A Criminal Act of Poverty

After she was charged she was taken down into the holding cells. She wasn't treated differently and she shared a large cell for her first night with eight other women. Nobody spoke to her and she didn't speak to them. She knew she was going to have to live from now on by using her street smarts.

She found a bunk that wasn't occupied and hoisted herself onto the top. She lay there on her side her back to the wall. She knew her sweet little girl persona wouldn't cut it in here. She was going to have to become the tough street thug her brothers had tried to mould her into. She looked at the others in the cell with her, everyone was avoiding eye contact. Most were older women, tough looking hard women, two were younger, teenagers she suspected. Now she waited. Hopefully, her battered and bruised face would keep them away.

She closed her eyes and fell asleep. What she thought was a few minutes turned out to be an hour when over a loudspeaker came a booming voice, "Lights Out" and with that, the place was in darkness.

She lay there quietly, listening to noises in the cell, the whispering, giggling, and then she heard them talking, she wasn't sure who it was but she knew it involved the two younger girls. "Come on, you know you want to," "No, I don't, leave me alone," "Come here, give me your hand," "No, Please, I don't like it,"

She was hoping her eyes would get accustomed to the darkness, but they didn't. She heard the voices as they finally convinced the younger ones to comply, the ooohhhhing and aaarrrhhhhing and she smiled to herself, knowing full well that playing hard to get might bring its own climatic rewards as she finally heard first an older woman pant and grunt as she experienced some relief, then a younger voice building up to a peak as she thrashed about and moaned loudly.

A loud voice from the other side of the room, "For fuck sake you lot go to fucking sleep,"

Christine closed her eyes and wondered what her future would be. She heard some shuffling around as she opened her eyes but not moving, the light of dawn was creeping through the high windows. She saw and heard one of the older women using the toilet.

She heard a whimpering of one of the younger girls. She looked away from the woman doing her early morning ablutions and looked across the cell and saw the teenager, naked, lying on top of a blanket. She watched as another older woman came over to her and sat her on her lap, she withdrew one of her large flat breasts and fed it to the girl, while she buried her hand between her legs. It was she who was doing the whimpering, her tear-stained face told its own story. The older woman stroked her hair as she quickened her pace in between her legs until she shook and clung to the old woman. Her whimpering wasn't through pain or discomfort, but her trying to contain herself, quietly.

Christine smiled to herself. She sat up her back against the wall. Her brothers had told her, that if her back was against a wall, no one could sneak up on her.

She saw the other young girl in bed with another. She too had a smile upon her face. She knew it would only be a matter of time before she was propositioned. She knew how to handle that situation. She thought back to that time with Jo, her first time, how good it was. She was by far her best lover. There had been a few since, some better than others, but Jo, she sighed.

Most everyone had got to use the toilet and wash basin before a clatter of a mobile tray was heard bringing them some food. They all lined up at a small opening in the cell door. A bowl of porridge, a slice of bread and a cup of strong black tea. She collected her small but filling breakfast and went and sat on a bed.

As soon as she sat down she was joined by two of the older women, one on either side. Close, so close they had wedged her in between them. They said nothing and kept eating, as soon as the offices had moved on they whispered to her.

"Today you belong to us, the more you resist the more we like it," The large black-haired woman of colour said to her. The woman with the mousey brown hair and missing teeth, rested a hand on her thigh and moved it up to the top of her leg. "I do hope you put up a fight," And with that, she rubbed Christine's groin and laughed.

Christine was not going to comply, but she didn't let on. They sat next to her and watched her eat every morsel of the porridge, she wiped the bowl clean with the bread and then she licked the bowl ever so slowly, as she in turn watched the first and then the second woman next to her. Then washed it all down with the tea. As she finished, she slowly licked each of her fingers. The two women laughed and thought they were in for a treat. As soon as Christine stood up she turned to them both, telling them, "I choose who I fuck, and you two are not even on the list."

