Keshathra Part 1, Chapter Fourteen

***Jerry***
"What are the 5 positions?" Diana asked at dinner tonight. She and MsC has been chatty all evening about the school. I was in a tired daze, occasionally giggling when Diana fantasied too heroically.

Oh sure little miss cant stand authority is gonna suddenly blossom once she in the service. Oh She'll have her change.... what a crock. My eyes float around the table and connected with momentary flash of Mistress's less than pleasant "pity" look. My appetite shrunk, and I knew I was in for it tonight. I spend the rest of the meal trying to figure out what for and what to say about myself if she asked "that" question, tried to behave myself.

"Well Diana when I first attended there only 4 positions, and they where pretty clear cut. 1- wall time or unusual detail. 2-moderate to sever thrashing 3- moderate to sever flogging and 4- Lashes. " She answers. "And Mistress where did position five come from?" Diana asks. " It's an interesting story."

As Carol started to explain. George and I exchanged realisation that Diana changed what she calls Ms C. George's mask could barely hide his perplexing sad and eager grin, I could almost hear him thinking.....

' well lost another one to the enemy,maybe it's not too late.'

"Do you remember Officer Tweed? He was incarcerated when I was new. Peter was my high school Professor and he helped me emancipate myself from my parents at age 17 by taking me as an apprentice RIT, but until I had sufficiently passed advanced high school I was a safe house reformee. Mike Tweed was a prisoner reformee he was serving four years for rape.

"Mind you I was even shorter than I am now and he was 6 foot broad. We had security together for a spell. He kept sexually harassing and intimidating me. And I made him back down by threatening to tell. But after a while he challenged me that I was hardly as tough as think I am and he wasn't backing down.
I possessed a dominate glare and said "ok Mike, we will see. If you attack me I will see to it that you go through all the positions. But to have you never disrespecting another woman again I will not only go thru all four in one day, but I will invent a fifth. He went ashen and said we had a deal."

MsC went mysteriously silent and retired to the living room and we took our cue to clean up from dinner. George was especially intrigued and I could feel him burn with desire to 'discuss amongst ourselves' Diana chattered about the encounters and curiosities of her day and I was pensive and when I was not playing along with the random suggestions about how MsC got in trouble I was growing more nauseous over why I was in trouble.

George tossed me a 'clumsy' glare and I nodded. It was one of our silent cues when we needed a break from a reformer. We became so obnoxious about being in the way that we are dismissed and it worked like a charm on Diana who gruffly volunteered to finish the job by herself. We ducked out the back door and to the garage. He proudly demonstrated his custom modifications and flailed his arms about as if to knock down my abject shock. " Does Mistress know about this?" he smiled triumphantly. "Oh damn it George I must know what......tell me...whisper. No one will know." He solemnly grinned but had presented a detailed scribbling for me to get caught up by.
Something unsettled me about his story but I could not quite understand it. I thought I'd have to have a smoke about it later on. And being bemused with his apparent victories I offered him a stealthy confession when he joined me for a cigarette in my car. His equal shock asked me the same question. " I don't know." I shrugged. "she must; but doesn't say anything, so I guess it doesn't matter." Now he was visibly unsettled about me. I simply nodded with a sigh and laid the seat back.                                                     
                                                               ( insert A)

       "George, I am going to chamber tonight." I whisper dreadfully, watching the cruels of smoke fill our space.  He let his head fall back and then wrote, "Why don't you just talk to her honestly? Why are you hiding this, even from me?"  And my gut knots up, because I simply don't know.

          " I don't know George. Maybe cause I am not suppose to. I mean She implied, no said I could smoke. Seriously, we sat in this car and she said something about addiction management lesson. And... "  George rolled his eyes and smacked my forehead...."Yeah yeah, I know... I guess I am not doing much managing huh?"  There was a thought fulled pause " Well what ever...what about you, George? How do you wreck the car and smell like a rose? Kept your mouth shut huh?

           We finished the joint slowly,  we talked for a while, when I suddenly asked him when he started speaking. And he wrote He hasn't said a word... he just listened.

          "That's it isn't it? She reads our minds....she is like, tuned in, like....well I swear I heard you talking, man. But I been thinking that pot might just have a valid use.  I just feel bad about how I am getting it.  I mean I feel like, guilty, even though I have permission.  George's eyes became intrigued by my proposal as he leaned forward.   No, I don't think she is permanently high, but that it helps tune us in.... no wait that don't ..never mind George, I hate it when you fuck me up."  (end a)


We rejoined the others in the living room, once settled George rolls his arms over themselves to coax MsC to continue, drawing related chirps from the rest of us.

