American Criminal (13 page)

    “And by their cause, I’m assuming you mean the cause of white supremacy?” Burnside asked.

    “Absolutely. You’re going to have to make your prison debut as an actor to convince them you are a true believer in the cause of white power,” the Warden said.

    “That shouldn’t be too difficult considering the heterogeneous population in this place. There are certainly plenty of minorities to target,” Burnside commented.

    “Just make sure none of them suffer any permanent injuries,” the Warden said.

    “Like brain damage?” Ray asked, grinning.

    “Exactly,” the Warden agreed without returning his grin.

     The Internal Affairs Chief interjected. “You will need to use all of your abilities and faculties to put up a convincing front. If they don’t believe you, they will figure out a way to eliminate you. You have to quite literally ‘become the role.’ If you don’t do it convincingly, you don’t have a chance. If you do it successfully, you will eventually be transferred out of here.”

    “I understand,” Burnside said.

    “We will try to give you as much support as we can from the guards who remain loyal to us. Our inside man will also do what he can to assist you. His identity will remain confidential for his safety and yours. We will be checking in with you periodically via loyal guards in order to measure your progress and formulate further plans of action.”

    “Okay. Then, that’s it?” Ray asked.

    “Do you have any questions?”

    “Actually, yes. Are you gentlemen aware that my cellmate is an African American? I’m not sure how it’s going to work out if I’m supposed to act like a white supremacist?”

    “Yes, we are aware of that fact and it has been factored into the equation,” the Warden said, glancing over at the Internal Affairs Chief. “Mr. Johnson has a plan to deal with that.”

Chapter 16

Indecent Proposal

    “My cellmate and I get along,” Burnside said.  “But I’m guessing that has to change if this ruse is going to work.”

    “Absolutely,” the IA Chief stated, firmly, as if he had already prepared for the contingency. “You need to be separated. Do whatever you need to do to gain the
Aryan Nation’s
trust. We’ll back you up as much as we can from our side. For example, if you were to start a fight with a minority inmate in a public place like the cafeteria tonight, we’ll make sure you get sent to solitary and your victim receives a slap on the wrist, which is standard operating procedure anyway for an inmate acting in self-defense.”

    “That’s a swell policy. So how do you explain them throwing me in solitary when I was acting in self-defense?” Burnside asked, chagrined.

    “Your experience was an unfortunate exception; it was a result of corrupt guards working with the
Aryan Nation
. We’ll make sure they are reigned in during the operation,” Johnson said.

    “Can you do that without raising suspicions?” Ray asked.

    “It’s already been worked out,” the IA Chief said. “If you initiate this theoretical attack in the cafeteria tonight, we will assign guards to the detail: men loyal to us. It won’t be a problem. After the racial incident in the cafeteria, you and your cellmate will have to be separated.”

    “Mr. Burnside, this plan has been well thought out. You’re going to have to trust us,” the Warden interjected. “There’s one more thing. You have to shave your head.”

    “Just the look I always wanted.”

    “We’re sending you to the infirmary, so you can have it done there. Just say you need it done for hygienic reasons. Any more questions?”

    “Do I get a pedicure with the haircut?” Burnside asked.   

     A short while later, Ray lay on a cot in the infirmary, ruminating about the meeting. He thought it went well. If he followed their plan, he might survive the week. He was enjoying the solitude in the infirmary’s isolation room. It gave him time to think. What he did in the next 24 hours was going to be vital to his survival. Like the IA Chief said, he had to put on a convincing act to make the plan work. He had to live and breathe the role. He had to become a true believer.

   
Fuck it. Anything is better than my current situation as a man marked for execution.

    Burnside had always hated skinheads. He thought they were the lowest form of life on earth. But this time, he had to fake it. He hoped he would be convincing. Maybe his desperation would give him the edge he needed to pull it off.

    The infirmary personnel gave him something to ease the pain, a narcotic. Whatever it was, it worked. He didn’t feel the burning sensation in his ass anymore. His body felt numb and his mind was relaxed for the first time in days. 

    A prison doctor checked him out, confirmed that he had been raped, and gave him some anti-biotic ointment to apply to his torn ass. He was glad there were no nurses present during the examination.

    Ray was grateful to the Warden for sending him to the infirmary. He wouldn’t have a problem returning the favor. The Warden and the IA Chief didn’t know it, but they had just hired the most fanatical employee imaginable. When he was a police officer, his sense of duty was far stronger than any temptations thrown his way. That was one of the reasons he ended up here in prison. For some of the other cops in his department, the temptation to make a quick buck far outweighed any sense of duty. Ray planned to track down his former colleagues and get them all eventually. He was in no rush.

    The ex-cop believed that his future vengeance would be as inevitable as fate. It was a fury that was not going to diminish with time. He would take the Warden’s assignment all the way. He was going to grab hold of this opportunity and squeeze everything he could out of it. Least of all at stake was his transfer out of this hellhole, which was incentive enough to do the job.

   
Those skinheads don’t know what they are in for.

    Burnside closed his eyes and drifted to sleep, grinning.   

   A male nurse, who resembled a Neanderthal man wearing a white coat, woke him up. The neander-nurse shaved Burnside’s head at his request. It took under three minutes. He was back in his cell less than an hour later.

    Ray’s cellmate, James, appeared nonplussed by his new appearance, eyeing him with only slight apprehension. Burnside simply nodded at him and lay down in the bottom bunk without saying anything. He didn’t know how he was going to reconcile his relationship with his cellmate with his new role. He might have to tell him the truth.

   
Or at least some of it.

