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The Roommate Chapter 6 Hampden Surprises
I dropped my boxers. As I stood there naked, I do not know if I had ever felt more vulnerable, and more violated. Since I was absolutely looking down at the floor, I only heard Lt. Hughes pull on a pair of rubber gloves. "Look straight forward" the Lieutenant commanded. I noted now how his voice had changed and sounded both absolutely professional and absolutely commanding. I lifted my face so that I was looking straight ahead. "Open your mouth." I opened my mouth and his plastic gloved hand moved around the inner side of my mouth, and then around the gums, both inside and outside. "Move your tongue up." Again I automatically obeyed his voice which oozed authority. I moved my tongue up, and with his finger again he explored the bottom of my oral cavity. "Keep your arms tight again the sides of your body." My arms snapped to the ordered position. Once again I noted how much when you are naked, you become much more compliant The Lieutenant then ran his fingers over the outside of my right ear. Then he pushed the ear forward to really examine behind it. Finally he used his little flashlight to see in my ear canal, and then of course his second finger entered and felt for any foreign objects in the ear. This procedure was then followed by the other ear. "Take your fingers and run through your hair, and then after you have combed through your hair shake you head vigorously." Again I followed my orders. After I had performed the ordered actions, he ran his fingers through my hair also. "Hands and arms up at a forty five degree angle." As soon as I had assumed this required position, the Lieutenant adjusted my arms a bit to better place them at his desired angle. Then the Lieutenant ran his fingers through my arm pit hair and probed the skin underneath. "Lower your hands and then wiggle your fingers." I complied. Then his hand gently rubbed over my chest and then my back, and then down to the beginning of my butt. All that had happened so far was demeaning, but I was well aware the most complete violation and demonstration of the institution's control over me was about to come. The Lieutenant then gave the order I knew would come, and been the most dreading. But the command that came was not what I was expecting. "Use your left hand to grab hold of your penis and move it up as close to perpendicular as possible." was the order I received. I did this, and the Lieutenant then bent over and ran his hands lightly around, and then to my utter shock he grabbed the end of my penis and put pressure on it to open up the piss slit. With the slit open again the other hand's little flashlight looked down into the piss slit and with the pressure he was exerting he also could see a bit down the urethra. "Stand and use your hands to move your cock and balls up and out of the way for me to examine under and around them. Again I felt myself blush a bit, and again I knew that this final area of what most would consider their most private body area was examined by being brushed over and looked at under the light of his little light. He then dropped my penis, and then the order I had expected was indeed given. "Bend your body over as close to parallel with the floor as possible, and also grab you ass cheeks and pull them apart. Hold this position until told to move. The last commend was said a bit louder, and if possible with even more authority. I reached around and pulled my butt cheeks apart and bend over as far as I could. I knew I was not parallel, but it was the best I could do. The Lieutenant must have realized that I had done my best as he did not say anything. His first command after I was in this humiliating position surprised me. "Cough three times and then continue to hold this position," I guess sensing my surprise, the Lieutenant explained. "Coughing released muscle tone in the rectum for some reason, and so we first have the person being searched cough three times to loosen and perhaps even expel anything hidden up the rectum. I did not feel in any position to make a comment, and so I retained my position and coughed the required three times. One thought did come to my mind. In this position, the one in command and the one under command are not only mentally clear but bodily clear as well. Only one in a very servile position would allow himself to be placed bowing before the superior person, but also under that person's command exposing perhaps the most private of all body areas. Then, as I dreaded, and also as I found strangely exciting, I felt his fingers running over my butt crack, actually beginning with the perineum and running up to my anus. He then moved across the anus and all the way up to the end of the crack. "Stay in position." That statement was said with such cold authority I would not have been surprised had he added the word "convict" at the end of the order. I then felt pressure from his finger, and as I felt that pressure, the Lieutenant said more gently than the command he had just given. "You will feel pressure now but it should not be painful." He was correct, and I did feel his finger enter my rectum and probe around in my alimentary canal. I had had a prostate exam for my college physical and his probe seemed similar to what I had experienced for that. He pulled out. "Stand again with your hands out at the forty-five degree angle again." Again, I followed the order. Then I felt the Lieutenant's hands make a final check under my arm pits. When both of my arm pits had been looked at I received the order for which I was desperately wanting. "You may get back into your clothes. The exam is finished." As I was putting my shorts back on, the Lieutenant added. "Offenders are subject to a strip