(Untitled)

[grahamcommawill]

Who: Will and Richie; closed.
What: Checking in with his inmate.
Where: Richie's cabin.
When: A few days after this, when Richie's cabin returned to normal.
Notes: Swearing? That should be a given.

Comments

[notafuckingnut]

"You read my file." His lips moved, but no sound came out as he processed. He'd read, and then he'd just assumed...

"You read my file." Sounds to accompany words now, but hurt, offended. As if he had somehow assumed it wouldn't happen, that the not-a-shrink, not-a-pig would have waited to hear Richie's side of things before poking around and jumping to conclusions.

He did, Richie reminded himself, but it was cold comfort. He knew what would be in there, he knew the things they'd said about him, even if he wouldn't admit to it out loud. But it wasn't...

"Whatever it said in there, it's wrong, that's not what happened. It wasn't...he was signalling the pig, we were gonna get caught, I couldn't just let that happen. I saw it. All I did was shoot the fucker, the rest was Seth's idea for damage control."

The mention of Gloria, however, seemed to only agitate him further. Fists clenched and he shook his head again. "And the hostage? No, no, don't...don't pin that on me. That was all her fault, I was only doing what I had to. To defend myself." He'd already been through it once before, why did he have to explain it again?

[grahamcommawill]

Will had read through it once, and that was enough. It was memorized, whether he wanted it to be or not. He watched Richie closely, noting the details, his reactions. The denial wasn't too surprising, nor the rationale.

"I'm not pinning that on you," The file did that for him already. "If you say that's what happened, then it is." Carefully omitting the word 'believe' from the statement. There was no doubt in his mind Richie believed he was telling the truth, had convinced himself of it. "How were you defending yourself from her?"

[notafuckingnut]

His next words were careful, deliberate. Weighted to make his explanation clear, eliminate all uncertainty; if it sounded rehearsed, it's because it was, the story repeated to himself over and over until he couldn't remember which was the truth and which was the fabrication. "Seth left, and she just flipped the fuck out. She lost it, she became a completely different person. I was just sitting there, watching TV, she was supposed to be sitting in the other room quietly, an' she just...

She was gonna kill me. She was gonna kill me, then she was gonna escape an' go for the cops; I didn't have a choice, okay? It wasn't my fault."

[grahamcommawill]

The rehearsed quality was obvious from the start. Again reinforcing his theory that Richie made himself believe what he wanted. Will waited only a moment after Richie finished before he said, "Bullshit." Clear and to the point.

He continued, "Her hands were tied. You invited her in with you. A woman like that wouldn't have 'just' attacked."

[notafuckingnut]

"'A woman like'...?" He scoffed, but it sounded forced; he knew he was right, why didn't Graham believe him?

...Because of the file. The file said something else, the file lied, and of course that was all Will had to go on.

"I didn't. She just attacked, just like I said. No warning or anything; you weren't there, you didn't see it happen. The bitch went nuts, she musta figured out how to get free or something, I dunno, but I'm telling you the truth. People snap, yanno? It happens." There was a desperate edge to his words now, almost pleading; he needed Will to believe him on this.

[grahamcommawill]

"No, it doesn't just happen, Richard. Not like that." He stopped, tight-lipped, obviously keeping himself from saying more.

This wasn't the best way to progress. It wasn't possible to convince his inmate of the actual truth. If it was, it wouldn't be in this meeting.

"Okay. You're... right. I wasn't there. The file wasn't specific. I really don't have all the details." Blatant lie buried in a half-truth. Those were the best ones.

[notafuckingnut]

"Exactly. You don't."

A pause, drawn out and tense as he considered. It was obvious there was something more he wanted to say, but he seemed to struggle with himself over it for a few moments before finally blurting it out. It had been eating at him since their first meeting, but he hadn't seen the point in voicing it before now.

"...What did it say?"

[grahamcommawill]

Will watched him a second before responding. "I've already told you a few things that were in there, and you argued about them. I can show you the file if you want me to, but only if you're absolutely certain it's what you want."

[notafuckingnut]

Richie's brow furrowed in thought. "...But you said it didn't have all the details. Why would you be worried about me reading it if it doesn't have all the details? And I only argued 'cause they weren't true. If it's got stuff that actually happened in it too I won't argue about that stuff." Quite a reasonable allowance, he thought.

[grahamcommawill]

He held up a hand, one asking for both silence and peace. "It might say some things you'll disagree with. That's all. If you want to look through it, that's fine. I don't have a problem with it."

[notafuckingnut]

"Well just...tell me what it says, then, if it's not a problem. I mean, don't keep talking about it, just...What's it say? 'Cause talkin' about it right now, I still don't get why I'm here. I didn't do anything." He didn't get more agitated, but he certainly wasn't any less so either.