Seven Bad Years

====

Ben and Isaac sat in the small conference room designated for lawyer-client talks. As usual Ben had his noise-emitter out before he said, "I have here an altered divorce proposal."

Isaac lifted his eyebrow, "What do you mean by altered? More money, more what?"

Ben looked at his papers and replied, "No, Lydia is willing to drop half of the money if she can have a talk with you."

"Sorry Ben, you are going to be the bearer of bad news to her. Please tell her, verbally, that I would rather cough up the $500k than to talk to her or her friends and family."

"Isaac, that is a very expensive refusal. You do realize that, don't you?"

"Yes Ben, I do. But it's only money and I've been humiliated enough. Please, pass the message and let them rot in hell."

Ben sighed. "Ok. I will do as you ask. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Isaac smiled in anticipation for what came next. He said, "Yes, you can. I need children's reading books. Starting at the first level and going up to the highest. Two for each level."

He wasn't disappointed. Ben's mouth fell open and his eyes were as big as saucers. Ben stammered, "Why do you need that? Did they scramble your brains in here?"

"No, but keep this a secret, it's for my cell-mate. I'm teaching him to read and he is doing rather well so now I need books for him to read."

Ben smiled. "So typically Isaac Manner. Ok. I'll take care of it."

The mail call next week brought Isaac a package. Much to the entertainment of the guards and inmates, one guard unpacked the books and then commented about Isaac's intelligence. Isaac just shrugged and accepted the comments without a word.

Back in his cell, K2 was furious about the comments but Isaac just laughed and said, "Don't bother. You and I know better. Just keep it that way. Now I want you to start with these two books. When you are finished, I will have questions so read them carefully."

"What! You want me to read books? I don't need to read books. I want to be able to read so they can't conn me into something."

"There you are seriously wrong, my friend, and in more ways than you think. First, reading books helps you read newspapers and other things better by recognizing words more easily. Second, and I think this is more important, reading books teaches you so much more than just reading better. Newspapers and books can be so much fun when you can read well. Just humor me, please. Start reading the bloody books and be careful that they don't see you."

Fabian rumbled, "Aww. Alright, I'll try but only because you called me friend."

"Well, aren't we?" And Isaac stuck out his hand.

The big paw of K2 enclosed it while he replied, "Yes. You are my first and only friend."

The only thought Isaac had been that K2 must have lived a terribly lonely life and that he wanted to change that for the giant.

====

Isaac faltered into his cell. He had a split lip; his eyes were both black and he almost couldn't keep them open. He had bruises all over his body and his groin was hurting because someone kneed him.

K2 was immediately on his feet, his book forgotten, and he helped Isaac in his own bunk. Angry and with the sound like grinding stones, he asked, "What, the fuck, happened?"

Isaac tried to catch his breath and wheezed, "It seems that my wife insists on having my house, so her friend Sheriff Peter Ramsday sent me a message."

"You don't want to give up your house? You get beaten up until you do." K2 growled.

"They can beat me to death for all I care. But the house is mine and stays mine. If only for sentimental value. Dammit. That hurts."

K2 looked at the man. "You mean that. I can see. Can you describe them?"

Isaac gave K2 a description of one of the four men before he went off to the prison ward.

The next day another four men were admitted to the prison ward, all severely "damaged." The message was loud and clear for the rest of the inmates and the guards: Isaac was to be left alone.

Over the next month, K2 turned out to be an information sponge and a voracious reader. He was very intelligent and it was only his illiteracy that had prevented his development. Now he caught up with a vengeance. He also started to send other inmates to Isaac, who had become "Doc Isaac." Isaac now had a class with around ten inmates who needed schooling.

During one of these classes,a conversation occurred about life after prison and the difficulties that went with finding a job. A few of them nodded, being there in prison for the second time. When Isaac asked why, they explained that hardly anyone would hire an ex-con or only at very low wages. When they wanted to start a business of their own, they would need an investor or a bank loan. Both, because of their past, were very unlikely or at sky-high rates. It gave Isaac an idea.

