(If you have not already, please read The Soft Boy Prison Chapter 1 then 2 for full context)
It was the summer, and the sun was setting over the Baltic Sea. The warm summer air was pushed gently by the sea breeze. The waves brushed the sand and pebbles. Casper laughed uncontrollably running wildly over the grassy dunes by the beach. His mum called for him to come back but the world outside was too distant for him to hear.
He was a hungry T-rex chasing after a doomed triceratops. Each step getting closer and closer to its prey. The triceratops tried to lose him as best he could through the thick and dense jungle, but it was no match for him. The triceratops jumped over a bog, but the T-rex was able to clear the bog too as Casper jumped over a log. His prey was getting closer. The triceratops tried to dive and run through a narrow ditch so that the T-rex couldn’t fit through, but the T-rex was a lot more agile, to the poor triceratops dismay, jumping right in and closing the distance. Casper jumped into the ditch still running. “Casper!” his mum called again, now in a frustrated tone. The T-rex was right behind the triceratops and opened his jaw wide to snap and grab it. Casper’s foot hit a rock.
Instantly, he was back on the Swedish coast in the present day falling forward with velocity. He put his hands out to catch himself but landed on his side then tumbled, rolling down the dune kicking up sand in a cloud of dust until he came to rest at the bottom. His hands and arms were grazed. His mind was blank. Shock. “CASPER!” he heard his mum shout angrily. He whimpered in a crescendo amalgamating into a loud, painful wail. Tears poured down his cheeses. His mum emerged over the top of the dune and saw him at last. She carefully descended the dune and approached him. He was crying uncontrollably. His mum lifted him up to her front and held him tight, then kissed his forehead. He cried hard into her chest.
“Shh, it’s okay Casper. Where’s my braveboy? This is why you listen to mummy okay?” she spoke to him in Swedish and he understand everything. “Don’t go running off away where I can’t see. Mummy can’t help when she can’t see you.”
The buzz of the alarm echoed. Casper opened his eyes. The light made him shut them again immediately. “Fuuuuck offfff!” murmured Holly from under her duvet. The morning had come. He sat up, the duvet falling off his chest. He stared at the floor with a sombre expression, his hands still cuffed to the wall beside him. He turned to look up at the ceiling and thought, I hope you can see me now mum, because I need your help now more than ever.
The guards ushered them downstairs. Showers were done first thing. Casper waited in line at the entrance to the male shower block. The same place Jane had played with him just 12 hours before. The guards let them in 8 at a time, the changeover was done quick so the line would move before you had to wonder why it wasn’t.
Casper looked at the otherguy’s heights while he stood in line. He was 5 foot 8. He always wanted to be a little taller than what he was since he stopped growing at 14. The guy in front of him was around 6 foot 3, and the guy behind him about 6 foot. Casper felt dwarfed. He remembered in school hearing how a man’s height was one of his most attractive features. He wondered if that’s why he could never get a date as a young man. The doors to the block opened and eight guys walked out past them, each with slightly wet hair. “Okay, next lot boys! C’mon!” a guard called standing at the door.
Past the doors, the other guys started striping immediately. Unaware of the routine, Casper went along with them, and throw his uniform into the big laundry bin with the rest of them. They then formed another line in front of two guards wearing disposable gloves. There was a trolley with small open boxes on it next to them. They were removing their chatity devices and then placing them into the boxes. Casper noticed the first guy put his points card into the box after his cage components were placed there. Casper suddenly realized he had left his points card in his cell. He began to panic. What would happen now? Would he have to get dressed again and go retrieve it? Would they shout at him? Will the other guys laugh? He was frozen. He figured he’d wait in line until it was his turn then pretend he had forgotten.
Finally, Casper was next in line. The guard began to remove his cage.
“Where’s your card?” asked another guard.
“Oh no, my card!” Casper acted surprised. “I’ve left it in my cell.”
“Are you new here?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, so if no one has already said, you should carry your points card with you at all times. It serves as an ID as well as being used for purchases and rewards. Your one will be the box without a card, so I’ll know which one. When you’re done, I’ll have my colleague escort you to your cell so you can retrieve it since inmates aren’t allowed in the main cellblock until duties are concluded, okay?”
“Yes” said Casper. He walked to the shower area where the two guys in front of him stood under shows, but none of them were showing. Casper was a little confused. He walked up to one of the shows then pushed the button. No water came out. He tried again, then again. Still nothing.
