"Temporary
Insanity"
Sirrus
Poe
Our
legal system is great, as are the laws that are passed
by men and women with nothing else better to do in their
lives. I knew what would happen and where I would end
up after I killed her boyfriend. What a blessing that
I live in America.
*
* *
Nine-one-one
what is your emergency?
Theres
no longer an emergency. Im at 403 South Walnut
in the Henderson Addition and I think I killed the man
who was screwing my wife. I think you should send the
police. I dont know how much longer I can control
myself.
Okay
sir. I have the address and the police have been alerted.
They should be there soon. Please stay on the line until
they arrive.
Im
not going anywhere. I promise. I dont know what
happened. I love her so much and to find her in that
position, with that mans thing inside her hurt.
I cant get the image to fade away. It wont
go away.
Sir,
is your wife okay?
Yes.
I left as soon as the blood and flesh shot from his
gut into her face. I dont think she was hit.
May
I talk to her? Mr.?
I
dont think she wants to talk right now. I can
hear her bawling and gasping for breath. I think she
may be in shock. Me? Oh, Im sorry, Im Johnny
McKee.
Okay
Mr. McKee, you stay where you are and the policemen
and ambulance will be there momentarily. Your wife should
be fine if you just stay where you are and keep control
of yourself. Can you stay there for me?
Sure.
I have no urge to kill my wife. I saw them and I snapped,
but when the polka-dotted paint of that mans body
hit the wall and headboard of the bed I came back. I
knew Id done something wrong, so very wrong.
Please
keep control of yourself Mr. McKee. I know you are upset,
but there is no time for crying right now. You need
to be able to talk with the policemen when they arrive.
You need to tell them the truth about what happened.
If you do that everything will be fine.
Are
you sure? I didnt mean to do this. How did this
happen? How could I have done such a thing?
Sirens
overtook the wailing cries from upstairs.
Theyre
here.
*
* *
That
conversation was my alibi and free ride through the
back doors of Alley Creek Memorial Hospital for the
Mentally Handicapped . The prosecutions attempts
for showing a case of premeditated murder were less
than half-hearted. They knew right off that there was
no chance at getting a guilty verdict once that tape
recording was let into evidence. Ive been here
five years; five long years of fulfilling every mousetrap
routine of recovery that the doctors felt would cure
a sick man such as myself. I struggled at first with
them, unable to complete thoughts or tell these doctors
what a freaking inkblot reminded me of. They wanted
a quick response to everything, but if I did that I
knew I would never get out. Thats the key in this
system. If you are too interesting then you are going
to remain inside so that they can study you and figure
out what makes your mind tick. My mind did not interest
them in the least and they knew I was innocent. Each
one that saw me said it would be a matter of fulfilling
the required sentence of time here at the hospital then
I would be set free. I would be free to make a new life;
a fresh life where I never pulled a gun from my rifle
cabinet, never pulled the trigger, never killed a man
who was having his way with my wife. Life would start
over and I would be a new man never to return to those
walls of bending sanity. It was a temporary case of
insanity and should never happen again. Got to love
their thinking. All those books they studied and all
the time spent diagnosing patients is really a cover
so that they have something to do each day after they
get out of bed. I love it when a plan comes together.
If I moved too fast I would not have this chance, yes
I would have accomplished the same goal, but freedom
would have been lost. Well freedom starts this morning
when they give me my walking papers. Ill be back;
I have no doubt, to revisit with doctors who will wonder
how they could have been so wrong. Another five years,
maybe ten? I will be in my late thirties or early forties
the next time I get to leave through that front door.
*
* *
Johnny
got out of the car and handed the cab driver a twenty.
Keep
the change. I wont be needing it.
The
dark skinned mans smile gleamed beneath the florescent
lights of the gas station.
Thanks
man.
He
waited for the yellow cab to disappear into the darkness
of the early morning then began walking down the sidewalk.
The moon was on its way down and the sun would take
its rightful place in the sky within hours. His hands
were buried deep inside the pockets of his blue jeans
as he tried to fight the cutting breeze.
Thirty
minutes later he stood in front of his home. The house
looked the same as the night the policemen handcuffed
him and drove away with him locked and sobbing in the
backseat of the patrol car.
Walking
to the back of the house he broke one of the small panes
of glass in the backdoor. He reached his arm through
the jagged frame and unlocked the door. Excitement took
over; his gasps for breath a continuous effort for oxygen
and the forgotten flesh between his legs stood at full
alert. Climbing the stairs that never were lost in his
dreams in the hospital he pulled a knife from the inside
of his windbreaker. Boards creaked and moaned as he
made his way to a badly missed bedroom. The door was
open and there she was, sleeping like a child with nothing
but candy cane pictures floating through her mind.
She
remained as beautiful as the last morning he kissed
her goodbye then headed off for work. He went to the
bedside, looked down at her and giggled.
Ive
missed you baby. I waited a long time to see you again
so you are going to have to wake up. Wake up and tell
me you love me and that everything will be okay.
She
groaned a bit then rolled over turning her back to him.
Oh,
that will never do. You have to look at me and remind
me why I am here.
Grabbing
her shoulder he pinched her gently then leaned over
and kissed her neck.
Wake
up honey. Daddys home.
She
woke, startled she screamed, but only enough to cause
her eyes to bulge at the sight before her. He covered
her mouth with his free hand and placed the sharp edge
of the knife against her neck with the other.
Dont
scream and I wont hurt you. I just want to talk
to you. I want you to understand why I did what I did.
And I want to know what I did wrong to cause you to
have to go to him instead of me for your pleasure. Do
you promise not to scream?
Her
head bobbed up and down in a slow, determined way.
He
pulled away his hand, but left the blade tempting her
flesh.
What
are you doing here Johnny? What do you think you are
doing?
I
am doing something I could not do five years ago. I
came to get an answer.
An
answer to what?"
Surely
you havent forgotten our little friend. He has
already told me why and now it is your turn.
Dont
do this... Her words were silenced with the hungry
swipe of his weapon.
He
did not say another word or lash out at her with the
knife ripping her supple skin in an uncontrolled rage.
First he pulled her nightgown over her head then removed
her panties. Next he dug the metal shaft between her
legs and began to cut. Finished, he headed to the lower
level and the phone, but before he left the room he
looked back. Above the headboard, stuck to the wall
with the knife, was a masterpiece of human art. The
pink mound of tender flesh poking out from beneath the
curly black hair in the middle of the human skin painting
brought a huge grin to his lips.
*
* *
Nine-one-one,
what is your emergency?
Ive
got my answer.
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