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Chapter 3 � Spokeswoman Lee-Dolkivna
Upon
receiving the call from the chief inspector, Spokeswoman Kimberly Lee-Dolkivna
wrote down the pertinent information: that a Colombian drug courier had
been arrested with a kilo of cocaine in pellets concealed in her
stomach, that she had undergone an initial interview, and that a
Spanish-speaker needed to go to the airport to translate the suspect�s
recorded statements and conduct a follow-up interview. The Spokeswoman
cringed at the words �undergone an initial interview�, because she was
well-aware what that actually meant.
Kim called the one person she knew who spoke Spanish, her friend Cecilia
Sanchez, who was a US citizen studying at the National University in
Dan�bikt M�skt. She asked Cecilia to go directly to the airport, where
they would meet and see how badly the hapless courier had been treated.
Once she hung up, she went to the arraignment room to pick up a temporary
criminal�s collar, which would allow Maria Elena to be transported
without a police escort. Kim�s new client would have to wear the
temporary collar until her trial. Upon being sentenced, she would be
issued a permanent collar by the Ministry of Justice.
Knowing the reputation of the Airport Unit, the Spokeswoman was certain
that what awaited her would not be pleasant. Undoubtedly Maria Elena
already had undergone physical punishment as part of the interrogation.
Hopefully she had not attempted to lie to the Inspector, because Kim
knew that he was notorious for nailing suspects with perjury.
Furthermore, she figured that if the Colombian did not speak any
English, she probably did not have a clue what was going on and would be
scared out of her wits. Just getting her calmed down and explaining what
was happening was going to take a lot of effort, and then there was the
issue of teaching the suspect basic criminal protocol before taking her
out on the street. Kim knew that Maria Elena already had been stripped
and was sitting naked in a holding cell, but probably she was not yet
aware that, as a criminal, she would be prohibited from wearing clothing
at any time for the duration of her sentence. No doubt she would face a
rough afternoon dealing with her newest client.
The Spokeswoman took an express trolley from the Central Plaza to the
airport, where her friend already was waiting for her. Cecilia had been
born in New Jersey, but she was fluent in Spanish because she had spoken
it in her Dominican household while growing up. Although she was only 24
years old, she held a prestigious position at the National University;
as the exchange program coordinator for 60 US college students studying
abroad in the Danubian Republic. Cecilia already had spent four years in
the Danubian capitol and clearly had �gone native�. Her black hair was
done up in elaborate braids and she usually dressed immaculately in fine
Danubian linen. Apart from her elaborate hair and fine clothing she wore
three pieces of silver jewelry, a necklace, a hairpiece, and a silver
ring, engagement gifts from her fianc�. To her program�s exchange
students she struck a severe and oddly foreign image, but one that was
necessary for them to understand what they faced while studying in
Dan�bikt M�skt.
The two women went into the airport chatting about the previous night�s
storm and Cecilia�s students. Kim exchanged salutes with several airport
officials on her way to the interrogation room by touching her right
fist to her left shoulder. The two women descended the staircase that
led to the interrogation room, knocked, and were let in by the
Inspector.
The two officials, even though they did not like each other, exchanged
courtesies and salutes before addressing why Kim and Cecilia had been
summoned to the airport. The case itself was fairly routine: the only
detail that complicated it was the fact that the suspect did not speak a
language commonly taught in Danubian schools. Kim introduced Cecilia to
the Inspector, before promptly having her sit down to listen to the
recording of Maria Elena�s confession. The Dominican translated the most
important points to Danubian and passed her notes to Kim, who looked
them over and handed them to the airport official.
�Inspector, have you formerly arrested the Colombian citizen Maria Elena
Rodriguez-Torres?�
�No, Spokeswoman, we haven�t. We figured that it would be proper for you
to be present during her arrest and the assigning of her criminal
number. So we chose to wait for you to come.�
Bullshit, thought Kim to herself. You waited so you could play around
with her, you fucking pervert.
However, to the Inspector she said nothing. Her duty was not to worry
about what already had happened, but instead to take custody of Maria
Elena, convince her that she needed to cooperate with the police, and
get her out of the airport.
