shevette's book!
Book #2 of three
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shevette's book!Book #2 of three
CHAPTER 13 |
If things had been different I might have complained about how tight the handcuffs were on my wrists or how my legs and back were hurting from the burn I had gotten. I might have even mentioned my headache. If things were different. They weren't. I had been unfairly arrested for things that I hadn't done. I was being discriminated against. That had never happened to me before. It scared me. My whole life was on a downhill swing and for what? Something that I had no control over. It wasn't my fault!
The ride downtown took about a half an hour. It would take my folks two or three hours to catch up with me again--if the car could, in fact, still be driven. They could do anything to me by then. I was afraid to move (if I could have). I was afraid to think. Hell, I didn't know what to think. Why were these cops treating me like this? I hadn't done any of the things they had accused me of. The only thing I could come up with was the tractor I had hit belonged to some friend of tiers and they were doing this for him. I hoped that was what it was. The only other reason that they might be arresting me was because I was a CB.
I didn't want to think about that. I knew the court system was rough on CB's. They were in a high crime group so whenever one of them was sent up it was for a lot longer than anyone else. I didn't want to think about it. I had spent my life following orders. I wasn't a bad person. There was no need to go rough on me. I wanted to do whatever was right.
The car I was in landed on top of a large building downtown. I recognized the courthouse. I had never realized that the jail was right across the street from it. The straps that held me to the car were released and I was pulled roughly from it. I was told to not resist even though I was trying my very best to be 100% cooperative. I got the impression that they wouldn't have been happy no matter what I did. The only thing I could hope to do was to not make them any more unhappy than they already were.
There was a small room sort of a structure on the roof. We went inside it. There were stairs leading down a flight. I prayed I wouldn't fall. With my hands still pinned behind me a fall down a flight of stairs could be fatal. I was pushed and shoved down the whole way. I was pushed to the left at the bottom of the stairs. A door was opened and I was shoved inside.
There was a wall of little lockers on my right. Most of the lockers had a key sticking out of it. The two officers locked thier weapons in a locker each and took thier keys. In front of me was a door with bars on it. Behind the barred door was a hallway about fiveteen meters long where there was another barred door, behind it was a wall with a heavy glass window in it. I could see someone come to the window and pear down the hall to where we were. One of the officers waived to the person behind the glass and I heard the barred door in front of me made a loud 'clack' sound. It was pushed open and I was shoved through it. I was escourted to the second door. I heard the first door close with a loud clang. There was a 'clack' behind me and I knew I was locked in. I jumped as the door in front of me clacked. I was pushed through this door and led to the right. The cops pushing and shoving me kept acting like I should to know which way I was suposed to go. I tried to guess but that made them more unfriendly.
We were in a long corridor with a board mounted on the wall to my right. There were heavy metal rings attached to it along it's length spaced at one meter intervals.
"Get your hands up where I can reach them and I'll release you!" the male cop told me.
My arms were stiff from being behind me for so long. I offered my hands to him for release.
"Get 'em up!" he told me.
I had them as high as I could. He grabbed my sore arm and pulled it up to where he could reach the handcuffs easily. I winced as he undid the cuff on my left wrist. He spun me arround and used the cuff to secure my right hand to one of the rings on the board. I had hoped to be freed. I didn't complain. I was certain my next stop would be a jail cell. I didn't want that. I would be perfectly happy to stand there chained to the wall until my parents came to get me. The thought of being locked in a cell was more than I could stand. The thought that there would be other people in there who were real criminals was very frightening. I was glad to stand where I was.
I was left alone in the hall. I hadn't been told anything since my arival at the police station. I wanted to sit but my hand was secured too high above the floor to allow me to get down where I could relax. I decided I would have to play thier little mind games until the folks came to get me back.
My right hand felt cold. The cuff that held it was on very tight. I tried to massage my arm. It didn't help. I looked at the shiny piece of steel that held me. This pair of handcuffs were just like the ones that had been used to hold me the first time I had been picked up. I examined the ring I was attached to. I didn't want to escape. No, I didn't want to even think of anything like that. If that cuff had let go I'm sure I would have resecured it myself and fast. I just wanted to see what they had built for the storage of prisoners. They didn't want me to escape any more than I did. The ring was very heavy duty steel and amply connected to the board on the wall. There was some writting on the board. It said, "NS."
