Chapter Seven
Freak
Time in the hole goes by very slowly. Richard knows that he had to spend a week in the hole before he is allowed out. He entertains himself by playing with his gift. He discovers that he can do almost anything with his skin. He can change colours, he can camouflage against the wall, he can make himself shiny and reflective like a mirror. It's amazing what he can do now. He can control it, turn it on and off like a switch. Maybe this gift isn't so bad after all. He kind of likes it already.
Other than changing the colour of his skin, he keeps himself entertained by doing many sit ups and push ups. There is nothing else he can do in this small room. With limited space, he understands why this is a form of punishment. If he wasn't able to entertain himself, he would've lost his mind within the first twenty-four hours.
When the door finally opened, Richard sighs and gets to his feet. Two guards are standing there with shock prods out and at the ready. "Come with us," one says and Richard steps out of the small cell. He walks between the two guards. All the inmates are gone, probably in the water already panning for black pearls.
The guards lead him to the medical room. Doc is sitting at his desk with papers scattered all around. The guards quickly leave the door is closed, leaving Richard and Doc alone.
"Have a seat, Richard," Doc says kindly. Richard takes the seat and tugs on his sleeves. Does Doc already know about his little incident a week ago? "I heard."
"Heard about what?" Richard asks, trying to act like he has no idea what Doc is talking about.
"About your little episode last week," he continues. "You were fighting one of the other inmates and from the accounts of several guards your skin turned red, blood red, Richard." Doc looks down at his papers. "Can you tell me exactly what happened that day?"
Richard shift in his seat uncomfortably. "Sure. I wasn't having a good day to start with. The guy bumped shoulders with me and it just escaladed from there. I just couldn't control myself. Next thing I know everyone is staring at me. I didn't understand why at first until I looked down at my hands. My whole body was red. Then the colour went away and that's about it."
Doc nods and writes this all down on a piece of paper. "Very interesting," he says. "Very interesting indeed."
"Is there something wrong with me?" he asks.
"I don't know, Richard." Doc sits back in his chair. "This is the first time I've ever heard of someone changing the colour of their skin. Frankly, I don't know what to do."
"But you can do something right?"
Doc nods. "What we need to do is to study it. We'll have to run many tests to figure out what is happening to you but since you've had this… gift for a week, I can safely assume that it won't cause you any pain in the future. But if anything does happen to you out of the ordinary, come to me right away and we can figure something out."
"So do I come back again?" he asks.
Doc nods again. "You'll probably be called down some time tomorrow once I get all the equipment set up. Just take it easy and get lots of rest."
"Yeah, about the resting part, I still don't sleep well at night," he says. "It hasn't gotten any better since our first visit."
Doc scratches his beard. "Jump up on the medical table and I'll get you checked out."
Richard obeys Doc and sits on the medical table in the middle of the room as Doc searches for his medical bag. He takes it out and sets it down beside Richard. First he listens to Richard's breathing and pulse. He shines a light in his eyes and ears and gives him the whole medical examination.
"Explain to me what you do at night," he asks.
Richard nods. "I sit in bed for a while. I feel tired but I just can't sleep. I think it has to do with the sounds the prison makes. The creaking keeps me awake. The only way I can sleep is when I do a whole lot of push ups or sit ups. I have to tire my body out completely in order for me to sleep."
Doc cleans up his medical tools. "I do have something that could help you sleep. Some of the guards here also have trouble sleeping at some point. Sit tight, I'll be right back." Doc turns around and leaves the room in search of a cure for Richard's sleeping problems.
Richard looks around the room. It's very clean and polished looking. Medical gear is placed all around the room in an orderly manner. A large light overhead baths the room in a white glow. It's not so bad. It's not as cramped as the medical rooms Topside. It's alright for a medical room set underwater in a prison. It's not that bad.
Doc returns a few minutes later with a plastic bottle in his hand. "Here we are," he announces. "These are sleeping pills that you take at night just before you go to bed with a little bit of water. Now, don't take more than one ever. If you are feeling a little bit weird when you're taking them regularly, come straight to me and I'll get you checked out. This bottle should last you a while. When it runs out, return and I'll give you another check-up."
Richard takes the bottle from Doc. "Thanks, Doc," he says and steps of the medical table.
He stays in his cell until lunch. The guards don't make him go out to pan for black pearls. There's no point in it now or maybe this is an extension of his punishment to sit in his empty cell for another few hours. Considering everything, the hole wasn't as bad as the Warden made it seem. It was quite… interesting. Richard got a lot of thinking done in there. Plus a lot of discovery about his gift. Oh no, his gift. He didn't think of this before. Come lunch, everyone will look at him strangely like he came from a different planet. Now he'll have to deal with the staring all over again.
