The Assignment Page #5

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and choose to participate

in gender reassignment,

but normally that would

never include frank kitchen.

He was by all accounts

the type of man who reveled

in murderous activities,

as well as his masculinity.

But, as time went by,

the more I thought

about the situation,

I changed my mind

about the man.

He was an abandoned child who

had become a ward of the state,

condemned to live

on the streets at an early age.

I have the traditional

romantic nostalgia for the idea

that everyone should

have a second chance,

but I'm also a doctor,

a scientist,

in a way an artist.

I decided I wouldn't

and couldn't do

something simply

for revenge,

so I also performed the surgery

partially as an experiment.

I wanted to reinforce

the theory that,

if gender is identity,

then even the most extreme

surgical procedure

will fail to alter the essence,

and this proved to be true.

Frank kitchen is still

very much the man he was

because he believes himself

to be the man he was.

So you see, my experiment

was a success and a failure.

My Sincere hope

for his redemption was naive.

Frank kitchen went

right back to the gun.

He went right back

to killing.

I also want to confess

to the crime of hubris,

to the unforgivable crime

of an overweening estimation

of my own worth.

However, having said that,

I find myself

at a philosophical crossroads.

Whereas I'm aware

of my own inadequacy

in the grand scheme

of things,

simultaneously I find myself

the prisoner of lesser minds.

I have dared to defy

conventional morality,

but the true individual

has always had to struggle

with being overwhelmed

by the tribe, and no price,

even this imprisonment

and indignity,

is too high to pay

for the privilege

of owning yourself.

On your terms,

i am sorry for nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

I am proud

of the experimental work

I was doing

for the benefit of every

living human being.

Sometimes harsh methods

have to be used

on the road to progress.

That is my statement.

I will answer

no questions.

None of you are

worth my time.

Now take me

back to my cell.

It wasn't like

honest John was

a hard guy to find.

He kept a crappy

old back alley office

in this dry goods store.

He even kept regular hours.

He's got bodyguards,

but no security cameras.

Honest John doesn't

want any record

of who comes to see him

or who he's been

talking to.

The best thing you can have

going for you

is the element of surprise.

So how do you get that back

when your target already

knows he's being hunted?

11:
00 am, broad daylight.

The place where they work.

It's where they feel safe.

It's where you get back

the element of surprise.

Hey, this is

a freight elevator--

Whoa!

Wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait.

Who the f*** are you?

Frank kitchen.

I stashed Mr. honest John

in the basement,

cleaned up the bodies,

and then I had

a few questions for him.

I wanna know

what happened.

Why'd you

turn me over?

How I got like this.

I want details, John,

and I don't have

a lot of time.

But I brought

this along.

You won't need it.

The doctor pays me 25 grand,

I bring her people

to operate on.

It's not easy, you know,

finding people like that,

somebody that nobody's gonna

miss when they disappear.

You don't want

the cops coming around

and asking questions, right?

One more time.

Why me?

Tsk.

This is how it came down.

The doctor wanted you.

But to tell you the truth,

i had it in for you, too.

You did a job

in Vegas a year ago.

The guy you pushed

was a cousin of mine.

It was a family thing.

Look, my cousin is

a f***in' douchebag,

but the family went nuts.

They call me, they think

I'm some kind of big shot.

What am I gonna

do about it?

When am I gonna

do something?

So I ask around.

I find out you were

the guy that did the push.

I feel bad,

but what am I gonna do?

Then the doctor calls me

and she tells me what she needs,

so I figure

i can kill two birds.

I hire you, I'm square

with my family,

the doctor gets what

she wants, I get what I want.

Too bad you lose,

but everybody else wins.

I wanna hear more

about this doctor.

She makes her money

doing cut-rate surgery.

Somebody told me

they pulled her license

a couple of years ago.

We're not buddies.

She keeps

her distance.

You wanna know

about the doctor,

you should ask

your girlfriend.

Say that again?

You heard me.

What, you think

you just ran into her

in that bar?

What a f***in' dumb sh*t.

I thought you

was a smart guy.

But I guess the little head

took over the big head.

Happens all the time.

She followed you

from the hotel.

She picks you up,

she gives you a f***,

she reports

in to the doctor.

That way they can keep

an eye on you down the line.

She's a nurse, right?

Nurses work for doctors.

Yeah, you're right.

Have one.

I think I'm gonna take

a shower first.

I've had kind of

a rough day.

Come over here.

Sit down.

I poured you a drink.

I do something wrong?

Yeah, you did.

Cheers.

I had a long talk

with honest John.

I did it

because I thought

they'd break

my arms and legs,

maybe kill me

if I didn't.

If I try to tell you

the whole story,

it's just gonna sound

like some pathetic attempt

at an excuse, right?

F*** it.

Go ahead and do it.

If I were you

i wouldn't push my luck!

How did you get involved

with these shits?

Oh, god, I met a guy.

He was one of honest John's

bodyguards.

He's big, mean, and no good.

Just my type.

He went to go work

for the doctor,

and he talked me into making

some extra money.

I provided the drugs.

Anything the doctor couldn't

get without a prescription,

I had plenty of access to

at the hospital.

You'd be amazed how easy

it is for me to grab the stuff.

I really am a nurse.

I want you to get that.

I really needed the money

and they paid a lot and...

I only met the doctor

a few times.

I never did know

her real name.

She told me

what she was doing

wasn't exactly by the book

but she said

that they would be

making experiments

that would be helping

a lot of people

and she's a real doctor

and a good talker

and let's face it,

it was a really

f***ed-up period in my life.

I usually got my orders

from Albert.

He's a nurse,

but not like me.

He's a surgical nurse.

They're a lot

more skilled, okay?

He's-- oh, god,

he's a bastard. Real mean.

He did hard time

for some sex charge.

He's got this deal

with the doctor.

He's real hung up on hookers,

and she pays for them.

I guess it's a reward

for his good work.

He likes 'em

kinda kinky, you know?

Real exotic.

What about me?

I'm just supposed

to keep an eye on you.

Albert's called a few times

to check in so far, that's it.

End of story.

The safe thing to do...

Is to kill you.

I didn't kill her,

but it was goodbye Johnnie.

I gave her some dough

and I put her on a bus to Reno

the next morning.

She had some friends there.

I told her to give me

three weeks.

If she didn't hear from me,

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