�May I see the suspect, Inspector?�
�Of course, Spokeswoman.�
Kim whispered to Cecilia in English: �She�s gonna be in bad shape, so
don�t be shocked when you see her. Don�t make a big deal about it. Just
do what I tell you and keep your mouth shut unless you�re translating.�
The Inspector flipped a light switch next to the cell door to illuminate
the tiny room. He drew his gun and opened the door. Immediately Maria
Elena crouched in the corner, trying to cover herself. She made a truly
pitiful sight. Her hair was disheveled from being grabbed, her bottom
was badly bruised, two switch marks crossed her legs, and the left side
of her face was swollen from having been slapped multiple times.
However, those details paled in comparison with the raw terror and
absolute despair in her expression.
�You can close the door, Inspector. I would like to speak to my client
alone, please.�
�As you wish, Spokeswoman.�
As soon as the door closed, Kimberly spoke in English, which Cecilia
translated:
�Your name is Maria Elena? You are from Colombia?�
Maria Elena nodded.
�Maria Elena, my name is Spokeswoman Kimberly Lee-Dolkivna. Later I will
explain what exactly that means, but for now you can consider me your
public defense attorney. It will be my duty to represent you in court.
Do you understand me?�
Again Maria Elena nodded, but she remained crouched in the corner. Kim�s
next words shocked Cecilia, who thought she was being very cold-hearted,
given the Colombian�s traumatic situation. However she dutifully
translated:
�I want you to understand that I will do what I can to ease your
situation and protect you from those who wish to harm you. That is my
position, my path in life. However, I also want you to understand that I
am a public official, and at all times you will treat me with the
respect that is due to my status under Danubian law. When I speak to
you, I do not consider nodding an appropriate response to my questions.
When I am in your presence, I do not consider you crouching in the
corner appropriate. Do you understand me?�
�I� s�, se�ora� entiendo� lo siento��
�Very well. I expect you to get on your knees in front of me. You are
not permitted to speak to me or any other public official unless you are
on your knees. You will kneel straight, you will look straight at me,
and you will place your hands on your thighs. You will not hunch over or
try to cover yourself. Covering yourself is forbidden.�
Reluctantly Cecilia translated, adding: �I�m really sorry about this,
but you have to do what she says. That�s the rule in this country, you
gotta kneel when you�re talking to anyone from the government, and if
you don�t do it, they�ll whip you.�
Tears ran down Maria Elena�s cheeks as she knelt in front of her
Spokeswoman. As directed, she knelt straight, forcing herself to put her
hands on her thighs instead of using them to cover her breasts.
Once her client was properly positioned, Kim commented:
�The path of your life is to behave properly as a criminal, just as the
path of my life is to protect your well-being and serve as your mentor.�
Cecilia was distressed that instead of comforting her new client, Kim
was treating her in such a cold-blooded manner. However, Kim knew what
she was doing, because protocol was a vital part of her relationship
with all of the criminals in her custody. She was her clients� mentor,
not their friend. When they had problems they would come to her for help
and advice, and she would console and comfort them, but never as an
equal. Very early in her career Kim learned why protocol was so
important for the relationship between a criminal and a Spokesperson,
because without protocol she could not have properly done her job.
There was another important reason why Maria Elena needed to know how to
display proper protocol before leaving the holding cell, one that Kim
did explain to both the translator and the detainee. The Spokeswoman was
formally assuming custody over her client, which meant that the
Inspector and the other members of the Airport Unit no longer had any
right to abuse her. As Kim put it:
�As your Spokeswoman, I now exercise custody over your life and I will
determine how other public officials can interact with you. Anyone who
has anything to ask from you or say to you must go through me. I must
approve anything that happens to you. You are to listen to no one except
me. You are not to take orders from anyone except me. When we go into
that other room and you kneel in front of me, you are letting them know
that they can�t hurt you anymore, because I won�t let it happen.�
Maria Elena�s mood changed upon hearing Cecilia�s translation. She
realized that, as bad as her situation might be, apparently those awful
cops no longer could do anything to her. She was frightened of the young
Asian woman who claimed to have �custody� over her, but if the
Spokeswoman could protect her from that Inspector and his crew of
sadists, Maria Elena was willing to do anything to please her.