search both before and after any visit with someone from the outside. I believe most officers dislike doing them..." here he paused, and then continued with a bit of a smile on his face. "...although I am sure from that experience that the person being searched is much more unhappy than the searcher." "Yes SIR, I am sure you are correct." I agreed as I got my boxers back on, and equally hastily put on my pants to cover my "ants" and finished clothing myself. I wonder how long this search really took. It seemed very long to me, but I suspect it really went fairly quickly. When I was redressed, the Lieutenant opened the door and announced to Beau, "Next." To me the Lieutenant said wait by the door for my search of your roommate to be complete and then you two will be ready to enter into Hampden Correctional. I believe the Lieutenant phrased that sentence in that way to let me know that perhaps it would be good for us to really know by experience what being an inmate was like. I wonder if the Lieutenant really was not one hundred percent in agreement with the humiliation and subjugation to which persons sentenced to our prisons endured. As Beau entered the examination room, I wondered how Beau would react and how my relationship with Beau might be changed by my getting him into this situation. I continued to stand just where the Lieutenant had instructed me to stand. As I shifted in position, suddenly I realized that before my strip search, I might have wondered around the area a bit, but after that search somehow I felt I had to remain exactly where I had been ordered. Then a thought entered my mind. Perhaps the people who control prisons... perhaps even my own Father, really did understand this psychological reaction, and realized that it did have a justification for security, but it also had a function in the mental acceptance of an inmate's punishment and subjection to the prison. As I watched co's enter through the door in front of me, I tried to move my mind into other areas, but it was hard to concentrate when I was now surrounded with the environment physically and mentally of punishment and subjugation. I must have really spaced out with all this cogitation, because I heard the door to the examination room open and out Beau bounded, straight to me. "Well roommate, it seems like some serious payback is in order for you. You may have to wait until I think up something appropriate, but I'll come up with something." About that time Lt. Hughes came out from the examination room. "Well now you two are ready to enter Hampden Correctional Facility now." I wondered if this phrase is the one the Lieutenant used for new inmates when they entered into the facility. However I did not have too much time because the Lieutenant spoke into the microphone which was attached to a small pocket on his right shoulder. "Open door 8 for three to enter the yard." Again somewhere another officer who could see us although I had no idea where he was, unlocked the door with a click and we all entered a space between two locked doors as the door we had just entered locked behind us. No more comment was made but after the door locked behind us, the door to the outside opened before us. We were now inside and we walked down a sidewalk. To our left was the building from which we had just exited, and to our right was an extension of the three fences which surrounded the whole facility. I could see that the fence which still separated us from the inside...and of course also separated those inside from access to the building...really was rather like a fence bay window and fencing off the door to the building. The three main fences went up and over the top of the building. When we arrived at the gate which would actually put us totally inside, the Lieutenant went to a scanner by the door and showed his ID, and then had both Beau and myself show our visitors id's to a scanner at the gate. After a moment the lock on the gate clicked and we were now definitely inside. I do not know how Beau felt, but I felt much more "inside" than I did at Enfield. "As you can tell we are very serious about keeping the offenders sent to us inside this facility. You of course have noticed that there are no big walls anymore. However the steel fourteen feet fences topped with razor wire do most of the job of telling our offenders that there is no escape. However we also tell them, and it is true, that when the facility was being constructed underneath the fences is a solid concrete wall eighteen inches thick, and going twelve feet under the surface. All pipes and other services that come into the facility are of a diameter smaller than an adult's circumference, and so "Shawshank Redemption" will occur here. Also between the second fence and the outside fence the space covered in gravel has explosive charges that will not destroy the fence but would maim a person so severely that he would not be able to climb or resist." I wondered to myself which is crueler to in inmate – the old style where a tall wall would keep the outside world not only outside but out of sight, or this new system which allows the inmate to see the outside world which seems so tantalizingly close, but so impossible to attain. As we began walking across the grassy area crisscross by sidewalks we could see a whole series of two story buildings. I could see three buildings with grassy areas outside them, and three with grassy areas, but those grassy areas were themselves enclosed by a high fence topped with razor wire. The Lieutenant noted my interest. "All offenders inside this facility are considered dangerous, but some have shown a willingness to accept correction and begin obeying society's rules by following the rules of this facility. For those offenders we grant them some