Parasitic Psychosis: The Lost Chapter

Between Books 2 and 3, in neither.

Chapter XX: The Lost Chapter

Leon

Month 1

Charged with Charlotte’s death, Leon is given 5 years in prison. He’s in the yard, in the corner, just trying to stay away from everyone. He hears a familiar voice calling him. “Ey, yo, ayesshole!” The hairs on the back of his neck stand up as the man approaches him. “How ya been, Larry?” he says.
“Hi Don, how are you?” Leon says nervously.
“I’m in jail, yeh muthafucka, how the hell yeh think I’m doin’?”
“Oh, I, uh, wondered what happened to you.”
“Did yeh really, Leon, did yeh really?” He says as he gets close to his face.
“Well, yeah, I wanted to get high so I went to- did you just call me Leon?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, officer. Did I let that slip?”
“Off-officer?”
“Oh, yeh didn’t think I’d find out? Mister Undercover. What, yeh don’t think I’d remember the spy I had in my house for four years, who testified against me in court?”
“I-”
“And now yer in here fer manslaughter. I watch the news, had ta start, considerin’ I’m in here now and got nothin’ else better ta do. It’s lucky fer yeh that I didn’t before, otherwise, yeh woulda been dead the second yeh walked in my door”
“Look, I-”
“Oh, the irony.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yer sorry? Sorry? I’m in here fer life ‘cause a yeh.”
“If Jerry-”
“Oh, yeah, Jerry. I had fun takin’ ‘im out. I had my suspicions at first, but yeh stayed so long, I forgot. It wasn’t until that day that everything made sense...” It enters a flashback. Don is home doing drugs when Jerry comes into the house.
“Hey boss.” Jerry says.
“’Ey, where’s Larry at?”
“He’s not here yet?”
“Nah, yeh guys always come together, er close enough, I don’t pay that much attention, but yeh guys aren’t apart fer this long usually.”
“I was dropped off early today.”
“Who dropped yeh off?”
“M-My brother.”
“Oh, I didn’t know yeh had a brether.”
“Yeah, his name is... Jack...” He looks behind Don. “...Corner.”
“Half brother?”
“Huh?”
“Corner ain’t yeh last name... or is it?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I meet him?”
“No, he died.”
“What the f**k are yeh talkin’ bout?”
“Nothing.”
“What’s goin’ on? Where’s Larry?”
“Probably checking in.”
“Checkin’ in where? What the f**k is goin’ on? You a rat?” He takes a gun off the shelf next to him and points it at Jerry’s head. Jerry starts to back away.
“What? No! I-”
“Tell me the f****n’ truth, Jer”
“Alright, look, Larry is an undercover cop, ok?”
“What? But he’s such a great asset. How’d we even get an undercover in here in the foist place, unless-”
“Please don’t kill me!”
“YEH!” He fires, shooting Jerry in the chest twice. Jerry falls to his knees and Don shoots him in the head. Jerry falls fully on the ground and Don shoots him once more. “And stay dead. Larry’s next. I’ll kill that motherfuckeh the second he gets here.”
“But yeh didn’t show up, now did yeh? No, instead, the cops busted down my door and the next time I see yeh, yer behind a screen with a different voice, but I could tell it was yeh. No mistakin’.
“Look-” Leon starts, but is interrupted when Don takes out a shank and stabs him in the side.
“We’re gonna have a lot of fun in here, me an’ yeh.” he whispers to him as he pulls the shank out. “Lemme know when that heals. Don’t worry, I ain’t gonna kill yeh yet, I usually like to play with my food first.” Frank sees the stabbing and alerts a guard. Leon is taken to the infirmary and patched up.
“Thanks for letting someone know.” Leon tells Frank.
“Eh, it’s whatever. I helped your brother too.” Frank says.
“My brother? You know who I am?”
“Course I do, I followed that whole case you guys were a part of. Shame you’re in here now.”
“Yeah, well, I deserve it.”
“Sydd said the same thing.”
“Why’d you help me, anyway?”
