"Roaming the halls!" Miss Tallen begins once Maggie and I are seated in front of her newly placed desk. Her office has all been rearranged. It's as if Mrs. Lana never even worked here - everything's so.. different.
"And, assaulting an employee!" Her voice is loud and visually affecting Maggie's stance. Maggie's legs shake beneath her as she tenses with every word the new warden shouts. I can already assume how this meeting is going to go. Miss Tallen is going to repeat what offensive things we have done that defy the rules of this institution. Once finished, she will most likely think of a punishment for the both of us, even though being punished for saving a fellow inmate seems ridiculous.
"Self defence" I counter her exterior shouts. "He assaulted us first" I stay as still as possible as Miss Tallen's hell like eyes race to search me. She seems astounded by the way I had interrupted her, as if the fact that an employee had assaulted a patient was no big deal. To be honest, for her, that probably was no big deal - she probably set him up to do so.
"You should be happy I am not sending you to solitary. The amount of things you've done in the time I've been here is..."
"I'm not going to solitary?" I interrupt. I had been to solitary once before and the short time I spent there was all around mortifying. Not much can faze me when it comes to this institution, I've seen it all, but for me solitary was a whole new experience. It's as if you don't exist for the whole few days you stay there, completely alone with only your thoughts to keep you company.
"No, I've decided against it" She sighs, moving herself so that she is seated behind her perfectly organized desk. There is something about her organization that annoys me, maybe because I'm not used to it. I think it has to do with the fact that I despise perfection and her attempt to succeed in perfection sets me off.
"So you're just going to yell at us... that's it?" I speak uneasily. I am sure Miss Tallen has more up her sleeve than belting her opinion. And if her plan could beat the idea of solitary than it must be too cruel to even think of.
The idea of being let off with something as easy as being whipped crossed my mind. I don't enjoy the stinging sensation the whip brings, but it is a far better way to be punished than being secluded from the entire institution for a few days.
The way Miss Tallen works is both the easiest and hardest thing to figure out. I can tell she is not a soft person, that being proved in too many occasions. Her ideas of punishment surely will reflect this characteristic, however, my mind can't figure out how far she will go for something as small as this.
"No no dear I am not that silly." She smiles to herself momentarily as if over thinking the exact thing she has in mind. A wickedness seems to surround her like black smoke, leaving me at the edge of my seat.
"I feel like you need something that you would learn from better than encasement. Which is why I have organized for you to assist Mr. Reno with his appointments as you had so cleverly accepted to do before" Miss Tallen speaks with no emotion as if she were a robot hiding under a mask of skin. Her eyes stay locked on me as I jump from my seat, unfazed by my absurd reaction to her request.
"No! I will not be in the same room as that psycho" I spit back with as much anger as I can muster. In this institution I have been reminded many times that I do not control what I can and can't do, but this new warden has me pushing back against every rule. I feel fed up with this woman and her untamed way of controlling everything - I would much rather serve time in solitary.
"Yeah. S-she can't be near him" Maggie let's out her opinion quietly. At first I feel as though I had heard something, that my mind was playing tricks on me. Surely enough though, as I turned to look at Maggie, she is staring down Miss Tallen with a fierce glare. She had voiced her opinion finally and I felt honoured to be the reason of her defiance.
