Evergreen Penitentiary
by Matthew Starr
Part IV
Mark tried to scream but only mustered to get out a few grunts as the hands held his mouth open firmly. Clamps were placed on either side of his mouth to hold it open as a pump was turned on and a hose stuck into his mouth, resting against the base of his tongue beginning to suck out saliva with a loud slurping sound. He tried moving his head but the restraint on his forehead was firmly in place. The voice chuckled and goated him into trying to escape or scream for help. Slowly a tear formed in the corner of his eye before slowly rolling down his check and rolling towards his ear, tickling him slightly.
"You see Mark, I know you saw something out your cell window. What exactly you saw, I am not sure. But I also know you tried to tell your little Mexican friend, and we can not have you going around telling people your tall tales and getting the other inmates riled up."
Metal sliding against metal came from the left as the shadow man picked up an instrument from the table. Mark felt a clamp closing around the tip of his tongue before pulling it out of his mouth. It felt as though it was going to be pulled right out. However Mark was not so lucky. Another scraping sound came from the table as a chuckle came from the shadow man.
"Now, brace yourself Mark. This blade has not been sharpened in weeks and may be a bit dull. But you're a tough guy, right? You can get through this my boy!"
A moment later the blade touched Mark's tongue as a stinging sensation exploded in his mouth and shot through his entire body. His arms and legs jerked in a mad attempt to get the man to stop, but all he managed to do was rattle the chains that held him in place. Blood filled his mouth as the blade slowly sawed deeper into his tongue. The man wasn't making a sound but with each cut Mark could feel him smiling, pleased with his work. By the time the blade was almost done Mark had gone completely numb.
His face felt miles away, his neck was tingling and his body had stopped jerking. Mark felt one last cut needing to be made before the job was done, but the man did not continue to saw. Instead he stopped what he was doing and set the knife back on the table, still holding on to the tip of his tongue with the clamp. The man paused for a moment before reaching for another instrument. Mark couldn't see what it was that the man was holding, but saw his hand coming back towards his face slowly.
"It seems as though I may have been too hasty in my decision. I have made the cut too far out."
He felt a needle begin sliding into his tongue and Mark realized the man was sewing his tongue back together. The man took his time doing this and Mark could feel the tears streaming down his cheeks. This was the first time Mark heard a sound from the other two men who were holding him down. They began laughing, or at least what Mark thought was a laugh. Whatever the sound was, they were getting pleasure from watching the operation take place.
"There we go, good as new! Now, Mark, relax a little bit so I can make the correct measurements."
Mark began struggling once again. This time he ripped his head free and leaned up spitting out blood and yelling as loud as he could manage. The three men started laughing together and screaming in unison with Mark. Mocking cries for 'Help' surrounded him as more shadow figures appeared around the outer circle of the light. Slowly he stopped his cries and looked around the room, trying to make out a face.
His eyes were too blurry from the tears to see anything other than shadowy blurs. After a moment a hand shoved Mark's head back to the bed before he felt a needle slowly slide into his neck. A warm sensation filled his body as his feet began to go numb. The numbness slowly crawled up his body, taking over his legs before moving to his torso. As he felt his neck go warm, fuzzy, and then numb all together, he darted his eyes around trying to make out the Shadow Man.
"Don't worry Mark, you're just going to take a little nap. When you wake up this will all be over my boy." Birds were chirping outside as he gazed out his cell window. He hadn't seen any since they arrived at Evergreen, but suddenly a large flock emerged from the trees and flew over the prison. The sun began shining brighter than he had ever seen in his life and the sky looked to be a more vivid blue than any painting. He sat back on his bunk watching the birds and imagining what it would be like to fly. He imagined all the places he could visit, all the sights he could see and all the adventures he could have.
The day room door clicked loudly from behind and pulling him back to reality. Jumping down from the top bunk and heading towards the door another loud bang from the day room jerked him into a run. Peering out the window he noticed two guards entering and heading towards a cell at the other end of the lower tier. James tried to get a better look at the cell, but the room was angled poorly. A moment later another inmate came bursting out of the room, sliding across the day room floor and pinned down by the two guards.
The man was yelling about something he saw outside his window, something about shadow men in the trees. James figured this guy slipped some drugs before they made the bus trip up here and was coming down now and seeing things. After all, he had just been watching the birds flying above the trees just before the guards entered and saw no sign of anybody by the trees or even out in the yard. The man continued to scream and struggle before the guards picked him up and threw him back in his cell. As the guards made their way towards the exit one seemed to make eye contact with James.
"Well, if you want some of me come on up here you piece of shit!" James yelled through the door.
The two guards stopped, both turning their gaze to James' cell window. The one who he yelled at just pointed to him and stared. After a moment the two turned and left the day room, slamming the door behind them as they went. James returned to his bunk and continued looking out into the sun, but the birds were all gone. He pressed his face to the window looking around for them.
"Where the fuck did they go?"
It was a few hours later before James heard another click coming from the day room. He rushed towards the door looking down to see what was going on now. It was the guards again coming back in towards the same cell as earlier. They both looked up at James and seemed to smile and nod towards him as if to say 'hello'. The two disappeared under the walkway but he could heard muffled shouts as the guards began roughing up the inmate, emerging a moment later with the inmate and leaving the day room and into the prison.
"What the hell was that all about?" James asked himself, still watching the day room door.
Several minutes passed before James decided to lie back down and try to get some sleep. He wasn't too sure what was going on but he could already tell he was not going to like this place very much. James kept reminding himself that his sentence is going to be reduced by being here though, and that put his mind right at ease. A few moments later and he found himself slowly falling into a slumber. As he fell off to sleep James heard the birds chirping again off in the distance.
