DESOLATE VALIANCE.

Chapter 3

Katherine introduced herself to me,

her parents didn’t approve of her fornicating and they had caught her with a church member in the toilet,

while her father was preaching and that he took drastic measures by bringing her here,

She said that’s as much as she could tell me.

“Everyone here has a story, a reason for being here, mind your business and they’ll mind their own”

She said.

She showed me around, the laundry storage room,

because there is no electricity we wash by hand and spread on lines,

Each cabin has two cloth washers, sheet replacers, daily room cleaners,

three cabins share a large cabin like bathroom with 20 shower heads,

punctuality is essential in the (Teenage Discipline and Discipleship Program),

If you must be late, you must be dead,

It is a ‘Christian faith-based institution' where ‘sinners’ are brought to be punished and straightened,

Every member of the TDD program, is here for whatever amount of months their guardian paid for,

People die here, people have died here,
People get home sick and end up killing themselves,

But that isn’t the boards problem, each parent has signed a contract stating that if their child dies,

it’s not their responsibility and the parents are to decide what to do with the body,

With every death there is a new space for a new victim,

‘Hey, the program won’t hurt you if you’ve done nothing wrong,

it’s the other loose psychos you should be scared of, but punishments are little bastards,

sometimes it’s extra chores and other times it’s the calm chamber’

“What happens in the calm chamber”

‘I said qualm chamber not calm chamber, you get strapped to a metal chair bolted to the floor, then things happen’

“What kind of things”

‘you don’t want to know, people who’ve been there don’t say what their experience was,

people come out wetting there pants, don’t get yourself in there,

avoid eye contact with the crazy looking ones

‘ just...keep yourself same, stay sane, fight with no one, but don’t be too quiet, on sport days, be a good sport’

“Where can I find you when I need you”
With absolutely no reply she walked away from me, I watched her turn around

‘I’m almost everywhere’

At least I got a reply.

All I have to do is survive.