He asked them what kind of business they would like to start. One man, who had only 4 months to go, confided to Isaac that he was a baker and would like to start a bakery of some kind, so Isaac asked him to write a plan with what would be needed. The man looked strangely at him until Isaac told him to see it as an assignment for his math class.

K2 was at that class too, so Isaac asked what he wanted to do after he finished his sentence. K2 told Isaac that he really wanted to be in the security business..

Isaac smiled and said, "It takes a thief to catch a thief? I have an idea and if it works, I might be of help to you. From now on, you're my head of security, agreed?"

With his familiar sound of rock grinding on rock, K2 answered, "O yes. I agree. Very much so." And again they shook hands.

During the monthly visit from Ben, Isaac explained his idea. He wanted to set up an investment fund that would enable ex-prisoners to start their own business. The fund would therefore also assist the man or woman with the legal and financial red tape. Would Ben like to participate? Isaac wanted to use part of his investment fund as start-up funding after the divorce went through.

Ben looked pensive for a moment and then said, "I'm in. You arrange the financial side and I'll arrange the legal one. Let's shake on it and I'll start immediately. What a brilliant idea!"

Then he looked thoughtful again. Isaac picked it up immediately and said gently, "What's eating you? Spit is out."

Ben replied, "I had a long conversation with Lydia. She signed the divorce papers and now only asks for half the savings without any alimony. She was distraught by your answer and I think she understands that there is no chance whatsoever that you'll talk to her. She'll lay no claim on the house and will not ask for a study fund for Thomasina. I have the papers here for you to sign."

Isaac signed the divorce papers wondering about Lydia's change of heart. In six months, he was single again. His first thought was freedom but the opposite was true.

Isaac was getting used to life in prison. His and Ben's investment fund was doing very well. They had already helped numerous inmates either to get a proper job or start their own business and now the invested money was starting to make a nice profit. Isaac was held in high esteem and any newcomer who would try to mess with him got a very painful lesson in proper "Manner." Isaac now even had a room available for his lessons since the guards and warden were well aware of the calming effect Isaac had on these men who were sometimes prone to violence. It made their work much easier.

One day he was approached by a welfare worker asking him, "Why hasn't your name come up for parole?"

Isaac decided to be blunt. "That's because the warden is a friend of Sheriff Ramsday and his reports about me are invariably negative. As a consequence, I don't even want to be paroled. On top of that, if I'm being paroled, who's to say that my parole officer isn't one of Ramsday's cronies, too? They can get me back in prison on a whim with me doing extra time? Nah, not for me. I will walk away in another year and really be free."

"You don't have much confidence in the legal system in this town."

"No, Ma'am. I've been framed by the Sheriff and my ex-wife after I caught them doing the dirty but I can't prove it. Please don't talk about a fair legal system with me. Will that be all, Ma'am?"

"Yes, yes. Sorry to disturb you."

"Think nothing of it, Ma'am. The inmates are quite happy with me here. Good afternoon."

The woman looked disturbed as Isaac walked away.

Isaac went for his workout and self-defense training. He disliked the self-defense part but K2 insisted on it. In the almost four years he was inside Isaac lost almost all of his fat to be replaced by hard muscles just because K2 demanded that he worked out and after his last beating K2 started to teach him to fight. Fight dirty, K2 persisted was the only way. Disable your opponent as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

On his way from the gym to his cell, he was intercepted by a guard. "The warden wants a word. In his office, now."

Shit, what did they come-up with this time? Am I in trouble? He thought, with his stomach sinking. Outwardly calm and composed, he said, "Yes Sir. Do I need to clean up or can I go like this?"

"The warden said 'now.' You can clean up later."

Five minutes later after a knock on the door, Isaac was shown inside the warden's office. The warden dismissed the guard and looked over Isaac. "You could have cleaned up first."

Isaac decided to forego the obvious answer and stayed silent. After a moment the warden went on with, "They tell me you know something about computers. Is that correct?"

"I was a software programmer in my former life, Warden, Sir!"

"That is not an answer to my question, prisoner. Do you know about computers was the question?"

