Waking up early will never get any easier, it's always as if your bed is comfier when you know you have to get up than it is when you can stay inside it on your day off. With a groan and a quiet click from my tired joints, I sat up in bed and fought hard not to fall asleep again.
I was actually lucky that I got to wake up at this time. This apartment was the closest one available to my new job and if I hadn't been able to secure this room, then I would've been forced to move somewhere further away which meant I'd probably have to wake at 4am to get to work on time whereas now at 5:30...it wasn't bad, but still troublesome.
Knowing I'd prolong the torture if I stayed sitting on the edge of the bed any longer while resisting the urge to flop back down and curl up into the covers, I got up with a whine at the cold breeze that hit me and half ran to the shower to get warm again. I turned it on, then stripped myself of my pink pyjamas and didn't waste any time getting inside, groaning when the hot water hit my aching muscles.
I must have slept awkwardly last night because right now my neck and my back hurt like hell, a great addition onto my no doubt upcoming stressful second day in prison. I was grateful about the short shifts I was getting for a while though, courtesy of Nichkhun. My shift today started at 6:30 and ended at 12:30 whereas a proper C.O shift could vary from eight to twelve hours...then again, I was used to working those kind of hours back home.
After rinsing the conditioner from my hair, I got out of the shower and admired the steam rising to the ceiling before grabbing a washcloth and cleaning the mirror of it's condensation.
Now, make-up is a funny thing. Correctional officers are allowed to wear it, but it's got to be so minimal that it could hardly be seen...so the sexy black eyeshadow and red ruby lips unfortunately were a no no. Nevertheless, I applied the make-up so it looked natural against my skin tone and put on a dash of eyeliner, mascara and a colour that matched my lips yet brought them out at the same time.
Seeing my time was ticking down, I pulled on my uniform minus the belt because that was always to stay locked up in our lockers (we weren't allowed to bring them home) and then I put on my shoes and left the apartment.
As I started to drive through the streets of Seoul, I admired the sheer beauty of my surroundings. I had always dreamed of coming to Korea in general because I had relatives here, but each time my parents arranged to go I was always busy or work refused my holiday request due to being understaffed.
Being a woman who was easily awed by a lovely landscape or a beautiful picture... I regretted only coming to this place now as I passed over the Banpo bridge that was famous for it's rainbow fountain shows. Unfortunately due to it being so early, I didn't get to witness what was said to be the most incredible sight with the water spurting out the sides of the bridge as you would pass over it. But instead, the whole underside and also up and along the sides of the bridge were illuminated in the slight darkness by yellow light which made the bridge look almost golden. It really was beautiful.
That view was soon gone as I pulled up into the car park and lay my eyes on the huge building with the equally as huge wall around it. I knew behind that high, solid wall was layers of tough chain link and barbed wire making it so no prisoner would be able to escape. I then got out and locked my car before entering the building where I was required to put anything metal into a tray and walk through a metal detector, just like the ones at the airport. Even if the alarm indicating I had something metallic on me didn't go off, it was still necessary to search because an officer could be carrying contraband for his/her favourite inmate, that being strictly forbidden.
Finally, I got to the staff room where I clipped on my belt and met up with a senior officer who was to be my shadow today. A shadow is somebody who allows a new officer on the job to do everything that would be expected of them when they are working alone but will watch over them closely. If something were to happen, the officer would be right there to control any problems and help me out, not that I particularly needed it.
"Tiffany, good morning. I'm Officer Park and I'll be helping you out and showing you around today" he smiled and gave a bow, I did the same back.
Officer Park was a rather portly looking fellow who, regardless of his being a senior officer didn't look like he had the potential to stop anything were it to go wrong. I watched as he started leading me somewhere while breathing heavily even though we had only taken a few steps. It made me wonder why some officers allowed themselves to get to an overweight stage, wasn't that something that could be considered dangerous?
I mean, for example...If this was my first C.O job and I was really nervous, imagine if an inmate were to run at me while I was a few meters away from my shadow...she could potentially throw a load of punches and kicks at me before he would even get a chance to hobble over here and even when he would eventually get to her, he'd be weak and panting due to the sudden exertion. Maybe it was just me, but I didn't deem it safe at all. However, I respected him for I soon saw a pedometer clipped onto his belt that he checked regularly. At least he was trying to do something about it.