“Don’s a dangerous guy, and you’re on the wrong side.”
“Yeah, I put myself there.”
“Yeah, I heard.”
“I don’t know what to do.”
“Try to avoid him best you can.”
“At least I only have to put up with it for only five years... I just hope I survive that long.”
“I’ll try to help you as much as I can, but I won’t be around forever.”
“How can you help?”
“In exchange for protection, I have to run his operation when I get to the outside. He says he has some patsies in place now in case things go south, but I’m actually going to be in charge.”
“I’m not working for him, drugs destroyed my family.”
“Well, you’re going to have to figure out something, or he’ll kill you.” A week later, Leon is talking to Frank when Don approaches them.
‘Ey, Frankie, what er yeh doin with this scumbag cop?”
“You mean Leon?” Frank asks.
“Yeah. He’s why I’m in here.”
“He was just doing his job. You were doing yours.”
“The f**k is that supposed to mean?”
“Leon, if you weren’t working undercover, say you were, I don’t know, a waiter. Would you have called the fuzz on Don?”
“No, probably not, considering I liked getting high. It was only because I was sober that I remembered I had a job to do. It was watching Jerry die in front of me that I realized I was in too deep and had forgotten what I was supposed to be doing. I kept lying to my superiors so I could keep getting high.”
“So, what made that day different?”
“S**t finally hit the fan...” It enters another flashback.
Leon is asleep on his bed when his phone goes off. “Uhwuh?” He hears screaming on the other end. “Alright, fine.” He gets dressed and calls Jerry and that he’ll just meet him at the house in a half an hour. He heads to the station where his boss gestures for him to head into his office. “What do you need, Cap?”
“Are you kidding me? This is your fourth year today and you still haven’t turned him in. What are you waiting for?” The captain yells.
“I just-”
“You look even more like hell than you did last time. I knew it, I f*****g knew you were using fake piss. You’re on drugs.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m pulling you off the case.”
“NO!”
“Obviously you can’t handle it. I should have pulled you earlier, but I believed you when you said you weren’t close yet but obviously you just turned into a junkie. I’m pulling you. Take a day to get your affairs in order and check into rehab tomorrow, I’m going to be following up.”
“Alright fine. What do I tell Jerry? I was supposed to meet him fifteen minutes ago.”
“Give him a call, tell him to stay home today. I’m going to set him up with someone else tomorrow.”
“Alright.” Leon leaves and gets in his car. “Jerry? C’mon, answer me.” He sighs. “Just one last run of the good stuff, and then I’m done. What should I get for my last time? Coke? Meth? Dust? Jerry, man, why won’t you- duh, that’s his home number. He’s probably at Don’s already.” He pulls up to Don’s. “No point in calling him now.” He looks out the window and sees Jerry get shot. “F**k.” He takes out his phone and calls his boss. “Jerry’s dead, we’ve been compromised, get units here now.”
“It wasn’t personal, you just happened to kill a police informant in front of an undercover cop, I had to.” Leon tells Don.
“How am I supposed to believe that?” Don asks.
“Look, if Jerry hadn’t talked, he’d probably still be alive, you still would have probably been out there selling, and I still would have wanted to get high.”
“What about rehab?” Don asks.
“I would have risked my career to get high again.”
“That bad, huh?”
“At the time? Yeah.”
“Aw, well isn’t that sad?” He gets near him and shanks him in a different spot. He says in a low voice, “I don’t care about yer feckin sob story. It’s still yer fault I’m in here. How much time yeh got in here? Five years? We’ll see how long yeh last. Oh, this is gonna be fun!”

