This was written for 'Ray Vecchio Day 2016'. I hope you enjoy it, all comments welcome. Thank you kindly!
UNWANTED VISITOR
'Don't call me Sugar Baby'? Really? Don't push his buttons, Benny. You're gonna get yourself killed. And Torres. And probably me too…
On the outside Ray was a picture of calm as he stood with his arms folded watching Fraser's interaction with Krueger from a safe distance. Inside, though, he was anything but calm. He knew these people, he knew how they operated, but Fraser didn't. Ray wished Fraser could hear his thoughts.
"Is he your brother?"
"Huh? What?" Ray spun round at the sound of the voice behind him , angry with himself that he'd let someone get within such close proximity.
In this place a mistake like that could cost me my life...
"The good looking guy, the book guy," clarified the voice, which belonged to a short, bespectacled man. Prisoner number 1549, according to the badge on his blue, prison issue shirt. Ray recognised him now.
He's that basket case I saw wandering around the yard muttering to himself yesterday…
As much as he wanted to be left alone, Ray quickly realised this man meant him no harm, unlike most of his other fellow inmates.
"It's just the way you were looking at him," the man continued, pointing to Ray's eyes. "Looking…looking…looking…"
Ray screwed up his face in puzzlement. "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked.
"This guy's loony toons."
"Oh not you as well, Pop! What is this, 'Annoy the Hell Outta Ray Day'?"
Much to Ray's abhorrence, the ghostly figure of his dad had appeared and was standing just behind 1549 with his arms folded, looking down on the prisoner with a sneer of disdain.
"I saw you just now, watching him," 1549 explained, apparently oblivious to the additional presence. He nodded across the exercise yard to where Fraser had been talking to Torres moments ago. "The way I used to watch my brother. He's dead now. Dead, dead, dead. That's why I'm in here." The man hung his head and began walking around in a small circle for no obvious reason.
Ray was taken aback at the bluntness of his statement which seemed completely at odds with his gentle, if somewhat eccentric manner. He reminded Ray of one of the patients he and Fraser had encountered when they'd been locked in a mental asylum last year, but this man did not seem like the type to have committed a murder. "You...you killed your own brother?" he queried, unable to hide his surprise.
"It's always the quiet ones," noted Pa Vecchio, knowingly.
"No one asked for your opinion." Ray's dad was the last person he wanted to see while he was stuck in here.
"I'm not offering you my opinion," said the other prisoner. "Just the facts. I did not kill Danny." He lifted his head to make eye contact with Ray again, but continued to walk in a circle. "No, no, no. That jerk Aldo killed Danny. So I killed Aldo. That's why I'm in here. In jail, in prison, locked away…throw away the key. So...is he?"
"What?"
"Is the book guy your brother?" replied 1549 and he finally stopped pacing.
"Doesn't even look like a Vecchio," snarled Pa, thumbing in Fraser's direction. "Looks like a Canuck."
Ray glared at his dad and then turned to the other man. "No, he isn't," he explained, trying to keep his voice even. "My brother's...he's…well, you don't need to know about him."
"Your brother is a Vecchio just like you and me. You show him some respect," Pa demanded.
"Oh, you mean like you did?" Ray asked him sarcastically, but his dad ignored the jibe.
"You're the cop aren't you," continued 1549. "You're a policeman, a detective. 1443 told me all about you, they say you killed a judge."
"I didn't kill a judge," Ray tried to explain. "I just ticked one off…a little…well, a lot."
"Bitch deserved it," snarled Pa. "Women these days don't know their place."
It took all of Ray's self-control not to swing a punch at his dad for that comment.
If he wasn't already dead, I'd…I'd…
"They don't like cops in here," the other man noted, shaking his head in an exaggerated fashion. "They don't like cops."
"Really? I hadn't noticed," sneered Ray, pointing to the new wound just over his right eyebrow. He briefly closed his eyes, hoping his dad would disappear, but he didn't.
"Is he a cop too?"
"Who?" Ray's patience was wearing thin. He wasn't in the right frame of mind for a conversation with a crazy man, let alone a simultaneous conversation with a dead man.
"The book guy!" exclaimed 1549. "Jeez, for a cop you're pretty slow." He tapped the side of his head with his forefinger. "Not very smart, are you, Detective? Not very smart at all. Gotta be smart in here."
"This guy's got a handle on you," grinned Pa.
"Hey, I object to that," retorted Ray, aiming his response at both of them. "Look, the book guy is a friend of mine, OK?"
"You sure as hell know how to pick your friends," snapped Pa, rolling his eyes.
