Piper's Price

by D. A. Maddox

  “No,” said Nurse Reyes-Garcia. “Do not look away, Miss Piper. Let everyone see what you are going through. It is part of your essential service. You will survive. I have my eye on things.”

  The bracelet on her wrist was transparent, as Robbie’s was. But through it, the nurse could make sure she wasn’t about to have a heart attack or an aneurysm… She’d promised Maddy she would be okay.

  But she tested the restraints, hard, when Officer Davies stuck his middle finger in his mouth and went for her butthole and genitals. “If you weren’t a cherry, I’d six-pack you,” he said, exploring her everywhere, suckling one breast at a time as his hand worked her down under. “Yeah, you’re a fine piece of meat.”

  But all he did was touch, as he’d been told. Whether he didn’t want to hurt her or whether he was just an obedient cop who wasn’t allowed to hurt her, Maddy never learned.

  “Speaking of her cherry,” said Officer Kersey, adjusting the focus, “let’s see it.”

  Officer Davies turned his head to Nurse Reyes-Garcia. He wanted permission.

  From her, Maddy thought. Not from me. I don’t matter.

  “Carefully, Bernie,” she said. “You may display it, but you must not damage it. Miss Piper is to suffer no hurt from which she cannot quickly heal. We are not savages.”

  She just said yes, Maddy thought, horrorstruck. That son of a bitch is going to—

  But then his forefinger and thumb were back at her, almost in her, peeling her lips back from her core. Parting her privates at the bottom, the wristband of his watch brushing along her pubic hair.

  Moaning. A low, catlike wailing from the diaphragm—which Maddy could hardly feel herself making as all sensation suddenly emanated only from her exploited middle. It was as though she heard it from someone else, but she knew it must be her.

  “Well, damn,” Officer Kersey said. “Seeing is believing, I guess.”

  Officer Davies held her open for ten seconds, twenty, as Officer Kersey went from tripod camera to handheld for more stills, then back to tripod.

  In the mirror’s reflection, Robbie cried with her, powerless. Far fewer tears than hers—his experience over the past few days would have hardened him, in more ways than one—but enough that she wanted Robbie to come to her. To hug her, to share their anguish together, physically. To—

  “And that is enough from you, Bernie,” said Nurse Reyes-Garcia. “We are to be done with her by three in the morning. Time is a factor.”

  Officer Davies took his hand from her. Then, stroking her underarms, he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “You must’ve been switched at birth or somethin’, Miss Piper,” he said to her. “You really are a princess.”

  ****

  From the overhead intercom:

  “Warden Garcia? Sorry to interrupt, but—”

  What now? she thought.

  “This better be pressing,” Nurse Reyes-Garcia said, glaring at the speaker as though the man behind it could see her. “I am in session.”

  This will be Robbie’s parents, she thought. Finally.

  “Yes, I, ah—I’m aware of that, ma’am. I’ve got Mr. Piper on the line here. Says he’s been trying to reach his daughter for the past half hour. Says he got a call from Eastern Covenant, that she’s … well, not back at her dorm yet.”

  “No, she is not,” Nurse Reyes-Garcia agreed, studying the table. Fresh sobs, but no words. Good girl, she thought. “I take it, then, he is unaware of Madison’s current circumstance?”

  Not long ago, Gloria Wholesome would have taken back to the air with a pre-show tease, sprinkled with reminders of the upcoming show featuring Cassie Stratham next week—but Madison’s name may not have come up yet. The actual footage of her confessing to Robbie would still be at least half an hour away, based on the delay she had ordered.

  “That’s my impression.”

  “Inform Mr. Piper that we have taken his daughter into legal custody at her own request, Special Penitents’ Clause 12A, Section 1. She has voluntarily forfeited any input as it applies to her disposition, representation, and rights for the duration of her stay. At the discretion of this facility, she is to receive one session of televised Controlled Judicial Humiliations, which are already underway and to which she is responding normally. She will then be remanded to Protective Custody until her release at 1 PM, just after lunch. This amounts to twelve hours of incarceration for her misdeeds, which are now a matter of public record. She will receive no visitors during that time.”

