Free Outlier: One mistake can destroy everything. by Jacob Mesmer Page B
Authors: Jacob Mesmer
college kids. Why did people do drugs? He didn’t know. He thought of those guys last month at the hospital. Or that place that didn’t look like a hospital on the outside, but looked kind of like one on the inside.
He had to take the bus to get there. He went there every weekend for four weeks. Each time they gave him 14 pills. And each week they’d ask him all kinds of questions. Easy questions, but lots of them. And they made him watch TV. That was strange. The TV had commercials, but ones he’d never seen before. They seemed a little strange. He didn’t know why.
The pills didn’t do anything. They were supposed to make him relax. They didn’t make him do anything. But they paid him five hundred dollars just for trying them. He was sad when they told him he was finished. They thanked him and paid him. They were nice to him. They kept asking him if he was comfortable, how he felt. Nobody ever asked him that. Maybe they’d let him do the test again. He thought he had that email they sent. Maybe he’d check.
He looked at the ice cream shop again. Angry and alone. He stared at the window, and imagined all those young, pretty girls on the other side laughing at him and making fun of him like when he gave that speech at school. The more he stared at the glass, the angrier he got. Stupid girls. Stupid laughing girls.
The glass seemed to move. Small waves started to vibrate across the surface as if somebody were shaking it. As it moved, the sounds of the girls laughing in his head became louder and more vicious. He imagined them standing in front of him, pointing and laughing. Jay started gritting his teeth, slowly rocking back and forth on the bench.
The glass shattered, sending shards flying inward toward the shop. Jay could hear girls screaming all the way from the park. He stopped.
Shocked. Frozen.
A barely perceptible, knowing smile of realization slowly appeared on his face.
He rose slowly, turned, and walked home.
Chapter Twenty
“You say the injuries are non-life-threatening?” Sean wrote down the information and the location of the hospital.
“And somebody threw a brick at the window. Got it. So we’re looking at anywhere from potential vandalism up to attempted murder based on intention. Got it, Chief.” He clicked off, glad he hadn’t decided to knock back a few G&Ts this evening. He checked his watch. 9:30 p.m. The other officers had taken information, but they needed some follow-up. He didn’t mind this one, as there may have been an actual perp who intended harm. He’d already talked to Greg, the only officer on-scene. So far only broken glass. No object. Still, broken glass can be considered a weapon regardless of how it had broken.
Twenty minutes later he was walking down the hallway of the hospital. The nurse told him the injured girl was in room 514. He knocked on the door, checking his notebook. “Lisa?” he asked loudly as he entered the room.
She looked up at him as he walked in. No parents.
He sat on the chair next to the bed. “You by yourself?” He tried to smile; no big deal.
“Yeah, my mom is on her way; she had to get out of a split shift.”
He didn’t ask about dad. “So, you want to tell me what happened?” He sat down next to her bed.
“Well, there were three of us: me, Stacey and Becky. Then that guy, the janitor? He was just standing outside the window, like all creepy. We tried to ignore him, and then the glass broke.” Jay, huh? Maybe this guy was doing something after all.
“Where were you looking when the glass broke?” Eyewitness testimony was always sketchy at best.
She cocked her head, trying to think. “Like I said, after we noticed him staring, we tried to ignore him. I guess I was looking at Stacey or Becky?” She seemed unsure.
“So, did you see him break the glass, or did you hear the glass break?”
“Well, he was there, and then it broke. I
He had to take the bus to get there. He went there every weekend for four weeks. Each time they gave him 14 pills. And each week they’d ask him all kinds of questions. Easy questions, but lots of them. And they made him watch TV. That was strange. The TV had commercials, but ones he’d never seen before. They seemed a little strange. He didn’t know why.
The pills didn’t do anything. They were supposed to make him relax. They didn’t make him do anything. But they paid him five hundred dollars just for trying them. He was sad when they told him he was finished. They thanked him and paid him. They were nice to him. They kept asking him if he was comfortable, how he felt. Nobody ever asked him that. Maybe they’d let him do the test again. He thought he had that email they sent. Maybe he’d check.
He looked at the ice cream shop again. Angry and alone. He stared at the window, and imagined all those young, pretty girls on the other side laughing at him and making fun of him like when he gave that speech at school. The more he stared at the glass, the angrier he got. Stupid girls. Stupid laughing girls.
The glass seemed to move. Small waves started to vibrate across the surface as if somebody were shaking it. As it moved, the sounds of the girls laughing in his head became louder and more vicious. He imagined them standing in front of him, pointing and laughing. Jay started gritting his teeth, slowly rocking back and forth on the bench.
The glass shattered, sending shards flying inward toward the shop. Jay could hear girls screaming all the way from the park. He stopped.
Shocked. Frozen.
A barely perceptible, knowing smile of realization slowly appeared on his face.
He rose slowly, turned, and walked home.
Chapter Twenty
“You say the injuries are non-life-threatening?” Sean wrote down the information and the location of the hospital.
“And somebody threw a brick at the window. Got it. So we’re looking at anywhere from potential vandalism up to attempted murder based on intention. Got it, Chief.” He clicked off, glad he hadn’t decided to knock back a few G&Ts this evening. He checked his watch. 9:30 p.m. The other officers had taken information, but they needed some follow-up. He didn’t mind this one, as there may have been an actual perp who intended harm. He’d already talked to Greg, the only officer on-scene. So far only broken glass. No object. Still, broken glass can be considered a weapon regardless of how it had broken.
Twenty minutes later he was walking down the hallway of the hospital. The nurse told him the injured girl was in room 514. He knocked on the door, checking his notebook. “Lisa?” he asked loudly as he entered the room.
She looked up at him as he walked in. No parents.
He sat on the chair next to the bed. “You by yourself?” He tried to smile; no big deal.
“Yeah, my mom is on her way; she had to get out of a split shift.”
He didn’t ask about dad. “So, you want to tell me what happened?” He sat down next to her bed.
“Well, there were three of us: me, Stacey and Becky. Then that guy, the janitor? He was just standing outside the window, like all creepy. We tried to ignore him, and then the glass broke.” Jay, huh? Maybe this guy was doing something after all.
“Where were you looking when the glass broke?” Eyewitness testimony was always sketchy at best.
She cocked her head, trying to think. “Like I said, after we noticed him staring, we tried to ignore him. I guess I was looking at Stacey or Becky?” She seemed unsure.
“So, did you see him break the glass, or did you hear the glass break?”
“Well, he was there, and then it broke. I
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