by Marian Stack
What she did not notice was one of the first arresting officers had re-entered the room and silently stood about six feet away from the goings-on regarding police standard procedure. “That will be all for now Officer Ford. I will remain with this prisoner until they come to take her for processing.” And as the officer watched his fellow officer leave the room he remained standing in complete silence and waited until he heard the door’s safety lock engage.
And then without any build up to why he stood in the shadows he began, “Well Miss. I don’t know who you have pissed-off but there seems to be a gag order regarding your arrest and no one is to offer you any assistance of any kind, not to mention the green light was given to all to make this experience as humiliating as possible, reason for the amount of chains. So if I were you I would just keep my mouth shut, and do what I was told and as time passes you will get all your questions answered.” After he finished his covert statement he remained standing staring off into thin air.
So even though she was terrified she needed to ask, “I heard every word you just said but could you at least tell me what is coming next?” She whispered, desperately trying to control the fear in her voice.
Several tense moments passed as she watched the officers’ eyes rapidly blink as she was certain he was mentally trying to formula his answer.
And then after taking a deep breath, “You are waiting to be processed but for reasons that are way above my pay grade. But for whatever reason… we were instructed to make this process as painful as possible. And as you can see, some of my fellow officers relish with these kinds of orders”
He could tell by the expression on the young girls face that she was completely stunned by this news. “Look Miss…I can’t really say much, but I believe what is happening to you is a little over the top but I have a family to support and need this job. So just keep your mouth shut, and do what you are told to do, and eventually they have to give you your ‘phone call’ and I would strongly suggest you get yourself a damn good lawyer.”
Appreciative of the advice she looked at the officer and offered a slight smile and then within seconds following the conclusion of their secretive conversation the door leading to the underground swung open and two heavily clad officers entered the room.
Turtle quickly assumed that her detention processing was about to begin, as she observed one of the two officers approach her with a look of such intensity she instantly began to tear up, but then she believed she heard her mother’s voice, “be brave my little one.” Words her mother often said to her when she was growing up after she had hurt herself. So she dug deep to find her internal strength and allowed the officer to check her shackles and handcuffs with brutal force.
Sitting in the back of the police van she was once again attached to a large metal ring that was secured to the seat of the steel bench that was secured to the wall of the van. Once the van began travelling to its destination, she decided to take this opportunity to try to settle her nerves and to mentally regroup. She attempted to allow her mind to wander through all the strange happenings that had been occurring within the same twenty-four hour time-frame in which she found her courage to break off a relationship with a woman she knew she loved with all her heart and by internally wishing that during and after her visit with her wolf pup she so desperately wanted to keep and raise the little girl to become part of her family.
As the unpleasant bumpy ride proceeded down the highway Turtle found her memories of the night that she now believed was the reasoning for this dilemma, and tried very hard to visualize the exact moment when she believed that their unwelcomed and very violent woman perished. So with her head hanging down she closed her eyes and attempted to mentally go back to the night of the cabin fire and the fight. She remembered going outside to search for a bag of belongings that the woman stated she left outside due to self-preservation, then although she doesn’t really remember the blow to the side of her head and shoulder, she did slightly remember waking up to Rain’s licking and whimpering, and then she remembered the terrible scene of Blair being confined onto the bed and the expression of sheer horror that was etched across her face.
She instantly lifted her hanging head and opened her eyes because her visual memory of Blair’s look of terror was still so frightening she found herself shaking her head from side to side attempting to release the vision.
“What’s wrong little kitten?” The escorting officer that was seated across from her in the back of the van asked, and then continued his up lifting memorandum, “Are you afraid…well you should be. You might be heading towards a minimum security detention center but from what I have heard about this place it might as well be called a maximum state prison, because all the women in that place are effing crazy. So you need to be scared about your new home which I hear will be for a very…very long time! Now that’s something to shake your head about.”
Then with his mocking words of fear completed he leaned back against the van wall crossed his arms across his chest and closed his eyes, expressing to Turtle that their travelling journey was far from over.
Finding the courage to mentally go back to the cabin, she closed her eyes again and found the moment that she pounced on the back of her aggressor. She tried to visualize in what timeframe did the cabin fire begin, and where she and Blair were standing. “I was outside of the cabin… how did I get outside of the cabin? I told Blair to get out and that I would drag the unconscious woman out…we fought again… she was choking me, and I was losing… did I kill her? But how did I get out? Blair must have re-entered the cabin. And then the sudden realization stuck her… I must have killed her…but how? She was so strong and willing to kill us both for no reason. Even though Turtle came to the conclusion that she must have ended another person’s life, her memories didn’t support the theory.
“Excuse me, could you at least tell me what I am being charged with?” She sheepishly asked the resting officer hoping that maybe the charge of murder was only a misunderstood message.