  “Oh, this is going to be a fun conversation…”

  From the table, softly but audibly, “Noo.”

  A minor infraction. It was difficult to blame her.

  “Mr. Piper is to be further advised that since Miss Piper’s term at school is still in session, and as per her original contract, we have already arranged for transportation to facilitate her return to campus. He may visit her there after she has done her time and completed her service. Neither he nor any other of Miss Piper’s family will be admitted onto prison grounds, so it would be just as well for him to remain at home, to not make an ugly scene of it here. Offer him a free, limited subscription service so that he and his wife may observe that his daughter is being treated no differently than any other prisoner, as provided for under law.”

  From the table, a gasp of molten distress.

  “He will likely refuse it, but offer it anyway.”

  A sigh over the intercom. “I’m underpaid, Warden Garcia.”

  “Finally, reassure him that Madison Louise Piper remains safe in our care and in perfect health. She shall not have a criminal record following the execution of her discipline. As a penitent transitional and not a convicted criminal, her future prospects remain untarnished.”

  Maddy was breathing heavy. A little too heavy. Nurse Reyes-Garcia checked her vitals.

  “Then hang up on him,” she said with finality.

  The intercom clicked off.

  “Go,” she said to Officer Davies, clapping her hands in command. “Get oxygen. Five minutes’ break, Miss Piper. That could not have been pleasant to hear, but you will be fine.”

  She wasn’t at a crisis point with her breathing, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

  “You will be fine.”

  ****

  Through the mirror wall, Robbie kept watching as his Matron held the mask over Maddy’s nose and mouth, without ever letting her up, without even loosening her bonds.

  Still, that’s got to be it, he thought. Good.

  By now, Maddy would have satisfied whatever dark desire had brought her to this pass. If she truly felt guilty about what she had done—a notion that befuddled Robbie to no end—then she had been put through more than enough to make up for it already.

  Her breasts heaved slowly, up and down, her chest taking in the oxygen.

  So goddamned gorgeous.

  Nurse Reyes-Garcia shone a penlight down on her, first her left eye, then the right. “You are okay, Miss Piper? You may answer.”

  Take the straps off, Matron. Please. Let her go.

  But that was only half of him. The good half, he supposed. There was another half that wanted to punish her, as she had punished him. Not because she deserved it. He just wanted to. The fact that she did not deserve it made the prospect … even better, he realized, rather aghast at himself.

  Maddy nodded that she was okay, and Robbie’s Matron took the mask off her.

  “Yes,” she said, glancing down at her palm com. “You are.”

  And still, she made no move to free her.

  “We shall continue, then.”

  Fuck this, Robbie thought, facing back into the room. If she’s not getting out of this, I won’t hide from it. I won’t watch it happen to her fucking reflection.

  I’ll be strong for her. She knows I love her. She has to. If I go along like it’s all normal, maybe … maybe that will give her the courage she needs to get through it.

  That was his good half talking again. His bad half simpl
y wanted a proper view.

  The mirror looked like it hadn’t been cleaned for days.

  ****

  “Please,” Maddy said. “Let me up. Just for a minute. I won’t do anything bad.”

  She blinked, ever so piteously.

  “Are you terribly uncomfortable?” Nurse Reyes-Garcia asked, the very personification of sympathy and understanding. She thumb-brushed a tear from Maddy’s cheek and smiled down at her.

  “Yes,” Maddy said.

  Oh, if only I had three days with this one, she thought. So precious, so innocent.

  Technically, she could have those days if she really wanted them. Maddy was not supposed to have mentioned the money. But that line would be edited out, and Nurse Reyes-Garcia did not think additional sessions would be necessary to drive the point home, in the end.

  “I believe you,” she said. “You do not strike me as one to complain over nothing, and this is a stone table. I imagine your shoulders are already sore. The arch of your spine, too, the back of your head, these do not feel so good at present, do they?”

  “No, Nurse Reyes-Garcia.”