latitude when allowed outside. However other offenders have not demonstrated this acceptance of correction, and those have only outside the building recreation on concrete pads and surrounded by fences. Finally there is one final recreational area which federal guidelines require us to provide and which is attached to the SHU, and for those offenders who still show they are not willing to follow rules, the offender is allowed outside only in an individual fenced area, which on a very thick concrete pad and also is fenced on all the other sides by fencing even to top of the area which is twenty feet about the concrete pad. Inside this enclosure there is a basketball and basketball hoop. If the offender does not want to shoot hoops, that offender may run the perimeter of the cage, do pushups and other exercises, as the offender wishes. Climbing the fence, and even leaning against it is not allowed, and at a certain point of pressure against the fence, the fence is automatically electrified. Normally no one other than officials are allowed to observe and visit the SHU, but you two will be allowed to do so by order of the Warden and the supervisory committee. I detected some polite protest here as my Father was chair of the supervisory committee, and clearly the guards were not happy at this exception and the supervisory committee's allowing us this access. I thought about making some comment, and then decided almost any comment I would make would only exacerbate the situation. Inside all the fences Beau and I looked around and found Hampden was a lot like Enfield. "Looks like every prison bought the same plans. Must be an example of government economy – one set of plans for every prison built in the last few years." Beau commented to me. I thought he said this quietly enough so that the Lieutenant would not hear his remark. "You two are very perceptive. The basic organization of both Enfield and here are indeed the same. All the pods are separated. If you went to almost any prison built in the last ten years all across these free states you would probably see this same general plan. It achieves a separation of the offenders into manageable units. You may have seen in all those old prison movies where there are those mammoth cell houses with a thousand or more offenders on several tiers of cells. Well one of the results of putting all those inmates together is that you made it possible for them to outnumber the officers assigned to keep them under control by perhaps as fifty or more to one. Then if even one inmate would somehow find a way to get free from the cells, the guards are instantaneously far outnumbered. In this organization, even if inmates in one pod achieve some control of their pod the other pods are still secure. The prison authorities can lock down every door and even all the cells inside the pods from a central location and therefore the authorities can concentrate on the source of the problem and not have to worry about inmates from one pod involving other pods. When the emergency lockdown is established from control central, even guards' keys will not unlock doors to the central yard, and indeed only from a control panel in that building from which you just exited can the facility wide lockdown be released. And of course that release can be pod by pod. Through closed circuit cameras, the central control could actually control almost every door, cells, and non-cell in the place. This amount of control is possible at Enfield to some degree, but here at Hampden there are even more measures that can be used...which are classified, but sufficient to say, I can not imagine a way that the inmates could achieve control of any significant portion of even one pod and certainly not the whole facility." Beau and I looked at the Lieutenant, nodded our heads in agreement. I am not sure that I really understood all the details of what the Lieutenant had just explained, but I did understand enough to feel that out here between pods my chance of being attacked by inmates was very minimal. Beau was a quick study in these terms. As Beau had once explained to me, when you are in charge of a large farming operation which includes more than a thousand indentured hard labor offenders... (Beau's euphemism for slaves) which is the term he used for those persons leased from the state to do all the work in agriculture and other labor intensive activities since the oil crisis and since in all but my New England states almost no state had facilities such as we were visiting. All the offenders had been "leased" (read sold) to farms and other businesses to do the work which made those states so prosperous)... those in charge had to know how to keep their labor under control. Beau therefore nodded in agreement to the Lieutenant's explanation. "SIR I do understand as I come from Tennessee, and our family has indentured servants both on our agricultural and industrial operations. Securing those servants to keep them safe from one another and also under clear control so that those servants realize that they must obey as any other choice is going to result in pain and suffering for the individual who does not obey, is essential to our operation as well." The Lieutenant looked at Beau, "Yes I have done a bit of a study on the rest of the country's use of persons who break the law as virtual slaves. Am I correct that persons who have been convicted and then leased to an operation such as your family's, that these offenders are kept under control by being kept naked, having steel collars wrist and ankles cuffs welded on them and being kept in chain gangs when at work and in cages at night?" "Well you have the general idea correct, but the indentured workers are looked after, given very nutritious food and at night