The ambiance of the crazy block was so serene and somber you wouldn't even know the psychiatric unit contained inmates.
It was only 8pm but all the crackpot inmates were already sound asleep. Evening meds were always administered promptly at 6:30pm every day. The powerful antipsychotic and antidepressant medications had inmates conked out by 8pm almost every night. Everyone was asleep but of course Jake The Snake. He had only taken his meds 4 times in the whole year that he had been on the special block. Usually he slipped his meds under his snaky tongue and even drank water to make it look like it was going down. The nurses were required to do mouth checks but never checked under the tongue.
Jake The Snake walked into his dank cell and sat on the bottom bunk. Nobody lived on the top bunk and for the past 4 months he had managed to keep it that way. Most of the $1000.00 he received for killing the Catholic priest had been frittered away on commissary. He had only 96 dollars left. But that didn't matter. Soon he would be home Scott free. He had the Feds by the cajones. They had to let him go. The Gadget Man was a very wanted man and there was already a handsome reward for his capture. But would they really let Jake the Snake go in return? He reflected back on some movies he watched that emphasized that the U.S does not negotiate with terrorists. Was this pretty much like the same thing? What if they found the Gadget Man before he got a chance to reveal his name?
Fred squirmed around on his mattress then shoved his hand under the mattress groping for a girly magazine. As he was looking down something conspicuous caught his eye in the shirt pocket of his jumper. He reached in the pocket and pulled out a note. How in the world did it get there?
Jake The Snake quickly unfurled the note and held it out steady just a foot below his copper red goatee shaped like a Brillo pad. The note said:
I know what you're doing you bootlicking rat. Don't make a stupid move. You should be smart enough to know that they can't and won't help you. If you want out be out in the rec yard by the west gate at precisely 7:30am. Use your head Jake The Snake and don't screw this up.
Fred's mind raced a million miles a second. Who could have stuck this note in his pocket? A clever inmate? One of the federal agents? The ruthless guard? Jake The Snake broke out in a cold sweat mulling over the fact that the Gadget Man might have some kind of inside connection. How else did Vinny know that he was ratting him out? Jake The Snake wasn't known for being a snitch. He had kept all kinds of secrets from the police his entire life. This situation was entirely different. The information he had on the Gadget Man was his only ticket out. One of the first things you learn when you come to prison is you have to look out for number one. Yourself.
Fred walked over to the oblong window to his cell that was maybe 4 inches wide. The clouds looked heavy and it was snowing a little bit. He heard the jangling of keys and then a bustle outside his cell door. The startle made his heart skip a beat and he quickly turned around. Jeez, it was just the guards doing a census count. That meant it must be 9pm.
Jake The Snake decided to celebrate what could be his last night in jail. He grabbed his microwave bowl and emptied two 3.5 oz packets of fish mackerel into it. Then he added some mayo and jalapeno rings and mixed it together with his plastic spork until it looked like a goulash. He then dug out a sleeve of saltine crackers from his locker and splayed individual crackers on the desk making a small assembly. He carefully placed little scoops of the fishy mush on each cracker. He stopped for a second and laughed out loud. He couldn't believe what he was doing. Possibly tomorrow he could be eating steak and lobster.
The food he was preparing was considered a delicacy throughout the prison. Next he grabbed his half-used bottle of Picante sauce and squirted out little dabs on each cracker which gave each treat a little zing.
Jake The Snake popped one of the delicious treats into his mouth and savored the flavor for a while before he finally chewed it up and swallowed it. He knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight so there was no point in even trying. The same thought of his ex-wife ran through his mind over and over. Sue,Sue, I'm leaving the zoo, and guess what? I'm coming to kill you!
He relished the rhyme that he repeated over and over in his mind. Tomorrow was going to be so much fun. Get ready people. The Hit Man is coming to town.