Then as soon as the big black-haired woman went to stand up, Christine used her plastic breakfast bowl as a club and hit her hard flush on the nose, then without hesitating, she turned on the other woman and used the tin mug as a knuckle duster, she hit her on the side of the head, knocking her off the bed. She stepped back and took her bowl spoon and cup to the basin and washed them.

The two women were gathering themselves when the DCI stood at the cell door and called for it to be opened.

"What happened to you two?" He asked, not really caring. They mumbled an unintelligible reply. He ignored them.

"Christine, come with me," He ordered.

She walked towards him and as she went by the two ladies, she smiled and said "I'll see you two later on then,"

He grabbed her around her arm and pulled her out of the cell. He started walking towards a block of offices. He opened the door for her and told her to sit at the table, He sat opposite her and put a large thick file on the table in front of them. He sat there looking at the girl. Her appearance suggested that she was resigned to her fate.

"Mr. Huntington, what are we doing here?" she asked in her fragile voice.

He too spoke in his quiet soft voice and suggested she not say anything until her solicitor arrived. She thought it was strangely soothing.

He just sat there, then took his fob watch from his waistcoat pocket and checked the time. "She shouldn't be much longer," He told her.

Christine Magill nodded and hung her head. She knew what lay in store for her, murder she was told, that if she couldn't prove her innocence would be a mandatory life sentence without parole. She started to weep.

Hunter wasn't a completely heartless soul, he pulled out a white cotton handkerchief, monogrammed and told her that everything would happen today. "Once you have spoken to your solicitor, she will prepare a note for your barrister, and we should be in the high court by 4 o'clock. The hearing won't take that long, a couple of hours. So by later tonight, you will know where you stand."

As he finished speaking the door opened and the solicitor walked in. He introduced the defendant to her legal counsel. "Hi Josephine, this is Christine Magill. Christine meet Josephine Roberts your solicitor,"

Christine stood up and turned around to face her solicitor. To her surprise, Jo stood before her, and at that moment she could no longer control her emotions, bursting into tears she cried.

Hunter shook his head. "She is taking it hard,"

"Who beat her Chief Inspector?" Josephine asked.

"The victim, Edward Simpson, so we've been told. It's all in the file," He said pointing to the brown manilla folder on the table. Marked MURDER FILE -- Christine Magill.

"I'll leave you to talk and I'll be back 30 minutes before the first hearing." He told them.

Hunter put his hand on Christine's shoulder and gave her a gentle pat. He left the room and closed the door.

Jo put her finger to her lips to sshh Chrissy and told her to take a deep breath. She did.

They hugged, Christine went to kiss her but Jo pulled away. Then whispered to her, "Not because I don't want to, oh my god I do, but if they walk in on us then they will replace me with some drop-kick of an intern. As soon as I saw your file the other day I have been positioning myself to be here."

Jo pulled her chair around from the other side of the table so they could sit side by side. "Do you understand what's happening?" she asked her.

"Not really, I know it will all be over later today, according to Hunter," Christine replied.

Jo held onto her hand, gave it a squeeze and told her, "You have to be strong Chrissy, I want you to go back over everything that happened. You talk, I'll listen and read at the same time,"

Christine told her story, from leaving the Toms' house, to walking alone, crossing the playing fields, being knocked to the ground and fingered, to slashing at the man, even the smell of rum on his breath. Then she told her solicitor how she cut his throat, by accident, she couldn't see in the dark and just struck out, she didn't mean to kill him.

As she told her story, Jo was speed-reading the notes in the file. When she had finished reading, she closed the file and said honestly to Chrissy.

"The courts won't care about what happened to you, why you did it or how you felt. All they will care about is did you do it!"

Christine hung her head and started crying again.

"Chrissy, it doesn't look good. The prosecution won't have to do too much. Hunter has been his ruthless self again, everything is in here."

Jo turned to Chrissy and held her hands up to her lips, she kissed them. Then looking into her eyes, she kissed her sweetly. "We will do our best for you. Do you understand the procedures?"

Christine shook her head and mumbled "Not really," in between the tears.