enjoy a lot of freedom in their pens." I looked at Beau. "Beau did you really just say that your servants have freedom in the cage? How is that different from saying that these offenders have freedom' in their cell block? I don't think you seriously can make that argument." "Well Frank you'all need to come down some time and see that the workers get to really have a care and concern for one another and make a pretty happy work unit. You might be surprised." I gave Beau my look which says "Seriously, You really want to buy that story?" The Lieutenant ended our mini debate by stopping us in the middle of a fairly large grassy area, with cement sidewalks radiating to all the pods, and then converging on a large rectangular building that was very different than all the pods which were really large squares. "What is that?" I asked not realizing that I really had cut off the Lieutenant who had stopped us at the intersection of several sidewalks from several pods, and all leading to a very wide sidewalk leading to the large rectangular building. "As I was about to explain, the large building is the central dining hall. All inmates who are classified as class 1 can walk to the dining hall...under escort of course... and then go through the serving line, where they are given fifteen minutes to eat." "What percent of the inmates have that freedom to make this trip across the commons?" I asked. "About ten percent." was the Lieutenant's response. "Mostly these walks allow large carts to take meals to the pods by porters under escort. There has to be some access to the outside for certain classifications of offenders by law. However in a facility like Hampden, not a significant number of offenders meet the criteria for that somewhat free walk. However in the design of the facility, enough space had to be allowed just in case the inmates proved to be so well behaved and so dedicated to rehabilitation that they would earn that freedom." "So...for inmates here at Hampden the idea that they would be walking across this area to the cafeteria is more a theoretical than a real possibility." Beau stated. "Sir, I would have to agree that your conclusion is mostly correct, SIR." the Lieutenant stated very factually. With this interchange, the Lieutenant led us over to one of the square pods. We were now used to the microphone notification to someone, and then hearing the door unlock, and allowing us to enter. When we entered we realized we were in a sort of vestibule with a door leading to the left and another to the right. Again the Lieutenant notified someone and the door to the right slid open. When we entered I was surprised to see all the individual cell doors were open and there were inmates moving all over the area. There were many in the open area in the middle, and there were inmates leaning over the railing of the sort of balcony that ran around the cells on the second level. There was a continual din of noise of inmates shouting to other inmates from one level to another, and several other inmates working on projects at tables like painting and reading and playing games. It was a bit like what we had seen at Enfield. Here inmates were all in brown slacks without a belt, with the pants being held up by elastic at the waist line. Each inmate had those black clunky shoes, and a brown shirt with a white undershirt peeking out above the neckline. I noticed that each inamte also had his inmate number stenciled in at least two inch letters on the back of the brown shirt he wore. I then understood the refence to "back number" that I had heard several guards make as we had moved around both facilities. Some of the inmates were sewing. I looked over and was amazed to see that they were assembling American flags. The Lieutenant noted my surprise. "This is an honor block for this facility. Some in this pod are actually taking high school classes by correspondence, and actually others are enrolled in college correspondence classes. We even are experimenting with one class in which an instructor from Springfield College comes here to teach the intro composition class. That class is going to be a model for other state facilities and schools, if it is successful " "Can we look in one of the cells?" Beau asked. "Inmates are used to cell inspections at any time by co's, but civilian inspection might cause some yelling. I might suggest you ask if you can look inside a cell." I wanted to look inside, and so I walked toward one of the open cell doors on the ground floor. There was an inmate standing by the door." "SIR," I began, and noted the very startled look on the face of the inmate. I realized that "SIR" was not a familiar means of addressing them. "we are trying to understand the corrections system, and would appreciate being able to look inside your cell." The inmate looked at me. "Fuck off pervert." I was shocked. I turned to Beau, who was trying to keep from laughing. "Well you asked." was his only comment. Lieutenant Hughes just looked at me with a face devoid of expression. I was flustered, and wanted to get out of there. Beau of course decided to prolong my discomfort by going over to an inmate who was knitting a scarf. Beau obviously had asked Lieutenant Hughes about the knitters because he said to the inmate. "Your work making these for school children is really going to be appreciated in these winters in Massachusetts." The inmate looked at him, and I was waiting for his reaction. I was secretly hoping his comment would receive the same attacking response I had received. "Yes, I have a couple of kids going to school myself, and I imagine each scarf is going to my kids." "Thank you" was all Beau said. He then went over and began talking to Lieutenant Hughes. Then I saw the Lieutenant go over to the inmate with