Gem, Himself, Alone, page 14
Schienberg sighed.
“I’ll do a policy memo. And you are going to give me the names of anyone you’ve heard making borderline remarks. And you will let me know if you see or hear anything else after the memo goes out. No protests about ratting out your brothers. If we’re going to do this, we do it right. No tolerance for harassing behavior. Verbal or otherwise.”
Mutt gave a nod, acquiescing.
“And thank you for coming to me with this.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Sit down and write me a memo with those names. I want a paper trail showing that we’re dealing with this.”
“You’re not going to mention my name or Johnson’s to anyone.”
“No. I protect my informants. You don’t have to sign the memo.”
“Thanks.”
“Johnson.”
He turned around and saw Jordan. “Yeah?”
“King, he was looking for you.”
He nodded. “Where is he?”
“TV room.”
“Thanks. You wanna walk with me?” He asked Colt.
Colt laughed. “You need protection to walk down one corridor?”
He shrugged and walked away. Colt trailed along behind him, snickering. When King saw Him, he started in without preamble. “Where do you get off disabling an Ally?” he demanded.
He was startled. What Ally? One of the victims at the rumble? “I didn’t know he was an Ally,” He said cautiously.
“Oh, come on. You spent half a day with Birks just the other day.”
“Birks?” He repeated. “I never hit Birks.”
King studied him for a minute. “It wasn’t even you, was it?”
He formulated His answer. “Sometimes, I don’t remember things so well.”
“And you don’t remember stabbing Birks with a fork, do you?”
“No… I don’t remember that.”
King motioned to Dixon. “Find out where the other one is.”
“Prob’ly down to iso.”
He waited to be dismissed. King looked at him and shook his head. “I don’t know how you do it, man. I’d go nuts. You can go.”
He took his leave.
It was easier when Gem was not around.
Mary had been going through a lot of records. There was no indication that anyone had ever suspected twins.
There was a transition period between his childhood school problems and his eventual running away when things started to escalate. There was still no proof that his problems stemmed from his home life, but the police began to enter the picture more and more often. The truants changed to loitering and trespassing charges. He started getting into trouble for shoplifting, drinking, and suspected gang activity.
His behavior at school became more and more bizarre. Teachers refused to let him in their classes because of the disruption.
Then finally, one day, his Gram called and asked them to commit him to the state institution. He went from there to the private nursing home, to the group home, and then disappeared, falling off their radar.
Bethany told them she wanted to see Gem. The CO in Visiting looked her over. “Which one do you want to see?” he asked.
Bethany shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, really. Either. Both.”
He pecked at his computer keyboard. “One’s in isolation, so I guess that means you get the other one.”
“Sure.”
He directed her to the visiting area. It had recently been renovated. Once before she’d been there, and it had just been an open room with tables, where she sat down and talked, with the CO’s keeping a close eye on her. Now it was like the higher security adult prisons. There were little cubicles with phones that never worked well, and they could record your conversation. Bethany went down to the end of the row as directed and sat down. At least with the two of them on opposite sides of the glass, unable to touch, she didn’t have to submit to a search. She couldn’t pass off a weapon with a pane of bulletproof glass between them.
Bethany sat down and waited. He was escorted to the other side by a CO and sat down. It was Gem 2. He touched the glass in front of him, and Bethany touched the other side. Almost like holding hands. Except they weren’t. They both picked up the phones.
“Hi, Bethany.”
“Hi. How’re you doing?”
“Can’t complain. Rippers are part of the Alliance here, so I got protection.”
“Good. I was worried…”
“Nah, nothing to worry about.” He glanced over his shoulder at the CO supervising, lowering his voice. “Security is all bent out of shape over something. I don’t know what their problem is.”
“And they’re taking it out on you?”
“Not really. Just get that feeling that… pressure’s building. Someone’s gonna blow.”
“Be careful.”
“Yeah, I will. I don’t cause trouble.”
She understood the unsaid. Gem 1 did cause trouble.
“Riker said you were in solitary.”
“Yeah. Well, I guess I caused a little trouble. But not to the CO’s personally. Just, you know,” he shrugged, “gang stuff.”
“You okay? Being locked up in iso?”
“It freaked me out a bit,” he admitted casually, as if it were long forgotten. “Sometimes… it doesn’t bother me. Sometimes… it does.”
“One of the CO’s said you were still in iso,” Bethany said carefully. Gem 2 appreciated her tact when it came to talking about his twin. He nodded, giving her a smile of approval.
“Not still, again. Yeah. I’m in iso again.”
“But… now doesn’t bother you.”
“No. Piece of cake.”
Bethany smiled, shaking her head at the bizarre conversation. “So you need anything?”
“Not that they’d let you bring! I’m okay. I’d rather be out, but it ain’t so bad. I suppose I’ll be behind bars for a few years, so I’d better get used to it.”
“When do you go to trial? Don’t you have any defense?”
