Chapter 4

I watched the black hair of the Amazon bounce off in a huff. I was pretty relieved to see her go to be honest. Thinking I had escaped a fate worth than death, I took a deep breath and relaxed.

Turning around, a group of girls were standing, facing me, with Bertha, arms crossed, glaring at me in the middle.

“Welcome back bitch.” she greeted, letting a smile crack on one side of her mouth.

I looked behind me at a now empty corridor through the door and then to the guard post in the bubble. Of course, she would have her back turned the other way.

Thinking, ‘Out of the frying pan’ I quipped, “Thank you, did you miss me?”

“Oh, we aren’t going to.” she retorted, and nodded in my direction, “Get her girls!”

They circled me and closed in. I warned them, “The first one to get close to me gets punched.” which caused them to pause.

But they communicated their approach and both sides came in at once. Since I was right handed, the girl on the left got it. Yet the girl on my right grabbed me and before I could wrestle away from her, another girl on my left grabbed me. In seconds, they had my arms pulled out to the side and totally in their control. Apparently, they’ve had some practice.

The girl I had given a right cross on her face threw a punch and nailed me in my side saying, “Fuck you bitch!”

“I warned you.” I shot back, not giving up on wrestling from their grasp.

“My cell.” Bertha instructed, and watched as her posse drug me towards it.

They took me past the security bubble where the guard on duty was eating cookies and reading her phone. My thought was, Bertha was in bed with the guard. If I could have hit the Plexiglas, I would have. It would have been nice to see the face of the guard that wasn’t guarding anything.

They forced me inside the gang leader’s cell and held me against the bunk bed. If this was a game, I’d have been all for it, as the girls were pawing all over me. But just as that thought crossed my mind, Bertha walked in.

“Not so brave now?” she asked, stepping in front of me.

“You’re the coward; I don’t have a bunch of friends to hold my opponents down.” I pointed out, and gave a jerk with my right arm.

“We have two sets of rules here.” Bertha preached, “The guard’s rules and my rules.” and punched me in my gut.

I coughed and hacked from that blow as it caught me unsuspecting. Trying to double over, they let me wilt to my knees.

“I told you I would make your life miserable.” she mocked, kicking me in the chest.

“I told you I’d enjoy that bacon.” I shot back, trying to pretend her attacks didn’t hurt.

“Shush, guard!” someone hissed, and everyone froze.

The lookout stepped into the cell and nodded towards the entrance.

“Darling?” the guard called, causing me to perk up. Finally, somebody could help me.

“Get out there!” Bertha ordered, and had the restrainers push me towards the door.

“Yeah?” I called, catching myself from falling in the floor.

“What are you doing?” the guard Jones asked, stepping towards the cell.

“Just goofing off.” I replied, trying to act innocent.

“No horseplay.” she warned, peering at the other girls in the cell.

“Nope, we weren’t.” I assured her.

“Let’s go. Warden wants to see you.” she commanded, eyeing the group in the cell.

I walked past her and she followed me to the door. I didn’t know what the warden wanted but I didn’t care either. All that mattered was that I wasn’t getting my ass beat any more.

Instead of walking in silence, I started up a conversation with the well fit sentinel. “Worked here long?” I asked, as she got in step with me.

“Long enough.” she replied, not seeming interested in small talk.

“I like your hair.” I continued, “Wish my hair was like that.”

“I’m not gay.” she huffed, and pointed up the stairs.

“Neither am I.” I shrugged, and started up the steps.

She followed behind me until we got to the top and she marched me down the corridor to the last office on the end. We passed Miss Bubble’s office along the way but her door was closed. I was a little disappointed in not seeing her again. Hopefully, her assigning me to maintenance went through ok. I was looking forward to seeing those squirrels in the sunshine.

But when Jones knocked on the door, I grew apprehensive about this visit. ‘What if she had her own list of hoops to jump through?’ crossed my mind as the door opened. This was probably part of my orientation where the big cheese meets the little mice.