whom Beau had just been speaking. I wondered if the inmate had said or done something for which he would be punished. I wondered over to see some inmates who were reading a book. When I got there I discovered the book they were reading was a college textbook for writing, which happened to be the same book my professor had used in the freshman comp class I was taking at Williams. "I'm using that same book at my college." I tried as an opening remark. "What do you do with it?" the inmate retorted. "Well the professor gave us reading assignments in it. It was after my first essay that I actually read the chapter assigned, and was surprised that the information and the model essay included actually helped." "Well we pretty much have to do it on our own. The professor from Springfield College used to come here, but the guards discovered that the teacher got talked into taking some notes out for inmates, and so now all classes are by correspondence." "What essay you working on?" I hoped my question did not seem lame, but I actually was interested. "We are doing the informative surprise essay." "I did that one just before Thanksgiving." The inmate looked at me. I hope that I saw a bit less suspicion or even some kinship in his look. "You know that type of essay makes little sense in this place. Perhaps you could go to the professor and explain that there are not a lot of surprises in our lives. The three of us taking the class got together and made up a bunch of shit, and the dumb ass bought it all. You should have seen his comments. He praised us for, and I quote, finding new perspectives in this difficult environment.' We all got a good laugh over his stupidity. He needs to spend a week in here, and then might get some idea of what being locked up is all about." There was a pause. I tried to think of something relevant to say, but nothing came to mind, and so I just nodded and finally came up with the lame "Right." I just stood there. I could not think of any more to say. I was about to say "Thank you" when the same inmate spoke up. "Which brings up a question, what the fuck are you doing in here staring at us? We are not animals in a zoo for you and your buddy to come and observe." I was a bit shocked, but decided to be totally honest. "My college roommate is from Tennessee and his family owns a plantation, and you know that any person convicted of crimes in the rest of the country does not do time in a prison, but instead gets leased to a farm or business to work away on mostly manual labor. He came back with me to Springfield for Thanksgiving and so I wanted him to see that what we non-slave states are more humane then the slave states in dealing with persons who have broken the law." The inmate looked at me, and an embarrassing pause again occurred. Then he said thoughtfully, "Well I suppose this is more humane' (I thought I detected some sarcasm here.), although sometimes I wonder. Being outdoors and doing some honest work might not be too bad, but I don't think I would like that naked deal, and having steel collars and cuffs welded on you would really be shit." "Right." I said and I immediately thought to myself. "Is Right' the best you can do? What should you be saying? This man is making good points, and you are responding with platitudes. I was saved by Lieutenant Hughes calling over to me. "Time to move on." "Thank you for talking with me. Good luck on your class." I said to the inmates. They did not reply, and just stared at me. I came over to Beau and the Lieutenant. I was surprised to see two of the knitted scarves in the Lieutenant's hand. When we all three were released by the Lieutenant from this side of the building, Lieutenant Hughes gave the scarves to Beau. I looked at him. "That inmate's family live in Springfield." Beau explained. I asked Lieutenant Hughes if it would be possible for me to take these two scarves from that inmate, and I would take them to his kids and let them know they were from their Dad and that he made it just for them." I was amazed both at Beau and also the Lieutenant. Actually then the Lieutenant then had a surprise for us. "Actually I allowed the inmate to write a short note to his kids when I went over and you may take his note and the scarves to his family. I could see Beau was very taken with this kindness. "Sir" he said looking at Lieutenant Hughes, "I can see that true human concern and care for inmates does exist in these northern prisons. I have told my friend here that actually the southern system is kinder to law breakers than these northern warehouses of persons living in very cruel conditions. However, Lieutenant Hughes I am very impressed at your kindness both to an inmate and to me. SIR, I am in your debt." Beau made a short bow to the Lieutenant, and then the two went out of the cell block with me following. When we were again in the small room that opened to both sides of the pod, Lieutenant Hughes said that the other side of this building was actually identical to the one we had just seen just with different inmates, but really would have nothing new, and therefore he suggested we would make better use of our time moving to another building to see the conditions of a slightly different classification of inmates. We of course agreed. When we were out of the pod, Lieutenant Hughes called another guard over who he saw was moving toward the path to the administration building. "Bob!" he called. "Yes SIR" "Please take these scarves and this note with you to the guard at the exit gate and have them put aside for Mr. Masterson and Mr. Wilkinson." "SIR yes SIR" I was actually a bit surprised and impressed by this action from both of these men. The Lieutenant then began walking us over toward another pod. I wondered what would this pod be like.