After the passing of several minutes in complete silence she concluded that he had zero intentions of communicating to her, so after accepting his silent treatment she decided to remain quiet and find some peace in this anything but…peaceful experience.
“State you name and business.” A deep muffled voice blared from the intercom attached to a steel pole alongside the roadway.
“Hey Frank… how’s the wife and kids?” The driver spoke to the security officer through the intercom system just outside the first set of entrance gates that would lead to the detention centre grounds. “Yay…I have in the back the person that is being charged with the deaths of your two escapees.”
The voice instructed the driver to proceed, at the same time the large metal mesh gate began its slow opening procedure, “Come on in and drive around to the usual entrance, the Assistant Chief Warden has been waiting for this prisoner.”
The moment Turtle heard the words ‘two escapees’ she nearly passed out. Her mind instantly went to the fact that they have the wrong person…two escapees, this was not possible, she believed she knew the facts as she only ever saw one woman. Feeling somewhat relieved with this additional information she tried to settle her racing nerves down now knowing that this was all a bad dream and a complete misunderstanding, and that once she was able to talk to a person of authority this entire nightmare would be over and she would be heading home very soon with a unbelievable story to tell.
The rough treatment didn’t end as she was literally dragged out of the back of the van and then was forced to awkwardly run or hop towards the entrance steel door. Once inside she was pushed up against the wall and ordered to remain very still and silent.
“But excuse me I need to talk to a person of author…” However before she could conclude her sentence she was pushed against the wall but this time the officer placed his hand over her ear and side of her head forcing her face to be squished against the wall. And then as he continued his jovial conversation with
the officer on the other side of the glass wall he continued to keep the pressure of her head to be unnecessarily forced against the wall, clearly enjoying the abuse of his power.
“Sergeant!” The one word alert was heard through the glass wall. “Remove you hand from that woman’s head immediately.” The Assistant Chief Warden completed her order as she aggressively pushed open the large glass door.
As she walked closer towards Turtle she could only see the frightened young woman’s expression of fear and pain and immediately turned back towards the officers and commanded, “Remove these shackles and only leave the hand cuffs on until we enter my office and then I want those removed as well. This is a minimum detention center and you will not treat any of these women like this…do you understand?”
The Assistant Chief Warden was new in her position and seemed to be constantly reprimanding her officers and some of the officers of the Rynthorp police department regarding their aggressive treatment towards certain offenders.
Once the handcuffs were removed Turtle apprehensively sat in the chair and waited for the women of clear authority to begin. She had learned many lessons as of late and chose to keep her mouth shut until she was spoken to. As she silently sat in the chair she took medical stock of her recent aggressive injures and although she knew nothing was broken her wrists and her head were screaming for some kind of natural or pharmaceutical relief.
The silent waiting seemed to take forever before the woman behind the cluttered desk began to speak, “Now I see here Miss Dove… you have not been properly processed by the Rynthorp Police Department,” and then mumbled under her breath, “for reasons I can’t seem to comprehend or discover.” Then after she completed her unnecessary reorganization of all the scattered papers and folders from on top of her desk she finally began to correspond with Turtle again, “Anyways…” she continued not trying at all to hide her exasperation through the sound of her voice, “this is certainly an area of this job I need to straighten out, why some detainees always seem to have imperative documentation missing, is beyond my comprehension. And that my dear is why I have been hired as the new replacement, in short to get to the bottom of this lack of ‘paper trail’… so to speak… but enough about me.”
During her casual conversation she discovered a folder with the name of T. Dove written across the top, “Here it is…your paperwork.” And as she opened the light brown inter-office envelope she immediately noticed it was void of any reasoning for her detention and sudden move to her facility. Looking up from the few pages that remained in her hands, “You haven’t even been processed or charged have you?” Even though she asked the obvious question, she really did not expect a knowledgeable answer in return.
Turtle had begun to feel lightheaded as the Assistant Chief Warden Mrs. Coffee carried on with her light chitchatting. She desperately wanted to begin her defence stating that she did not take the life of two women but as she watched the warden’s lips move and the words that came out she found herself tilting her head to the sounds trying desperately to understand all the instructions as she no longer wanted her voice to cause more bodily assaults. So as she desperately tried to concentrate it became very apparent that this entire traumatic experience forced a strong ringing in her inner ear that seemed to only get louder as she watched the warden utter many words that she could no longer properly comprehend.
“Security… I need the medical team in my office stat. Our latest arrival has collapsed.” She spoke into her desk top intercom system before she rushed to help Turtle who had slid off the chair and collapsed onto the floor in a heap of body parts.
