It seemed an eternity to Connie Hall before the officer called her name. Her ears were still ringing and her chest was still hurting from her arrest. Her whole body ached from the officers rough shove when her had pushed her face first into the street. She sniffed and rubbed away the ache from her wrist and an anger smoldered in her 16 year old face. Connie was angry. Angry at the cops, angry at the people she had hung out with and angry at life.

"If it hadn't been for Roscoe, I wouldn't be here!" she thought viciously. She was thinking of the gang leader that had been her family for the last 4 years After Connie's drunken Dad had died on the street she was taken in by this tough dude named Roscoe. Roscoe's gang was 5 men strong and they let her hang out because her brother Drake was one of them. The gang was the roughest group of juvenile delinquents Chicago had ever known. They were known for their rough and tough manners, their anger for cops and their love for all things bootlegged or stolen.

It was on this day that Connie had been asked by the leader Roscoe to go to 150th Street on Chicagos north side to meet with a man and get the special box he would have for her. She had no clue what was in it and just asking Roscoe seemed to upset him so she had gone without question. Little did she know it was a frame up by the Chicago PD to capture the gang leader. Of course Roscoe was smarter than that and had sent a girl who knew nothing except her brother Drake was one of them.

The officer called her a second time, this time much sharper than before. She looked up at his with a scowl. "What do you want?" She snapped.

The middle aged cop in the blue uniform slowly stood from behind his desk and walking over to her bent down to her level, looking her in the eye, his grey eyes somewhat soft and somewhat stern all at the same time. "We are trying to help you Ma'am. We have to ask you a few questions. This is a serious issue and I would ask you to treat it as such and be cooperative."

Suddenly her mind was drawn back to reality as the teacher stood before her repeating her name for the 4th time. "Connie Hall why can you not pay attention!" he yelled severely. She lowered her head as the class laughed. Officer Walters stood and glared at the class who subdued into silence. He turned back to Connie.

"Follow me to my office please Miss Hall." And over his shoulder he spat to the rest of the class, "Detention for laughing at a fellow student. Detention for 1 hour! Start your homework!"

Connie followed him trembling. Something about Officer Walters scared her. Maybe it was how he talked about his Commando tours in Vietnam or the semi automatic handgun at his side. Either way, she was a nervous wreck as he closed the door behind him. He turned to her and suddenly his stern nature melted away.

He walked to his desk and came back with a leather strap. He looked at the nervous girl who was still shaking uncontrollably.

"Connie," he began sternly. "You are here for one purpose and that is to be better than you were."

"I am sorry, sir, I -" Connie began stammering.

"Who told you to speak! You zip it till I am finished, is that clear!" He snapped.

"Yes sir." Connie smuttered.

"Good." His voice lowered. "I hate to whip you, Connie, for not paying attention." He said. "Trust me, I don't like to do it but this is the fifth time we have been thru this." He sat down on a chair and looked at her with blue eyes that suddenly didn't seem so scary.

"So I am giving you three choices. You can make the choice. Here they are:

1. Twenty lashes like the law here states

2. You work in the rock quarry for 5 days with no food

3. You stand in the middle of the square from sunup to sundown tomorrow.

Connie did not answer for a moment. Officer Walters waited patiently. Finally she spoke. "I will work the quarry."

She expected the Officer to plead with her to pick something else, but he stood without a word and walked to the door. He turned. "Report to my office in 15 minutes. You will go to your room and change to a shirt and shorts. No jacket and no hat. I will provide your shoes."

Connie felt scared. She knew she had made the wrong decision. It was more obvious when she returned to the office 15 minutes later. Officer Hall was with a brawny woman, if she could so be called. The woman looked like she had swallowed 5 lemons and hadn't forgiven herself.

"Take this and keep it. Others will steal it." The woman barked handing the girl a water bottle. "This is your water ration for today. You will follow orders and work your quota daily or face the lash, do you understand me?" She turned and faced the girl menacingly.

Connie nodded, too scared to look at the woman who was already walking toward the office door. Instead she looked at Officer Walters pleading for rescue but the burly officers face held no expression.