A larger room that displayed plaques, awards, and portraits on its walls and had a desk centered in front came into view. Behind the large desk sat the warden of the correctional institute, surrounded in her work. She snapped her fingers and motioned us in.

Jones shut the door and the black-haired, middle-aged woman barked, “Lock it.”

The situation was obviously different than before as the guard stayed in the room while I was there. I thought it was kind of smart since the warden would probably not be well liked and she needed the protection. I didn’t have a problem with her myself but I did think she made the right call keeping Jones there.

Silence fell as the warden hovered over paperwork, scrawling whatever was needed on them; possibly signatures. Guard Jones was all formal, standing at attention and looking straight ahead. I stood there so long in the quiet that I found other things to look at and wandered over to the wall to read the awards and credentials of the establishment. Making sure I didn’t raise an alarm, I put my hands behind my back to keep from touching anything.

Diplomas lined up with the achiever’s name, Jessica Kobe, emboldened in heavy ink or marker. She had a lot more on me since she not only had a pretty figure and face but was also smart. Some people had it like that.

“Darling.”” she called, tossing her pen down.

I turned to face her and said, “Yeah?”” fully expecting a bunch of do’s and don’ts.

“Since I can’t get an answer from my staff.” she started, standing up, “Because it is somehow a big secret.” she mocked, rolling her eyes, “What where you hiding on you in the hallway?”

“How did you...” I started, but noticed the monitors behind her desk, “I wasn’t hiding anything.”

“I saw you.” she countered, “There was something there.”

“I don’t know what you saw” I argued, “but I didn’t take anything.”

She stepped over to the wall with the coveted plaques and nodded at them, “This is a prestigious institute with a perfect record.” she disclosed, “There is nothing I will not do to make sure this institute goes unblemished.” and nodded at the guard.

I had no clue what she was rambling on about. Blemishes and records weren’t my concern. I was just there to survive a year just so I could get out and survive more miserable years on the street. But before I could give her my point of view, Jones stepped over to me. With a nod from the warden, she yanked my pants down.

“That is what I saw.” she pointed out, “That is what you were hiding from me.”

I scrambled to pull them up but Jones caught my arms and held them behind me. “Let go!” I demanded, trying to break her grasp.

“Now,”” the warden continued, “I don’t know how I got a cock running around in my henhouse.” and looked me in the eye, “But I’m not going to tolerate it!”

Well, I wasn’t to blame so whatever she felt about it didn’t matter to me any at all. “I don’t care!” I fumed, “I did everything I could and nobody listened to me. It isn’t my fault they don’t know the difference between Tony A. Darling and Tonya Darling! So, what happened, happened, and I’m over it.”

“It doesn’t help my situation you’ve forced on me.” she chastised, “You can’t be in general population and announcing this breech in protocol will ruin our record here.”

“Screw your record, what about me?” I asked, “I didn’t have anything to do with it and now you want somebody to blame it on.” I accused, “That’s not me because I’m the victim here, get it?”

“Victim my ass!” she retorted, “Any boy in here would be in heaven with all the girls willing and able to spread their legs for him.”

“Tell that to the dike beating my ass in her cell earlier!” I shot back, “The only action I’ve seen so far is that guard Fitz groping me all over.” I lied, and thought to ask, “Where is she by the way?” and mused, “She’s a tigress after my own heart.”

“Disgusting!” she rebuked, “I should throw you in the hole and forget about you for the next year.”

“Touchy!” I quipped, having my own opinion on the matter, “But you can’t keep me here forever and when I do get out or make a phone call or get a visitor, you can sure bet I’ll be singing like a bird.”

“Fine!” she relented, “What’s it going to take to keep your mouth shut?”

That was a question I wasn’t prepared for but I was definitely interested in using it. “First, let me pull my pants up unless you’re dropping yours to match it.” I stated, buying time to think.

She nodded at Jones and she let go of me. I shimmied my pants back up saying, “I like the idea of getting my G.E.D. and maybe college when I get out.” and straightened my clothes, “Maybe some nice quarters with my own T.V. while I’m here.” and glanced at the window, “And work outside, for the fresh air.”