Crimson Lights

Reaffirmations Cont. Part 3

Yet ...

Just shy of it being three weeks since she first set foot in the rehab centre, she was called up to the warden's office. Excited, she went hurriedly to his office, the late hours of the night went completely unregistered to her mind.

"Sir, you called for me?" Karmen asked as soon as she was allowed into his office.

The warden gave her a once-over, taking in her look from head to toe. Smiling suddenly, he gestured to her to have a seat.

"I heard you've been wrongly brought in here," the warden began.

Nodding excitedly, Karmen answered, "Yes, I just happened to be there that day. I'm new to the city; if I knew that was a shady place, I wouldn't have gone there," she lied.

"I see..." He hummed under his breath. "Well, it seems like the right thing to do would be to grant you release. After all, there's no point in keeping you here. You're not a drug addict nor are you a drug pusher. Having you here is actually simply wasting our resources when we could use it for someone else."

"Oh, thank you, sir! I've been waiting for this day for so long."

She sprung out of her seat, wanting to shake hands with the warden but he stopped her.

"Wait a minute, I didn't say I was signing your papers and sending you off. You see, it's a bit...tricky."

"What is tricky, sir?"

"Well, if I signed your paper and let you off, that would simply seem as if I'm admitting that we did a mistake in taking you in and that the police and drug agency bust the other day was a mistake as well as they made a wrongful arrest. Things don't work out as easily as that."

"So what should I do, sir?"

"Of course, there should be some sort of ... payment offered, don't you think so? After all, it was your fault for being at such a shady place, regardless if you're a drug addict or not. The officers were simply doing their jobs. And for you to not plead your case as soon as you came here makes it seem like you knew you made a mistake."

When Karmen said nothing, he continued on, "There's a lot of paperwork to deal with if I'm to simply release you like that. I can, however, release you under the pretense that you have done your hours and have 'recovered' from the drug abuse; although, it doesn't come for free."

"What do I have to do, sir?"

Looking at her from head to toe again, he smiled slyly. "I can think of something that you have, that I know you can offer to me as a payment."

Understanding his look and the meaning of his words, Karmen took a step back, panicking as he stood up from his seat.

"You can, of course, walk away from here, but you would be heading back to your hostel and not to the entrance if you do. The choice is yours."

As tears started to roll down her cheeks, Karmen understood what she had to do then. She looked up at the warden and softly nodded.

*****

Back in the brothel, Karmen sat at the side of her bed silently, as she finished her story. Beside her, Inness was struggling to control her anger; her breath felt too hot and her stomach was burning with fury.

"So I ended up sleeping with the warden that night, simply for a signature on a piece of paper to grant my release. Little did I know that I would be carrying a bulk formed by that one night in my belly for the next nine months."

"You were pregnant?"

"Yes. Of course, I never went back to look for that warden. Why should I? He raped me, but I consented to the act in order to get my release papers. I never wanted to see him again. I never wanted to even set foot at that place again."