The Drunk Logs (21 page)

Maureen stopped and caressed the black marker. She waited for any questions, but everyone sat in silence.

“Okay, then, if there aren’t any questions, I see that we are out of time.” She looked at her wristwatch. “So, before I let you leave, I can’t stress enough you remember what you have learned today in class, because it will help you immensely…see you next time.”

A majority of patients rumbled out of the lecture hall as Maureen walked back to the lectern and grabbed her reading material. Sam and I got sucked into the express lane and, before we knew it, were outside and headed toward the pavilion.

The air started to smell stale, the first sign that the end of the day was only a few hours away as the clicks of lighters soon brought cigarette smoke, which traveled like a train in the distance.

“She should be the first one to speak to people when they come in here,” I said as we sat at a picnic table.

Sam blew out his smoke. “Yeah, I’ve heard her before, she’s pretty good.”

“Yeah, but she makes sense, she hits at exactly the first point you need to understand.”

“Then why don’t you offer her a soda?” Sam remarked.

“Shut up,” I smirked. “You’re never going to let me live that down?”

“Uh, no.”

As a few cigarettes were sucked to their death and conversations blew in the wind, the other patients started to exit the building, looking disheveled, but starting to show life. Jack Jack, Bobby, and Pat led the horde.

“So it looks like you made it through another visitor adventure, eh, Jack Jack?” Sam said as he slid over.

Jack Jack sat down and stole a cigarette from Sam, while Bobby and Pat stood at the edge of the table. “Man, it felt like this day would never end.”

“Aw, it’s okay, my little baby. I’ll take care of you now,” Sam laughed, as he rubbed the top of Jack Jack’s head.

Slowly, the old order began to settle in as I gazed around the pavilion. Jack Jack had regained his helm as captain of this unfortunate group. Familiarity drowned the chaos of the day and bold conversations took hold of the evening air, which was nothing of great importance to us, but still raised the ears of the caregivers who stood watch at the opened windows. It was a duel between good and evil, sane and insane, normal and addicted, for no one knew the future, only the percentages on paper.

The camaraderie was carried with us as we walked to our meal, separate in groups, but together as individuals. For, in our imaginations, it could possibly be our last reminisce of the ones who had come and left, only to come back again. Each one of us began as unique, but we eventually became mechanical, to follow the ticks of the minute hand and the orders of our superiors. So much destruction had been caused by our hands; atonement must be relinquished from the other.

After our bellies were full, we waited for the next click of the minute hand to direct us to our designated spots for reprogramming so as not to fall into the traps of the past. Jack Jack stood up from the picnic table, stretched, and began to walk back down the path.

“Hey, where are you going?” Sam screamed.

“I have to go to the nurses’ station. I only took my meds once today.”

Sam began to twirl his cigarette pack. “That boy has no understanding of time. He knows that we have a Big Book lecture, and now he decides to get his meds. Idiot.”

“Oh crap, I forgot my book,” I said.

The intercom blared through the air. I jumped up and started to jog toward the building. I prayed I had enough time.

I desperately tried to maneuver my way past the onslaught of patients and pushed the elevator button. As I ran through the barren second floor, I was able to retrieve my book from my nightstand, run back to the elevator door as it closed, and force my hand in at the last second. The elevator door opened and I bolted into the hall. As I turned the corner, I noticed Jack Jack looking back toward the nurses’ station. A voice inside told me that I should keep moving, for I knew that trouble was only around that corner. Curiosity got the best of me.

I tiptoed toward Jack Jack and poked around the corner to see what he was waiting for.

“What the hell is going on, Jack Jack?”

“I don’t know, but I know it has to be good.”

Down the hall the scene was quite normal, as nurses checked on patients in their rooms, called on the ones who stood in line to give them their meds, or checked on their vitals.

“I don’t see anything strange. It looks the same as before.”

“Just wait, I know he’s gonna come out,” Jack Jack said as he waved me back with his hand. “There…there he is.”

Just then, a patient emerged from his room.

“The guy in black?”

