Agent Sarah Marsh of the FBI had just arrived at St Sebastian Prison. She was there to interview Joachim Salva, a middleman with connections to a powerful cartel, involved in smuggling both guns and cocaine throughout the Americas. She had not wanted to take this assignment, the case wasn't hers, but she still had to give up her Saturday to interview Salva, thanks to her useless boss. She was annoyed at the prison officials refusing to grant her a weekday to interview Garcia. She had to interview him on Saturday and she would have to visit alongside the other women who were visiting their menfolk in the prison.
Sarah awoke early on Saturday morning in her motel. She brushed her brown hair and tied into the tight bun and made sure no stray strands were loose. She chose her pressed black pants, a crisp white blouse, and a thick black coat, as well as her boots, the boots had a small heel on them. She was satisfied with her appearance in the mirror. She wanted Salva to be slightly cowed by her. She then drove down to the prison, wincing at every pothole on the road that her car was driving over. She just wanted to get to the prison, do her job and get back home that evening. She cursed her hapless boss, the FBI and Salva. Sarah arrived at the prison ending her uncomfortable ride. The sun now high in the sky, beat down on her, making her feel uncomfortable and bothered. The prison itself was a hive of activity. A line of women and children was already long at the gates. She saw peddlers hawking food, shoes and what looked like skirts or quilts. A she wondered whether she could cut the line by showing her badge, she felt a tug.
"Ma'am please, rent one of my skirts, you can't w- "
"Fuck off."
Sarah had no time for the peddlers, she wanted to be in and out of the prison as soon as possible. She took her place in the line. Every woman in it was wearing a combination of a loose top, a long skirt, and flimsy sandals. It was bizarre, but Sarah pushed it out of her mind. A male guard came was passing down the line. Sarah took her chance.
"Excuse me, I'm Sarah Marsh, FBI, I'm supposed to see Joachim Salva", she said while flashing her FBI badge. The guard looked her up and down and walked away, shaking his head. "Hey I was talking to you," Sarah called out. The guard didn't respond.
Finally, Sarah reached the doors of the prison building. A guard frisked her and she handed over her gun and wallet. Then she was made to wait behind a red line as a female guard behind a desk checked the identification of the women, one by one. Sarah was impatient, tired in her own thoughts and the guard had to yell "Next!" to get her attention.
"Sorry," mumbled Sarah as she showed her FBI badge to the guard. The guard took down her name, age, and date of birth. The guard noted that Sarah was visiting Joachim Salva. The guard looked her up and down, before leaving. Sarah checked her watch, it was already half past ten. The guard came back, this time with a tall man in a grey suit and a redheaded female guard.
"Miss Marsh, would you please come with me," said the tall man.
The tall man and the other female guard led the way to a back room. Sarah supposed that she would get to interview Salva in private and away from the other visitors. Sarah was beckoned inside the room. The tall man took a seat at a desk in the centre of the room, the female guard stood at the door. The walls and ceiling were all black. Sarah did not like the room at all, though if Salva was made uneasy by it, her job would be easier.
"Miss Marsh, I am Peter Boulder, the chief security officer of St Sebastian Prison", said the tall man. Sarah reached out her hand for him to shake. Boulder looked at her apprehensively, before continuing. "You are here, Miss Marsh, because of a breach in security."
"What breach of security?" asked Sarah.
"You. Your clothing is not allowed in this prison. Female visitors are not allowed to wear pants, closed toed shoes or jackets or coats."
"Well I'm not just some visiting woman, am I? I'm an agent of the FBI, here on official business!"
"That may be so, and we have no wish to hinder your work here, but all visitors must adhere to regulations."
Sarah was indignant, these fools were making a fuss over a skirt. She couldn't believe it. She'd visited prisons before and she had faced none of this nonsense before. "You cannot expect me to interview him in a pink skirt," she said, trying to keep her voice composed and calm.
"You have no choice!"
Sarah abandoned all pretence. "I'm not some gangster's baby momma, I'm an FBI agent, you have no right to do this, you petty bureaucrat, you're just misusing your authority."
The man, Boulder was still smiling, much to Sarah's disgust, the female guard was giggling. He pulled out a phone and after a few minutes, he handed it to Sarah. On the phone was the visitor section of the prison's official website. Sarah read it. It detailed the expectations and rights of the visitors to the prison. She scrolled down and read that due to security concerns and as part of anti-smuggling efforts, female visitors to the prison were indeed forbidden to wear pants, jackets, long sleeved shirts, bras, panties, stockings, pantyhose, socks, or any shoes that did not expose the toes. Only skirts, sandals and short sleeved tops were allowed. Female lawyers were exempt from these regulations.