" Well the next morning I was quite rudely late for morning assembly. Peter gave me position one, I had to stand thru the assembly at the door and when he signaled me was to shrill ding ding ding ding ding. And do this for each bell for the rest of the day.
"Oh about lunch time, as we lined up by the cafeteria I screamed out "It's POISONED don't eat." MsC paused to recover her thrill and repose." If you can imagine, the students where already conditioned to respond to me yelling something so several of them panicked. Peter's office is was right across the hall, he had me by the arm in seconds whisking me behind closed doors.
'I cant believe what has gotten into you Carol Anne Wise. What is the meaning of this outrageous behaviour!' He demanded.'Professor, i was curious.' i defiantly shrugged and he twisted his face at me terrifically.' Ms Carol i hope position two helps you grow out of that quickly.' And he bade me over his desk and thrashed me severely. I had never been stricken before, never mind by paddle, or belt.
" Naturally I began to rethink the wisdom of what I was doing, but " she paused blushing." There is a part I neglected to tell you. Mike's end of the bargain, if I could not keep my word, I had to have sex with him. And I knew I had to keep that information away from Peter. My motive was to figure out how to make sure what I did got me to the next level. Damn the Torpedoes.

" Took two more classes before the throbbing burn went down, and I had my plan. Thankfully I was on standing by the door details. At the finial bell I destroyed my text book. Each class room is attended by an RIT who quickly had custody of my person and was escorting me to his officer when we crossed paths with Peter.
"I might have expected something like this. Release her she is already in my charge." Once we where in his office he had me sit at the desk. Behind me keys jingled a door unlocked and steps receded. I felt frozen to my chair and did not stare back. Another jingle , a smaller door, steps advancing, he takes his seat, we watch each other.
"Now, try to tell me your curious, " He laid a cat of nine tails whip between us." about vandalism." There was a pause, but I could not answer, my voice was frozen too. " I expect a reasonable explanation for your actions Carol. I understand you to be a woman of purpose and not prone to rebellion.
"Professor, I don't feel that it is appropriate for me to be trained as a reformer without first understanding crime." He reflected over my offering. He didn't seem totally on Board.
" 'Carol you are hiding information and I will ferret it out. But for now I strongly encourage you to end your morbidity here. The next level, is even less pleasant and will render you immobile for several days and scarred for life. There isn't must to be gained for your studies unless you wish to learn what it is like have your apprenticeship revoked. ' He warned, then I was lead and bound to the whipping post in his chamber.
"He didn't let me go off to my room, when he was finished with me it was nearly dinner bell and I had to preform my detail. Mike was among the early crowd and his respect grew with each grimacing step I took to take a place in the line. " MsC paused again, relief and dread washing over her eyes." Peter really had shaken me up. I had to make a decision.
" There was a dull murmur in the cafeteria that evening. Huddlings about the bet had no doubt been gleaned by my dear professor who began to observe we two more carefully. Mike could not stay away, he sat at our table with Peter's other two personal reformees. There was intensity that evening.
"As the pressure mounted, and with sorrow in my eyes I connected with Peter, and flung a spoonful of mashed potatoes at him. Silence, and the sound of my spoon hitting the floor, followed by my knees. "office" he said.
"You have one breath to explain why I wont be sending you home right now."
" Master, permit me more than one breath. I have put myself in this situation to win a change in Mike Tweed."
" Carol, most reformers to not win authority by acts of submission. You are not a reformer, and you are not authorised to practice law. That in itself is worthy of Whipping and Revoke. Had you considered the other results of your actions today? It is not just Mike that will have been changed by you. Your wild behaviour might have gotten you just want you plotted, but that is not the only thing it did. Most reformers are very careful about the various results of their actions so that they might have a strategy in place when confrontation arises.
Had you even considered your integrity with me or the rapport we had developed over the year? Seems to me that you took it upon yourself to play reformer. why?'
I explained the whole story (save the neglected part) to him and he continued his lecture.
" You have the whole school buzzing your fame. And I have to save face in this situation. I can admire what you have tried, I cannot feel justified in permanently punishing your instinctive act. And I feel that it is an honorable detail for me to hone your natural talents and build a master reformer out of you. But I did not expect you to test me by such an extreme, Carol. Let the students believe you where whipped for disrespecting me simply because they don't know you are a RIT yet. But between you and me, never practice law again until you are licenced. Am I clear?"
And MsC went silent again, and clicked on the tv. "to be continued after these messages" where the first lines on the tv.