Criminal Monotony
content warning - there is adult themes, swearing and coarse language.
'So, Jack Mikeson. The most infamous of all famed criminals in Ontario. What does it feel like to be captured at last?' Officer Cameron pulled his glasses further up his nose and gave an amused laugh. Jack wouldn't make eye contact with him, he refused to. It was just too degrading.
'It's only a capture if you take me by force, Officer.'
'Please, call me Adus. Adus Cameron.'
Jack raised an eyebrow at the man but dismissed the comment. 'Officer, don't I get like a call or something? The least you jerks can do is give me a phone call to my girlfriend. She's in California and she-'
'Won't need to worry about you, I'm sure. So, Jack''
'It's Mr. Mikeson. Nothing else. I don't pretend to have a first name basis with the authorities, and especially not with you.'
'Alright, Mr. Mikeson'' Adus sighed. 'Can I just ask you one question? Why' Why did you do it?'
'Why the hell did I do what?'
'Let yourself get caught like that. Let yourself get captured. We never would've found you. After that scandal at the Bank of Montreal, we would have been halfway to Moscow by now. But then you show up in Toronto' Hands up, no questions asked' Why did you do it, Jack?'
He finally dragged his brown eyes to the officer's, scowling. Adus waited patiently, drumming his fingers on the scratched white table. 'To tell you the truth, Officer' I'd had enough. I was sick of running. And I mean' I don't know how the other guys do it. I just' can't live like that. But I'm sure you self-gorging pigs down at the station can understand that much. '
'Do you always lie like this?'
'Are you always this annoying?'
'Who was it?'
'Come again, bastard?'
'The girl. The girl that you stopped running for.'
Jack gave an indignant snort and shook his head. 'Who ever said anything about Amy?'
'Ah, so there is a girl.'
'Would you really believe me if I said there weren't?'
'So' tell me about this Amy. What's she like? Where did you two meet?'
Jack rolled his eyes and swore something under his breath. 'Do I really have to tell you freaks?'
'Yes, you do. This is on record.'
'Alright, alright' Jesus' Don't choke on your donuts' We met last summer. At this party. My friend' well, I guess I'll call him Alex''
'And what's Alex's real name?'
'It's not important. Seriously. But do you always interrupt people when they're giving you a damn answer? Or is that just me?'
'When it's criminal evidence, yes.'
'Well, it's not. So you can shut up and let me finish. Where was I? Right' the party' These other guys thought it would be funny to teepee the neighbor's house with beer-soaked Bounty and Kinder Eggs. I'm not quite sure where they got the idea from, but the house party was seriously lame. So I grabbed a Sprite and joined them outside. I didn't do anything at all. I just sat there on the porch like an old man and stared at their 'work of art' as they called it. And then there was barking and somebody cursing and the idiots ran for it. Well, this old lady and her cat came out and she chucked a broom at one of the kid's heads but she didn't bother trying to follow them.'
'Did she see you?'
'Yes. I just sat there, staring at her, and drank my Sprite. She must have stood there for like an hour, just watching me. It was a little creepy. And then this girl on her bike stops to see the mess and then' she sees me. And' I don't know. It's corny. I feel like a damn five-year-old in some cheesy sitcom. I just' knew her. And that was all that mattered. The old lady just nodded at the both of us and disappeared back into her house. I could have kissed her but' Shit, that would have been nasty. And then I was alone.'
'With Amy?'
'Yes, you porky bastard, with Amy. That's when I finally decided to get up and she told me about the old lady. Called her Old Lady Alzheimer's because she could never remember a damn thing. And then she asked about the party and where I was heading. I don't really know why' but I decided to stay in the city for a while. At least for her. And' shit, she didn't even know my real name.'
'She didn't ask?'
'Nah' I told her I was Jeffrey Cox and I was from Philadelphia. All I can say is' thank God she wasn't from Philadelphia. She's never been there in her life.'
Adus nodded and readjusted the tape recorder on the chair beside him. 'That makes sense''
'Right, well, she was having some issues with her brother. Something about a gangbang or the mafia or something. He got into some acts that he shouldn't have and it all went to shit. And then she found out about it''
'How did she find out?'
'She caught him at it. Mugging some fucking aristocrat on the streets. And of course, he tried to kill her before she spilled to the cops.'
'What's her brother's name?'
Jack bit his lip and squinted at the tinted windows, having a mental debate in his head. 'I' uh' don't think I can tell you that.'
'Alright, I understand. You did something with him, then? Robbed a store or pulled a gun with the guy?'
Jack shook his head. 'No. Nothing like that.'
'So you had nothing to do with him?'
'No' not' exactly.'
'Well, 'not exactly' is a fairly loose term, Jack. Care to try again?'
'Don't fucking call me that. It's Mr. Mikeson to you, bastard.'
'What did he do, Jack?'
'Nothing.'
'What did he do?'
'Nothing!'
'Don't lie to me, it won't help you. You know that. What did he do?'
'He' made me help him' rob a convenience store. In Quebec' H-he said he'd' kill her if I didn't. And I couldn't let him do that. I couldn't. This guy was a lunatic' I just couldn't let him''
'We need to know his name, Jack.'
'Don't you get it? I can't tell you his name!'
'You did this to get away from him?'
'I don't deal with lunatics particularly well, Officer. My dad was a lunatic. And he' Forget it. Just forget it. When's my trial?'
