31 August 07

The Double Murderer (Part 2)

Being bipolar, my moods can change at a multiple of a normal person’s rate. When I lose it, I lose it. Although outwardly I had remained calm in the face of Magpie’s threats, inwardly, I was about to explode. There are cameras in the kitchen, and I suspected Magpie of trying to get me to throw the first blow – an act that could have led to additional charges and another prison sentence.

If he attacks me, I thought, I’ll be forced to defend myself. In the meantime I’ve got to ignore him, and try to stay calm.
I was led outside by Cage Fighter, one of the toughest men on the yard, a pro wrestler who works out endlessly.
“Look”, Cage Fighter said, “Magpie just came and complained to me about you. But you know what?”
“What?” I said.
“He’s full of shit. He tried the same tricks with me when I was in the clipper room. Look man, you’re about to get out, don’t let him get to you. Whatever he says, let it slide off your back.”
“OK. I’ll try. Thanks.”
Sitting on the crates, Magpie said, “England, people are complaining about you. That you’re not a team player, that you work too slow. The head white shirt's here today. He’s gonna get you.” He pointed at the kitchen supervisor, a Nigerian the inmates call Blood Diamonds.
“I already had it out with him over the gloves.” I turned to Blood Diamonds, and said, “Where’s my gloves at?”
“I’m gonna get you them. I’ll go order them right now.”
“Yeah, right. It’s been three days already.”
Blood Diamonds walked away to talk to another nonprisoner Nigerian.
I looked at the maintenance workers trying to fix the dishwasher, which was gas-powered, and was prone to exploding.
“I don’t know why it’s doing this exploding stuff,” said one of the prisoner maintenancemen.
The grey shirt (a supervisor) said, “It introduces the gas before it ignites it.”
When the maintenance crew had left, Magpie started up again. “You ain’t gettin’ gloves. You ain’t gettin’ shit.”
I continued to ignore him and started writing.
“I’d better not find out you’re puttin’ shit on the Internet about me, dude. I’ll scalp the rest of your head off. You think you’re crazy, you’ve got two crazies in here, motherfucker. I’ll show you some shit you ain’t never seen.”
He stood up, walked up to me, and we stared at each other for what seemed like a long time. He walked away, and I started to pace up and down.
“Look at England, “ Magpie said, “he’s tensing himself up to come and beat this Indian down.”

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