With the prisoner still kneeling and Cecilia nervously translating, Kim
asked her about the arrest and the interrogation that followed. The
Spokeswoman�s expression changed slightly when Cecilia translated the
description of her effort to convince the Inspector she had just five
pellets, only to be proven to be lying. Kim asked for a detailed
description of that part of the interrogation. She tightened her lips
and sighed upon learning that, like so many others, Maria Elena had
committed perjury. That simple act of lying in the wrong place at the
wrong time would add 20 years to her formal sentence. The Spokeswoman
would have to break the bad news later, when she could talk to her
client alone in her office.
Maria Elena realized that something was wrong, but before she had time
to react, Kim continued:
�I�m not going to be able to do anything about the length of your
sentence, but what I can do is argue for better conditions. Some of that
will depend on how much you are willing to cooperate with the Inspector.
When you go on trial, he and I will have to work out the details of your
sentence with the trial judge. If you cooperate with the Inspector, he
will cooperate with me in court.�
When Cecilia translated, Maria Elena responded:
�But� I did� talk to them� I��
�He�s going to want to re-interview you and get your full story. He�ll
ask you all those questions again, this time with a translator.
Basically, he�s going to want to make sure he has everything straight
before he does his report. You�re going to have to give up whatever you
know about your former drug group. Also, the Inspector is gonna want a
recording of your voice that doesn�t have a bunch of your crying mixed
in with your information. Once that interview is done, you�ll be coming
with me.�
Noting the fear in Maria Elena�s eyes, Kim commented:
�I�m sure you�re still afraid of what your drug group can do to you.
Right now that doesn�t matter because they can�t do anything to you.
What you need to worry about is us, not them. Under our laws, the
Danubian government now owns you. You are property of the Republic of
Danubia.�
Kim waited for the translation, fully expecting a shocked reaction and
having to elaborate her last point. She had to do that with almost all
of her foreign clients.
�According to our laws, you have proven yourself incapable of exercising
free will. So, that portion of your life has ended. You now have an
owner, the government of the Republic of Danubia. Whatever information
that is in your head belongs to the Danubian government as well, so you
will discuss, in detail, what you know.�
Kim paused, waiting for the translation. Then she finished with:
�As for your former employer, if they�re stupid enough to send anyone
into this country to come after you, the Danubian Secret Police will
catch that person and they will execute him. The drug groups know that,
and we�re the one country in Europe they won�t mess with.�
Cecilia finished with Kim�s final statement, totally taken aback by her
friend�s blunt words.
�Your drug group is no longer in charge of what happens to you. Do you
understand me?�
�S�, se�ora. Entiendo.�
�And one more thing I expect from you. When you answer me, you need to
answer in Danubian. When you say �yes�, it will be: �doc-doc,
Advodk�tna Lee-Dolkivna�. Repeat, please� doc-doc, Advodk�tna
Lee-Dolkivna.�
Maria Elena repeated several times; until the Spokeswoman was satisfied
her client could be understood by other Danubians.
�That�ll work for the time being. When you say �no�, it will be: �neg�t,
Advodk�tna Lee-Dolkivna�. Repeat, please� neg�t, Advodk�tna
Lee-Dolkivna.�
Once again Maria Elena repeated until Kim was satisfied she had it
right.
�Congratulations, Maria Elena, you�ve just learned your first three
words in Danubian: doc-doc, neg�t, and Advodk�tna.�
Cecilia felt uneasy about seeing her friend�s domineering behavior up
close. Although she had known Kim for years, she had never seen the
Spokeswoman introduce herself to a client. With her clients there was no
room for doubt, no question that she was in complete control.