“Yeah.”

My curiosity heightened. “Victoria said there was something strange about him.”

“When I was getting my meds, I knew something was wrong, so I kept on watching him. All he does is go in and out of his room, mumbling to himself. I’ve seen it before, he’s a day ticker and he’s gonna go off.”

We waited, breathless, as the clock above us ticked louder and louder.

Suddenly, he exited his room with his duffle bag over his head, peered through a makeshift hole in the front pocket, and walked surprisingly casually down to the corner of the hall.

“I told you, here it comes!” Jack Jack said.

The man in black grabbed the fire extinguisher with one swift motion, pulled off the safety, and began to spray the white powder like a madman with a flamethrower. A person possessed, he walked back and forth and hit anyone and everything within striking distance. The nurses and patients began to look like snowmen as the powder engulfed the corridor. With no one to stop him, he started to walk toward us, when he noticed that something had obstructed his trigger.

I panicked and tore at Jack Jack’s shirt. “Jack, please, come on. We have to get out of here.”

But in typical Jack Jack fashion, he ignored my pleas and continued to watch.

Suddenly, Carl rushed past, when the assailant removed the obstacle and released a massive dose of white powder that engulfed him and violently billowed toward us. The cloud covered the carpet and walls and increased its speed as Jack Jack and I stood helpless in the wake of this disaster. I took hold of Jack Jack and heaved him backward, as we fell to the floor. The white powder rumbled past and down the hall, as it left behind a mist of dust that covered our backsides.

“Are you all right?” I said as I lifted Jack Jack, when the fire alarm screamed throughout the halls.

We ran toward the lecture hall, leaving a soft mist of white powder behind us on the green carpet. The door from the lecture hall began to open, when Jack Jack threw me by my collar into the bathroom and barricaded the door behind him with his body. Out of breath, I saw a glimpse of myself in the mirror that resembled the ghost of Christmas past and I began to smack violently at my body.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jack Jack asked.

“Fucking look at us, we’re covered in that shit!” I screamed.

Jack Jack walked in front of the mirror. Amused, he started to howl like a dead spirit and floated around.

“You know you are crazy if you think this is funny,” I said, as I dusted myself off.

His dance did not curb my anger as he stopped and brushed his shoulders. “You have to have fun whenever you can, Matt.”

We made sure that we were clean, walked toward the door, and opened it just enough that our eyes poked through. In the hallway, a large crowd passed as the patients exited the lecture hall, when the sound of the alarm began to echo into the restroom.

“Great, now what are we going to do?” I said.

Jack Jack closed the door and stood with hands on hips, as he stared at the restroom tile deep in thought. His eyes widened as he turned toward me.

“That’s why they’re walking down the hall. During a fire alarm everybody has to exit the building. So, we’ll just wait until we think it’s the end of the group and join them. No one will think we had a part in it.”

“We didn’t!” I said.

“I know and you know, but they don’t know.”

We cracked the door again to watch as the patients passed by, and waited for the appropriate time. As the mass of people started to thin, we exited the restroom and joined the group. As we headed outside, we passed the corridor covered in white powder, with our footprints leading away on the green carpet.

As we exited the building, we listened to every innuendo that floated in the air. Not to arouse suspicion, we kept our heads down and continued to walk up the path; quietly we maneuvered ourselves into our group of friends, who stood in the grass next to the pavilion.

We lit our cigarettes and added our own thoughts to the who-done-it and what-happened scenarios. At one point, I leaned over to Jack Jack and whispered my concerns.

“Did you see the footprints on the carpet?” I asked.

“I know, but they don’t know that they’re ours. So, just keep quiet and look concerned,” he mumbled.

Tired, Sam turned around, and looked for a place to sit, when he noticed us.

“Where in the hell were you guys when all this happened?” Sam said as the rest of the group turned and looked.

“Uh, we were sitting on the other side of the lecture hall,” Jack Jack searched for words. “What, is there a fire our something…because that smoke in the hallway didn’t smell like there was a fire.”