"A good friend though, right?" asked 1549. "Like a brother. My brother was my best friend, but he's dead now. Dead, dead, dead."
"How come you're so perceptive?" asked Ray with a sneer. "I thought you were a basket case."
Ok…a shrink would say I just resorted to throwing out an insult to avoid talking about my feelings…which is why I never talk to a shrink. I guess Benny is the closest thing I've got to a brother these days...
"Maybe I am?" shrugged 1549.
"Maybe you are what?"
"A basket case. Or maybe I just act crazy? You're the cop, you figure it out."
"He could never figure out very much of anything," Pa said with a smirk.
"Shut up! Both of you!" Ray finally snapped.
1549 turned around with a puzzled look on his face. "And they call me crazy. At least I can count. There's only one of me. Just one, just one me."
Ray sighed and reigned in his temper. "Look, is there something you wanted, or did you only come over here to bug the hell outta me? "
"My brother was a cop too," continued the other prisoner. "And I looked up to him the way you look up to the book guy. But being a cop is what got him killed. You don't want your brother to get killed. You should tell him."
"Yeah, well I think he's just trying to take the heat off me," Ray admitted. "He's Canadian, they do that kinda thing."
"Just thought I ought to warn you, just thought I should," continued 1549.
"Are you threatening me?" asked Ray, folding his arms defensively across his chest.
Maybe they sent the basket case to throw me off my guard…?
"No!" exclaimed 1549, visibly hurt. "I'm trying to help."
"He's bluffing, hit him! Crack his jaw, right hook oughta do it!" urged Pa.
"You stay out of this!" exclaimed Ray, not surprised in the least that his dad's reaction was a violent one.
"OK," replied 1549 with a shrug, assuming the outburst was aimed at him. "But I hear things, y'see. Hear, see, taste, smell. The others, they think I live in cloud cuckoo land, they think I have no idea what's going on…but I know."
"What do you know?" asked Ray, suspiciously.
"He don't know nothing," sneered Pa.
"Nothing, nothing, nothing…" 1549 replied.
"See?" smirked Pa.
"Shut up!" Ray yelled at his dad.
1549 started pacing around again.
"Hey, stop doing that, will you? You're making me dizzy!" Ray was getting frustrated now.
Does he really know something? Something about Krueger? Or Torres…?
"Tell me what you heard," Ray asked, as calmly as he could. Then, catching sight of Fraser across the yard out of the corner of his eye he added, "Please."
"I know enough to know that you should watch your back," answered the man.
Ray rolled his eyes. Well I figured that much out already…
"Guy's a genius," noted Pa acerbically.
"And…" this time the man stopped pacing as he spoke. "And…your brother, your friend, the other cop, he shouldn't be in here. He shouldn't be talking to Krueger. Krueger is a dangerous man."
Ray rolled his eyes again and threw his arms up in despair. "Enough with stating the obvious!" he exclaimed.
"Dangerous," repeated 1549, "A dangerous man…a piece of work…a piece of cake…bake a cake."
Ray shook his head. Basket case…I was right in the first place…
"Look, do you have any real information for me or not?" Ray asked. "Coz if you're about to hit me with another jaw dropping revelation like 'Hey, the slop they serve up for dinner is putrid', or 'Guess what, the mattress feels like it's stuffed with bricks', you can just go."
"You're a very rude man, policeman, detective," observed 1549, folding his arms across his chest in defiance. "Just tell your brother, best friend, book-policeman that Krueger is not going to let Torres out of here alive. That's all I know. I'm just a basket case. Goodbye."
With that, 1549 turned on his heels and walked away with his head held high.
"Thank god he's gone!" exclaimed Pa.
"Now you can make my day, Pop, and do the same," said Ray. He blinked hard and to his relief his dad disappeared. He glanced up at the sight of prisoner 1549 walking away forlornly.
Ray sighed. A year ago he wouldn't have cared. This is all your fault, Benny…
"Hey," he called out and the man stopped and slowly turned round. "Look, thanks, OK."
I have no idea what any of it means, but at least we now know Krueger is plotting something. I need to talk to Benny, we need a proper plan... Not a Mountie plan, a good, solid plan, or we're both gonna wind up leaving this place in body bags…
1549 turned to walk away again, but Ray called out to him once more.
"And, um, you watch your back too, OK? I, er, I wouldn't want to see you get hurt."
1549 nodded and without saying another word he walked away. Ray watched him go, then with one final glance across the yard at Fraser who was still pedalling books to the inmates, he went back inside, his head spinning with thoughts on how on earth they were supposed to protect Torres, persuade his wife to testify against Krueger and keep themselves alive at the same time.
I hope Benny has a plan…
THE END.