Cecilia noticed a change in the prisoner. Like most of Kim�s other
foreign clients, Maria Elena�s situation would force her to be
emotionally dependent on the Spokeswoman, at least during the first
several months of her sentence. Trapped alone in a country where she
could not even communicate properly, surrounded by hostile individuals,
and stripped of her clothing, she knew that the only person she could
turn to was Kim. The Spokeswoman already had shown herself as strict and
intolerant, and Maria Elena was afraid of her. However, she offered the
criminal some hope in her life and the promise of protection. More
importantly, she clearly explained what her client needed to do and what
was expected of her, which gave Maria Elena a sense of direction and
made her desperate to please her. Only a few minutes after meeting Kim,
Maria Elena already was adapting to her new life as a Danubian criminal.
The next task was collaring the detainee. Like every other criminal in
Danubia, Maria Elena would be required to wear a metal collar and would
be prohibited from wearing anything else, with the exception of orange
boots during the winter. There were no jails in Danubia, no such thing
as incarceration. There were a few holding cells, like the one Maria
Elena was sitting in now, but a holding cell was just that, a temporary
place where a criminal was kept until she could be collared.
�When I mentioned that you will be serving a sentence, you will
understand you won�t be serving any of that time in jail. We don�t have
jails in this country. Instead you will spend your sentence serving the
people around you, and you will live your life in humility. And the mark
of a criminal�s humility is the collar��
She held up the temporary collar�
�� which you�ll have to put on before we leave this room. The collar
shows you to the world for what you are, a criminal. However, it gives
you some legal status, which is something you didn�t have when you were
being interrogated. Once I put this on you, the Inspector and his
subordinates cannot touch you. That�s why they waited. They didn�t want
you collared because that would have given you rights under our laws.
Before you talk to the Inspector again, you�ll need to put this on�
unless� you want to risk being treated like you were the first time. Do
you understand me?�
Maria Elena looked at the collar in Kim�s hand with a worried expression
as she listened to Cecilia�s translation. The thought of having that
thing around her neck terrified her, because she rightly suspected that
once she put on the collar, it would not be coming off anytime soon.
However, the thought of being tormented by the interrogation team a
second time horrified her. Her only choice was to trust the Spokeswoman
and hope she was telling the truth. She took a deep breath and replied:
�Doc-doc, Advodk�tna Lee-Dolkivna.�
Kim directed Cecilia to hold up the detainee�s hair while she positioned
the collar around her neck. She locked the collar with a key, which she
then put in her pocket. Finally she pulled out a small receiver and
tested it against the collar�s transmitter to make sure it worked. Maria
Elena�s collar not only marked her as a criminal, but also allowed the
Ministry of Justice to know where she was at all times.
�Alright,
Maria Elena, let�s go back and talk to the Inspector, and then I can get
you out of the airport. Remember, how quickly our conversation ends
depends on how thoroughly you answer his questions. If you try to hide
anything, he�ll keep pushing you until you answer, and it will affect
what happens at your trial.�
�Doc-doc, Advodk�tna Lee-Dolkivna.�
Kim banged on the cell door to let the guard know she, her translator,
and her client were ready to come out. The three women crossed the
hallway and entered the interrogation room. Upon entering, the
Spokeswoman ordered Maria Elena to kneel and Cecilia to stand at
attention. Then she crisply saluted the Inspector and the other cops in
the room by touching her right fist to her left shoulder. The Inspector
and the cops saluted back.
In spite of the strict protocol and professional courtesies, Kim and the
Inspector intensely disliked each other. Kim felt that the Inspector was
a sadist and sexual pervert, while he resented the fact she was
foreign-born but still held a position in the Danubian government.
However, their mutual dislike did not prevent the two officials from
cooperating and working together. Their understanding was that, in
exchange for convincing her clients that they needed to share whatever
information they had, Kim could expect him to ask for lenient sentence
terms during trial. The Inspector was always true to his word in court.
As long as Kim�s client cooperated with providing information, he tried
to convince the trial judge to impose the minimum number of judicial
switchings during sentencing.
Maria Elena trembled as she knelt upright. She was terrified of the
Inspector and worried about displeasing her Spokeswoman. Her nakedness
left her feeling very vulnerable, while the pain in her bottom, her
burning intestines, and her sore stomach reminded her of the
consequences of lying.