As she opened her eyes her vision was instantly altered by the strong light that was being forced down towards her face from the construction style florescent light that was suspended by four free falling chain-link strands that were secured into the concrete ceiling.
As she attempted to shield her eyes from the strong glare, she once again was catapulted back into her living nightmare. Her hands were securely cuffed to the iron bed railing. And as her new reality welcomed her back to consciousness she once again knew to remain very still on the unmistakable well used mattress.
Even though her head was pounding from the recent bout of unconsciousness, she didn’t allow her fear to stop her from remaining in the moment so that she could continue to mount her own defensive strategy.
As she lay on the mattress, she chose not to think about, she did however take stock of the positive. She knew that her friend Chief Margo English knew where she was and that knowledge alone kept her nerves under control now that the initial shock was lessening, and before her black out, she somehow got the impression that the Assistant Warden was fast becoming a possible ally.
Deep in her thoughts she did not notice a nurse enter the large room, “So you are awake…Good.” The woman’s voice reverberated throughout the mostly vacant room. “Your processing here has been completed…well mostly anyways… so you will now be escorted to general population. And don’t bother asking anymore of your questions. I’m just the person that cleans up everyone’s messes around here.” And then without another word uttered she walked towards a large grey metal door and pressed a button that was clearly displayed on the wall next to the door frame.
Within seconds two very large female correctional officers entered the room and again without any kind of verbal instructions, they began to remove Turtle from her confinements and proceeded to escort her from the medical facility, and unbeknownst to Turtle she was on her way to the last stage of this horrible situation, the physical examination.
Because of Turtles’ background and her willingness to be out playing in nature and not sitting in front of a television or playing with today’s modern technology she had little understanding of what was coming next.
So as the two officers walked her over to the processing building she quietly walked with them offering no resistance.
As they entered the room that was clearly marked examination room she remained calm and unwavering in her belief that the worst was behind her. It was only when the officer behind the glass wall looked up from her computer screen did Turtle begin to feel her resolve drain from her body.
“Is this the newest prisoner from Carterville?” She questioned.
“Yes… this is the one.” The officer spoke as she unhooked her tether from Turtles’ leather security belt that was fastened onto her before she left the medical ward.
“She doesn’t look like someone that could take out escapee number 66800?” The person spoke as she gave Turtle a good eye balling once over.
“Well that’s what she’s here for. So let’s get to this, I haven’t got all day. My ten hour shift is about to end, and I need some shut eye.”
“Ok…she just doesn’t look like a hard ass that’s all.”
“Good God…haven’t’ you learned nothing yet, it’s not the package that makes a killer it’s what’s inside.”
Ya…Ya…I got it!” The officer remarked and then looked at Turtle who had been standing in the company of these three officers who spoke about her as if she wasn’t standing right next to them during the entire conversation.
“Well youngster let’s get to this. I need you to take off all your clothing and place them in this brown paper bag…and I mean all your clothing,” she had been in the job for the past fifteen years and she always had to repeat the ‘all’ part every time, “and then step over and stand on the other side of the yellow line, and place your hands behind your back, got it.” Then after she stared into the glazed-over expression of her latest work order, she turned around to continue with her processing paper work.
Appalled by the instructions, but not wanting another physical altercation she began to remove her clothing. When she came to removing her undergarments she naturally hesitated, but to her horror all she could hear from the woman who had chosen not to turn around, “All means all…you stupid fuck!” So with trembling hands she removed her panties and placed them into the brown b
ag that now contained her dignity.
As she walked over to the yellow line on the cement floor she purposely stepped over the line ensuring that she followed the instructions to the letter, and then turned around facing the front waiting for her next order. It seemed like hours had passed as she stood with her hands behind her back, as she desperately tried to stop her body from the uncontrollable shivering that seemed to have consumed her naked body as she stood at attention feeling her bare feet locked in position on the cold cement floor.
She had no idea of time but she knew she had not eaten anything since breakfast and that was only a small bowl of oatmeal and a half of glass of orange juice. She was cold, tired, scared, and hungry and wanted this ordeal to end.
She wondered, “Why hasn’t someone come to finish this torture?”
And then before she could continue with her thoughts she heard the buzzing of a security system and then she noticed the rapid rotation of a yellow light just above the door. And then she noticed that the second light rapidly began its rotation of the colour green and the sound of the large metal door that began to open. Then Turtle noticed two very large female officers accompanied by a relatively older woman in a white lab coat enter the room. One of the officers stayed by the door while the other accompanied the woman closer to where she was standing at attention, concluding to Turtle that the non-officer was a medical personal of sort and then before she understood what was to come next the woman ordered her to open her mouth. Stunned she apparently did not act on the order quickly enough as she felt a sudden sharp pain to her left shoulder as the officer’s baton stuck her shoulder muscle.