“The water isn’t turned on until we’re all ready man” the guy across from him said.
“Oh…right.” Casper replied shyly.
Casper looked around concealing his penis with both hands, but the others didn’t both to hide their shade as they were used to the routine. The floors were clean of any stains and grime, and the area had the weak smell of detergent. It must have been cleaned since he was last here. He inspected the dispensers on the wall. Bodywash, shampoo and conditioner. No bending down to pick up the bar soap, he joked with himself. The shower block was populated one by one with the other inmates, until all eight cubicles weree occurred. The guard who talked to Casper earlier walked to the front wall where a big lever protruded. She put her hand on it then looked at Casper.
“New boy! You’ve got 5 minutes. No dillydallying, okay?”
Casper nodded back to her still covering his penis. She turned the lever then the inmates pressed their buttons. The sound of falling water filled the block and the steam rose. The water felt amazing. He didn’t quite realize it yesterday while showing since he was dumbstruck with embarrassment, but now, he could fully appreciate it. The water was the perfect temperature. It felt so comfortable.
When he lived in the hideout with the thieves, he would wash with a sponge and a big bucket of collected rainwater, a lot of the time in temperatures just above freezing. Sometimes he wouldn’t be able to wash for as much as a month at a time. His skin would get so dry and itchy, his hair got so greasy, and the smell was unbearable. Now he was bathing like a human again. Itfelt wonderful.
“One minute left!” called the guard. Casper was shaken out of his daze of relaxation. He forget to put on any soap or shampoo. Quickly he scrambled to put on as much as he could, scrubbing his body vigorously. He was washing the shampoo out when he heard the call.
“Times up!”
The guard pulled the lever and the water stopped. There was still some shampoo in his hair, but nothing could be done now, except drying it off. The other guys, walked out of the shower area and round the corner to a stack of folded towels. They each took one. Casper did too. When they were finished drying themselves off, the guards had them line up again to have their cleaned chattity devices reattached. Another tray with fresh uniforms was waiting.
“You’re a medium right?” asked the guard locking Caspers cage back on.
“What? My dick?”
“No, your uniform. The card has your sizes info. You don’t have yours with you so I’m asking so I can give you the right ones.”
“Oh…. Yeah. I’m a medium”
“Great!” The guard stood up after securing Caspers cage. She was tall, taller than he was. She wasckoned him over to the tray with the uniform bottoms and tops.
“Get dressed and we’ll go get your card.”
They both left the shower area, with the guard walking behind him. They walked through the empty cell block; some guards were looking into the empty cells. It was quiet other than the sound of the guards’ high heels clacking on the floor and her keys jingling. Casper felt the need to break the ice with the guard escorting him.
“Sorry, you have to do this. I’m just not used to the routine yet. No one told me these things”.
“It’s fine, I do things like this a lot with new inmates. Is there anything else you want to know while I’m here?”
“Yeah, like, everything! I read the contract that detailed the daily order of events, but I could use a wee refresher.”
“Okay, so every morning we turn on lights and wake up at 7.00am. The cells open, and then it’s shows for all inmates, both male and female. Then we serve breakfast, and at 8.30, we make the morning announcement in the mess hall regarding which cohort will be responsible for what duties that day.”
“Cohort?” asked Casper curiously.
“Yeah, throughout your time here you are placed into a group of ten people who you’ll be doing all of your daily duties with. Here in Cell Block B, we have cohort groups, I, J, K, L, M and N. Since you’re new, at announcement today they’ll say which one you’re going to be in.”
“After the announcement you’ll go with your cohort to do your daily work. You will either be doing kitchen, laundry, shows, factory, or farm work…Or repairs. Currently the exterior of Cell Block A is being renovated so there’s also that.”
“You break for lunch at 12.30 for one hour, then get back to work. In the afternoon, once the overseeing head guard is satisfied with your given task, you’re dismissed onto communaltime, and are free to go back to the cell block, the yard, library or the gym. However, if you want to earn points on your card you can stay and do additional work. One hour of additional work is worth ten points.”
“After that is dinner at 6 o’clock for one hour, then communal time is continued, followed by return to cells, count, and lights out at 9 o’clock”.
“Thanks.”
“Any further questions?”
“Why are some guards, looking in the cells”? asked Casper.