At first the meaning didn't hit me. I looked again. Beside each ring were the leters NS. I looked down the length of the board. Way at the far end there were no letters beside the rings like the one I was attached to. My stomach felt like it was full of bile. I felt week in my knees. I squated down as far as I could with my right wrist above me and covered my face in disbelief. No, that's wrong. I guess I should say belief. I finally believed. I believed more.
When the new officer came for me about an hour later I was completely cried out. I was released from the wall and my hands were sequred behind me again. I was taken to a room with a desk in it and told to sit. I was left alone for a few minutes before a man and a woman returned.
"Sue Ann Tegor?" the man asked.
"Yes sir." I answered woodenly.
"You have been placed under arrest for reckless driving, leaving the scene, and resisting. Your family is on the way to get you. By the time they get here we should be through processing you and they can pay a bail of 5000 credits to get you out. Your court date is one month from today. This is Ms. Holt your appointed advisor. You can confer with her right now, if you want, and we should be able to process you by noon tommorrow. Do you understand everything I have explained to you?"
Did I say yes and opt for the quick way out or try to fight it. Easy choice. Get out of there as quick as possible!
"Yes sir."
"Do you need to speak to your advisor at this time?"
"No sir."
"Ok, you'll be taken to strip search then that should be all."
"Strip search?" I gasped.
The woman, Ms. Holt, my legal advisor shook he head "no" one time to warn me not to give this man a hard time.
"Do you have a problem with that?" the man asked me tensly.
I looked at my advisor one more time. She wanted me to submit to being searched. I didn't really have a choice.
"N..No sir. Excuse me sir."
He relaxed and almost smiled. Both he and Ms. Holt got up and left the tiny office. I sat there and wondered if I was suposed to follow or what. Everybody kept acting like I should know what thier little routine was. I didn't and it seemed like that was a very bad thing.
I sat there for a long while wondering if I was suposed to still be there or not. There were windows on the office door and wall looking out into a larger office with many desks. All of these other desks were empty. Every once in a while I would see someone in handcuffs being lead or pushed somewhere. I din't understand why they were letting me just sit there. Were they so sure that I wouldn't attempt ot escape? Maybe they were hoping I would so they could accuse me of more than they had already. I made up my mind not to budge for anything. The only thing I moved were my arms and hands and wrists. My right wrist was begining to really hurt. I prayed for the folks to hurry up and get me.
No one came to strip search me. I didn't like the sound of that. I wondered how they did it. Maybe it was done with some kind of camera. Maybe they were doing it as I sat there. Maybe they weren't going to do it because I had agreed to have it done. Why would I agree to let someone search me if I had something on me? Maybe what he had meant was the little seach the female officer had given me when I had been arrested. Maybe that wasn't legal and he had to get my permission so I wouldn't sue the police.
I didn't really think that was the case--I just hoped it was.
After a half hour or so this really big male cop came and shoved me to a room with several other prisoners already in it. The room stank of urine. I noticed that on the wall there were coat hooks. My hands were freed and I was told to undress. Several of the prisoners were already disrobing. I swollowed my pride and got out of my clothes. The guard whistled at my burn and wanted to know what had happened to me. I told him I had fallen asleep while tanning myself.
"You are going to be hurtin' tonight!" he commented. It was the first show of concern I had recieved since I had seen the police hover car landing out on the road. I was close to grateful.
After we had all undressed we were led into the next room which looked like the shower room back at school. How I wanted to be there instead of where I was! There was this one woman who had on some rubber gloves who picked us out one at a time and searched us in places you couldn't have paid me enough to look!
It was dehumanizing. I was told to lean against the wall with my feet spread as far apart as I could get them. I did as I was told and my ancles were kicked just like they had been when I had been arrested. It hurt. She felt my scalp first to be sure I didn't have anything hidden in my hair. My ears were looked into, my belly button, my backside was looked into with a lighted instrument, even my frontside. I was ordered to stand and turn arround. She looked into my mouth and stuck her fingers in and felt arround. It was a complete takeover of my body. It was rape without the sex. It was legal and I had to put up with it!
One of the women got into a scuffle with the woman searching us. Guards came in and subdued her with thier clubs. Then they tied her up and searched her anyway. They found some pouch hidden in her hair. It was held up and the woman who had been doing the searches said it looked like illeagal drugs. It was a real trophy for her. I looked at the woman tied up on the floor and wondered why they thought it was worth it.
