Sarah dropped through the new prisoner shoot, landing with a thud on the cold, hard clay. Fortunately, for her, the guards didn't put her in the shoot headfirst. One of the ground troops grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet. He put his double-nostril nose in her face, inhaled her sent and cocked his head to the side. A smile spread across his face. He always took a whiff of new inmates to smell the fear coursing through their veins.
He slung the assault rifle over his shoulder and cut the ropes from Sarah's wrists. "Welcome to Cell Block D," he said through the translation box that was around his throat. He turned and went back to his station. Sarah didn't know what to do. She had family members who had been to prison and she heard many gruesome stories. Her only consolation was that her x-con family members were all men.
Cell Block D was the home of nonviolent offenders. Most D Block inmates were little more than protesters. Since the new regime took power, more liberties were suspended. Sarah was going to serve a one-year sentence for protesting outside of the White House. The More Opportunities Movement was doing their best to ensure otherworldly creatures had the same rights as humans.
Sarah snapped back into reality when one woman grabbed her from behind and put her in a headlock. Two women walked up from her left and right. Sarah didn't know what to do having never been in a fight. The woman on her right said, "I will be taking these." and she grabbed Sarah's boots. The thief let Sarah out of the headlock and she dropped to her knees gasping for air. The girl standing behind her grabbed her by the hair and told her to sit up. She felt her shirt being lifted over her head and saw it land beside her. Her bra snapped open and her full breasts fell from their restraints. The woman on Sarah's left pulled the bra off.
Sarah heard the girls laughing as she tried to cover up. All three gathered in front of her. The lead woman said, "You better learn quick and thanks for the goods." The leader put her foot square on Sarah's forehead and pushed her back onto the ground. The women scampered away with their booty in tow.
Sarah grabbed her shirt, covered herself with it, and ran to a corner. She faced the wall and put the shirt on hoping nobody was going to see her, not knowing how to handle the lack of privacy. Giggles reverberated off the walls and Sarah looked over the shoulder to see if anyone was approaching her. Everybody was standing in small cliques and seemed to have nothing better to do than stare at the newbie. She felt exposed even after putting her shirt back on. She folded her arms across her chest so her breasts would not bounce as she walked.
A red light flashed and an intermittent bell sounded. The girls came running from the shadows of the cellblock. Sarah was able to see how many girls she was going to be living with and the number was not low. Girls rushed past her and brushed against her not bothering to say excuse me. Out of nowhere, a woman stepped to Sarah's right.
Her hair was in a tight French braid, making her face look severe. Her sudden appearance made Sarah jump. Sarah immediately recognized the uniform as that of the high-ranking members of the disciplinary committee. They oversaw the actions of the prison guards. Each cellblock received only one General of Discipline to monitor the lower ranking ground troops. It was impressive this female was allowed to take keep her position after the regime change. The General slowly turned her head towards Sarah. "What's your name honey?" she said confidently, popping her gum.
"Sarah."
" Well Sarah," she said looking her up and down, pausing at her feet and breasts, "that buzzer and that flashing light mean that it is time to eat. Since you have been standing in the corner for this length of time, it's probably all gone. For advice, in the future you want to be the first person over there. Otherwise, you are going to be one hungry inmate. My name is Joyce. If you ever have a question about how things are done, someone's bothering you, or a guard is giving your grief, let me know." She gave Sarah a nod and continued walking the cellblock.
Sarah nodded her head well after Joyce walked away. She thought about telling Joyce about her stolen bra and boots, but she couldn't find the words to talk to such an intimidating person. Before the regime change, Generals of Discipline were the most revered prison officials and important members of the community.
The women were starting to walk back towards her. Some were wiping their mouths and some were sulking away. Two women were walking towards Sarah and looking straight at her. Sarah kept her head pointed to the ground, hoping they would walk past her.
"Hey man," one of the women said. Sarah allowed her eyes to make contact with the woman, but immediately looked back at her feet. "I am talking to you. Look at me." The woman grabbed Sarah by the chin and pushed her head up. Sarah could feel her hot breath on her face. "My group is a woman down. It's best to work in groups of three. You are new and need a group. Join us?"
"I don't really have anybody else so I guess so." The woman was so matter-of-fact with Sarah that it sounded like a demand instead of a question.
"My name is Jonasha and this is the second in command of the team, Ice. We stick together no matter what. We all have each other's back. When it is time for food, it is our responsibility to get to the food shaft as quickly as possible. Any food we get individually, we divide between ourselves. There is no need to have a single one of us go hungry. That compromises the safety of the group.
"Feeding is three times a day and we eat after every meal to mitigate threats of thievery. We shower one at a time leaving two to guard our things. We saw you talking to Joyce the Choice earlier. You need to stay away from her. She's trouble.
"Just because we are a team doesn't mean that we have to spend all of our time huddled up together. One of our duties is to talk with other teams in hope of making worthy alliances and to learn information. With that said, your fist obligation is always to us. If you ever feel like you have to make a choice, your choice has to be with us. If you betray us you will never be welcome and other groups will not take you in as a known traitor. Later we will introduce you to some of our allies. I wanted to pick you up as our third because I heard your arrest was because of the More Opportunities rally outside the White House. Our primary network consists of MOM members. Questions?"
"So just like that I'm in your group. I don't want to sound silly, but there isn't some type of identifying tattoo or initiation ritual?"
"We don't have a lot of excitement here. When there is a new drop, everyone knows and keeps an eye on the drop. It may seem like people are minding their own business, but they are actually monitoring this entire conversation. If you decide to join, you will walk away with us and share our sleeping area. All of the other inmates will see this and know you belong to us. Anything else?"
"Well thanks for accepting me into your group. I don't know what I would have done-."
"Surely if you had not joined up rather quickly you would probably die of starvation. It's almost impossible to get anything to eat without team members to back you up. Follow us back to our compound and I will show you where to sleep. You probably won't be able to sleep, but try anyway. Tomorrow we will walk you through your day so-to-speak. Soon you will learn to function on your own."
Sarah followed her new team back to a corner of the cellblock. She passed a room that had glass walls. Inside, 'Joyce the Choice' was sitting at a desk. She looked over her shoulder to see Joyce. As she was just about to turn her head forward, Joyce looked up from her desk and flashed Sarah a smile. Sarah jerked her head forward not wanting it to seem like she was staring. She had an eerie feeling in her stomach as if Joyce was aware of her presence before she looked up.
About twenty yards from Joyce's office, Sarah arrived at what looked like small living quarters. There were two tent-like structures made out of two clotheslines with several blankets thrown over the top. Ice and Jonasha stood at each side of the tent opening and pulled the blankets aside. There was a very small space big enough for three people to lay lengthwise side-by-side. A pile of clothes was in the corner. A piece of leather was next to it.
Sarah climbed in the tent and moved to one side. Ice followed behind her. "Newbie goes in the center. I was in the center before. Now it is your turn." Sarah moved to the center section. Ice was to her left and Jonasha was to her right.