He stares at the picture of Gemma on the wall. What would she think about him now? Would she still look up to him even though he's like a freak of nature? He likes to think that she'll always love him no matter what the colour of his skin is. He's her older brother. She'll always love him.
Once he hears talking, he slowly walks out of his cell. He collects his lunch tray and sits down at the table, shoulders hunched forward, as if that could protect him from the staring eyes. Peter and Eli soon join him at the table, breathing hard from panning for many hours. Eli is quite oblivious at first. He doesn't look at Richard at all. He's focused on the food in front of him. Peter, on the other hand, is quiet but not the kind of quiet he usual is. It's like something is bothering him. Richard looks down at his tray and ignores everyone around him. But it's hard when you're the center of attention.
It's like the other inmates don't notice that Richard has ears and can hear most of what they are saying. He hears bits and pieces…. Freak… skin turned red… gonna happen to us?... gonna die soon. Richard grows tired of the whispering and finishes his food as fast as he can so he can sit in his cell and disappear.
Peter enters the cell and looks up at Richard who is sitting on his bed, staring at his hands. "You're alive," he says. "Thought you might go crazy in the hole after a week."
"It wasn't so bad," he says. "It was quiet and nobody could stare at me."
Peter rubs the back of his neck nervously. "Scared of me too?" Richard asks. "I'm practically the biggest freak in the prison. Go ahead, say I'm freak."
"Richard, I-"
Richard jumps down from his bed and shoves Peter up against the wall with one hand gripping the smaller boy's prison jumper. "Say it!" he roars.
"I'm not!" Peter says and thrashes out of Richard's grip. "I'm not going to say it because it's not true."
"How do you know?" he argues. "Do you know what it feels like to be stared at all the time just because I change the colour of my skin? Do you know what it feels like, knowing that you might never be healed? Do you?"
"Of course I don't know," Peter answers. "I'm not you, Richard. I don't have what you have but how do you expect people to react to this? Of course people are going to talk about you and call you a freak. By next week they'll forget all about it and move onto something else. Assuming you don't do anything that makes you change colour."
"It's scary," he whispers, "knowing that I can do this with my skin and no one else can't."
"You'll get through it," Peter says. "You can get through anything." Richard smiles weakly. "What exactly can you do with it?" he asks.
"Well," Richard says, "I can do a lot of things. I can practically do anything."
"Can you demonstrate for me?" Peter asks with a smile.
"Sure." Richard steps away from the cell door and backs into a corner, just to be safe. He pushes up his sleeves to his elbows. He starts by making a small, black snake slither on his skin. It curves around his forearm. He brings his arms together and transfers the snake onto his other arm.
"That's pretty cool," Peter whispers.
"I had a lot of time to practice," he answers and changes the colour of the snake from black to green. The snake bares its fangs and slithers underneath Richard's sleeve, disappearing from sight.
"How do you think it happened?"
Richard shrugs. "I don't know. It started showing up a week ago. I told Eli about it when we were in the laundry room. I didn't know what to make of it at first. This appeared one night." He makes the rainbow resurface on his arm. "It wouldn't go away and then it just escaladed from there."
"Nice," Peter says. "A rainbow."
"Don't even start. I wanted to see different colours and it made this shape instead." The rainbow disappears. "Now everyone knows so you don't have to keep this news to yourself. I just don't want to show it off all that much. I just want Doc to find a cure so I can go on living my life normally again."
"What if he can't heal it?"
"He will," Richard says. "If anyone can fix me, it'll be him."
A guard walks by the cell and bangs his baton on the cell bars. "Panning time," he says.
"We can worry about this later," Richard says and walks out of the cell with Peter. "Just focus on getting through the afternoon."
Richard opens his locker and dresses into his dive gear. He can't wait to go panning. He'll finally be able to go out of the prison for the first time in a week. He misses the ocean. It's a nice place to live in. he can understand why people would live underwater in the first place. There's so much space and freedom to do what you want without thousands of people looking at you. Maybe when he gets out of Seablite, he'll move him and Gemma down here and steak a claim. Then they'll have all the space they want and even have their own quality time room. Maybe everything will be all right.
When panning was over, Richard finds himself in a much better mood. Being out in the ocean calmed him quite a lot. The quiet of it all and the sights he's able to see make him see why the ocean is a great place to live.
Back in his cell for the night, he swallows one of the sleeping pills he got from Doc with a little bit of water from the tap in the bathroom. Maybe he'll actually sleep tonight.
He climbs up the ladder to his bed. It's been a better day than most. Plus it's also one day closer to his release whenever that will be. One less day until he's reunited with Gemma.