We were allowed out of the shower room back to the room where we had left our clothes. My stuff had been gone through. My bikini bottom was missing and so were my shoes. I said nothing. I just got dressed. We were led to a room with a barred door. I could see cells on the other side. There were men and women locked up in them. I shook my head in disbelief.
We were divided up into groups. Men and women. Then we were further broken down into REGs and NSs (real people and No Soul people--like me)!
There was one real person there out of six of us. A man, he was locked into a cell by himself. There were three NS guys and another NS girl besides myself. The guys were locked into a cell that was already overcrowded. The other girl and myself were shoved into a cell crowded with NS women. I couldn't believe how many of us there were. About twenty NS women, thirty NS men, and that one real man. There was an empty cell. It must have been for real women. Each cell was the same size.
It's a wierd feeling being tossed into a cell of people that you know are bad. You look at them as if you expect anyone of them to step over and push your face in. I just stood there waiting for whatever was going to happen to happen. The other girl tried to find a place to sit. The woman she tried to sit next to mouthed off some and I knew there was going to be a fight. They exchanged words but the new girl sat down and made the woman scoot over some. I hoped I wouldn't have to do that. I just stood where I was and crossed my arms.
I felt really out of place. I was the only one not dressed in black. I had no shoes anymore (or my bikini bottom). I wanted my mommy and daddy.
"I see you took my advice." someone said loud enogh for me to think it was directed at me. I looked arround fearfully. I wished I was sitting on the floor next to the other new girl.
I saw Toni! "Toni!" I shouted gratefully. I knew somebody here. I was protected. I went straight over to her and she made a place on the floor near the bench she was sitting on. I sat down thankful for a familar face, even if I had only met her once. "Thank you. Am I glad to see you!"
"Really? What'd you do to get in?" she almost whispered.
I looked at her dumbly. I didn't know why she was whispering. What mattered was I had someone to talk to and I wanted desperately to explain my side of the story to someone--anyone. I began telling Toni what had happened, "Nothing! I had a car accident. It wasn't my fault but they said I was driving reckless, and that I left the scene of the accident which I didn't, and that I resisted arrest. I don't know what's going on."
"Keep it down a little, will ya'. There are people here trying to sleep. I know this is a biggie for you but try to act like you've got some dignity."
"Sorry, I guess I'm kind of wound up." I said nearly whispering. I wanted to impress Toni favorably. If it hadn't been for her I would still be standing in the middle of the floor wondering what to do.
"I'll bet everything was just fine 'til they had a gander at your permit. As soon as they saw that NS it was all over. You'll get used to it. Look stick with me and I'll get you out tomorrow."
"Oh my folks are coming for me. I'll be getting out in just a little while."
"Ok, good enough. You've got it whupped--for the time being. Do your folks have enough money to buy you out of it?"
"What do you you mean, Toni?"
"Well, unless you want to spend a couple of years locked up you're going to have to come up with about 15,000 credits, I guess, to buy out."
"Oh, I'll be alright. I've got a legal advisor. We'll be able to prove that I didn't do any of those things. My whole family was there. They're witnesses."
"Wrong! You're an NS. You can't prove shit! You try it your way. You'll find out! People like you and me don't have any rights. Haven't you learned that yet? I'll be out of here sooner than you will and I'll pay my way free."
"What'd you do, Toni?"
"Don't ever say that to someone in here. Say; 'what did they say you did?'. Don't ever accuse someone of doing something. They might decide you need your face slapped!"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to accuse you of anything, Toni."
"It's ok, kid. I know you're green."
"Thanks, Toni."
"No sweat. They think I was selling pills at school."
"Really? That's bad. How will you get out of that?"
"Money!"
"Money?"
"Money, kid. The guy I work for has bunches of it and he'll make sure I'm out there working for him. I've got it all taken care of."
"I'm glad. I still want to see you and talk some more..."
"Ok, ok! Don't broadcast it. We'll talk. Look they'll probily kick you out of school so next week you come down to a place called the Gas City bar. I'll be there most nights. I'll introduce you arround...and would you please start wearin' black! It's embarassing to be seen talking to you."
"Sorry, should I move?"
"Ya dweeb! Sit right where you are!"
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