However, more than anything else, it was the sinister feeling of cold
metal around the prisoner�s neck that convinced her that her old life
was completely gone. She had lost her free will, and now was nothing
more than property of a foreign government. The unforgiving feel of that
hard object drove home that point more than anything else that had
happened to her that morning. Over and over her Spokeswoman�s words
repeated themselves in her mind: �the Danubian government now owns you�.
Maria Elena�s new understanding of her path in life had an immediate
effect on her behavior. As soon as she started talking, it was obvious
that she would cooperate completely. She found it surprisingly easy to
speak honestly about her life as a drug courier. Not that she had all
that much useful to tell the interrogation team, but it was clear that
she would tell them whatever she knew about her trafficking group.
Later Maria Elena would share her personal life with her Spokeswoman,
but for the moment the Inspector�s only interest was the story of her
ill-fated trafficking venture. Armed with the information downloaded
from her cell phone and copied from her address book, the Inspector
pushed the prisoner for names, contacts, and addresses: in Pereira, in
Bogot�, in Panama City, and in Frankfurt. As he expected, she didn�t
know anything about her trafficking group that was not related to her
own experience. It was obvious that the trip was her first effort at
drug trafficking and that she really did not know what she was doing or
understood what she had gotten herself into.
Maria Elena�s story took her from her hometown of Pereira to Bogot�,
where her boyfriend introduced her to his boss. After a couple of nights
of partying she went from the Colombian capital to Panama City, where
she met a sinister-looking subject called Alex Mejia-Silva. Alex�s
girlfriend spent a couple of days training Maria Elena to swallow
pellets by having her swallow grapes without chewing them. Once she was
satisfied that the courier could ingest pellets without gagging, the
girlfriend turned her back over to Alex. Alex put Maria Elena in a cheap
hotel room and booked a ticket on Flight 2298, which flew directly from
Panama City to Frankfurt. He went over to the hotel and gave the courier
the cocaine, divided into 100 small tight ovals wrapped in bluish-gray
plastic. Upon arriving in Germany, Maria Elena was to call a number
programmed into her cell-phone and ask for �El Flaco�. She then would go
to a hotel room and expel the pellets. Assuming she expelled 100
pellets, supposedly she would get her 1,000 Euros, along with the
falsified work-permit, and be allowed to leave. Because the only
language she spoke was Spanish, Maria Elena�s plan was to travel to
Spain immediately after receiving her money, where she would attempt to
find a job and settle. In spite of what she had told people in Colombia,
her plan had been to establish herself in Spain and permanently escape
from her old life.
The Inspector briefly pondered what really would have happened to his
prisoner had she successfully completed her trip. It was possible that
her first venture into drug trafficking would have been her last, even
if she had successfully delivered all of her pellets. It just sounded
too good to be true: 1,000 Euros and a visa� for delivering a kilo of
cocaine? Yeah, right�
The Inspector pushed that thought aside. He needed to finish his report
and deliver it to INTERPOL. Whatever might have happened to Maria Elena
Rodriguez-Torres in Germany was irrelevant, because she now belonged to
the Danubian government.
Before leaving the airport, the Inspector had to formally arrest the
detainee and take her mug-shots. The photographer turned on the lighting
for the blank backdrop and set up his camera. The Spokeswoman unlocked
Maria Elena�s temporary collar and ordered her to stand up. The
photographer snapped his fingers to tell the prisoner that she needed to
position herself to be photographed. She glanced at her Spokeswoman with
a pleading expression, but Kim tightened her lips and pointed at the
camera. Yes, Maria Elena would pose completely naked for her official
arrest photos.
Cecilia translated the photographer�s commands to turn around and assume
various poses to the mortified prisoner. The first shots were of her
face; one from the front, one from the back, one from each side, and two taken from different angles.
Next came the full-body shots: hands at her side� facing the camera,
facing away from the camera, facing left, facing right. Then another
series of shots, this time with her hands behind her head and her legs
spread: front, back, left, right.
