Chapter 2: The Public Thrashing - Punishment

While the four inmates were brooding about their fate in the holding cell, a small amphitheatre was prepared for the spectacle where they will be the main stars.

The theatre had 250 seats, 25 seats per row, arranged in a semi-circle around a small stage. The seats were comfortable and set on a ramp in such a way that the visibility of the stage was perfect even for those at the last seats of the farthest row. Ten minutes before the scheduled time for the execution, the rows were already filled to the last seat.

The first two rows were reserved for the authorities, invited guests and official witnesses. The twelve official witnesses were like jurors, drawn by lottery and required by law to attend or face penalties. Among the invited guests one seat was offered for each of the victims' families. The only taker was Dolores' mother. To fulfill the legal requirement the judge ordered the inmates' daughters to be brought as witnesses, forcibly if needed. They had five seats on the second row and were advised to keep quiet and behave or else.

Half of the remaining seats were offered to several companies which sponsored the event. C&A had 25 seats. Today Mr. Cohen distributed the seats to a few of his associates, but most of the seats were filled by paralegals, secretaries and assorted C&A female staff for educational purposes. Mr. Cohen himself and two of his closest partners were sitting in the first row, invited by the judge responsible for the correctional facility.

The remaining seats were offered on bid. As the whole process was in its embryonic stage and there were only a few centers around the country, this one being the only one in Chicago, the bids went to stratospheric values and only millionaires and their invited guests were able to secure a seat.

The economy observers predicted that with the mushrooming of such centers in all major cities the interest would drop in a few years, but for now it was a highly sought after novelty. Conversely in small communities the matters were taken care off in a much simpler way. The public floggings were administered on city square and were free to all onlookers like in Lakeville.

At precisely 11AM the stage curtains were opened and the spectators could see four narrow wooden benches set side by side with enough room for a person to easily walk between them. At the middle of each bench was fixed a large strap. At the top of each bench there were more leather straps and wooden contraptions with holes inside. The benches were mounted on moving structures not unlike exercise apparatus.

A court bailiff harrumped on the stage and the theater conversation noise dropped to complete silence.

"On the day of..." started the bailiff, "... under the authority of judge... and in the presence of witnesses..." After a lengthy legal statement he concluded: "... the following condemned females will start their jail terms with court ordered flogging on their bare persons: Collins, Bella; Kaminski, Lea; Rodriguez, Dolores and Wright, Pamela. The official punishment officer is Dr. John Milles, county chief medical officer, assisted by Wardens Roberts and Sloane. The inmates will be checked for health all the time. In the case of fainting the subject will be revived and after pronounced fit the punishment will be resumed. In the case of being pronounced unfit, the punishment of the unfit female will be resumed after her recovery until all legally prescribed strokes have been delivered."

The bailiff finished his part and waited. The noise increased until Dr. Miles walked onto the stage followed by the four inmates dressed in their short gowns and cuffed in pairs between the two wardens and followed by the nurses. The noise diminished to be increased by four voices from the second row shouting: "Mommy, mommy!"

A large man rose from the honor seat in the first row and ordered the bailiffs: "I knew that they couldn't be kept quiet. Restrain and gag them. I'll look into bottom of this matter after the show."

The order was carried on not without difficulty, but in a short while all four daughters were restrained to their seats and gagged on rubber balls inserted deeply inside their mouths and tied behind their necks. the poor girls were forced to quietly watch their mothers' ordeal and face the judge's wrath afterwards.

In the meantime the inmates had problems of their own. They couldn't really see what was happening off stage because they were blinded by the strong spotlights that illuminated the stage. They were uncuffed and disrobed, facing completely nude the unseen audience. If they expected to be laid on their faces on the benches, they were in for a surprise. Each one had to lay on her back on the narrow cot. One large strap was passed just above their hip bone and fixed tightly. Another one was fixed as tightly as the first one just below their breasts, effectively immobilizing their torsos. Then their wrists were taken far above their heads until their arms were completely stretched and firmly fixed by a moving wooden padlock. Then come the last part of their restrain. Their legs were raised until their knees touched their shoulders. The ankles were locked in similar wooden padlocks as the wrists but situated above them. The four frightened faces were perfectly visible through their own widely spread legs, and they could see their own splayed out pudenda. The position raised their tightly stretched buttocks from the cot presenting perfectly the whole surface from their tail-bone to the knee-hollows for the punishment.