Month 13

“How’s business?” Leon asks.
“Actually, not bad. It just sucks that I’m back to this now.” Sydd says.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, you’re my brother. If it keeps you alive, I’ll do it til I die.” He frowns. “Mom and dad found out what I’m doing. I had to quit my job at the diner cause I had to sell full time. There had to be someone at the house to sell while Frank delivered. Which reminds me, I can’t stay too long, I have to be back at the house in an hour.”
“You know you won’t be here that long.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through this.”
“It’s not your fault-”
“Yeah, yeah it is. If I had never done drugs, then there is a good chance things would have happened differently, better even. But we’ll never know now, will we? I fucked up everyone’s life.”
“And now you have to do what’s right and keep us alive. As cynical as it might seem, it almost seems like an appropriate punishment for you. You’re not getting high on your own supply, are you?”
“I know better than that, I’m not like how I used to be, although I’ll take a line here or there. Luckily, with all the drugs I’ve done, I’m a little unenthusiastic about doing them, but sometimes I’m just like, ‘f**k it’.”
“I get it.”
“Sometimes customers will share with me, for no reason I guess other than to have someone to get high with, but I don’t do half as many in a day as I used to, which in hindsight was pretty insane that I’m not dead.”
“Not like you never overdosed though.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“How does Vera feel about all this?”
“She’s not happy about it, but she understands.”
“Does she know you get high?”
“Yeah, sometimes she joins me.”
“Just be careful that you don’t end up with another dead girlfriend.”
“Yeah, that’s the last thing I need, but I’ve actually been doing really well, I haven’t had an attack since Jonathan I think.”
“Excellent.”
“How about you?”
“Nah, they’ve got me pretty well medicated in here. Who knew you’d have to kill someone to get decent healthcare?”
“That’s pretty sad.”
“That’s the world we live in now. What did mom and dad say?”
“They’re disappointed.”
“Yeah, I expected that.”
“They still like you though for some reason.”
“How?”
“Call it Cop Karma.”
“Cop Karma?”
“Yeah, they assume since you were a cop before, that makes you automatically a better person than me because I didn’t event attempt to make something of myself whereas you did.”
“I’m sorry, bro.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it, I think you’re better than me too.”
“Don’t say that.”
“It’s true. Don found out we’re related and figured he’d use me to sell his drugs since I’m so well known in his business, being a long time customer and all. If I hadn’t been such a scumbag-”
“Stop, just stop. We’ve both made our choices, and we have to live with them, so stop with the self pity. You don’t see me doing that bullshit, and I’ve got another few years of this hell.”
“Is he leaving you alone?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“No problem, bro.”
“Thanks for visiting me.”
“No problem, man.”
“Same time next week?”
“You can count on it.”

