Malcolm
had barely been awake for five minutes when he heard the soft
footsteps in the hallway headed toward him. The door opened and his
granddaughter rushed to the bed, bouncing on the covers.
“Happy
tire mint, grandaddy!”
He
patted her on the head and reached for his glasses. “It’s called
‘retirement’, Maya, and thank you!”
“Maya,
did you wake up your grandfather?” Malcolm’s wife, Loretta, stood
in the doorway, her arms crossed.
“No,
Nana, he was already woked up.”
She
crossed over to the bed and gave Malcolm a kiss. She then picked up
Maya.
“We’ll
let you get yourself together and then you can join us for
breakfast”, she said to him and then looked at Maya. “How about
waffles this morning?”
“Yes,
waffles, please, “ Maya replied.
“How
about waffles?” Loretta asked Malcolm.
“Well,
why not! Woo hoo! It’s my big day!” He held up his hands and gave
them a wave.
“Woo
hoo!” shouted Maya, waving her little hands too.
Loretta grabbed Maya and walked to the door. She turned back to
Malcolm and gave him a small smile, then left.
Malcolm sank back into the pillow. This was his last day at work.
He let out a sigh. He had accomplished so much in the past fifty
years and he never guessed he’d make it to this day. But he was
going to simply treat it like any other day. He had one last
Restitution to preside over, then no more. It was actually a good
thing that he could pass the responsibility on to James, his deputy.
Malcolm knew that he had secured his place in history when the
government had adopted his idea of Restitution for criminals. It had
been the project of a lifetime. He had to now let it go. He felt it
was time.
Maya was dabbing a piece of waffle into her syrup when Malcolm
walked into the kitchen. Loretta walked over to him and gave him a
cup of coffee.
“You should just stay home with me and Maya,” she told him.
“What can they do? Fire you?”
“Let me have this last day and one last Restitution. We’ve
already discussed this.”
“Oh, I know. But you haven’t had to go to any Restitutions in
years. You’re only a figurehead at the company anyway, they would
be fine with you…”
“You think I’ll decide not to retire...”
“I just want you all to myself now,” Loretta leaned in and gave
him a kiss. “Now let’s get some homemade waffles into you to
start your big day.”
“I hope we’ve got some juicy sausage or bacon, too.”
Loretta frowned as she held up a blue and white package. “Only
this,” she replied.
“Not that fake stuff...not today of all days!”
“I tried to get some real bacon, my dear, but Orlon’s has
stopped carrying it. I talked to the manager but he said that it was
too much trouble with all the new laws and everything.”
Malcolm sighed and thought about the days before animals were
thought to be feeling sentient creatures. He wished for the time
when pigs were ham, bacon, chops, and sausage, and not emotional
beings with rights. Since most industrial nations had given animals
rights and banned slaughtering animals for food, the United States
had seen a huge rise in meat prices and a move toward similar laws
concerning animal welfare. The food corporations had begun to cut
their ties with the animal farming operations, converting to meat
substitutes. The fresh water crisis only sped up the process – it
took too much water to raise food animals. Some called it progress,
Malcolm called it madness.
Malcolm worked for the National Prison Agency. Thirty years ago, he
had lobbied for a change in polices concerning capital punishment.
He himself had put forth the idea of Restitution as a graduate
student in college, but it wasn’t taken seriously until the drug
crisis occurred.
Companies had started to end production of the drugs used in lethal
injection executions. Some states had stockpiled the drugs for
future use, but eventually those supplies began to drop. States began
looking into other methods – firing squads, hanging, even the
guillotine had been considered -but all were considered to be
painful, drawn-out processes. Others had begun looking to ban capital
punishment altogether, bowing to anti-capital punishment activists.
One of Malcolm’s friends in college had remembered his graduate
work and talked to a senator about it. Malcolm was called to
Washington to explain his ideas. A few years later, the National
Prison Reform Act was passed and Malcolm was chosen to implement
Prisoner Restitution as a cornerstone of the reforms. “Capital
punishment” was replaced by “Restitution” and states readily
accepted this humane practice.
Malcolm walked into his office. He noticed a large book on his
desk. He walked over and opened the cover.
“The Victim’s Liaison Office went back through their files and
put that together for you,” said his assistant Janine, poking her
head through the doorway. She walked in and set down some papers. “I
need you to sign these.” She looked at the inscription inside the
book. “Letters from over the years from crime victim’s families
praising the Restitutions they had gone through. That was real sweet
of them.”
“I’ll have to pop down and thank them later.”
“Don’t forget you’re having lunch with the commissioner before
the Restitution.” Janine tapped the papers lightly, reminding
Malcolm to sign them. Malcolm adjusted his glasses, then took out
his pen from his briefcase. “Your retirement party is a 5:30,”
she reminded him. She then whispered, “ on’t be late. I hear
there will be appearances by some bigwig politicians – maybe a
vice-president – but you didn’t hear it from me.”
“Oh, Janine.”
“Some people think you’re a big deal, Boss.”
“Not after today.”
