Plastic Gods, A Rich Coleman Novel Vol 2

by William Manchee

  Chapter 19

 

  Jason didn’t mind the drive to the Federal Correctional Institution at Texarkana. It was summer and East Texas was gorgeous this time of year. If it wasn't for the fact that he was visiting his friend in federal prison, it would have been almost like a vacation. But each time he neared his destination, he would inevitably fall into a deep depression as he recalled the events that made this weekly trip necessary.

  Lori and Lynn’s bodies had eventually been found near Lake Ray Hubbard. A fisherman thought he had caught a record catfish only to be mortified when he saw he’d snagged a woman’s torso. Jason thought back to Lynn's funeral. The image of Matt standing in handcuffs at her grave, tears streaming from his eyes, was still vivid in his mind.

  Matt was beginning to adjust to prison life after several difficult weeks. Being an extremely active person, the sheer boredom of sitting hour upon hour with nothing to do was debilitating. Because of his education, he had been assigned to work in the library, but stacking books was not exactly challenging for him. Fortunately, as time went on more and more inmates became aware that Matt was an attorney and sought his advice and counsel about a myriad of problems. Most, of course, wanted him to help them with their appeals or counsel them on making parole. Matt gladly assisted each and every one of them because it made the days go faster and his time in prison less miserable.

  Matt looked forward to Jason’s visit. Although he had frequent visitors, including Erica and me, Professor Swensen, and Bruce Pierson, Jason’s visits were his favorites because he could talk freely to Jason without worrying about his reaction to what he said. When Erica and I visited, he had to be careful because we were against his plans to seek revenge against the bank. We were still trying to get the Senate Banking Committee to investigate MidSouth Bank, but after Matt’s guilty plea and the return to normalcy on the bankruptcy front, there was little incentive for an investigation.

  "Hey, how's it going," Jason said.

  "Okay, now that you are here."

  "Well, it's nice to see you too,” Jason said.

  "You know why I particularly like seeing you, other than for your charm and wit of course, is because it means another week has passed. This is your eighth visit so that means I only have seventy weeks left in this Godforsaken place."

  "Yeah, I can't believe it's been over two months since the sentencing hearing," Jason said. “Thank God time flies.”

  "It's starting to get a little more interesting in here. I'm helping some of the inmates with their legal problems, unofficially of course. It's kind of neat wielding a little power from my jail cell."

  "What kind of things are you doing?" Jason asked.

  "Oh, a guy named Art, a few doors down from me, was being divorced by his wife. She hired some big law firm to take poor Art to the cleaners. Boy, were they pissed when he filed an eight-page answer and counterclaim to their petition."

  Jason laughed. "I can imagine."

  "So you seem to be feeling better, huh?"

  "Yeah, I'm not nearly as depressed as I was the last few weeks. I had a kind of religious experience this week."

  "A religious experience?"

  "Un huh. You know I was so angry at MidSouth Bank for killing Lynn and Lori, and I missed Lynn so much I was going insane. I think if I'd have had a gun I would have stuck the barrel in my mouth and pulled the trigger. Fortunately, it's tough to commit suicide in here. They don't let you have any rope or sharp objects."

  "You really thought about committing suicide?"

  "Yes, I'm ashamed to say I thought about it a lot. I mean, what's the reason for living without Lynn?"

  Matt began to weep.

  "I know, but she would want you to be strong," Jason said.

  "You're right, and if I committed suicide, how could I punish them for what they did?"

  "Matt, forget about the bank. If they get even a hint that you're out for revenge, they'll kill you."

  "Don't worry. I've finally got it all figured out. The other day I was alone in the library and a group of homos came to visit me. They insisted I join their group and they wanted to initiate me with a gang bang."

  "Oh, shit!" Jason moaned.

  "It wasn't a big surprise. I had been warned that it was coming. Their leader was a Chicano named Eduardo."

  "So what did you do?"

  "I had agonized over this confrontation many times in my mind. I thought of telling them I had AIDS or gonorrhea or some other dreaded disease but they knew I would be in isolation if that were the case. I had to come up with something original, something compelling if I was to retain my masculinity and self-respect."

  “'So, what's it going to be big shot lawyer. You going to join in the fun or do we have to tie you down,' Eduardo asked.”

  “'Listen. I don't have anything against gays, okay? But I'm not into homosexuality. Just leave me out of your games, if you don't mind.'”

  “'But we do mind. You've got a cute ass. Besides, in a few months you'll be so horny we'll start looking good to you. So why wait?’”

  “'I don't think so.'

  “I was petrified of being defiled by this gang of thugs. As they started to close in on me I got sick to my stomach and nearly threw up. They started to touch me and stick their hands in my pants. I pulled away and pleaded with them.

  “'Come on, you don't want to do this. I can be a valuable resource for all of you. I'm a lawyer. I can do your appeals and help you file lawsuits against the government. We can be a team but if you rape me then I'll just be a worthless piece of ass.'”

  “'I always wanted to screw a lawyer," Eduardo said drawing laughter from his gang. "Bend over. I've been waiting for years to do this.'”

