The Tower (1999) Read Online Free PDF Page A

spectacular; the intricate details betrayed the labored minutes Allander had spent hovering over the paper.
    "No," he replied.
    Spade drew air in loudly through his teeth. "Clowns to the left of me, rapists to my right, here I am, stuck in the Tower with ya'll." He laughed. "Tell me, my child, why are you too good to talk to the rest of us murderers and molesters?"
    Allander did not reply.
    "I know your story. We all know your story. You're probably the most famous one in here. All the attention you got in court because of your--what'd the judge call it?--'environmental conditioning'?" He sounded out the syllables of "environmental," making it sound like en-vi-ron-mental.
    "But you proved them wrong, didn't you, child? When you look inside, you know, you know like we all know. You know that even if you missed your childhood"--he paused, searching for the right word--"honeymoon, you know you'd still be a twisted, sick motherfucker. Now don't you?"
    "How should I presume?" Allander chuckled softly, as if to himself, running his hands through his hair. He lifted his head, and for the first time, Spade caught a glimpse of what was behind his eyes. It made even him draw back, ever so slightly.
    Allander continued quietly, but his voice warbled as if under great strain. "You think you can measure the range, the depth of my sickness?" He shook his head slightly. "I don't think you want to walk that landscape." His eyes darted back and forth, flashing over Spade's face, trying to gain entrance to his mind. He pried at it through Spade's eyes, his nose, his mouth.
    "You wish what? You wish to explore the common bonds we share as outsiders in our society?" He waved an arm in the air for emphasis, his voice drenched in sarcasm. "Well, then, that much we have in common. Hooray for your insightfulness. But I'm afraid that's where our similarities end. You're a beast who beats the walls of its prison, but what would you do if you were free? What heights, pray tell, are you just waiting to scale?" Allander shook his head, making sounds of disappointment deep in his throat. "I must confess, darling, I find you a bit tiresome."
    Spade's upper lip withdrew disdainfully from his teeth, and he scowled as his fury bubbled to the surface. "YOU MOTHERFUCKER! DO YOU KNOW WHO THE FUCK I AM? WHO THE FUCK YOU'RE TALKING TO?"
    Allander remained completely still. "Evidently not."
    Spade inhaled deeply, his chest rising and falling like a mountain in an earthquake. "I owned faggots like you on the outside. In the slammer, I bent men twice your size over the bathroom sink and fucked them. Because you're protected from me by this"--he motioned to the bars around him--"you think you can step up to me. You know, you know better."
    Allander paused and gestured with his eyes, indicating the space above Spade's head. "I'm afraid I don't have Jonsten's delicate temperament." He thrilled at the "I," as if arriving at it after a long and tedious journey. "And, forgive me if I'm incorrect, but it seems that you can't touch me in here, not even through a ceiling, which makes those muscles of yours about as useless as your sluggish brain."
    Allander let his last comment sink in before continuing. He spoke clearly and firmly, pausing dramatically between each word. "I can and will talk to you however I want, whenever I want. Remember, we're . . . locked in." He moaned the last words, raising his eyebrows and wiggling his fingers in mock horror.
    He laughed once, sharply. "You pose no threat to me standing safely under lock and key across the way." He crossed to the front of his cell and slid his arm slowly through the bars in Spade's direction. "At arm's length, if you will."
    Spade exploded in rage, his magnificent roars shaking the Tower. Backing up, he threw his full weight against the unit door, banging the bars with his shoulder. He continued to hurl himself against the steel bars, reaching through and straining to reach Allander's extended hand.
    Acknowledging at