In the solitary confinement cell the only way for Dorothy to even try to keep track of time was when the lights were on or off. She figured a cycle of light and dark was a day but by the third or maybe the fourth day she was becoming confused as to how many days had passed. She had nothing to do when the lights were on as she was not even allowed paper or a pencil. Except for the random sound of the fan that occasionally blew warm air into the cell the only sounds in the cell were ones she made and when the slot opened at the bottom of the door and what they called food was pushed in in a paper towel.
She even waited one day crouched on the floor to get a peek out through the slot when the food was pushed in only to see a metal slide the dinner would slip down then into her cell. The only other constant was the glow of the red LED light on the camera in the corner up by the ceiling well out of her reach.
When the light came on a distorted voice said over an overhead speaker “Prisoner Brown, prepare to shower; raise your bed and latch it to the wall. Stand with your feet apart and your hands clasp behind your head and stand motionless while you are cleansed.”
“I am not supposed to be here but a week! Where is Mr. Tree?”
“Prisoner Brown do as you are instructed immediately!”
Instead, Dorothy sat on the bed, looked at the camera and said “Go fuck yourself!”
The shower started anyway and the foam pad they considered a mattress began soaking up water. She stood and began running her hands through her grimy hair when suddenly she felt her knees buckle. She dropped to the cement floor and watched the water swirl down the drain in the center of her cell…
‘…what the hell happened?’ Dorothy thought when she woke lying on the cell floor. She tried to push up but found her hands secured crossed behind her back with a heavy iron manacle. She stared across the floor towards the drain and saw chunks of vomit. The cell was hot and stank of excrement, urine, and vomit. She struggled to her knees then her feet and looked about the cell. Her bed was gone, not just the mattress; the whole bed! The small toilet was near overflowing with human waste. Her head was pounding and her mouth dry. She reached out with her toe, wobbling on one foot, and pressed the button on the wall that would flush the toilet but nothing happened. The voice came over the speaker again.
“Prisoner Brown, you have been denied water privileges for a day and food privileges for two days.”
“The damn toilet doesn’t flush!”
“That is correct Prisoner Brown. You have been denied water rights for a day. The toilet will not flush until the privilege is restored. You have also been denied masturbation privileges for a week. However your conjugal visitation privilege has been re-instated. If you wish to exercise the privilege you will place your back against the door and do exactly as you are told.”
Dorothy looked up at the camera and repeated “I was supposed to be here only a week.”
“That is correct Prisoner Brown but you have received an administrative extension of your sentence of five years in solitary confinement for destruction of correctional facility property in the form of the bed you refused to secure. The five years will be added to any sentence you may receive from Judge Admi’s court. We don’t have all day, Prisoner Brown. Do you wish to exercise your conjugal visitation privilege?”
She looked about the stark cell and said “Yeah, I guess so…”
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