May We Be Forgiven

winter—each man has a solar yurt.”
    “So it’s like a tag-and-release wildlife refuge—only the wildlife is human?” I ask.
    “Yep,” Walter says. “This is a highly monitored safe zone—we have it under twenty-four-hour observation.”
    “What if one of the guys goes after another?”
    “We know where they are and what they’re doing at all times—we monitor them around the clock. And discipline, if needed, is swift and unforgiving.”
    “From above,” the medical director says, like he’s drunk the Kool-Aid.
    “That’s right—a drone is launched, and that’s all she wrote.”
    “What if they manage to leave the chip behind and escape?”
    “They’re chipped at the back of the neck; there’s no way to remove it without losing cerebral function. If one kills another, we know exactly who did it and how and, zippity-boom-bah, here comes the predator drone.”
    “And do these men eventually graduate from your program?”
    “And do what?” Walter Penny asks, caught off guard.
    I shrug. “Become park rangers?”
    “These are bad men,” Walter says, like I’ve missed the point all along.
    “Do they escape?”
    “The men and their representatives sign a contract going in which says we can Taser, shock, or execute as needed. We’re judicious re discipline; mostly we haven’t had to.”
    “And do the men make friends?”
    Walter shakes his head like it’s all been lost on me. “This isn’t exactly your campfire, ‘Kumbaya,’ and melted-marshmallow crowd.”
    “So—why do you think this would be a good place for George?”
    “I’ll take that one,” the medical director says. “George has a lot of anger and excess energy, and he very much likes to be the boss.”
    “I just want to jump in for a moment,” Manny says, “and color things in a bit for you. As per what we were talking about earlier, if we settle on this program, if we agree that this is the place for George, the placement would be considered a deal. A deal mitigates the need for George going to trial, which would be a lengthy, expensive, and very public process.”
    “You’re saying that if we send George off into the woods—there’s no trial?”
    “Correct,” Walter Penny says.
    “How long would he have to stay in the woods?”
    “Hard to tell, but any subsequent placement would be covered under this agreement—it’s not like he’d come out of the woods and have to go to trial,” Manny says.
    “Let me be honest with you,” Walter Penny says. “It would be good for us to have a few higher-profile cases. It keeps us on the map—we got the initial funding, and while the cost is amazingly low per prisoner as compared with a traditional facility, we need some good PR to stay up and running.”
    “It certainly looks like a lot of money was spent on your logo and presentation.”
    “Branding is everything these days,” Walter says. “We had a couple of really nice grants to get us going—but now we’re on our own.”
    “Just to review,” Manny jumps in, cutting off what I think is a fascinating conversation about who gave them a grant to come up with the wood-grained/green logo. “The terms of the placement are as follows: We accept the placement in The Woodsman as a one-time-only offer; the offer and acceptance are not precedential, and any further placement following the first forty-eight hours at The Woodsman facility is to be considered under the umbrella of this agreement and is not subject to revocation. It is understood that time spent in The Woodsman program is covered by the laws of the state in which the facility is based and the laws of the United States and subject to due process, et cetera. Further, the costs of the move from the private facility, The Lodge, to a public facility, The Woodsman, will be borne by The Lodge as a ‘give’ due to the closure of the facility.”
    “When would this happen?” I ask.
    “Sooner rather than later,” Walter Penny says.
    “I’d also like to note that I presented this package to the parents of Jane, George’s now deceased wife. Their response was ‘Good riddance’—they were more than happy to send him deep into the woods.”
    “When?” I ask again.
    “By the end of the week,” the medical director says. “In case something backfires or we have to rethink—we want to be there as backup.”
    “Is that the forty-eight-hour clause that I heard a moment ago?”
    “The first forty-eight hours are the most telling,” Walter Penny