Jo squeezed her hand once more, "You have to be brave Chrissy. There will be two hearings, the first one in the lower court where they read the charges to you and you tell them if you think you are guilty or not. If you say guilty, they will impose the penalty there and then. If you say not guilty then we go up to the higher court where a supreme company judge listens to your evidence for saying not guilty. It then decides if you are or are not guilty and imposes a penalty. If we think it is too harsh we can lodge an appeal and that is heard by a separate group of three judges and their word is final."

"What should I say Jo, I mean if I say guilty what will happen?" The words were soft and hesitant, she was scared.

"That's why I'm here, I have read what the police have written. The magistrate and judges will take their words over yours and ours." Josephine told her. "That's the first thing you have to know."

"So When you say not guilty, the magistrate will ask you, what part in the police testimony is untrue, and you then get to tell them why," Jo explained.

"You get to tell the magistrate and the Judges your side of the story only if you plead not guilty, otherwise, it is over and done with, in 5 minutes." Jo took a deep breath before explaining the next part. "If you can't explain why the police testimony is false, they will have no mercy,"

"So you are telling me, I'm fucked," her voice was raised and there was a red glare in her eyes. Jo hung her head.

"It is hard, yes but not impossible." Came the reply.

"Bull Shit...........I'm screwed over," Christine was almost screaming now.

There was a knock on the door and an officer poked her head in to see if the solicitor needed any help. Jo just waved her away.

She broke free from the embrace she was being given by Jo and paced back and forth. Running her hands through her hair. She screamed once more "AAARRRRGGGG............... The fucking system is rigged, how is this fair. If I hadn't killed him, he would have killed me,"

Josephine stood there watching her pace around the room. The quiet little girl had disappeared, in her place now was a raging woman, looking for a way to take on the world.

"Christine, calm down, or they will sedate you and you won't be given a chance to say anything,"

Christine was ranting at the world, crying and screaming. Jo thought it was only a matter of time before they sent in the goons and she'll end up in court, bound and gagged. The charges would be read and she'll spend the rest of her life in a prison.

Just as these thoughts passed through her mind, three burly officers entered the room and without warning raised a dart gun and shot Christine Margret Magill, Within 16 seconds she was unconscious.

When she awoke, she was bound in an all-white safe suit, head to toe. There were eyelets and an opening for her to breathe, she was gagged. The room she was in was bare and well-lit, and there was a screen on one wall.

The sign above a screen stated 'Magistrate AI-9074521'. A soft voice spoke to her. Christine Magill, you have been charged with the following offences.

1. "Failure to report a crime.

2. Leaving the scene of a crime.

3. Concealing a weapon used in a crime.

4. Destroying evidence.

5. Failure to offer assistance to the investigators.

6. Assault occasioning bodily harm.

7. Murder in the first degree."

She couldn't move her head, and could only see as far as her eyes would swivel. She couldn't see Jo or anyone else. The soft gentle voice continued. "How do you plead?"

She tried to talk, to scream, to move, but nothing happened. She was as 'snug as a bug in a rug',

The machine waited for several minutes. Then the soft voice continued.

"In the absence of any plea and on the evidence of the Police report, we find you guilty on all charges. The following penalties will be applied effective immediately.

1. Failure to report a crime. -- A Sentence of 2 years.

2. Leaving the scene of a crime. -- A sentence of 3 years with hard labour.

3. Concealing a weapon used in a crime. -- A sentence of 6 years with 3 years hard labour.

4. Destroying evidence. -- A sentence of 3 years with 1 year of hard labour.

5. Failure to offer assistance to the investigators. -- 6 years with 5 years of hard labour.

6. Assault occasioning bodily harm. -- A sentence of 10 years with 5 years of hard labour.

7. Murder in the first degree. -- A sentence of life without parole.

A total of life plus 30 years with 17 years of hard labour."