“Cell inspection. It’s done every morning. If you think you can hide something from us, think again.”
They arrived at Caspers cell. He looked on his shelf, then his bunk, but couldn’t see his card. He forget where he had put it. Stressed, he started pulling up his duvet and sheets trying to see where it might have gone. The guard stood annoyed. This guy can’t be for real, she thought. It’s not like you have many things to mind as an inmate. I’m I going to need to punish him for this. She moved her eyes down to the corner of the cell next to his bunk. A white card lay on the floor. She carefully knelt down and picked it up.
“Casper Higgins, 273418, size medium uniform, date of birth 1st of January 2009.” Casper stopped dismantling his bunk and turned to look at her. “That’s you, isn’t it?” she held up his card.
Casper nodded. She looked obviously annoyed. “Casper, I know you’re new, but you should be more organized. I saw this without even trying. You need to be on top of things because we won’t fix all your problems. We’ve plenty responsibility of our own to mind.”
Casper was quiet. His hands fiddled with his uniform, he looked down in shame and nodded. “I’m sorry…”
“Sorry isn’t good enough”, she said with her hands on her hips. “You have to get yourself in order and correct this” she looked at him with disdain.
“Perhaps I’ll give you something to remember this by. Turrn around.” he obliged.
She pulled out a pair of handscuffs fromher wait belt and cuffed him behind his back, then pushed him face first into the bunk so he was bent over. She pulled down his bottoms so his buttocks were exposed.
“I’m sorry.” he whimpered “I won’t do it again.”
“I hope so, but I’m going to make your body remember this. Two lashes, then report to the mess hall, okay?”
“Yes Miss.” said Casper in a sad but accepting tone.
She pulled out her riding crop from her belt, then touched the impact end on his balls. He moaned softly. She laughed. “This is how men should be delt with. I love this job.”
She lifted the implementation then swung it down crashing into his bum. A shock of pain pulsated through his body as well as pleasure. He let out a small yelp.
“Are you going to store your card in an identifiedfiable location and have it on you at all times while outside of your cell from this moment on?”
“Yes, Miss.” he whimpered “I’m so sorry.”
She smiled, “Good boy, I want you to remember this next oneNow. Cause if this happens again it’ll be twenty times, not two.”
She lifted the crop higher this time and brought it down on his other bum cheese with force. No pleasure this time, just pain.
“AH!” Casper let out in another yelp. He was stunned, there were tears swelling in his eyes. He could not speak.
“Ah, maybe that was a bit much bit you get the message.”
She removed his cuffs and let him stand up. Casper pulled up his bottoms then she handed him his card. She looked at him coldly.
“Get going to the mess hall. You don’t want to be last in line for your breakfast.” Casper nodded and sniffled. His bum was stinging.
The mess hall was big. Everyone from the block was there. There were around ten big tables. It felt exactly like the fuel zone at school. As he stood in the queue he did a quick head count. There were around eighty inmates. Casper stood in the queue with his tray and plate. It seemed to be moving relatively quickly. The smell coming fromm behind the counter was lovely. Hanging on the wall was a board displaying shop item prices. It was an extensive list, with anything from snacks to kitchen devices and toiletries. He darted his eyes to various items listed. TOOTHBRUSH: 10PTS, BISCUITS 5PTS, KETTLE 100PTS, CRISPS SALT AND VINEGAR 5PTS, TOASTER 150PTS.
“Hey, you! Come here!” a voice called to him.
It was the guard serving the breakfast behind the counter. Without realising it he was next in line. “Sorry!” he exclaimed. Was he going to get punished for this as well? At this point he was unsure what would result in punishment. Surely not in front of everyone in the room? She said nothing then placed a plastic cup of milk on his tray, followed by food on his plate with her tongs. Two link sausages, bacon, two fried eggs, and black pudding. His heart jumped. He loved fried eggs. He looked up at her with joy.
“Thank you!” he exclaimed.
“You’re welcome. Now sit down.” she replied.
He wandered thehall looking for a place to sit. He was unsure what groups were where and where he would be welcome. He didn’t see Holly, or even anyone he recognized from the bus. He then saw one guy sitting on one end of a benchmark. He looked about 18 or 19, was quite skinny, had ginger hair and wore glasses. He also wore a long sleep shirt under his uniform. He fulfilled the quiet nerd architecture of every American school drama. Casper figured sitting across from him was a safe bet.
