Thirty-Two
____________
A Weekend to Forget
Current Svalbard Super Y-MAX Perimeter Temperature: 3 Celsius / 37
Fahrenheit
The visiting six teens entered
the conference room restrained and led by C/O Volchesky, C/O Krims, and two dog
handlers with their growling dogs restrained by black leather leashes.
“I’z a murderer, I killz
people,” shouted the Australian teen, Stanley. When no one responded to his
statement, he repeated it.
“You silly punk,” Baojia
whispered to Stanley while the group seated itself at a long table, “you are
just a baby in your mind.”
Stanley could not interpret the
youth’s words, but he clearly saw their potency behind Baojia’s piercing stare.
“Our Maintenance Supervisor,
Godfrey Laroux, will be joining us shortly,” announced Warden Khan. “He is
assisting with the preparation of our facility tour. Our four in-house
inmate sponsors will join us at a later date.”
Expectant looks begged the
warden to continue.
“Welcome to the icy land of the
midnight sun ladies and gentlemen,” she greeted.
“Yeah, welcome you big bad
boys,” Officer Volchesky added, “and you silly, tough girls.”
“We’ll start off with a few
introductions,” Warden Khan continued. Each member of the group stood briefly,
gave their first names and the city and country where they were from, then
sat down quickly.
When time arrived for Stanley to
respond, he stood and stated, “My name is Stanley and I’m an alcoho-- oops,
wrong meeting, sorry.”
No one laughed.
Stanley’s sponsor, Mr. Philip
Thomas, apologized for the youth's foolishness and informed the group that they
were residents of Melbourne, Australia.
“Thank you, Mr. Thomas,” said
Warden Khan.
Looking toward the next visiting
teen C/O Krims asked, “And how about you?”
Letitia replied, “I’d like a
Super Y-MAX burger, a small order of fries and a strawberry shake.”
Stanley broke out into laughter
along with Letitia while the rest of the group gazed at the pair in silence.
Renie and Cornell exchanged
glances of disgust with Investigative Journalist Poppy Field’s while Akiko
Takahashi whispered into Poppy’s ear, “I sort of thought it was funny.”
“It appears my teen has
experienced a slight glitch in her mental health,” Letitia’s sponsor, Mr.
Graham Zelany, said.
C/O Volchesky added, “You not be
so funny feeling by end of week, I tell you.”
“With all the fun and games
aside,” Warden Khan looked around the table, “I believe we can get started on a
tour of the facility. We have a full day and week ahead of us, so let’s
not sit around here any longer.”
As the warden lead the way, the
large group proceeded out of the staff lounge, down the long hallway, and out
to the prison’s main corridor.
Only the teens, Correctional
Officers, dogs with handlers, and warden entered the first large room, an
inmate dining area constructed for future use.
“Hopefully one day,” Warden Khan
said, “this place will be in use. Our goal is rehabilitation, but that it not
the full consensus of all the nations associated with this facility.”
C/O Volchesky commented, “My
people not want chow hall, they want injection room with nice hospital bed with
straps to lie on, if you know what I say.”
The six teens understood what he
meant.
Outside of the room, Poppy
Fields took some time to talk with Cornell, “I understand you and Renie worked
on the original Y-MAX desert prison.”
“Yes, ma’am, we did. Then we
went to work on the female Y-MAX prison for quite a few months.”
“So,” Poppy continued, “you two
must get along very well.”
“That be a fact, Miss Poppy. I
think it be because we both have our hope and life in God’s hands.”
“Interesting… and now you two
are here at Svalbard.”
“We came up here before that
female prison was completed. Ren and I were the only two youths considered for
this job up here at first. I don’t know why, but we were.”
“It is amazing sometimes how
things work out in life.”
“It sure is, Miss Poppy. It sure
is.”
Warden Khan returned from the
room and joined the others.
“Can I talk when the other teens
are not around?” Akiko inquired of the warden.
“Oh. Yes, of course, Miss
Takahashi. I know you are attending as an observer, but you are a reporter
after all, so feel free to join in all of our discussions.”
“Thank you, Miss Khan.”
“But keep in mind that we are
here to focus on the visiting teens and our in-house teens’ discussions with
them. And we also want Inmates Stone and Purdue to be of primary focus. It
is vital that the inmates have a full opportunity to interact with each other
in hopes that these visiting youth offenders leave here with something,
anything, that will deter them from continuing a fruitless life of crime.”
“Yes, Warden Khan, thank you.”
The large double doors to the
inmate dining hall opened. When the teens filed out, Stanley tripped another
youth, Antonella from Peru, claiming it was an accident. Tensions began to
rise within the teens of the group.
“I think this boy trouble, Miss
Khan,” C/O Volchesky whispered. “I keep eye of eagle on him.”
“Thank you, Vladimir, and if he
continues with being unruly… you know what to do,” the warden smiled.
The next stop was a wing where
eleven teen inmates were housed. The outer doors of most cells were open,
revealing the inner doors and giving the resident inmates a view of the
visiting teens.
“Hey, puppy dog,” one teen
yelled from his cell to Stanley, “come in here so I can put a leash on you.”
“Shut up, looser,” Stanley
replied.
“You think you’re tough out
there, don’t you little boy?” the prisoner replied.
“Tougher than you!”
The group could see the
uneasiness in Stanley’s eyes.
“I’ll cut your heart out,”
another youth said to Stanley in his native Russian language.
C/O Volchesky gladly interpreted
the youth’s words.
Without thinking, Stanley
replied, “Yeah, you wish.”
C/O Volchesky informed the caged
teen what Stanley had said, but he did not tell Stanley the youth’s next reply.
When questioned by Stanley as to the contents of the other teen’s message,
the C/O said, “Oh, it be nothing for you to worry about, it will spoil your
lunch if I tell you.”
While each visiting teen was
placed into one of the unoccupied cells scattered around the cellblock. The
warden informed them, “We will see you all in two days. Enjoy your stay.”
The rest of the group departed
the unit leaving the visiting teens behind to experience what life had to
offer them behind the razor wire in a Super-Max prison.
“That’s cold, man, cold,” Renie
commented once the group was out in the corridor.
“Colder than a Polar Bear’s
hug,” Cornell said.
Renie looked at his friend and
stated, “You reap what you sow.”
“I hear ya, man, I hear ya.”
Next Chapter: Tears of Blood
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