    “Nice haircut, Cellie,” James commented from his seated position in the corner where he was reading a
book.

    “Thank you.”

    “You do realize that it could be misinterpreted by certain people,” James said, leaning forward and raising his left eyebrow.

    “Actually, I’m counting on it being misinterpreted,” Burnside said, moving to a seated position on the side of his bunk. He glared at his cellmate. “Listen, Sean, I appreciate the heads-up and all the advice you gave me so far. That’s why I’m giving you fair warning about my future behavior. You may be surprised by some of the things I do or say during the next week. I need you to understand there’s a method to my madness.  It’s like Hamlet said in Shakespeare’s play; I am not mad in reality, but mad in craft.”

    “Damn, Cellie, that’s some pretty heavy shit. You mind telling me in English?” James asked, grinning.

    “Sure. I’m going to trust you to keep what I’m going to say confidential. I won’t survive a day if word gets out.”

    “No problem, Cellie. We’re straight.”

    “I’m going to join the
Skinheads
.”

    “Come again?” James asked, standing. “How do you expect to pull that off after putting two of their best enforcers in the infirmary?”

    “I take it you know what happened to me earlier today?”

    “Word got around. I’m sorry Cellie,” Sean said, pausing in the center of the cell.

    “Okay, so you understand my motives in destroying the
Skinheads
,” Ray said. “They all deserve to die for what happened.”

     “They want to kill you. How do you expect to join them?” James said, returning to his seat and tapping his foot anxiously on the floor.

    “I’m going to tell you once and hope that you believe me,” Burnside said, glaring at his cellmate with a furious intensity. “In the last few hours, I’ve made some important connections in this hellhole. As crazy as it sounds, I just met with the Warden and the Internal Affairs Chief of the prison. In exchange for a future transfer to a medium security facility, I agreed to help them with their gang problem. The Warden wants the
Skinheads
taken out. I’m not just talking about the leader. I’m talking about all of them. Taken out,” Burnside said, emphasizing the last two words for dramatic effect. “Events are now in motion to do it.”

    “A meeting with the Warden? You can’t be serious!” James exclaimed, throwing up his hands in frustration. “I wasn’t born yesterday. The Warden doesn’t meet with prisoners. The only time he met with any of us was a few years back when he was trying to get the gang problem under control. He met with all the gang leaders to try to work out a truce. Needless to say, it didn’t work. The only reason I know this is because the leader of my gang met with him.”

    “Did he ever describe the layout of the Warden’s office?”

    “What does that have to do with anything?”

    “If I know the layout, that means I’m not lying to you. Right?” Burnside said.

    “Okay. What is it?” James asked.

    “The hallway outside the Warden’s office is wood paneled. There are Classical paintings on the walls and potted plants on fancy tables. Inside the office, there are more paintings. There’s an entrance to a private conference room directly behind the Warden’s desk.”

    “Okay, so you’ve been there. That doesn’t mean you made a deal with the Warden to take down the gang
.
Why would he choose you?”

    “Think about it. The Warden needs someone who wants payback against the
Skinheads.
Who wants payback more than a guy who just got raped by the fuckers?”

    “I still don’t see how the
Skinheads
are going to let you join their gang after what you did to their best enforcers.”

    “The Warden already has an agent infiltrated into a top position in the gang. He’s going to convince them to take me,” Ray said.

    “I don’t like the sound of it. If you join them, you’re siding with my gang’s enemy,” James said.

    “I’m joining them, so I can destroy them. The best way to do it is from the inside.”

    “That’s some pretty heavy shit, Cellie. How can I believe you? How do I know you’re not pulling my chain?”

    “I know it’s a lot to swallow, but it’s true. Events are now in progress that will bring about the complete destruction of the
Skinheads
,” Burnside said. “My behavior over the next few weeks is going to be extremely offensive to you and to other members of your gang. I’m going to make a pretense of hating your guts. You and anyone else with black skin. I need you to understand that it’s all an act. I need you to inform the top people in your gang and those you absolutely trust. Otherwise, I’m dead.”

    “Cellie, I don’t’ know what to say. Do you really think you can get away with it?”

    “I know I can get away with it. I just have to be convincing. I have to ask a big favor from you.”

    “I don’t like the sound of that.”

    “Tonight, I have to start a fight in the cafeteria with one of your gang members. In the next few weeks, I have to act like the most despicable
Skinhead
this prison has ever seen. I need your help to pull it off.”

    “Shit, cellie, I don’t know what to say. I don’t think I can go along with this.”

    “Look, all I’m asking is that you don’t say anything to anyone in your gang until after the incident tonight. It has to be an ambush to be realistic.”

    “I don’t see how it can work. The other members of my gang will be all over you a split second after you throw the first punch at one of our guys.”

    “It’s a risk I have to take,” Ray said.

    “I don’t know if I can help you, cellie,” Sean said.

    “I’m going to do it in a public place so I get plenty of attention. It has to happen tonight.”

    “Cellie, that’s fucking crazy! They’ll throw you in solitary again!”

    “It’s better than being six feet under,” Ray said.

    “Cellie, you’re a fucking maniac if you think I’m going along with this,” James said.

    “Look,” Burnside said. “I wasn’t going to tell you at all, but I respect you so I gave you fair warning. It has to happen tonight. You can tell the top guys in your gang the truth after it happens.” He paused. “I can take a lot of pain, so it won’t matter if most of your gang comes after me tonight. It shouldn’t take long for the guards to intervene. Believe me, buddy, if there was another way, I would do it. But this is the only way. I have to gain the trust of those scum. Once I’m in, I’m going to take them all down.”