Malcolm did very little work. Most of the morning was spent
accepting best wishes and congratulations from colleagues and taking
phone calls saying pretty much the same. Lunchtime was spent with the
prison commissioner and a few select VIPs in the prison industry.
Restitution had proven to be a quite profitable option. Two hours
later, Malcolm rushed away to his last Restitution.
Malcolm got to the Restitution Center as they were bringing in Jimmy
McKinzey for his Restitution. He entered the chamber as a nurse
judged Jimmy’s dosage of Calmicolizine. The prisoner looked at him
and meekly smiled – the effects of the drug given to him at his
last meal. Malcolm silently burped – the effect of too much fake
steak at his last meal. Malcolm was glad that most prisoners were
now given sedatives and other drugs, it made it easier to deal with
them. He was thankful the drug companies had introduced programs to
medicate prisoners, it had made prisons calmer places, almost like
schools.
People slowly began to appear in the chamber – Jimmy’s attorney,
the victim’s family, the commissioner, and others. Malcolm sat
down at the large table across from Jimmy. He looked at his watch,
it was time to start.
An officer called the chamber to order. Malcolm shuffled through his
papers and then looked up at Jimmy.
“James Arthur McKinzey, inmate number 45629D, you have been called
forth to this chamber for your Restitution. Do you understand that
today you have to pay for your crimes against Nathalie Howe, who you
brutally murdered last year, and provide restitution to her surviving
family? Do you comply?”
Jimmy stared at him for a second. “I do,” he said, with a slight
slur.
“As the verdict has been made and the prisoner understands that
restitution has to be paid to the satisfaction of the victim’s
family, to this state, and to this nation, according to the law. Your
assets have already been transferred to the victim’s family in the
amount of $3, 235.00; as a balance is still outstanding, we will
proceed with the Restitution.” Malcolm turned and motioned to the
two officers standing behind him. Jimmy made no show of emotion.
The officers walked over to Jimmy and helped him to his feet.
“James Arthur McKinzey, proceed to make your Restitution.”
The officers escorted Jimmy to a curtained side of the chamber. They
led him through the curtain into a small antechamber, followed by
Malcolm. Meanwhile, inside the large chamber a large screen appeared
from behind a wooden panel and the lights were lowered. A camera in
the antechamber flashed, signaling that it had begun transmitting the
event to the large screen.
The officers placed Jimmy onto a slightly-inclined large metal slab,
jutting out from the wall. Malcolm pulled over a stool and sat down
beside Jimmy.
“Time for your Restitution, James.”
Jimmy slowly turned to look at Malcolm. He looked into Malcolm’s
eyes and smiled.
“Do you understand?” Malcolm asked, and slightly shaking his own
head.
Jimmy gave a shallow shake of his head, then grinned.
“He’s ready.” Malcolm gave a sign to the officers standing
near the slab.
One of the officers moved a console close to Malcolm. The other
officer reached up and pulled down a swing arm to which was attached
a headset. Three large cylinders protruded out from the headset.
Malcolm placed the headset onto Jimmy’s forehead. He adjusted it
over Jimmy’s eyes and secured some straps which encircled Jimmy’s
head. The other officer secured a strap across Jimmy’s chest and
his legs.
“Okay, Jimmy, I want you to count down from ten with me.”
Malcolm pressed a few buttons on the console. “Okay, now we will
start. Count with me. Ten...nine...eight...” The man slurred the
number eight. Malcolm pressed a red button. There was a soft thud
and a wisp of smoke appeared above the cylinders. There was a shudder
across the man’s entire body as three bolts were driven into his
brain, as was once done to cattle and pigs in slaughterhouses. There
was no seven.
“The law places the value of $488,000.00 on human life. Today,
James Arthur McKinzey paid that ultimate price toward his debt.
There can be no outstanding balance and Restitution has been paid,”
said Malcolm, after turning to the camera which had shown the event
to the people in the chamber. Malcolm paused and removed his glasses.
“I would also like to say this is the last Restitution I shall
preside over. I am glad that I have helped give closure to the
family of victims over the years and that I have offered to the world
a quick and painless method to implement justice. May we never go
back to old days of needless and drawn-out suffering again. Thank
you.” The camera light then signaled the end of the transmission.
There was loud bell, and the nurse appeared. She placed a mask over
Jimmy’s nose and mouth. There was a slight buzz and she placed a
device on Jimmy’s chest. She pulled a display panel from the side
of the slab. The slab was raised parallel to the floor. A hatch
opened in the wall and there was a rush of cold air. The slab moved
into the hatch, then closed quickly after Jimmy’s body disappeared
inside.
“Thank you, Nurse Greene. My office will finish the paper work
and send in on.” The nurse nodded and left.
Malcolm would now leave the organ harvesting and all to the medical
division. The victim’s family would receive their commissions, and
Jimmy’s body could realize a big return in compensation for them.
There was still so much paperwork, but he was not too worried about
it. It’s a job for someone else now, he thought. He had a
retirement party to attend.