  “And this is all so new to you, being so displayed before others, helpless, as reliant on the kindness and goodwill of others as you were when you were a baby.”

  The young woman still looked hopeful. Silly thing. But then, they always did. Nurse Reyes-Garcia had two years of practice with those found guilty of (or confessing to) sexual mischief—and the subjects of her own special brand of judicial mischief, the convicted, were hardly more than kids.

  “And if you should have an itch, or the need to blow your nose, there would be nothing you could do, would there be?”

  Twitching now. Nurse Reyes-Garcia idly wondered where the suggestion had caused her to itch. “Are you feeling quite chastised, Miss Piper? Have you been sufficiently shamed?”

  “Y-yes,” Maddy answered, her body trembling all over. “I’ve never felt so … ashamed in my life. It’s … it’s a nightmare.”

  She patted Maddy’s cheek. “But that is good,” she said, now cupping a breast, teasing a nipple to full erection with her thumb. “That is right. You are responding as intended. These are normal feelings to have for one of your age and background, considering the nature of your discipline.”

  She patted Maddy’s vulva.

  “I think you are ready to be properly punished.”

  Maddy didn’t answer. She was processing, Nurse Reyes-Garcia could tell, letting the words sink in. If what had been done to her already did not count as proper punishment, then what did?

  But you should know the answer to that, Miss Piper. You know as well as anyone.

  The door to the Interview Room opened again.

  Excellent, Nurse Reyes-Garcia thought. Right on schedule.

  And right according to plan. Up until that moment, she’d been a little afraid her associate wouldn’t have had time to make it back to the building, not to mention commandeering all of the necessary supplies—and still be on hand to hear the cue word, “properly”.

  “Officer Thompson,” she said, “how good of you to come.”

  ****

  There, as though she had been summoned, was Officer Jenny. Behind her, the hall remained dark. For some reason, they’d switched off the lights. Maybe they wanted to showcase her former trainer, make her arrival all the more ominous?

  But there was laughter out there—the deep, predatory laughter of men, the scathing laughter of women. Muttering. Whispers Maddy could not interpret from the middle of the room, from the table.

  Who is that? she wondered, terrified. Who … the fuck … is that?

  Whoever they were, they kept their distance, at present.

  Officer Jenny, meanwhile, had been the only one of the three punishment wardens Maddy thought she knew. They had worked together. She’d been scolded by Officer Jenny once, set straight in the matter of Robbie’s discipline. She’d been almost like an older sister, a guide in difficult times, even though they hadn’t known each other particularly long.

  Before her she rolled a metal trolley. The top of it was empty, the lower compartments closed.

  “Wouldn’t miss it,” she said brightly, then beamed at the sight of Maddy laid out on the table. “Oh, this is going to be tragic.”

  Officer Kersey huffed. “Whatever, Jen. All I know is, it’s overtime pay.”

  Officer Jenny put the wheel locks on the trolley once she had it right at head-level by the table. Then she neatly hopped up and sat on its top, her legs dangling over the side like a little girl’s. She cracked her knuckles. “Just look at you,” she said. “All nakey in front of strangers and friends. Bet you’re wondering what’s going to happen to you. Or … maybe not?”

  “Y-Yes,” Maddy said. “I’m really scared.”

  “Bet you could predict some of it, Mads, if you tried hard. Anyone ever tell you that you’ve got the most perfect tits?”

  No, she thought reflexively. That must have skipped Anyone’s mind.

  It wasn’t the trolley that bothered her, though. That was predictable. Her mind was wholly occupied with the darkened hallway, and the dim and distant voices emanating from it.

  “Who’s out there?” she asked, struggling to keep herself deferential and meek. Were she to give in to her basic instincts, she’d be yelling her head off.

  “Oh,” Officer Jenny said. “Them.”

  That was when Nurse Reyes-Garcia cut in again. “We track good and bad behavior, here in Protective Custody at Huntington Regional. The long-term stays who show good behavior over time are periodically rewarded for making our job easier. Tonight, that reward is you.”

  Twelve jumpsuits, six red and six green, filed into the room.