Sydd

Sydd wakes up, goes to Frank’s room and wakes him up. “What?” Frank says, half asleep, muffled by his pillow.
“I need you to sell in the house today for a few hours, me and the lady are celebrating our one year anniversary today.”
“Uhh when?”
“Noon.”
“Time is it now?”
“Eleven.”
“I still got time.”
“I need time to get ready and meet her at the park.” There’s a knock at the door and Sydd answers it to a dirty, skinny guy with barely any teeth left.
“Got crack?”
“The usual, Danny?”
“Yeah, yeah. Gimme.”
“I’m not fronting anymore, I hope you have cash.”
“Yeah, yeah, here.” He hands him a handful of crumpled up bills and Sydd counts it.
“Alright, here ya go.”
“Thanks, man.” Sydd closes the door and goes and gets ready for his date. A half hour later, he leaves the house. He heads to the city park, where Vera is waiting.
“Hey, babe.” He leans in and gives her a kiss.
“Flowers? Really?” She says sarcastically.
“Sorry, I’m not much of a romantic, but I figured girls like flowers, right?”
“That’s a stereotype.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, I love them.” She smiles. “I was just busting your balls.”
“Oh, thank God, I thought I screwed up again.”
“Actually, you surprised me, good for you.”
“You’re f*****g with me.”
“Not at all, especially since I didn’t get you anything.”
“Really?”
“Sorry, you one upped me. Here.” She hands him the flowers.
“Uh-?”
“It’s all I have to give you.”
“But I got these for you.”
“Are you saying you don’t want them?”
“No, I’m saying I want you to have them, it doesn’t matter that you didn’t get me anything. Besides, I don’t expect anything from you, just the fact that you agreed to be my girlfriend and stay for a whole year is enough.”
“But this isn’t your longest relationship.”
“It’s the longest one while being sober.”
“You’re not sober, and neither am I.”
“I’d like to think we are, we’re not addicted anymore. I didn’t even have anything other than a bowl today, I didn’t need to, I was looking forward to being with you, and that’s what keeps me going.”
“Me too.”
“Have you talked to her yet?”
“I will tonight. I’m going to leave her a note on your picture along with a written explanation.”
“Thank you so much.”
“I love you, Sydd.”
“I love you too, Vera.”
“I’m glad I took the chance. You really are a wonderful man, Sydd.”
“It’s all I’ve ever wanted anyone to see.”
“Well, I see it, and I love it, and I’ll tell anyone who asks or says differently.”
“Most people know my past, you did.”
“You’re not that same person anymore, and it’s not like that was the true you anyway. This is, he was just buried.”
“I’m not exactly clean though, I still occasionally use, usually with you, my main source of income is dealing, and last I checked, drug dealers aren’t exactly the most loved people.”
“You’re only doing it to protect your brother while he’s in jail, I can understand that.”
“See, this is why I love you, you’re like, the coolest chick ever.” He gives her a quick kiss on the lips. “Hungry?”
“Yeah, where do you wanna go?”
“Well, I was hoping to sit outside at the Bistro while we eat.”
“I would love that.” They hold hands and walk towards the corner bistro where they get a seat. Sandra walks by and looks at them.
“Sydd?” She asks.
“Hey Sandy.” Sydd responds.
“Oh my God, you look amazing.”
“Uhh, what?”
“Like, healthier. Last time I saw you, you looked so bad, the drugs definitely put some age on you, but you have more color in your face, you’re a little filled out more, not so uh, skeletal.”
“Oh, thanks I guess?”
“Trust me, you look great, I’m glad you’re off the drugs. You seem happier, too; like you were when you were a kid.”
“Uh, Vera, this is my friend Sandra, Sandra, this is my girlfriend Vera.”
“You’re a lucky girl, the real Sydd I know is a great guy... as long as he’s balanced.”
“I’m well aware.” Vera says. She smiles.
“You look good yourself, got a date?”
“Yeah, I’m finally going on a date with Charlie.”
“Who’s Charlie?”
“You don’t remember, he left around the same time you started using.”
“Ah, sorry.”
“It’s ok. I’m friends with Samson too. Dated him too.” She shudders.
“I shared a cell with him.”
“Yeah, he mentioned.”
“How’s he doing?”
“Terrible, the post traumatic is pretty bad. He’s missing part of his leg, they had to replace it with a prosthetic and he drinks like a fish. I recently stopped talking to him because it seems like all he does is complain.”
“Oh man, that’s rough. How are you yourself doing?”
“Ok I guess, I’m finally teaching and about to go on a date with the guy I’ve always had a crush on.”
“I’m already on mine.” He smiles at Vera and she smiles back and gives him a kiss.
“Aww, you guys are so cute, I’m happy for ya, Sydd. Good for you for turning things around.” She checks her watch. “Oh, s**t I gotta go, I’m going to be late.”
“Later.” She speed walks away.
“So, who was that?” Vera asks.
“A girl I went to school with.”
“Why is she so interested in your life?”
“At one point we were really good friends, then we all hit that age where everyone cliqued out and then I ended up on drugs and forgot everyone I ever knew cause I wanted to get high.”
“Did you ever date her?”
“Nah, not my type, though I had a dream once that I screwed her.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Stop, obviously it means nothing.”
