Falconer+-+John+Cheever

Falconer 148
Thursday morning they were issued, in their cells, a large dose of
paregoric, which granted them an hour’s amnesty from Falconer
but seemed powerless before the flux. On Friday afternoon there
was this announcement over the PA. “A PREVENTIVE VACCINE
FOR THE SPREAD OF INFLUENZA THAT HAS REACHED
EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS IN SOME CITIES OF THE NORTHEAST
WILL BE ADMINISTERED TO REHABILITATION FACILITY
INMATES FROM THE HOURS OF NINE HUNDRED TO EIGHTEEN
HUNDRED. WAIT FOR YOUR CELL CALL. THE INOCULATION IS
MANDATORY AND NO SUPERSTITIOUS OR RELIGIOUS
SCRUPLES WILL BE RESPECTED.”
“They’re trying to use us as guinea pigs,” said Chicken. “We’re
being used as guinea pigs. I know all about it. There was a man in
here who had laryngitis. They had this new medicine for him, this
needle, they gave it to him two, three days and they couldn’t get
him out of here up to the infirmary before he was dead. Then they
had this guy with clap, a light case of clap, and they gave him
inoculations and his balls swole up, they swole up as big as
basketballs, they swole and swole so he couldn’t walk and they had
to take him out of here on a board with these big globes sticking
up in the sheet. And then there was this guy whose bones were
leaking, the marrow was leaking out of his bones which made him
very weak, and so they give him these shots, these experimental
shots, and he turned to stone, he turned to stone, didn’t he, Tiny?
Tiny, tell that’s true about the fellow whose bones leaked and who
turned to stone.”
“Tiny ain’t here,” said Walton. “Tiny don’t come in until
Saturday.”
“Well, Tiny will tell you when he comes in. He turned to stone. He
was just like cement—stone. Tiny carved his initials on his ass. He
turned into rock right before our eyes. And the crazies. If they
think you’re crazy they give you this green shot—yellowish-green,
it is—and if it don’t work it makes you so crazy you wouldn’t