  And Maddy cracked.

  “Wait!” she cried out, bucking against her bonds with all the strength she could muster. “No! Wait! Stop! No!”

  They kept coming.

  ****

  They shuffled, their movements restricted by shackles and leg irons. Weird, Robbie thought. But as Officer Thompson took the wheel brakes off the trolley and allowed one of the green-jumpsuited men to playfully roll her a few feet off to the side and out of the way, he could see why this was a wise move.

  Prison, generally, was not a co-ed social opportunity. Even in protective custody, it would be best to keep them slow, should any of them try anything out of bounds with the new prisoner. Or against each other, for that matter. Couldn’t be too careful.

  It’s not too different from what I went through, Robbie told himself as they encircled her. They’re Volunteer Humiliators, same as my art teacher. Same as Ashton’s mother. As old Mrs. Merriweather and the women who flogged and washed me when I was blind. Same as being marched in front of the Scared Stiff Transitional Program and the guys I have lunch with. Same as Theresa from school…

  Maddy’s cries quickly subsided to moans and blubbering as she, no doubt, came to understand that there would be no mercy for her in this, nor in anything the infinitely devious mind of his Matron could devise on the fly.

  A couple of her tormentors might have been in their late twenties, but none were younger than that. Most were obviously in their forties, or older. It wasn’t surprising. Robbie’s own lawyer, Mr. Dawson, had warned him that if he should be forced to serve some jail time, he wouldn’t be among his peers. Protective Custody was for white collar crime, which was typically a middle-aged man’s game. Rarely did they have more than one transitional in the CJH program at a time.

  Robbie recognized three of the men from his cafeteria crew.

  “My God,” Maddy whimpered, as they reached out from all sides for her younger, more vibrant flesh. “Oh, please—don’t hurt me… This wasn’t supposed to happen! I’m not ready! Don’t touch me! Oh!”

  “No words,” said Nurse Reyes-Garcia. “I can still make this worse for you, Miss Piper.”

  Cuffed as they were, it was with two hands that they caressed not only her vagina and breasts—although those received ample at
tention from everyone, each in her or his turn—but also her belly, her shoulders, her feet. Hands closed around her arms, passing up and down them like rippling water. They did finger marches along her inner thigh. They poked her belly button. They pinched her calves and played with her toes.

  They said nothing to her. They had stopped talking to each other. They were silent, a jailhouse zombie apocalypse starved not for blood, but for the simple touch of innocent flesh.

  Their hands devoured her. Maddy bit her lip and screamed with her mouth tightly closed.

  “Turn her over,” said Officer Thompson. “Do it just the way I told you.”

  Two green suits at her legs gripped her ankles. Two red suits held her wrists. Others removed the restraints. Together then, they guided her over to all fours, adjusting the chain lengths—quickly holding her there once she was in position and refastening the rawhide straps.

  And then—then one of the women, who wasn’t a day under fifty and had long streaks of gray in her auburn hair—simply had to speak. As the others recommenced the total exploration of her body, the woman knelt at her buttocks and parted them, just as Maddy had done to herself for Robbie.

  “I’m going to sample your asshole, pet,” she said. “Nothing too invasive. Just a nibble.”

  Don’t say anything, Robbie thought. Maddy, don’t be dumb.

  “Must you?” Maddy whispered, dripping from every hole she had other than her ears.

  Damn it, Maddy, Robbie thought. Damn it.

  “Oh, yes,” the older woman said, grinning. “I definitely must.”

  She did it, she sampled her, and in just the way she had said she would.

  As the older woman’s tongue and teeth met the rim of her anus, Maddy locked eyes with Robbie again, her face so badly suffused with crimson humiliation it was almost cartoonish. And her eyes stayed on him the whole time, as though she waited for him to do something.

  Robbie crossed his arms and did nothing.

  ****

  “You spoke after being directly ordered to silence,” said Officer Jenny.

  Maddy acknowledged it with the smallest nod. There was no arguing it, no escaping it. It was done.

  “That is sufficient to incur punishments.”