  That's when I became so desperate I finally said something very rash—something that could get me in a lot of trouble. But I couldn’t let them rape me.

  “'Listen. I've got lots of money. I'll see to it that each of you have a nice chunk of change when you leave this place. Just leave me alone.'”

  “'How much change?'”

  “'Two hundred thousand.'”

  “'Where do you have it stashed?'”

  “'In a bank account in the Cayman Islands.'”

  “'Pretty slick, Mr. Lawyer,' the leader said. 'The problem is there are ten of us so that's only $20,000 each.'”

  “'Well, you can have it. Take it all.'”

  “'It's not enough. Besides, how are you going to get it to us?'”

  “'I've got a friend on the outside. I'll arrange to get you the money. Just give me a bank account number and I'll have the funds wired into it.’”

  “‘Listen. I like you Matt. You got some spunk, but I don't believe you and I don't have time to check your banking references.’”

  “The men laughed.”

  “'Okay, you're right, but what if I can show each and every one of you how to walk out of this prison with not only the $20,000 in cash but also a credit line of $50,000 just waiting for you to spend. After it’s all gone, you can file bankruptcy and never have to pay it back.’”

  “‘Get out of here. . . . Okay, guys, hold him down. Let’s get on with this.’”

  “‘No, wait! I'm serious. In addition to the $20,000, I can show you how to clean up your credit and have $50,000 credit available to use as you please. You can also share the information with other inmates and take a cut of what they make. The potential profit is really up to you. It will take about a year to implement the plan but—’”

  The leader held up his hand and said, “'That's half a million dollars. Do we look like idiots? No banker in this right mind is going to give an inmate credit.'”

  “‘Do you watch TV?’"

  “‘Of course.’"

  “‘Then you must know I doubled the bankruptcy filings in the Northern District of Texas and caused two banks to nearly fail in Texas."

  “'Yeah. So what?’"

  "’I'm telling you I can pull this off. I’ve got a friend who is the best credit repair
man in Texas. He’ll clean up each inmate’s credit and then we’ll submit an application to a bank I know that will give a credit card to anybody with a pulse.”

  “‘Don’t you have to have a job to get a credit card?’”

  “I’ve got that figured out too. It will be a piece of cake getting the credit cards.”

  “So what do you get out of all this?”

  “My honor and dignity, plus a little revenge against the bank that’s responsible for killing my wife and putting me in here.”

  "’Hey, Eduardo. Maybe he can do it,' one of the men said. ‘Give him a chance, man."

  “Eduardo gave the man a scathing look, then smiled and said, ‘All right, you've got ten days to get this plan underway and convince me it's for real. Otherwise, your ass is mine.’"

  “'Don't worry. Like I said, it’s a piece of cake.”

  "I must admit that was quite ingenious,” Jason said. “If you can't baffle them with brilliance, buffalo them with bullshit, right?"

  "But it isn't total bullshit. I’m pretty sure I can actually do it. I had a client who was an expert at credit repair. He showed me how it’s done. Just think if MidSouth were to issue two hundred inmates five credit cards, each with a $5,000 credit limit. That’s five million dollars. And if MidSouth Bank is stupid enough to give a bunch of inmate’s credit cards, then they deserve to lose their money, right?"

  “I don’t know if I want to be involved in anything illegal.”

  “Don’t you want to make Frank Hill pay for killing Lynn and Lori?”

  “Sure, but five million dollars is nothing to MidSouth Bank.”

  “True. This is actually just a diversion to annoy Frankie Boy and give my dad and Bill Ross time to get evidence against him. Hopefully they’ll put him out of business permanently.”

  "So how do I fit in?"

  "All I need is for you to buy a business and run it for me."

  "What kind of business?"

  "It doesn't matter, just something that's labor intensive. You need to have lots of employees."

  "Why?"

  "I'll tell you later. Just buy a business, learn how to run it, and when the time is right I'll tell you what to do."

  "But buying a business cost money. As you know, I don't have a cent."

  "I'll give you a hundred grand. You can use it as a down payment. Just be sure and buy a business you can run and break even so we can operate it for at least a year."

  "This is bizarre. I hope you know what you're doing."

  "Not entirely, but I'll figure it out. This is going to be so awesome. I just wish Lynn and Lori were here to see it."

  "See what? I have no clue what you're planning to do."

  "Something like this has to be held close to the breast. You're better off not knowing all the details. When the time is right, I'll explain everything to you. In the meantime, you'll have to trust me."

  "Okay, Matt, but I hope I don't end up as your cell mate."

  "That wouldn't be so bad, would it?"

  "Funny man."

  The guard indicated their visiting time was up. Matt stood up and smiled at Jason who was still trying to fathom how he had been roped into Matt's scheme.

  “One last thing,” Matt said.

  “What?”

  “I’m going to need the name, address, birth date, and social security number of every congressman and senator plus their spouses and children.”

  “How am I supposed to get that?”

  “I don’t know. But I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”