“I don’t even have a lawyer. Some public defender came by one day, but he was still wet behind the ears. Hasn’t got a clue what to do. I don’t know if they even have a trial date set.”
“That isn’t right. They’ve got to try you.”
“Yeah, well, I haven’t even thought about it that much. I guess I should care, but I figure it doesn’t matter. They’re going to convict me anyway.”
“Why?”
“They know my secret,” he pointed out.
“So, that should make it all the harder to prove. They can’t prove which of you did what.”
“They’re charging on conspiracy; that means they don’t have to narrow it down to one person.”
Bethany frowned. “How long is—are you—in iso?”
“I don’t know. A few days, at least. Why?”
“I want to help. But I want to make sure they talk to you if someone comes by.”
She imagined a public defender trying to talk to Gem 1 about a defense. It would be hard enough for them to talk to Gem 2, when he had to be so careful what he said. But to talk to Gem 1, who didn’t even understand that they were two separate people; that would be impossible.
“I don’t see how I can defend this anyway,” Gem warned Bethany.
“I know. But we have to try. If I can get someone here in the next day or two, and they talk to you… you’ll try to help, won’t you?”
He shrugged. “If you want me to. But I think it’s hopeless.”
“Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”
They looked at each other in silence for a few minutes, not sure what else to say. Bethany was going to say goodbye when Gem spoke up. “You need money.”
“No.”
“For rent, I mean. To keep the apartment. How do I give you access to the money?”
“Where is it?”
“Safety deposit box.”
Bethany considered. “I don’t know. I think you have to go in person, don’t you? They check ID and everything?”
“Yeah.”
“They won’t let me at it, then.”
“I’ll ask the lawyer. There’s gotta be a way to get your hands on it.”
Bethany nodded. She pursed her lips, staring at him. “Gem…”
“Yeah?”
“How much money is there…?”
He shrugged. “Enough to keep you in the apartment until I get out, even if it’s in fifty years.”
Bethany paused to try to work that out in her head. Her eyes widened. “You have that much?”
“I don’t spend much,” Gem said with a wry smile.
“You don’t have to use a public defender. You can afford to pay someone.” Bethany’s heart sped.
He thought about it. “I wonder…”
“At least a real lawyer would have a chance of getting you off. Maybe even get bail and get out of juvie until trial.”
“And if I got out, I could raise more money.”
Bethany nodded. “You could win.”
He drummed his fingers on the table, then scratched his chin.
“Go ahead and get the public defender here,” he said, “and let’s see if I can get bail set without letting on that there’s any money. Then we can surprise them. They won’t set bail high or put a lot of time into building a case if they think they’re just going against a public defender.”
“If you do get out, you could just jump bail…”
Gem shook his head. “Shh,” he warned, looking over his shoulder at the CO and indicating the phone by tapping on it. “They won’t pass information on to the prosecutor about our defense, but if you talk about committing another crime, they could throw a wrench in the works.”
Bethany nodded. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. You’re a big help.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
IN SOLITARY, GEM found himself dreaming again. He dreamed of the period of time before his Gram committed him. Gem couldn’t hack it at school. Not being able to do the work was the least of his problems.
The boy in a desk across the aisle from him kept looking at him. Gem was getting more and more agitated by the glances. He couldn’t concentrate on the lesson. He wasn’t even sure what class he was in. Finally, he stood up and confronted the boy, knocking his books to the floor with a crash.
“What’re you looking at?” he demanded.
The boy’s eyes widened in surprise.
The teacher stopped teaching. “Gem, take your seat,” she told him firmly.
“I wanna know why he’s lookin’ at me!”
“Maybe because you’re making a scene. Sit down or go to the office.”
“He’s staring at me!”
“Billy, don’t stare at Gem, please. Gem, sit down.”
Gem sat down slowly. The other students turned their attention back to the front of the room. The teacher tried to pick up her train of thought again. People kept looking back at Gem. Gem stood up and swept everything off his desk with a crash. “That’s it!”
“Gem, go to the office!”
Gem stalked out of the room, but did not go to the office. He slammed his fist against lockers as he walked away down the hall, uncontrollably angry and confused. He didn’t know where he was going or what he was going to do. He just knew he was angry and couldn’t suppress it. Another teacher came out into the hallway.
“What do you think you’re doing? You’re disturbing classes!”
“What are you going to do about it?” Gem challenged.
The teacher approached him threateningly. “I’ll take you to the office and get you suspended.”
Gem swung wildly and his fist connected with the teacher’s mouth. Blood poured out. Gem froze at first, staring at him, then he ran for his life.
Gem sat up with a gasp, his heart racing. He stared into the blackness, trying to remember where he was. It was pitch black. No light, no windows, but he could feel a blanket over him. It could only be jail. Gem closed his eyes and lay back down.
He was safe in isolation.
No one could hurt him there.
Gordon looked up from his computer when Riker got back to his desk. “New development for you.”
“What’s that?”