"Roasted chicken position," whispered Mr. Cohen to the judge at his side. "Your idea, Your Honor?"

"Yes," proudly confirmed the worthy man. "We tried several, but there's no position more revealing and humiliating that this one. And they can see the strokes coming. We have a warden who is a carpentry expert and designed the moving padlocks. They can't move at all; all they can do is to relax and take it."

"Brilliant," applauded the lawyer. "You should patent it."

"Oh, no," said the judge, "this is my contribution to the betterment of the chastisement process."

"Did I hear that you will give the youngsters a behavior correction later on?"

"Oh, yes. It will be in my chambers, after the show. You are invited to witness it of course. It will be a small paddling and hand-spanking but warranted to get their attention. A light edition of what will happen to their mammas. Interested?"

"Oh yes, definitely, I'll be there."

The two worthy officers of law stopped talking because the initial proceedings were almost finished and the main event would start shortly.

Dr. Milles was checking the restrained women. He was frowning at the displayed bushes. "It won't do. Nurses!" Both nurses scurried to their boss. "Too much weed. Shave them." While the nurses produced small shaving basins the doctor apologized to the judge. "Sorry Your Honor, but for hygienic and esthetic reasons I had to get rid of those bushes. Won't take but a minute."

"No need for apologies, Dr. Milles", smiled the judge.

Both wardens and both nurses started to work between four pairs of splayed thighs to the accompanying female yelps and in no more than a couple of minutes all culprits were pronounced free from the offending growth her faces peering above they smoothly shaved pubes.

"Let's proceed." Dr. Milles had in his right hand a sizeable judicial grade cane made of a sturdy synthetic material designed to be supple, flexible and impart the maximum of pain without cutting too much the skin. It was a marvel of modern technology. It felt light but was a formidable punishment weapon.

"This is the initiation thrashing which all inmates condemned to five years or more are subjected to. It is composed of two sections of twelve strokes covering their buttocks and thighs. Before we start, between each section and at the end, the inmates will have their blood pressure, heart beat and rectal temperature taken in order to assess their health. Nurses, please proceed."

The nurses got busy. The inmates were subjected for the second time this day for the insertion of rectal thermometers. While the temperature was being measured the nurses measured their blood pressure and pulse and listened to their chest for any irregular heart beat. All findings were recorded as pre-flogging. After the extraction of the thermometers Dr. Miles flexed his impressive cane and went to the cot farthest to the left where Pamela was trussed, completely exposed.

"It is permitted to cry and to shout. It is not permitted to cuss. Shouting is encouraged as it activates your lungs and gives release. Cursing and blasphemy will be punished. The stroke won't count. If the curses continue the whole series will be repeated. Understood?"

Pamela nodded her head. Dr. Milles wasn't pleased. "Loudly, all four, is it understood?"

"YES SIR!" from four throats.

SWIISHHHH — CRAAACK! Pamela certainly wasn't prepared for the lightning that hit her ass. The scream that started deeply in her guts died in a gurgle in her throat. Before she could recover, another stroke hit her almost on the same well spread spot. SWIISHHHH — CRAAACK! And another, SWIISHHH — CRAAACK!

This time a scream managed to escape Pamela's lips. From then on she was screaming continuously while Dr. Miles methodically transformed her buttocks into a raw ground meat. On the seventh or eighth stroke Pamela's bladder gave up and a stream of yellow piss fountained from her urethra down on the tilled foor of the stage. SWIISHHHH — CRAAACK! SWIISHHHH — CRAAACK!

The twelfth stroke got Pamela on the thigh-bottom junction forcing her loudest yell yet. Dr. Miles picked up a cloth which he used to wipe the instrument and walked to the second cot in the row where Dolores looked at him with wide-open terrified black eyes. In the mean time the nurses tended to poor Pamela who opened her eyes, which had been tightly shut during her ordeal, and peered between her widely opened legs at the black and blue mass her buttocks had been transformed into. Pamela got another thermometer inserted while other measurements were being taken.