"Now", said Boulder, his smile even bigger. "Did you see any mention that FBI agents were somehow exempted?"
"Well it says lawyers are," replied Sarah.
"But you are not a lawyer, are you, my dear Miss Marsh."
"It's Ms Marsh. I'm law enforcement, I don't have any connections to the inmate."
"But still not a lawyer, Miss Marsh", said Boulder, emphasising his last two words. "Now", exclaimed Boulder, loudly before Sarah could interject. "We may have been able to give you an exception, Miss Marsh, but Salva has a history of having female visitors smuggle in contraband for him. In fact, any visits to him, must be approved by a case by case basis. We are willing to allow you to interview him, but we must insist on maintaining proper security regulations."
"So, I must wear your fucking skirt, then," sighed Sarah.
"Good to see you're finally understanding Miss Marsh. Despite that, due to the security status of the prisoner, and your dress code violation, we'll have to perform an additional search on you."
"An additional search."
"You're getting better and better Miss Marsh, very impressive. Yes, an additional search. A body cavity search."
"What! How dare you propose such a thing." Sarah jumped up. No way would she be disrespected like that. She was on the side of those who were giving the cavity searches, normally. "You don't have a right to do that, you piece of shit. I want to talk to the warden" She slapped him hard on the cheek. Boulder merely laughed.
Boulder was still shaking off the laughter in his voice, when he informed Sarah. "You have no choice, Miss Marsh. That is our protocol for persons in your situation. The warden most likely would have been able to make special arrangements for you, heck, he most likely would have allowed you to wear those precious pants of yours, but he's not here. I can't assume that he certainly would have done that, so I'll just have to follow protocol. So, Miss Marsh, a cavity search, or you don't get in, and knowing Salva, it'll take months, maybe years to get clearance to visit him."
"Fine," replied Sarah.
"Do you consent?" asked Boulder
"Yes, I fucking consent," screeched Sarah. "Fuck you", she added.
"Very well, Officer Thorpe, you may begin," said Boulder, gesturing to the female guard.
"Mr Boulder, I need another guard to witness this. I think they all are busy searching and registering the other visitors," replied the female guard, concerned.
"Oh yes, you're right Thorpe, you are." Boulder looked concerned and looked around the room for a minute. Sarah's heart did leaps. Was she getting out of this? Was it all a show, by some jumped up idiot. It had to be, there was no way Agent Sarah Marsh would get a cavity search in a dingy prison. "Well I am a guard, just a senior one, I can witness it," he said, dashing Sarah's hopes. "That is if you don't mind, Officer Thorpe."
"Oh no, of course not," replied Officer Thorpe.
"Good, now begin, please," ordered Boulder as Thorpe went over to the desk and pulled out a pair of blue rubber gloves. She put them on and headed towards Sarah.
"You can't stay here. You're a man. You aren't allowed to watch a woman getting searched. It's illegal under state and federal law," exclaimed Sarah.
Boulder merely laughed. "Sorry Miss Marsh, if there aren't any female officers available, then it is fine for a male officer to witness a search. Now shut up and do as your told."
"Miss Marsh, please rem-"
"You shouldn't call her "Miss Marsh", she is just a visitor suspected of smuggling contraband and you are doing the searching, call her "girl" or "Sarah" and you don't need to say please, Officer."
"Right sir," said Thorpe. "Girl, remove your watch, earrings and jacket and give it to me."
"Fuck you," said Sarah, looking at Thorpe, as she removed her watch. She then took off her earring. She took off her coat and threw it at the guard. Boulder only smiled back. She imagined handcuffing him, twisting his arm behind his back and wiping that smirk of his face.
Officer Thorpe looked through all the pockets and ran her hand across the coat, she checked every inch of it, and even looked at the buttons. Apparently satisfied, she put Sarah's coat down on the desk.
"The shoes now."
Sarah bent down and unzipped her right boot first and handed it over to Thorpe. Thorpe put it on the desk and indicated to Sarah to take the other one off as well. Sarah complied. Thorpe turned it outside down, tapped the sole and heel of the boot and looked inside it. She took the right boot from the desk and did the same as well before putting the both down on the desk.
"Take off your socks."