“Nobody knows. We just followed the leader when the alarm went off and came out here,” Victoria said.

In the distance, sirens sang as fire engines and police cars sped toward the hospital. The patients looked back at the building for fire or smoke, but we knew otherwise. Instead, Dr. Lyedecker exited the building, stone-faced as usual, looking like an undertaker in his stiff black suit.
Appropriate
, I thought.

He stood in front of the crowd, like a military leader preparing his troops for battle. To the dismay of the patients, he ordered us to return to the building and hunker down in the lecture hall.

Hostility from the patients followed at their perception that Dr. Lyedecker was ordering them into the building, perhaps into a dangerous situation. A few counselors, nurses, and security personnel diffused the patients’ apprehension and slowly guided us back into the building.

Jack Jack and I made our best effort to camouflage ourselves, when a hand burrowed through the patients and pointed directly at us. We emerged from the crowd and walked toward Dr. Lyedecker, as we did our best to act surprised.

He stood like an executing judge high atop his perch, cleared his throat, and tightened his lips. “After we obtain a better understanding of this situation, I want both of you to come to my office immediately after you are released from the lecture hall. No questions…you may leave.”

Quietly, we joined the rest of the group and did not speak to one another until we entered the building.

“Fuck. He knows something and we’re going to get into trouble,” I said as I rubbed my forehead.

“He doesn’t know shit, and besides we didn’t do anything wrong,” Jack Jack reviewed the events. “All we did was watch the whole thing go down. That’s all.”

In the lecture hall we sat in the forest of conversations and pondered what exactly Dr. Lyedecker’s agenda was. Even the sound of the fire alarm did not interrupt our thoughts. The alarm ceased and the unruly patients subsided when Larry Gates and Sarah from admissions entered and walked to the front of the lecture hall.

“All right, everybody please be quiet if you want to know what happened and what we are preparing to do,” Larry said.

A majority of the patients ignored Larry, for they saw it as an opportunity for defiance.

“Shut up!” a lone voice screamed from the distance, and immediately the patients subsided and sat quietly in their chairs.

“Thank you, to whoever said that,” Larry said, as Sarah stood firmly behind him. “It is our understanding that there was a patient with some issues which were not properly diagnosed before he came here. He decided to act out in whatever world he perceived himself to be in and take a fire extinguisher, spraying its contents all over the first floor, concentrating mostly by the nurses’ station. The reason for the alarm is that someone presumed there was a fire and pulled the alarm, which was the wisest thing to do given the circumstances. We are obtaining cleaning crews to deal with this mess and they will be working all night in order for this to be taken care of, which brings me to my next point. All the female patients will need to pack all of their belongings, because tonight you will be staying in one of the nearby hotels.”

The male patients watched as the female patients danced and cheered.

Larry began to wave his hands, as he tried to quiet the crowd. “The detox patients will also be taken care of, and will be informed individually as to the protocol we will follow.” He lowered his hands and continued to direct the patients. “Now, I would like all the patients to proceed back to their rooms. The women and detox patients will be informed concerning the next step. Everyone can leave.”

Larry and Sarah began to discuss the plan and waited for the patients to exit the lecture hall. The women were the first ones out of the hall, as they cheered and danced as though they had received a reprieve, while the men grudgingly followed, and tried to ignore the women’s happiness.

Jack Jack and I inched our way out of the lecture hall as the rest of the patients blurred past us.

“Well, no matter how slow we go, we still have to get this over with,” Jack Jack said.

“You’re right. We’re probably worried over nothing,” I said as I fought back the butterflies that took control of my stomach.

We rode up the elevator in silence and exited onto the second floor. We turned and followed the walnut stained doors to the last door in the corner of the hallway; the air was stale.

Next to the door was a name etched on the gold-plated plaque that read “Charles Lyedecker, Ph.D.,” with the word director below it in bold letters. We stared at each other, and waited for the other to knock, when suddenly the door opened and there stood Dr. Lyedecker, expressionless, like a cardboard cutout.