You and I Are Not Crazy [18+]

[FatPanda]

The sun shone down on Zaf's formerly tanned, now pale skin. It was bright out and the weather was nice, slightly breezy but not enough to be cold. It was perfect for the light grey t-shirt and worn out blue jeans he wore. His brown duffel bag of clothes was at his feet as he stretched out his neck and arms. He'd been cooped up inside the hospital for much too long. The feeling of the sun on his skin and the wind in his hair was refreshing. There was nothing better than the freedom that came with discharge from the psychiatric ward of one of the most confining places in the world. He hated the place with a passion. If he had had a choice in the matter, he would have rather gone elsewhere.

 

Inside the ward, he was restricted to the food and activities they planned for the day. The worst part was that everything they did had to be legal. The things he missed the most from the "outside world" was smoking, drinking, and gambling until he got so smashed and broke that he couldn't do anymore of it. There was also a load of lunatics stuck in there with him. Some actually fell into that category, including him by diagnosis, but most were really there to prevent them from harming themselves. A lot of the patients were severely depressed and risked suicide.

 

He'd only been let out because he had supposedly been a good patient, taking his medication on time and without a fuss as well as not doing anything illegal. It had been a bore to him, the worst time of his life. He wasn't really in there because he was crazy, he was there for other reasons. Still, they gave him medication and made sure he took it. They thought he did... but really, he hid it on the side of his mouth whenever they checked. Then he'd spit it out when they weren't looking.

 

Zaf walked down the street and caught a cab to go to the real estate agency. There was no place he could go back to seeing as he used to free load at a friend's place. Well, it was the place of the guy he'd murdered. Yes, murdered. So there was no place to go back to whether he wanted to or not, not that anyone would let him. How he ended up in the psychiatric ward instead of in prison was wonders to even him. His lawyer had pulled some strings and put together a working piece of art to get him there.

 

The man closed his eyes and recounted his steps.

 

He'd been coming home from a long day at work, tired and extremely irritated at a "customer". He worked as a chef in a restaurant; he was considered a professional. However, there had been a customer who constantly criticized his dishes just to get out of paying for them. The man hadn't been a customer, he was a beggar coming to steal food and run off without paying. Zaf was quite irritable that day, and it had only gotten worse when he'd gone back.

 

Upon entering the apartment complex, he had headed to the elevators. With a ping , it arrived and he got on to go up to the tenth floor. He had walked down the hallway from the elevator to the apartment expecting his friend to be asleep. To his surprise, there were shoes in the foyer: his girlfriend's shoes. Sometimes she visited him after work. A smile had played on his lips until he walked into the living room.

 

There, he had seen his girlfriend lying on the floor, naked. She had looked so luscious: breasts plump, lips red, legs spread apart. It would have been the best surprise ever if he hadn't seen the man in the room with them. His friend wasn't asleep, he was wide awake and fucking his girlfriend.

 

Zaf's brain had shut off and the next thing he knew, he had killed the bastard of a friend. His girlfriend had called the police and he had had a trial. A restraining order was filed against him, not allowing him near his girlfriend - now ex-girlfriend - ever again and he had gone to the psychiatric ward. As much of a genius and a big help as his lawyer had been, Zaf hated the results of the trial. He would have much rather been in prison than a placed filled with crazy fools.

 

The cab pulled up to the real estate agency. Zaf pulled himself out of the vehicle and into the little office.