Nadejda. Can I tell you a story about Meco?
Mircea. I don’t know. You know I don’t like hearing about him.
Nadejda. But I think hearing this story will put things into perspective.
Mircea. Really?
Nadejda. Please, I think you need to hear it.
Mircea. Okay.
Nadejda. There was a period in Meco’s life when he was utterly depressed. He was self-destructive both mentally and physically. It was scary when he told me the things that he did to himself. One time, he decided to repeatedly smash his head against this heavy door. He ended up with a concussion, and the door actually split down the middle.
Mircea. He sounds very violent.
Nadejda. Maybe, but he told me that it was because of the anti-depressants they gave him. The medication actually made him worse, but he didn’t realize it cause he was in a terrible state in the first place. Anyways, he suffered all of the side effects. He had nightmares, couldn’t sleep, he would wake up in a cold sweat every morning, he heard an electric buzzing in his head, and it also made him violent.
Mircea. Oh, so it’s wasn’t him. It was the medication.
Nadejda. Yeah, I think so. So, one day, he gets into an argument with his girlfriend at the time.
Mircea. I didn’t know he had a girlfriend.
Nadejda. This was a couple of years ago. They broke up after the argument.
Mircea. What happened?
Nadejda. Well, they get into an argument and all the sudden, Meco snaps. He wants to do something violent, so he’s looking around the room. He then takes his girlfriend’s armchair and shatters a nearby window. It’s not enough though. He smashes another one. I think he told me that shards of glass fell into his girlfriend’s rabbit cage. The girlfriend freaks and tells him to leave, and he does. He goes back to his apartment, but he realizes that he left his wallet at the girlfriend’s apartment. At this time, he’s totally cool. Whatever violence was in him had left. So, he decides to return to the girlfriend’s apartment for his wallet. When he does, two cops are waiting for him at the door. He greets them and explains that he came back to get his wallet. The cops ask him questions. You know, to figure if he’s going to be violent again or hurt himself again. They ask him questions, and Meco’s answering them with a steady calm. Then the cops ask him if he’s capable of hurting himself, and Meco answers yes. “If I can do this, then I’m capable of anything,” he says. So this gives the cops the green light to take him into the hospital for counseling, but Meco wants nothing to do with it. He’s not insured and really, counseling is a waste of time for him. The cops say they have to take him in, but Meco’s like no. He tells them that he’d rather go to jail since he doesn’t have to pay for jail. The cops give him no choice in the matter and tell him that he’s going to the hospital, like it or not. Meco then tells them that if that’s the case then he’ll have to resist. So when the cops take his arms, Meco pulls back and resists. One of the cops then sprays Meco’s face with pepper, and the other one starts punching his kidneys.
Mircea. He fought with two cops?
Nadejda. He would not go to the hospital. It comes to a point when Meco is bear hugging one of the cops by the waist on the floor of the girlfriend’s apartment. That cops yells to the other cop that Meco is trying to reach his gun, but Meco is yelling back, “I’m not trying to get your gun!” The other cop starts wailing on Meco to get him off. The girlfriend is screaming for him to go to the hospital, even offering to pay for the bills, but Meco says that no one’s going to pay anything cause he’s not going to the hospital.
After some time, all three stop and Meco is exhausted, but he’s still not going, until one of the cops goes to him and tells him that if he goes to the hospital, the police department will pay for his hospital bills. Meco’s asks, “really?” and the cops says yes, so Meco lets the cops handcuff him and take him in an ambulance to the emergency room since they messed him up a bit.
Mircea. That’s insane.
Nadejda. He won, though. He got the police to pay.
Mircea. So why are you telling me this about Meco?
Nadejda. He’s coming to take me away from you.
End. The Police Pays