“H…hey. Is it OK if I sit here?” The nerd looked up from his tray at Casper. “Yeah, it’s fine.” he replied shyly.
Casper sat with his tray, his bum still singing from his punishment as it touched the benchmark. He tucked into his food; he couldn’t remember the last time he had a full breakfast. It was so fresh and delicious; the link sausage had such a pleasant texture. The nerd glanced up at him in awe as Casper ate.
“Are you new?” the nerd asked.
Casper ceased his feeding frenzy and swallowed. “Aye, I arrived yesterday. What about yourself?”
“Two weeks. My name’s Mark.”
“I’m Casper.”
“The food is good, isn’t it?!”
“Sure is!” Casper smiled. “Beats rations and having to steal them.”
“So, you’re in for stealing?”
“Yeah. What about you?”
“I killed my dad.”
Casper’s smile Disappeared. “Oh…” There was a long pause. “I thought that guys sent here were not afraid of those kinds of things?”
Mark looked down in shame.
“My lawyer made a really good case for me and was able to pull the right strings to get me here. This American guy, he worked hard for me.”
Caspers eyes lit up in surprise. “American! Was his name Mr Willow?”
Mark, jolted also in surprise, “Yeah, that was him! Was he your lawyer too?”
“Yeah, he was, that’s bizarre.” replied Casper. “Perhaps he deals with cases involving young guys in tricky situations.”
“Maybe.” said Mark. “But without him I’d probably be rotting in a lot more horrible ofa place right now. My dad’s death was an accident. He was continuously abusive to me, my mum and brother since he came back from the war. Granted, he’d been dealing with a lot of psychological trauma, but he had no right to put his hands on us the way he did. After he’d have rows at my mum, I’d see her the next day with black eyes and bruises. She cried all the time it was horrible.”
“One night I came home from working at the ration store, I ended up having to work late that night but forget to call to say so. When I arrived, my dad was sitting at the table drinking gin. He was drunk and pissed off. Started complaining that I wouldn’t tell him anything, then got more aggressive saying that he wished I was aborted. I went to leave the room after getting some snacks but he blocked my exit. Started screaming at me that I ruined his life, then next thing I know, he grabs my shirt. I throw him off, but in his drunken state he couldn’t balance himself as well as usual, and he falls andHit his head on the kitchen table.”
“He died in hospital two days later. I got charged for manslaughter. I really wished It could have ended differently. Like he could have got the help he needed and stopped drinking so he could be my dad again. The dad I always knew and loved when I was a wee boy, who took me and my brother to the swimming baths and taekwondo every Saturday, helped me with my homework and lifted me up when I was down, but no. It ended on the decline and it was all my fault. I still love him; I hate myself and probably always will. I just really want this all to be a bad dream and wake up.”
“My dad used to beat me too”. Casper admitted after a moment of silence. “Had a big problem with drinking as well. He dislocated my arm one-time”
“Shit.” said Mark.
“The last time I saw him was when the war began. I got the draft letter but my gran promised to hide and take care of me and dad at her cottage in Oban. My dad decided. He was an ex-serviceman himself and while his alcoholism prevented him from re-enlisting, he chose to stay in Glasgow because he viewed it as his sworn duty to defend it from the Russians. He called me a coward and a deserter for not going to fight. The day I said goodbye and got on the train he looked at me with disgust. You’re no son of mine, he told me. Or something along those lines. I still love him too; I know how you feel. I also wanted it to end different.”
“Do you know if he’s still alive?” asked Mark.
Casper was suddenly sad.
“I went back to Glasgow just before the war ended. I went to the house first. There was nothing left. The whole neighborhood had been levelled. Just bricks, plumping and glass in a heap of destruction. I spent two weeks pulling pieces up from where the house was. I wanted closure, that he was gone for sure, but found nothing. I did find a photo though, in its cracked case. One of me, mum and dad on holiday in Sweden when I was about 5 or 6. I kept it with me until I was arrested.”
“That’s really shit Casper. I hope things will get better for us.” Mark held out his hand towards him. He smiled. “Let’s be friends. I think we might need each other.” Casper smiled back at him and shook his hand.
“Yeah, that would be nice. Great to meet you.”
“So, are you from Glasgow originally then?” asked Mark.
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