More dark, rude thoughts of imprisoned girls as I lay in bed the other morning, my mind racing with naughty thoughts.
—
A wilful girl, she’d refused to strip when he’d taken her into the punishment cell. It hadn’t surprised him: defiance had blazed in her eyes since she’d been moved onto his Wing a week before – yet it had taken him this long to find the excuse to bring her here.
He’d undressed her himself, of course, swiftly removing her prison-issue dress and underwear as she struggled, then forcing her over the whipping bench. It had taken all of his strength to keep her overpowered as he buckled the straps into position.
And then he’d flogged her. No pre-set number of strokes of the birch, just “until you seem sorry – genuinely sorry”. That had taken a long time: defiance had only slowly given way to bravery, to valiant self-control, to sobs, to whimpers.
Afterwards, he’d picked her up when she’d crumpled to the floor. Lifted her eyes to his: “You took that well: I admire that.” And then he’d marched her, naked, back along the corridors, locking the barred door behind him as he left her to the hugs of her fellow inmates.
—
And then I thought the little scene needed further elaboration…
See, after punishing her? Well, with a naked girl, bent over, tied in position? Officers have certain, time-honoured if illicit, privileges…
She’d complained to the governor, as well a girl might. He’d listened carefully, then studied the CCTV screens in the corner of his office. The whole incident replayed before them, from her entry into the punishment chamber; he made her watch it with him.
“Such a shame if we ever lost a video like this. What with the internet. YouTube and so on. Now, where were we? You said you wanted to file a complaint? …. No. I understand…”
—
Of course, the system would have to be changed to prevent such abuses. The cameras would be turned off, to protect the whipped girl’s privacy. Any birchings would henceforth by witnessed by two officers, in addition to the one administering the flogging.
And should a prisoner complain about mistreatment after she’d been punished? Well, it would now be a case of her word against three members of staff. And loyalties to colleagues run deep. No governor would believe an inmate against three of his team, surely? And with the penalties for making false accusations so clearly displayed and understood, it would probably be better for a girl not to cause trouble…