There was something fishy here. If the man had a problem with his computer, why didn't he just call the IT desk from the city council? Isaac decided to take a risk. "Sir a computer exists out of two parts. The software and the hardware. If it is a software problem it's very likely I can solve it. A hardware problem, the machine itself, less so."

"The machine is all right. Now sit and start looking for the problem." With that he walked out of his office.

Isaac, expecting a trap, started to check the computer. It's a problem and a trap. The internet icon is blatantly placed in view and they know that I requested a few times for that privilege. They were all denied as were all the other ones.

He decided that he wouldn't go there. They'll be monitoring the connection I presume. He started to do some research. The first thing he found was a key-logger. Ahhh. Cheeky, cheeky cheeky. Any more surprises?

He smiled to himself and went on checking. After half an hour of work and with a deep sigh of satisfaction he had found a lot of troubling directories and files, badly hidden, probably by an amateur and no match for a skilled professional even if the professional was a bit rusty. Most importantly he found the problem. It was, even for a talented amateur, rather easy to solve but that was not what Isaac was going to tell the warden. Isaac had the warden by the balls and he was going to use that to the max.

Isaac waited, standing next to the desk, with his arms folded, until the warden and a guard entered the office again. They looked disappointed. The warden asked, chagrined, "Have you found the problem?"

"Yes Sir. I can explain it. In private please?"

The warden looked at the inmate who looked completely at ease and nodded to the guard to be left alone. Only after the guard closed the door Isaac started with a soft but steely voice, "I found an enormous amount of pornografic images and movies on this computer. I also found a program that will log everything that is happening on the keyboard. In the downloaded porn was a software-worm that is now slowly eating your files including the program files. You can try to claim that I was the one that downloaded those files but the internet connection is monitored outside at the provider too. That way my lawyer can always prove that I did not touch the internet. I can solve your problem but I need the internet to download some of my clean-up programs."

The warden looked a little paler than he already was. It was a trap and it failed miserably. He downloaded the porn himself, enjoyed it, and wanted to trick Isaac into accessing the internet illegally so he could claim that and add another year to the sentence. Now he had a much bigger problem than satisfying that prick Ramsday. "Okay, as of now, you have unlimited internet privileges. Now, start solving."

"Oh no, Sir. That is not going to happen until my lawyer has it in writing that I'm not responsible for the contents of your computer and that you grant me unlimited internet access."

"How dare you!" shouted the warden.

Isaac just held his silence and held the warden's eyes, finally saying, "Or you can call the City's IT desk to solve it."

In the end the warden mumbled, "Who is your lawyer?"

====

Late in the evening, a week later.

Isaac was at it.

The warden didn't want anyone to know that an inmate was tinkering with his computer, so the first thing Isaac did was to disable the key-logger. Then he compressed the porno files but didn't delete them from the computer; he hid them so another software engineer would find them in time, but an amateur would not.

When he was done with that, he installed and activated internet software he chose, and then he started looking for the solutions to the problems on the computer.

When the issues were finally solved, he had a brainstorm. Curious how his house looked now and whether his 'alternative and hidden' security system still functioned, he sat still for a moment to remember the IP address and the password. To his joy, the system was still functioning but what he saw simply astonished and appalled him.

The house was almost in ruin and amidst the carnage stood Sheriff Ramsday directing some men carrying what looked like drugs. He could hear Ramsday shouting, "Come on, we don't have all night. It needs to be on the streets tomorrow!"

And suddenly Isaac saw his revenge, with a plan forming in his mind. First, he had some unfinished business here. With a big smile on his face, he started to prepare the computer.

He wrote a small program so that his security system was accessible for viewing and downloading the live images and loaded it on his system, and then checked to confirm it worked properly. When he was content, he removed all traces his tinkering left behind. He replaced the key-logger with something similar but not so easily detectable. Finally, when all that was done, he destroyed the malware he had isolated before but left one small problem so that the problem would be back in a year.

Just when Isaac was finishing, the warden stormed into the office. "Are you done?" he asked impatiently.

"Just finishing, Sir. I think I have everything but I'm a bit out of it. If you have any problems, Sir, please call."

