother and the way her drugs would leave her hollowed out and docile, so he tipped the juice down the small metal sink in the corner of the cell.

Hours passed. Prison staff came in with medication for Steve, who obediently swallowed it down, and then they left. More food was presented along with cupfuls of the Day-Glo juice. It was impossible for Stephen to feel at ease. The Hole had been bad, but at least he’d had his own space, however small. He was allowed books and writing materials. But here? Here he was wedged between a man who seemed completely inert and another who was practically hyperactive. Stephen had spent almost his entire life stuck in close proximity to two people struggling with mental illness. And now, over four thousand miles away, he was back doing the same. Matt quizzed Stephen about England and his crimes, before going on long, rambling, self-aggrandizing anecdotes about his own criminal career. He claimed to have been a gang leader and made $10 million before finally being captured. His constant talking, probing, and boasting were punctuated by violent, powdered egg–powered bowel movements. Stephen gagged. It was a direct assault on his own heightened need for hygiene. Within twenty-four hours the claustrophobia was overpowering. He began to understand that there was a reason the other two gulped down the juice so willingly.

Stephen did his best to find out what he was doing there. When prison staff came in and out of the observation cell, he badgered them for information. They explained that he was considered a suicide risk. In order to no longer be considered a suicide risk, he must first request an appointment with one of the prison psychiatrists. But because it was now Saturday, he would have to wait until Monday.

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