As soon as the prisoner was released from the photo session, the
Spokeswoman ordered her to kneel to allow her to put the collar back on.
Once again the collar clicked shut around Maria Elena�s neck.
Finally, the Inspector handed the Spokeswoman a small facial photograph
of the prisoner which included her full name and her arrest number.
Cecilia explained to Maria Elena that, at the moment the photo was
generated with the arrest number, her legal name had been changed by the
Ministry of Justice. Instead of Maria Elena Rodriguez-Torres, she would
be known as, and listed in official Danubian documents as, Prisoner #
101025.
�You can have your friends call you Maria Elena if you want, but that�s
not your name anymore. As far as the Danubian Ministry of Justice is
concerned, your name is Prisoner # 101025. After your trial it�ll change
to Criminal # 101025. You�ll have to get used to it, because that�s what
everyone�s gonna call you.�
Maria Elena gasped with horror at this latest piece of bad news. The
Danubians truly were planning to take everything away from her, her
freedom, her clothing, her dignity, and even her name.
------------
The Spokeswoman asked for her client�s arrest report and copies of her
mug-shot photos, which she put in a briefcase to initiate a criminal
file. She and the Inspector saluted each other before the three women
turned to go out of the interrogation room. As she stepped into the
hallway, Maria Elena instinctively covered herself. Yes indeed, she was
about to be taken into the main terminal completely naked. It would only
get worse, because her Spokeswoman then would take her into Dan�bikt
M�skt. How could her mentor do such a horrible thing, forcing her client
to walk naked on the street? Maria Elena gave Cecilia a pleading look,
but the Dominican ignored her and pointed at the staircase leading out
of the basement.
Suddenly Spokeswoman Lee-Dolkivna spun around and snapped at her client
to kneel. When the order was translated Maria sank to her knees, but
still tried to cover herself.
�Listen, Prisoner # 101025, you will remove your hands from your body
this instant! I already told you that you are violating your status as a
prisoner by doing that. Now, uncover yourself, immediately!�
Tears ran down the prisoner�s cheeks as she struggled to obey the order
by lowering her hands. She turned to Cecilia and begged her in Spanish:
�Please� for the love of God� don�t make me go out naked� I�d rather die
than go out naked� please��
�It�s the way they do things here. You�re a prisoner and you can�t cover
your body.�
�Please� I�d rather die.�
�It�s not that big of a deal, Maria Elena. You�ll see it really isn�t.
We�re not in Colombia.�
Kim commented to Cecilia in English:
�Look: just tell her that if she tries covering herself again, I will
request a police escort and she will have to go downtown with her hands
cuffed behind her back. People won�t pay that much attention to her if
she�s simply walking with us, but they will want to have a better look
at her if she�s cuffed.�
Cecilia, still taken aback by Kim�s harsh treatment of her new client,
reluctantly translated the Spokeswoman�s last statement. She concluded
with:
�We have to get out of the airport and get you downtown. Spokeswoman
Lee-Dolkivna�s really not that bad, she isn�t. But you have to do what
she says.�
Maria Elena took a deep breath, looked up the stairs, and then glanced
at her two escorts. She realized that there was no point in any further
resistance. Her old life had ended and there was no point in holding on
to values that apparently had no relevance in the life she was about to
begin. She would have to uncover herself, walk up those stairs, and
accept whatever her new life demanded of her.
She took a deep breath, wiped away her tears, and responded:
�Doc-doc, Advodk�tna Lee-Dolkivna.�
----------
The
three women emerged onto the main floor of the terminal building. Maria Elena,
with every bit of will-power left in her, forced herself to keep her
hands at her sides. She tried to ignore the stares of hundreds of
startled passengers as she walked past the security checkpoint, away
from the boarding area and away from any hope of escape. She cast one
last look at the passenger waiting area, thinking about her flight,
which had long since departed for Germany.
Kim tapped her on the shoulder and pointed at the front entrance of the
terminal building. Maria-Elena worked up the courage to go outdoors in
the nude. She hoped that outside would be less crowded than the terminal
building itself, but the thought of being outdoors with no clothing
mortified her. She never had been naked in a public location in her
life. In fact, she almost never had been naked at all, even alone,
except when taking a shower. The only two people who had ever seen her
uncovered body had been her two lovers: the boyfriend who had loved her,
and the other boyfriend who betrayed her.