“Gem’s hired a new lawyer.”
“Hired?” Riker repeated.
“Yeah, hired. As in, not legal aid. He had his legal aid guy in a couple of days ago, but then today, a brand-new criminal lawyer shows up.”
“Where’d he get money for a lawyer?”
Gordon shrugged. The answer was obvious. “The bank heist. Are the bills hot?”
“I already checked. They weren’t marked, inked, or consecutive serial numbers. No way to trace them. But the lawyer has got to know the money is dirty.”
“Sure. But if you can’t prove it…”
Riker swore angrily.
Gordon shrugged and considered it. “He must have a partner.”
“Yeah, his twin.”
“No. An accomplice on the outside. Who is paying the lawyer? Gem doesn’t have access to the money from juvie.”
“The gang?”
“Would you trust one of the Rippers with the location of your loot?”
“The girl, then.”
“Gotta be the girl,” Gordon agreed. “And if she knows about the money, chances are she knows where it came from. She’s a tough, streetwise kid. You think she’s going to crack if we confront her?”
“No, but we can catch her with the money and remind her the bills are marked, and we can tell it’s from the bank heist.”
“But they aren’t—” Gordon stopped and smiled. “Yeah, we could do that.”
Bethany looked Gem over before speaking to him on the phone. She could see that this time, it was Gem 1. “Hey. You’re back out of iso.”
“Yeah. Just got out.”
“Is everything okay? You look…” Bethany searched for a word other than scared. “You look worried.”
Gem scratched his jaw. “I don’t like being around all these people.” He glanced over his shoulder. “The CO’s…”
“Have they been bothering you?”
“I’ve only been out a couple of hours. They’re… waiting. Something’s going on. I don’t know what they’re planning.”
Bethany nodded. “You said—uh, before—you said that they were uptight about something.”
Gem shrugged, looking around again and then finally facing her and giving her his full focus. “I need something… a favor…” he trailed off.
“Sure, whatever you need.”
“I can’t give you any money, though.”
“You already did. I can get whatever you need. Though, I don’t know if they’ll let me bring anything to you.”
“I don’t need something brought.” Gem shifted anxiously. He looked down at his hands. “I wanted to buy flowers for a friend…”
“Oh.” Bethany was unable to think of a response.
“For her grave,” Gem finished.
Bethany was still. “Oh. I’m sorry. What do you want? Roses? Mums?”
Gem shook his head, his eyes distant. “Violets, if you can find them. Otherwise… anything. It doesn’t matter.”
Bethany could feel the blood draining from her face. She stared at him. She felt like she was looking at a ghost.
Gem frowned, uncomfortable with her gaze. “If you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to…”
“This girl—what was her name?” Bethany’s voice was hoarse.
He drew in a deep breath and swallowed hard. “Her name was Honey.”
The tears came too suddenly for Bethany to stop them.
Gem was confused. “You don’t have to do it,” he repeated in alarm.
“Is she the one you said I reminded you of?”
“Yes—but I told you we were just friends—and she’s gone. I still—I still only have feelings for you…”
“No, it’s not that. Honey is—was—my sister.”
His jaw dropped. Now it was Gem who felt like he’d seen a ghost. “You said you didn’t have a sister.”
Bethany nodded. “Yeah. I lied.”
They looked at each other, both brimming with questions.
“Did you… you knew she was dead?” Gem asked.
“Yeah. When did you know her…?”
Gem didn’t answer right away. “Do you know about… before she died?” he said uncomfortably.
Bethany nodded. Gem searched her face.
“I told you about that place.”
Bethany remembered. She swallowed. “You were there. You were with her when…”
“It was bad,” Gem said, his voice low and rough, “it was really bad.”
Tears flooded down Bethany’s cheeks. Gem bit his lip, trying to keep his own emotions in check. His breathing rasped loudly over the phone.
“She’s the reason I came here. I had to see where they buried her. I had to be near her.”
“Then you’re the one. You put the violets on her grave.”
He swallowed, giving a tiny nod.
“Why did he do it?” Bethany sobbed. “Why did he do such terrible things to her? I know the trade. You don’t disfigure your girls, and you don’t kill them like that without a damn good reason!”
Gem put his face in his hands, the memories overwhelming him. He felt hot tears on his palms, but couldn’t stop them. The pain was as fresh as if it had happened yesterday.
“Why?” Bethany demanded again. “What did she do to get hurt like that?”
“It wasn’t her.”
“What?”
“It was me. It wasn’t her. Raphael did it because I liked her. He wouldn’t mark me.”
“What?” Bethany repeated uncomprehendingly.
“It was me,” Gem repeated, voice breaking.
Bethany stared at him as if she’d never seen him before. Seeing him as a John would see him. Seeing him as a pimp would see him. “You,” she repeated, with dawning comprehension.
Gem was miserable. It was his fault. He’d caused Honey to be killed, and because of that, he would lose Bethany too.