"You bet I'll call you and I won't be so lenient. The guard will escort you back. Dismissed."

"Yes, Sir, Thank you, Sir." And Isaac walked out.

Back in his cell K2 just had one look at Isaac and said, "What are you up to? You look like the cat that swallowed the canary."

"Revenge, Fabian. Revenge. Now, who is in line for a talk with Ben Green? I need him to hand over a letter. Do you happen to have a pen and paper?"

====

A week later a completely flabbergasted FBI agent, with growing consternation, was reading the letter handed over to her by the lawyer sitting in front of her. In that letter, Isaac explained carefully what had happened to him and what was happening in and around his house. At the bottom there was a series of numbers and something that looked like a password. She asked the lawyer, "Do you still have time? I need to check with our IT boffins."

Before Ben could even answer the woman, she dialed a number and barked a few commands, leading Ben, suppressing a grin, to deadpan, "I've got all day, if needed."

The agent was beside herself with glee. If this was solid information, they could finally nail that corrupt bastard, Ramsday. The IT specialist entered with a cart filled with, among others, computers and hard drives.

When everything was set up, they checked if there was a connection. Ben confirmed that it was Isaac's house and was appalled by the state of it. After that he was excused. The letter said that most of the action started late at night.

====

Just before Isaac was to be released there was a lot of commotion. He was waiting for a visitor when Peter Ramsday entered to talk to his legal counsel. Loud and rude, he was shackled and accompanied by two guards.. Suddenly he noticed Isaac smirking openly at him.

Isaac just couldn't help himself and he laughed out loud. Ramsday got in a rage and shouted, "What are you laughing at? I still have friends outside. They will take care of that delightful piece of ass and that little tramp, when they are done, we can always sell them to a whorehouse."

K2, arranging his future with Ben, perked, saw Isaac become ashen. K2 looked at Ramsday with raw hatred in his eyes.

Isaac was distracted by his female visitor. She took him with her to the little conference room and took out of her bag a device similar to what Ben always used. Finally, she said, "Thank you. Your uplink helped us to catch them in the act. Together with the recordings we took from your security system, he'll be going behind bars for a long time. But that is not what I came for. Because of the Sheriff's extracurricular activities, he owes the IRS a lot of money. Normally there is a reward when someone informs the IRS of tax fraud. We decided that that reward comes to you as a thank you. Mind you, we don't know yet how much it will be. Knowing that service..."

Isaac was surprised that they made the effort and replied, "I'm grateful. Thank you. I'm already happy enough to see the fucker behind bars."

They talked somewhat more. The agent tried to find out how Isaac found the entrance to his security system. Isaac smiled and evaded all questions. He still had a score to settle with the warden for withholding all privileges that were his due and the negative reports he had issued to keep him inside.

====

That night, Peter Ramsday woke up in his high security cell. He was very dizzy and lying on his back, making him very uncomfortable. With his arms and legs stretched out to either side, he tried to turn in a more comfortable position, but that didn't work like he expected. He was tied down.

Lying spread-eagled. Peter wanted to shout for help but he realized he was gagged and blindfolded. Then he heard a voice sounding like two grindstones chafing against each other.

"You threaten Doc Isaac? You pay. You fucked his wife, that'll cost you extra."

Ramsday felt his trousers cut open and his lower body being exposed. Then he felt a needle going into his scrotum.

Ramsday tried to yell his vocal cords to shreds but the gag prevented any sound. He felt his sack go numb. A moment later he experienced some tugging and some movement.

The voice came back. "If you try to threaten the Doc again, you'll find out that we can get at you anywhere at any time. Now listen very, very carefully. You just lost your left nut. If Doc Isaac only stumbles and you or one of your little friends happen to be in the neighborhood, or if anything happens to Doc's family or friends, however distant they may be, we'll come to take the other one. Only that time, we won't be so surgical about it and use a blunt object without anesthesia. After that, we're just going to take you apart, one piece at a time. Now nod yes if you understand. We also think it would be nice of you if you apologize, in front of all of us, for the inconvenience you caused the man, but that won't be in the stars, I presume."