Chapter 1: Why She Came
Warden's POV, in her cabin
I have been digging my whole life; my whole life and nothing to show for it but a piece of land that looks more like the surface of the moon than the earth. The only positive is that I don't need to dig anymore. One of the greatest ideas I ever had was opening Camp Green Lake. Now instead of one hole a day I get thirty-five.
'I NEED more holes! There has to be a way that this will work better. The government will not give me more money unless I come up with a better program for these cow turds. The only problem is that the delinquents get out earlier when there is an effective program in place.
'AHHHHHHHH!'
I jump. What in the hell? I get up to look behind the blinds.
'Oh, another fight.' I think to myself. 'You would think they would realize that would just make the heat feel worse. Wait… shit! He's going to break The Lump's wrist! He won't be able to dig.'
I run outside with my gun and fire a shot into the air. They stop instantly.
"Want to explain why there is fighting?" I say in my best impression of my granddaddy's scary voice.
They mumble and look at the ground. I hear The Lump say 'he called me stupid…'
Well I know he's stupid, but the other is even more so. You should never antagonize a person that is bigger than you
'Well,' I drawled, 'since you are both such smart young men you can use all that brain power by digging an extra hole for the next two days. Also I think it would be beneficial to you both if you think of something better to do than fight in the hot sun.' I smile at them and turn back to my cabin.
'Bitch…' I hear one of them whisper but I keep walking.
Now that I am in my nice air-conditioned cabin I walk to my nail polish but stop before I reach it.
I am suddenly struck with a brilliant idea for my new program. If I make Green Lake co-ed I can double the amount of holes. It would motivate both genders AND it would get more funding. I would set it up for girls that tend to run away from other places. I would also have to change it so that boys charged with sexual assault don't come here anymore. There is no way I would ever be okay with rape in my camp. The boy responsible would end up in a hole if I had anything to do with it. So I start typing an e-mail of my new program to get an idea of the budget.
I have an idea to promote a smoother transition back to normal life after incarceration. Camp Green Lake will be co-ed. The girls I want should be a flight risk from other juvenile facilities. As for the boys currently at and being brought to my camp, I request that there be no charges of sexual assault of any kind. All campers will participate in six camp activities a week. We will now be enforcing a mandatory education plan so that each camper will keep up with at least a high school education. Lastly, as they near the end of their sentences, there will be a separate program geared towards older campers to teach them the skills needed for adult life. If they so wish to, campers will also be able to complete college online assuming they have the proper pre-requisites.
I pressed send. Now all I needed to find was a girl in the system that fit what I'm looking for. I searched all girls in the system that that have a connection to one of the boys. Then out of the thirteen I found, I looked if any were flight risks at other detention centres. Two girls show up; the first got in a fight with The Lump… And got arrested for supplying illegal guns to gangs. She will not be coming to my camp. The other knows Zigzag… she sounds crazy but at least she's not overly violent.
Just then the phone rings. It's the guy that will tell me if my idea is a good one, or if it's complete shit.
'Hello.'
'Hi Ms. Walker, just got your e-mail.'
'So do you like the idea for the program?' I ask eagerly
'… Yes. The only thing that I suggest is that that there should be a way to get into the older program…if there are any… health issues…that may arise.'
'Meaning…' What health issues could there be?
'Well ahh… you see there is no way that we could be able to fund money for any form of birth control and a pregnancy is likely to happen at some point no matter how hard you try. By switching them to a transition program we would be able to cope with that problem. And there should be consequences if you catch them in the… act.'
'I didn't think about that. Although, if one or two did happen then I could maybe have those couples stay on after the birth and be trained to be real staff. They would already have a place to live and a job here. Even with being in the 'transition program' they won't be able get a good enough job to support a family on the outside.' I smiled. 'Yes, that would be a great addition to the program model.'
'Good, good. Have you been looking at all in to any female applicants yet?' The man asked, glad to be off the subject of sex. I almost laugh.
'Yes, the first one that I have found that would be eligible is a girl by the name of Elyssa Nelson.'
'Okay… I'm at the computer and can check… yes, flight risk but not overly violent. Yes, she would be able to come. I can send her there tomorrow. She's been in a holding cell from her last escape six days ago.'
'When she comes it would be much obliged if the bus could pick up the seven boys that are now no longer eligible to be here.' I play with the cord of the phone with my free hand. 'I really don't want there to be rape if I can help it.'
'Yes, that is completely fine. I will work out the details and give you a ring tomorrow after I set the bus up. And I'll send you an e-mail containing new funding possibilities; we need to nail that out as soon as possible. I am assuming that you are wanting thirty-five boys and thirty-five girls?'
'That sounds great.' I'm so happy that I'm almost jumping.
'Okay Ma'am, you have a great day.'
'You too.' I hang up and look at the time, five o'clock.
Now for a very busy few hours, I'm glad it's still early. I give the new camper's file another look over and press print.
General Information
Name: Elyssa Nelson
Gender: Female
Crime: Setting off illegal fireworks
Sentence: 18 months
Personality: Nice, creative, socially awkward, polite
Problems finding an adequate detention centre due to being a flight risk.
General Background Information (as documented by school/hospital records)
School councillor: Elyssa Nelson has had a history of mental illness and dyslexia. She has steadily increased her visits to the school councillor to the point where she is scheduled several times a week. Elyssa has many problems in her home life. She does not get along with her stepmother or her stepsister and her biological younger brother committed suicide. She blames his death on herself. Another issue that has become evident is her attitude towards peers and superiors, particularly authoritative males. There has been evidence of self-harm by cuts on her wrists and it is also believed that there may be cuts on her legs. She has been a victim of bullying and has retaliated by passive aggressive means. She has been known to become physical on two occasions both involving being bullied about her brothers' death. I have talked to her parents and they believe she may be bipolar. It has been suggested that Elyssa may also have a mild form of autism but it has not been diagnosed.
Hospital admissions: Elyssa has been to the adolescent mental health unit twice. The first time she threatened to drink bleach and the second for attempted suicide. These instances were approximately two years apart. There was another occasion where she overdosed on her prescribed medication.
Hospital notes (first admission): She was 13 the first time that she was admitted for threatening to drink bleach. It was discovered that a year prior she was living with her mother in Oregon but went to live with her father as she did not get along with her mother's live in boyfriend. She revealed in a session that the patient was raped by a boy at her school in Oregon but refused to press charges. During her first stay she was very well behaved and got along with the other patients, particularly a male patient named Ricky Ketch, aged 14 years. The patients are very similar as both have self-harmed, had problems with stepparents, and have difficulty with school work and peers in normal civilian life.
Hospital notes (second admission): On this instance, Elyssa was admitted for trying to hang herself, aged 15. During this time there were instances where she had hallucinations and possible signs of paranoia. Because of this, we are diagnosing her with a mild case schizoaffective disorder that may become more apparent when stressed. Elyssa does not show signs of being bipolar or autistic. The same male patient, Ricky Ketch, from her first stint in hospital was admitted the day before Elyssa arrived. Neither of the patients seemed to get along with one of the staff members. It was found out that during their last visit to the ward they knew about each other's hallucinations but claimed they were not as bad as they were. The patients showed signs of being in a non-platonic relationship. They were found kissing by a nurse, and there is evidence that they may have participated in coitus the night before the male patient was to be released. There was a condom found in a trash receptacle, and the male patient was out of bed during the night in the hallway by her room.