'That particular bit of information is still undecided at the time. It may not happen if we believe there is some reason that you' weren't the one orchestrating the robberies. You owe the government six million dollars, Mr. Mikeson. So I suggest you stay seated and tell us exactly what we want to know.'
'So that's code for next week, then? Are they going to kill me then, too?'
'Nobody's killing anybody, Jack. Tell me about your dad.'
'Why?'
'Why what?'
'Why the fuck should I tell you anything? You don't know me! You fucking porkers don't care about my fucking dad, for Christ's sake!'
'You said he was a lunatic. What makes him a lunatic?'
'It's nothing, Officer. As in, none of your fucking business.'
'Must we go in this circle again? You can tell me now or you can tell me later, I really don't mind. I've got time. You, however''
'Fine. Shit, he killed my mom nine years ago' I was seven' He stabbed her in the chest and raped my sister. Then' then h-he''
'What?'
'He raped me. Twice. And' I' I couldn't do anything. I just felt so helpless and then I saw my sister' And she had' a gun' and she aimed it at his h-head''
'What did you do?'
'I let her shoot him. Oh, fuck, I fucking let her shoot my dad' and neither of us had parents. We were' orphans. She was only a few years older than me and she''
'Where did your sister get the gun, Jack?'
'Officer''
'Call me Adus. My name is Adus.'
'Adus' it was' his. It was my dad's gun.'
'So your father had a gun' Did you know why?'
'Because he killed people for a living. It was his job. And I was seven' do you think I fucking gave a shit what he did, if there was food on the table?'
'Tell me more about your sister. What happened to her after that night when your parents''
'When they died?'
'Yes.'
'My sister, Sarah, got sick. Leukemia, I think it was. I'm not exactly sure. We couldn't get treatment because we didn't have any money. I knew she was gonna die and I' I knew I had to do something.'
'So what did you do?'
'I' I can't say that, Officer. Not here.'
'So you're saying that you don't trust me.'
'No, I don't.'
'Why not?'
'Because you're a cop. Do I really need any other reason?'
'Come on, Jack''
'I told you not to call me that.'
'I'd let you call me Sharon, if it meant something. We're not all the same, you know''
'Oh? And how the hell do you figure that?'
'Because that'd be like saying that you and I are the same.'
Jack snorted and pushed back in his chair. 'Are we?'
'I don't know, you tell me.'
'I think it's just a load of bullshit' I think you're out of your fucking mind.'
'Well, that's always pleasant to hear. Do you treat your sister this way?'
Adus stared at the young man, his ears ringing. Jack was completely quiet; the officer had hit a nerve.
'Jack?' Adus whispered again, trying not to let his breath catch.
'No.'
'Mr. Mikeson' where is your sister now?'
'It doesn't matter, Officer.'
'And why's that?'
'Because she's dead.'
Silence followed Jack's words and he pushed back in his seat, shutting his eyes.
'What' When did this happen?'
'Years and years ago. I don't even fucking remember. I was crying' Just crying' And then I wanted to shoot myself too. I didn't have the guts to. I never cried since then. I just' started doing stuff. Bad stuff.'
'Drugs?'
'I couldn't pay for them, really. I wasn't respectable enough to get a job. I didn't have any friends to do me favors. I just kind of' Stuck with the only thing I knew how to do.'
'You mean, steal money from other hard-working people?'
'You make it sound so much worse than it is, chief.'
'Jack, this is a serious offense. Stealing-'
'No, that's just it! You think these people do anything good with their money? All these stupid fancy cars and iPods and little Debbie snack cakes ' it's all crap. All of it. We're all just gonna die here. You wanna know why?'
'Humor me.'
'It's because the rich man only thinks about the rich man. Looking out for number one. And if he just happens to wreck the world for the rest of us, than so be it.'
'You don't get to make that choice, Jack.'
'Well I think I should. I've worked pretty damn hard competing against these selfish jackass morons who think they need to have every single fucking thing they want while half the population starves to death. We need to even out the cards. Guys like me' We don't even get the chance. And maybe we don't deserve it' But I sure as hell don't want to hand the world over to those bastards. Do you, Adus?'
'I'm not saying you're not right' But I'm not saying that you are, either.'
'Ah, so you admit I have a point, then?'
'Yes. You do. But this point of yours is just a theory from a psychotic drug-dealer who robs every bank within a hundred mile radius.'
'We all have our cookies, chief. I just make mine with chocolate sprinkles.'
'Don't you ever' regret things? All the things that you've done? Don't you ever want to take any of it back?'
'Not since my mother died. And who're you gonna pin that one on?'
'That's another case.'
'And you're just another fucking cop to boss me around.'
'You know what, Jack?'
'What? What's so fucking important that you feel the fucking need to waste my precious time?'
'You do all of this to escape him. To be what he never was. To find justice in today's ever-growing society.'
'And what's that supposed to mean?'
'You're just like him, Jack. You murdered the father of a kid last week' And now he's got nowhere to go. His name is Ryan.'
'Ryan. How special.'
'Isn't it? What I don't think you understand is that' you've become your father.'
'Come again?'
'That man was your father. And Ryan' Ryan is you.' Adus stopped the tape recorder and stood up, scratching his head. He stretched his arm before exiting the room, leaving Jack to stare helplessly at his retreating back.
'Then take good care of him, chief. Keep that one for the record.'
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