The next morning we were blasted awake by a klaxon that was louder than a police siren.
Dolores got up sleepily and sat on the toilet. I wasn't yet used to sharing a bed with a naked girl. Her tits were trim and sporty, with just the slightest bit of bounce. Her short brown hair would have been sassy if it wasn't so tousled. Her lips were puffy from sleep.
I could hear the tinkle of her pee, then a small plop. She took a piece of toilet paper and used it to wipe herself in the front. She used the same piece in the back, making it last for two or three careful wipes. Then she washed her hands in the sink. There was a big red circle around her ass from the cold seat.
"Move over," she grumbled, as she got back into bed. She pulled the blanket up tightly around her shoulder.
"What comes next?" I asked.
"They'll roust us out in ten minutes or so. Better use the toilet if you have to."
I didn't have to poop, but I did have to pee again. She had left a small brown log in the bowl, and my pee played over it.
The morning drill was the opposite of the evening one. The doors buzzed open, the girls dragged themselves out into the corridor, hugging themselves against the cold. They perked up when they remembered they had a new tenant. Everyone eyed the two of us with real curiosity. They each seemed to have their own idea about how things might have gone between us during the night. They looked for some corroboratory evidence in our appearance or body language. I couldn't figure out which made me look more ridiculous, putting my hands over my crotch or leaving them at my side. Dolores didn't pay any attention to the other girls or to me.
Hound Dog counted us up, then blew her whistle and marched us to the changing room. We stood in line, and a large black woman behind the counter handed out a little pile of clothes to each one. When my turn came, she looked me up and down.
"Sugar," she pronounced, "I hate to be the one to tell you, but you in the wrong institution."
"Seems to be a matter of debate," I replied.
"Well, while they debatin', we can't have you walking around like that." She handed me some clothes. "You're a large for sure. What's your shoe size, sugar? "
"Ten and a half."
"That's about twelve and a half, women's." She went to a shelf and brought me a pair of used sneakers. "You guard these with your life, hear? The girls will show you where to store them. Now you go put these on before you give an old woman palpitations."
Dolores was at a bench with two other girls, so I went over there. One was a mousy thing who had tried to cover herself up the night before in the showers. Now she looked at me with a combination of embarrassment and fear, getting dressed as fast as she could. The other was a big black girl who stepped between me and Dolores.
"How are you doing this morning, Dolores?" she asked, glaring at me with a stern expression, no more concerned about the fact that she was naked than a panther would have been.
"All right," Dolores said, noncommittally.
The black girl backed off, but remained vigilant. I figured she must be a friend of Dolores's. But it didn't seem the right thing to do to try to introduce myself with my dick hanging out. So I opened my packet. It consisted of a pair of plain white panties, a sports bra, sweat socks, a pair of baggy pants, and a baggy shirt. I decided I could do without the panties and the bra. The pants had a string that tied around the waist. I left the shirt untucked, like everybody else. The shoes fit well enough. Once I was dressed, I didn't feel nearly as vulnerable. I was just one more inmate.
The black girl was dressed now too. "I'm Hector," I said.
"Annie," she replied, making it clear that she was still keeping her eye on me. "That's Misha," indicating the mousy girl.
After we were dressed, they marched us down to the dining hall. I fell into line after Dolores and Annie and got my bowl of oatmeal. But there wasn't any more room at their table, which left me standing alone like the unpopular kid at school. Annie indicated that I could sit at the next table over. "That's Black Betty," she said.
It was the older woman with the leathery jugs. She wasn't black, just kind of naturally grimy.
"I'm in with Annie," she grinned. "You're in with Dolores. How come they put you in with her?"
"Mix up with the paperwork."
"Wish they'd 'a mixed you up with me," she said, digging into her oatmeal. "I ain't got all my teeth." She grinned, showing me what she meant. "Give pretty good blow jobs. Least I ain't never had any complaints."
Misha sat down next to Black Betty.
"Be like being in prison with your old man," Black Betty opined. "Have its pluses and its minuses. You ever had a old man?"
Misha shook her head.
"Can't live with 'em and can't live without 'em," Black Betty philosophized. "Better eat up."
Rachel Ramirez sashayed between the tables, carrying her tray. "Morning, lover boy," she said. "My, my! Don't you dress up nice! Angels sing you to sleep last night?" Her two lieutenants followed a step behind, leering like hyenas. I gave them all a curt nod.
They had the girls divided up into work groups. After breakfast they put me in the same group as Misha and Black Betty. They marched us over to rehabilitate ourselves by sweeping an empty warehouse.
-----
By that evening the girls were already starting to get more used to me. In the day room, after supper, I wasn't the sole focus of attention. The girls would drift over in my direction and chatter and act silly so that I would notice them, but then they would drift back to whatever else it was they were doing. Dolores sat by herself reading a tattered copy of People magazine. Rachel Ramirez held court at one of the tables, listening to her lieutenants' reports. One of them had been in my work group. She'd given me all kinds of little chores to do until I figured out that she didn't have any real authority. Rachel kept glancing over in my direction with an amused look in her eye.
Finally they rounded us up for our shower. The girls seemed to find it thrilling that they had no choice but to undress in front of me. They went about it deliberately and dramatically, pretending not to pay any special attention to the fact that I was among them, but striking little poses as each new item of clothing came off. They also pretended not to take any special notice of the fact that I was getting undressed too. But every one of them held her breath as I lowered my pants.
I felt like a shy kid on the first day of gym class. This was the way things were going to be, and I would just have to get used to it. I was just another inmate, whether I had clothes on or not. I no longer even seemed to stand out that much. We all had two arms and two legs. We all had a crack in our ass. We all had two nipples in front, and even though my chest was toward the flatter end of the spectrum, there were at least a couple girls with chests almost as flat as mine.
Most of us had a tuft of hair between our legs. Most of the girls were innies, but one was bursting out like an overstuffed turkey sandwich, and another one had what looked for all the world like a snubby, swirly little cock head sticking right out for all to see. Next to them my own outie didn't really seem all that far out of the ordinary. They didn't appear to be self conscious about theirs, why should I be self conscious about mine?
This time I had to jockey for a spot under the shower head. I had to wait for the soap until one girl was finished with it, and I had to pass it on to another girl when I was finished with it myself. I made a point to grab a towel before they ran out. After I dried off I kept it tied around my waist until the last possible minute.
Rachel Ramirez was standing by the laundry cart.
"My towel's all wet," she said, innocently. "Can I borrow yours?"