Casper, Holly, Louise, Jack, Grace, and Tom, all stood in the Warden's office facing her desk in silence. They were all restrained with handcuffs anchored to a waist chain and leg cuffs. Four guards including Emily and Jane had rounded them all up after the fight and escorted them there. The way they were all waiting for their scolding reminded Casper of how he got in trouble one time in Primary One. Him and his friends surrounded and harassed the postman in the playground demanding he give them the post. They were all rounded up by the deputy head teacher and made to stand in a line in her office in the exact same manner, before they gave an account of what happened. This time however, Casper had no regrets.
Grace's knife lay on the Warden's desk, as well as the two halves of her points card. Tom had a black eye from Casper's right hook, Jack had some visible bruises from Louise's kicks, and Holly's forearm had been temporarily bandaged from the cut Grace gave her with the knife. Casper's hip was a bit sore from when he fell to the ground tackling Tom but otherwise, he felt okay. He lifted his head up and darted his eyes around the room, then they met Jane's. She smiled back at him sweetly; his heart skipped a beat. What did this mean? Did she still want to see him again? Could they still be together in some way?
The door burst open. A woman walked in. She looked to be in her early 40's. She had long blonde hair, was tall, about six foot. She wore the standard officer uniform but her shirt was black and her boots were over the knee. She approached the desk slowly, her high heels echoing the room with every step, proclaiming her authority and inducing reverence in the hearts of the inmates. She sat down on her swivel chair and crossed her legs. Her gaze fell upon them. Casper was mesmerized, she was stunningly beautiful. Her gaze cut right through your soul exposing how worthless and unworthy you were to be in her presence. It was as if they had all arrived in the afterlife and were brought forth before a goddess to be judged. She'll be the warden, Casper thought.
"So" she said after a moment. Her accent was American. "I believe there was a little fight. Would anyone of you boys or girls like to tell me anything?"
The row of them were silent. Casper remembered then what Holly told him about being a grass.
The Warden laughed softly, "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? All of you. Listen carefully. There's no reason to think me and my staff are all big meanies whose job it is to ruin your life. You did that pretty well yourselves. I'm trying to make this easy for you. If we can get to the bottom of this and find out how it all began, we can prevent it happening in future."
She clasped her hands and smiled sarcastically, "Wouldn't that be great? That we can nip fragile ego's and hard feelings in the bud? So please, tell me. Any of you. How did this happen?"
Another round of silence fell upon the room. She leaned back in her creaking chair and sighed.
"What do you have against us huh? We treat you with dignity and respect more than any other shithole facility ever would. When I worked in a POW camp there were as much as fifty men sharing a room this size. They weren't allowed to leave it. There was a trench all along one wall where they all shat and pissed. Could you imagine that, the smell? I smelt it. It made me want to fucking throw up."
"They would beat up and even rape each other on a regular basis too. We didn't care, heh, less Orcs for us to worry about the commander told me. Disease was rife, young men as young as twenty were dying of dysentery. There was nothing we could do to improve the conditions of the camp, the focus for funding was for the war effort only. As long as we could prevent the Russians from crossing the Rhine one more day, they didn't care how many prisoners died. A lot of them were completely innocent too. Tragic really, young men with their whole lives ahead of them conscripted into the Russian army, had no say, given a rifle, and ordered to attack us. And even we couldn't afford to spare them any dignity after we captured them."
"And you criminals, come here to well heated cells, three square meals a day, a gym, library, healthcare, even therapy, and visitation from your loved ones. Yet you can't trust us?"
She leaned forward and picked up the knife then looked at Holly. "How about you Holly, do you want to tell me anything about this? Must've hurt when whoever it was cut you with it. We saw at least on the camera footage from the cell block that you threw the first punch at Grace. Was she the one who cut you?"
Holly stared back at her without saying a word. The Wardens' eyes moved to Tom.
"What about you huh? Who gave you that black eye?"
Tom was silent. The warden turned to look at Grace.
"Grace, you wouldn't happen to know who snapped your card? It'll take about a week to prep a new one and get it to you. You won't be able to earn any credit in that time. However, I could maybe get it fast tracked for today if you knew something about this whole nasty ordeal?"
She didn't say a word. The wardens face relaxed in disappointment.
"Unbelievable! Fifty lashes and a week in solitary, all of you. Emily! Jane! Get them out of my sight!"
"Wait!" said Jane turning to the Warden. "Before we take them away, could I have a quick word with you in private?" The Warden raised her eyebrow.
"Very well. Emily. Take them outside while I converse with Jane."
Emily and two other guards took the gang out of the Warden's office still in chains to the long bench in the hall outside. They sat in silence since they were still under order not to speak. What did Jane want to say to her? Was she going to try and bargain a lesser punishment for them? Or even persuade her to have a complete change of heart and let them off with a warning? They could only wait and find out.
Casper sat next to Holly on the bench. He turned to face her, she looked back at him and smiled in triumph and satisfaction. She was proud of him. He smiled back in the way a young schoolboy would after his teacher gave back his homework jotter with a perfect score. After a while the door opened again, and Jane poked her head out.
"Emily, could you bring Casper in?" she asked. Casper was dumbfounded, what reason were they singling him out from the rest?
"Sure." replied Emily. She knelt down and unlocked Caspers leg cuff connection then led him inside. The room was silent. Jane stood off to one side. Emily was holding him by the arm and the Warden sat staring at him with a look of concern behind her desk. He knew he was supposed to be nervous but he felt undeniably exhilarated to be under the command and mercy of these powerful women. He had to stop himself from smiling with joy.
"Casper sweetie." she said. "Jane told me about the day you arrived and how she was there with you when you had your breakdown. She told me about your life since your mother passed, the trauma you've been through, and how you are still unfamiliar and unsettled in your surroundings. She suggested that we maybe re-evaluate your punishment."
"While I feel really sorry for what you've been through, I still believe you should face the appropriate consequences for your misconduct. However, I can agree that a week in solitary confinement may be detrimental to your mental wellbeing during this season of adjustment and uncertainty."
"We've agreed on an alternative. You'll spend just three days confined to your own cell. You will be locked in for the whole time. No work, no yard time, no gym, and no library. A member of my staff will bring you your meals. You can however talk to other inmates. They will obviously need to stand outside your cell to do so."
"Jane also told me you're a good boy, not a troublemaker at heart, and your involvement in all of this was a rare 'whoopsie daisy' on your part that certainly won't happen again. While I find it difficult to believe, I know Jane is an excellent judge of character, so I can take her word for it. If this is true, then I think it'd be fit to perhaps get to know each other personally a bit better Casper, and I can administer the physical aspect of your punishment myself. I believe my touch will be more than sufficient to ensure your good behaviour for the rest of your sentence."
"For the first part of your punishment, you'll receive twenty lashes. Emily and Jane here will take you downstairs to a solitary confinement cell where they will be administered. When you arrive, they will prepare you for punishment by me. May I remind you now that you are to pay utmost respect, obedience and cooperation with Jane and Emily as well as myself during the process. They are my two most senior, high-ranking officers who I hold in high regard. I will not tolerate any misbehaviour or disrespect towards them, am I clear?"
This warning put fear back in Caspers heart. He cast his eyes to the floor.
"Yes Miss" he replied.