With Kim leading the way, the three women stepped out through the main
entrance. It was a hot sunny August afternoon, with the air still damp
and muggy from the previous night�s storm. In front of the airport there
was not a parking lot, but instead a small park with a statue of a king
holding a sword. Later Maria Elena would learn the statue was of the
airport�s namesake, the country�s national hero King Vladik the
Defender. On the other side of the park was a large trolley stop that
was full of commuters and luggage.
The sidewalk felt hot on the prisoner�s unprotected feet as she and her
escorts made their way to the trolley stop. Maria Elena gave her
companions a look of total despair, because she had been under the
impression that �going downtown� meant getting into a car. She looked
around at the front of the airport and realized there was not a private
car in sight: only a couple of police vans.
Cecilia commented: �I know this is all new to you, but the only way to
get downtown is in a trolley, unless you want to walk. This place
doesn�t have cars �cause there�s no room for them.�
So, Maria Elena�s body had to face a new round of public exposure as she
lined up with hundreds of Danubian airplane passengers, family members,
foreign tourists, airport employees, and police officers. The foreigners
stared at her with wide eyes, but the Danubians only gave her fleeting
glances.
Among the throng of clothed people she noticed several that were naked,
all of whom, just like herself, had collars around their necks. She
noticed two naked young men moving suitcases onto the trolley for
several older couples who couldn�t move baggage themselves.
An old man tapped the prisoner on the shoulder and started speaking to
her in Danubian. Cecilia translated:
�He needs you to put his wife�s stuff in the trolley. Her suitcases are
over there.�
Noticing the puzzled look on the prisoner�s face, Cecilia continued: �If
someone asks you to do something, as long as it�s reasonable, you gotta
help them out. Criminals have to make themselves available to serve the
public. Just move the suitcases next to where the old lady is sitting.
If they get off before we get downtown, we might have to get off too, so
you can help them get their suitcases to their house.�
Exasperated, Maria Elena struggled to carry two enormously heavy
suitcases onto the trolley while the old man followed carrying a much
smaller bag. Her feet ached on the hard cement and the suitcases scraped
her bare legs. Her bottom still throbbed from the paddling and her
stomach and throat burned from the forced vomiting she had endured
during the interrogation. She was sick, exhausted, frightened, and
mortified with embarrassment. Nevertheless, even in her condition she
was expected to exert herself carrying someone else�s belongings onto a
trolley, and the only reward she could expect might be to have to carry
the luggage to the old couple�s house.
The trolley�s seats were full by the time Maria Elena had the suitcases
in place next to the old lady. Noticing that all the seats already had
been taken, she reluctantly grabbed a handrail, thus exposing herself
even more to the crowd in the trolley. Cecilia stood next to her, but
decided not to say anything unless Maria Elena spoke first.
The old man took the seat next to his wife, as the pair looked at the
three young women with total curiosity. Spokeswoman Lee-Dolkivna,
Cecilia Sanchez, and Criminal # 101025 were the only non-Europeans in
the packed trolley. Added to that detail was the fact that Maria Elena
was naked, collared, and her bottom covered with welts and bruises.
However the detail that most disturbed the old couple was the fact that
the Colombian�s thick black hair was disheveled and not properly
braided. At least the other two had the decency to braid their hair.
Kim, noting the old couple�s look of disapproval, explained in Danubian:
�I apologize about the dishonorable condition of my client�s hair, sir.
She was arrested just this morning and I need to get her to the Central
Police Station. I assure you I won�t let her go back out like this.�
The old couple�s disapproving expression relaxed as they responded: �Doc-doc,
Advodk�tna.�
Cecilia sighed, feeling very sorry for her naked companion. In this
harsh and restrictive society, there were many things Prisoner # 101025
would have to learn very quickly. She would face many hardships;
struggles that she would have to endure that she was not even aware of
yet.