There was the sound of a gavel being used and the voice then said. "Take her down,"

Christine was screaming in her brain. Tears streaming down her face, she tried to move but she couldn't. She felt herself being lifted up and she was floating, when in fact suit she was in was strung up by four carbon fibre cables, attached to her shoulders and her feet. It moved her out of the courtroom, over everyone's heads, with a small select gallery of people and taken down to a shipping yard. There she was left in the suit, she urinated, cried and was forgotten about by almost everyone. Her photo was taken for the nightly news programs and a small article was written that a savage murderer was sentenced to life without parole with hard labour.

No one knew her name, no one knew her face and no one knew her story. Just another piece of garbage from the outer suburbs who had gone astray.

She was loaded onto a tray, and placed in a wagon, number 18765VBT along with 5 other people, who were also bound the same way. The wagon was attached to a FET (Fast Electric Train) and that wagon with 9 more, was sent to the Women's Labour Camp #6.

The train took 34 minutes to arrive. The camp was hidden away out past the burnt-out ruins of what was once a thriving city of over 1.5 million people, but that was over a hundred and fifty years and 3 wars ago. Times have changed and wars are no longer needed to solve disputes.

But that's another story.

Wagon number 18765VBT was unhooked and pushed into a building. It was dark, noisy and smelly. Christine lay there waiting, scared, she heard the yelling and the screaming, and then she heard a door opening.

A loud voice was heard, "Hello ladies, welcome to hell and my harem," Followed by a burst of raucous laughter.

She felt the suit being released and she began to move. Her arms and head first, then her feet and legs. She bent her knees. She saw movement in the confines of the wagon, but it was dark. Soon the suit was unzipped by an unseen person, she tried to sit up and knocked her head on the tray above her. Her head rattled.

That same voice that greeted them was heard again, "Come on my lovelies, wakey wakey," Christine felt her body, she was naked. As the 6 in wagon number 18765VBT stood up they all realised that they were all naked. They slowly walked towards the opening of the wagon, just a narrow doorway allowing them to get out. The large cavernous shed was busy, the work guards all wore black, tight jeans and bright shiny boots, their shirts were a dark dull red and they carried a club or baton. They herded the women towards an area containing official-looking women dressed immaculately in slim-lined, grey pleated suits, knee-length dresses and crisp white shirts with a dark dull red tie. These women held a simple-looking flat-screen reader, although none of the prisoners had any idea what it was. As they went past each official, the implant that held all of the criminal records was read, and attached to a photo and a cell. They were painlessly put into the system.

The Officers in charge stood out in their business suits, on an elevated platform. Pointing and laughing as the new arrivals were all brought before them and were told to keep quiet.

A woman on the platform moved forward and she addressed the new arrivals.

"Ladies, you are all here for various amounts of time, if your sentences include labour you will be put to work keeping this place running. If it is hard labour you will work either in the quarry, the blacksmith's shop or the loading bays. This is not a holiday camp ladies, you are here for a reason. Now go and get showered, and dressed and you will be allocated to your cell and to your work placement.

They were all put into groups according to their sentences, Christine was in the last group. There were just four of them. All of different ages. There was one other around Christine's age, late teens, one very much older and one a lot younger. The shower cubicles were clean enough, they were given a bar of plain soap, a thin towel, and a face washer. They were told that if they lost any of their goods they would have to go without until they earned enough to buy new provisions.

They entered the showers, the young one was extremely shy while the other 3 it seemed were quite use to their surrounds. Once they were showered, a strict three minute shower, they were handed their clothing. Three pairs of knickers and bras, two skirts, two shirts, two pair of shoes, 4 pairs of socks. A pair of jeans and one pair of coveralls.

Again they were told, that if they lost any of their clothing they would go without until they could buy a new piece.

They were then taken to their cells.

Each cell contained four prisoners. It was up to them to get along with each other. It was fortunate for the little one that she was matched with Christine, instinctively, she took her under her wing.

And so started Christine Magill's time in the labour camp. There were no prison walls, no towers over looking them or threatening them. If they wanted to they could just walk out and disappear into the wilderness. Many have, never to be seen or heard of again.

Each individual was monitored, a simple implant that everyone had, either injected, eaten, or inserted while they were 'sedated' meant that they could do nothing without being seen, or noticed.