Judicial Punishment Lottery: Aftermath
As promised Joyce was waiting in reception when Shona was escorted from custody and allowed to leave the punishment centre as a free woman. The older nurse was sitting in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs that lined the far wall when the door opened and Shona and a black woman she didn't recognise were shown out. Both women looked more than a little frazzled and Shona was walking a little gingerly, but other than that neither appeared hurt, though they both wore expressions that showed a mixture of relief, distress and shock.
Shona was a young nurse and after a road traffic collision had been sentenced to a period of judicial punishment. She had been beaten at the public pillory before the court building and now that the punishment was over, she was a free woman, her debt to society paid. She had been treated with some leniency but even so her backside still blazed scarlet and stung abominably.
A black man had also been waiting in reception and like Joyce, he came to his feet quickly when the door opened, and the two women emerged. He immediately went to the other lady and wrapped his arms around her. The poor woman gave a great big sob and immediately broke down in tears, leaning her head on his chest as she wept.
Joyce rushed over and put her arms around Shona but before she could lead her away Shona turned to the uniformed woman who had been her escort and grabbed her in a hug. The custody officer seemed a little taken aback but she patted the young nurse on the shoulder and Joyce could hear her speaking gently, "It's okay Shona, it's over, you can go home now."
The young nurse tearfully wiped her nose on her sleeve and grinned, "Thanks for all your help, Karen. I really needed it; I would never have managed that without you. I better see you tomorrow night or I'm not gonna post a good review on TripAdvisor, okay?"
The custody officer smiled, "Well, we can't risk that. If I can make it, I'll be there."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Shona turned to the black woman and wrapped her arms around her shoulders in a huge, tearful hug, "Bye Femi, you look after yourself. Give my best to the kids, especially Abigay, no more speeding okay."
Femi sniffed back more tears as she returned the hug, "I'll do my best Shona, I'll do my best. Thanks for being there for me."
Joyce slid an arm around the young nurse and led her out and back to her car. Shona winced as she got into the vehicle and sat in silence during the journey, staring out the window seemingly lost in thought as Joyce drove her home. The older nurse let Shona be and avoided asking any questions, instead, she burbled on about meaningless things like the weather, not really expecting any response, but still letting the younger woman know that she wasn't alone and had a friend with her.
Once inside her flat Joyce led Shona to the bedroom and that was it. Shona couldn't hold on any longer and she just crumpled onto the bed weeping as all the stress, shame, pain and embarrassment she had just endured simply poured out of her. Joyce cuddled the sobbing woman in her arms as she lay there with her whole body shuddering in an exhausting combination of relief and abject misery.
After long minutes Shona grew quiet, her breathing deepened, and Joyce realised she had fallen into an exhausted sleep. The older nurse eased the young woman back onto the bed. She had half-expected this sort of thing to happen and had laid out a few items at the ready when she picked Shona up that morning. Shucking off her own jacket and rolling up her sleeves she got to work.
Given her years of experience, getting Shona undressed was only moderately awkward as was sliding her into her pyjama top. The nurse slid a pair of light, loose-fitting French knickers as well as her pyjama bottoms over the woman's ankles but only drew them up to her knees.
Shona whimpered softly but didn't wake as Joyce liberally smeared the angry-looking cheeks of her bottom with the cold cream she had laid out earlier. Running a practised eye over the bruising and the welts she recognised that the injuries, while doubtless painful, were fairly minor in nature. They would certainly sting for a while, but she figured they would all fade away completely within a week or thereabouts.
Once done she very gently rolled the knickers and pyjama bottoms up, so they covered the poor girl's bottom. She then tucked the woman up in bed and went to clean up.
It was hours before Shona stirred, she opened her bleary eyes and winced as she shifted position slightly. Looking about she saw the items laid out on her bedside table, a packet of paracetamol, a bottle of water and a note. Reaching across gingerly she picked up the paper and read.
"Dear Shona,
By my reckoning you should still be feeling very tired, a mixture of nervous exhaustion and the like.
I've laid out some paracetamol and water, I recommend you take two tablets now and basically go back to sleep, take another two in the morning. You'll almost certainly feel much more recovered tomorrow.
I've fed the goldfish and made you a cheese and pickle sandwich if you feel hungry. It's in the fridge.
Your tracksuit is in the washing basket.
I know you took tomorrow off but I'm telling Nigel you won't be in for a couple of days at least. The useless bugger can just earn his money for once and arrange cover.
Me and the girls are looking forward to seeing you tomorrow evening. I promise I'll do my best to keep Patricia in check, but you just know she's going to bombard you with questions, her heart's in the right place, it's just a pity her brain sometimes takes a few seconds to catch up. Please don't tell her I said that.
All the very best in the meantime.
If you need anything at all just phone and I'll come round.
Lots of Love
Joyce"
By the time she had read the brief note tears had already begun to blur the page. She sniffed and wiped her eyes with her sleeve before taking the advice and knocking back the tablets with a drink of water. After a quick trip to the loo, she carefully and gingerly slid back under the covers and almost within moments she was fast asleep.
When Shona woke in the late morning, she had been sleeping solidly for more than twelve hours straight but she felt significantly better for it. She wandered into her bathroom and for the first time since her punishment, she looked at the state of her bottom in the mirror. It was a mess of angry crimson marks, overlaying the half-dozen weals that the crazy woman had inflicted with her bloody cane! Wincing at the state of her rear she muttered an angry curse at her ex-boyfriend, "
What a complete tosser!"
She risked a shower and hissed as the hot water brought out the heat in the cheeks of her bum, she drew a breath through her teeth, "Oooh, that smarts."
Afterwards Shona felt almost human, and she threw on an oversized t-shirt to wander about the flat, not bothering with underwear for the moment at least,
"Who cares if I feel like a bit of a lazy tart, there's nobody here but me."
Finding the cheese and pickle sandwich in the fridge she realised just how hungry she was and wolfed it down with a glass of milk before rummaging for a box of Jaffa cakes and sticking on the kettle for a coffee, "