“You know, it got me thinking, seeing someone you knew stopping by.”
“Oh yeah, and what’s that?”
“What if someone she knows runs into me and calls for her?”
“Uhh-”
“If that happens, and you hear my voice change, run.”
“I’m not running.”
“She keeps a gun in my purse.”
“I know.”
“And that still doesn’t scare you? Up until now, we’ve never been in public together like this, at least, not in broad daylight.”
“You worry too much. I don’t know her name, and so far, nobody’s said hi to you. Tell you what, how about after lunch, we go back to my place? That way, your risk becomes zero again.”
“Fine. You know what? F**k it. Today is a day of celebration and I should stop being so hard on myself, although I’m taking your advice about leaving after we eat.”
“Alright, sweet. So, uh, why are you so scared of her?”
“She, uh, shot a former best friend of mine since she didn’t recognize her. She’s crazy, and I love you, I don’t want to hurt you too.”
“What happened to your friend?”
“I had to explain what happened, and she dropped the charges but our friendship was never the same again. She-” she points at her head, “-left me a note, that next time she’s going to shoot to kill, and she’s not going to jail.”
“Do you ever let her out willingly?”
“I try not to, she’s incredibly dangerous.”
“How long have you dealt with her?”
“All my life, the things my parents said I did were beyond horrific.”
“Can I ask?”
“One time, when I was eight, she broke the cat’s neck, cut off the head, and force fed it to the dog and left the decapitated corpse on my parents’ bed. When I was eleven, she stabbed a fat kid in the stomach and, uh, really dug in there. Kid almost died. I was finally diagnosed and put on medication when I was twelve, but found drugs when I was seventeen. I was sick of the side effects and tried to unsuccessfully self medicate, her rate actually went up and I spent a lot of time in jail thanks to her, but it got me back straight, so whatever.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s life I suppose.”
“Yeah, I totally get it.”
“Yeah, we all know the story.”
“So what are you hungry for?”
“I dunno, I was hungry for a sandwich or something.”
“I’m getting a burger.” The waiter comes by.
“Are you two ready?” He asks.
“Yeah, I’ll have a club sandwich.” Vera says.
“I’ll have a buffalo burger, medium well with onion rings.” Sydd says.
“Alright, thank you, do either of you need refills?” the waiter asks.
“No.” They respond together. The waiter leaves.
“So I’m surprised you were even able to meet me today, what with what you do and all.” Vera says.
“Frank understood. Besides, he’s covering me and we’re going back anyway.” Sydd says.
“How convenient.”
“Seriously?”
“I’m just busting your balls again, don’t worry.”
“Oh, ok, sorry.”
“Didn’t realize you were so sensitive.”
“Yeah, well, I can’t tell who’s serious and who’s kidding anymore.”
“Sorry, I forgot.”
“No, it’s ok, I just need to learn to laugh again.”
“Good, you’re learning.”
“Oh yeah? And what’s that?”
“Life’s not a dick, don’t take it so hard.”
“Yeah, but life’s still a b***h.”
“So? Show that b***h who’s boss.”
“You have an answer to everything, don’t you?”
“I dunno, maybe.”
“Haha, maybe?”
“Well, yeah. I’m only human after all.”
“To me, you’re a goddess.”
“Aw, that’s sweet.”
“Thanks, it took me all night to think of that.”
“Oh, so you DO have a sense of humor.”
“Huh. Well what do you know about that?”
“I know that you’re funny.”
“Looking, maybe.”
“Ok, stop putting yourself down, it’s not cool. And it’s unattractive.”
“Look who can’t take jokes now.”
“No, it just stopped being cute.”
“Ok, gotcha.”
“Like I said, you’re still learning.” She smiles at him.
“I still can’t believe we’ve been together for a whole year after I’ve waited how many just for you to go out with me.”
“Well, you’re persistent, I’ll give you that.”
“Was that a bad thing?”
“Obviously not, especially since I kept an eye on you the whole time.”
“Wait, you mean-?”
“Yeah, I had to be absolutely sure about you.” A light rain sprinkles down despite the sun being out.
“Huh, a sun shower. You don’t see those every day.” Sydd takes a huge bite out of his burger.
“I know, it’s beautiful.”
“I love Lorraine.” Sydd says, as he points to the rain.
“Wut did yew just say?” Vera says in a deep southern accent.
“Mmm, Lorraine.” he says as he points to the rain again, mouth still partially full.
“Who the hell are yew?” Lorraine asks Sydd.
“Vera, it’s Sydd.” His eyes widen as he realizes what has happened.
“Get the f**k away from me!” she screams, as she pulls a gun out of her purse.
“Listen, let’s talk this out. My name is Sydd, I’m Vera’s boyfriend.” He stands up and gets out of the chair and slowly backs away, but she follows him, still aiming.
“Ah don’t believe yew, she never told me anything!” she says, still aiming the gun at Sydd, who has his hands up.
“She was going to tell you tonight, believe me!”
“Ah don’t.”
“Just put the gun down, you’re scaring everyone here.” She looks around.
“No, no, I ain’t goin’ ta jail!”
“Put the gun away, and you won’t have to-” She fires the gun, shooting him in the chest. He falls down onto his knees. “Stop” he says weakly. She shoots him in the head, he falls forward onto the cement. Then, she takes the gun, puts it against her temple, and fires.