"Alright first we are going to go to a staff meeting where we will be given our shifts and duties for the day and then we'll get to work. Sound good?"
"Yes, great" I replied and gave a grin. I was excited. Even though I was grateful for the short shifts I was getting for a while this morning, I found myself wanting to do a full and hard one. I wanted to immerse myself in the work because I had studied and worked hard for both this job and becoming a CO in general. Patience is a virtue though I guess, I didn't have much of an idea how this system compared to the USA's but I was eager to find out.
As we walked in, I sat down beside my shadow amongst the many other officers who started work at the same time as us. There were a lot more but they were either working their different shifts or on lunch or something. I then noticed that most of the officers around me were men, which was okay...except for the fact some of these women inmates were lesbian. If the officers working here was at a ratio of more men to women, I could find myself lusted after, preyed upon and that scared me more than an inmate armed with a weapon ever would.
Trying to push those thoughts aside, Officer Park and I were assigned to start our jobs at one of the many housing units in the prison. We then were all given a lecture (mainly for my purpose as I was new) about the rules and regulations, what is expected of us etc. I already knew this but it was just as interesting the second time around, especially since this place was still all new to me.
Once that was over, myself and my now huffing shadow made our way to where we would start the day. We walked down the long corridor with doors on each side holding the many inmates prisoner but kept going and going until we turned a corner and reached somewhere that I recognised. It was where I came with Yuri to collect the inmates to take to eat their lunch. So...am I doing the same as yesterday?
"Count time! Count time ladies!" Officer Park called out, I heard other's announcing the same thing all the way down the corridor too. Then, door after door opened to reveal the inmates who after opening the door stood in the middle of the room if they were able. There were some disabled prisoners here that couldn't stand for long periods so they were exempt from waiting upright to be counted, sitting in view on their beds instead. "Okay Tiffany, here's the counter" he said as he passed me a small remote with a button.
"What if some inmates didn't hear you?" I asked, unsure of whether just his voice alone managed to reach all of the rooms that only we needed to count. There were a lot of doors down that corridor.
"As well as me shouting it out, there's a light above each of the inmate's doors. When it turns red, all inmates should stand in the middle of the room after opening the door. They don't move until the light goes off. They all are aware of this."
"Ah okay..." My last prison didn't have that light thing, we relied on our voices alone and even then with the substantially smaller number of prisoners, not all of the doors were open when we got to them which always used to mess up our count.
"Now, this is the start of our unit, he said, pointing at a yellow line on the floor of the beginning of the very long corridor. "Usually I'd stay here and you would go and count the inmates. Once you finished, I'd do the same and we would meet at the end having the same number on our counters, if not...we'd have to do it again but I'm shadowing you so we..."
"No" I replied, a little loud for his liking judging by the frown on his face. "I've done this before in America, I know what to do" I gave a confident smile and I could see he was wondering whether he should or not. "Really, I'm capable. If something goes wrong and I can't handle it myself, I'll call you on my radio okay?" Please please please, I want to do something alone, for myself.
"Fine." He replied. "But if any inmate so much as moves, contact me. Got it?"
"Got it" I grinned and bowed my head. "I'll be done soon" I said as I started to approach the first door on the left. I could sense his eyes on me so did my best to look professional, even when the two women inside wore disgusting smirks as they trailed their eyes around my body.
Controlling my expression from showing it's revulsion was the most difficult thing I'd had to do lately but I just managed. The others weren't so bad, I'd have to warn some of them to stay still as I caught one or two jumping on the spot or even pacing because of their boredom yet I didn't radio my fellow officer...I could deal with it alone.
"Stand still inmate" I ordered when I came to another door and saw a woman was pushing her roommate playfully. She immediately stopped at the sternness of my voice only to smile widely when she saw me. So much for 'some' of the inmates being lesbian, almost all of the fucking women here were checking me out.
"Sorry...Officer" she winked before her friend giggled as she looked to and from myself and the woman. Just before I was about to continue my work she spoke again. "Say...I haven't seen that face before. Where have you been all my life?" She grinned and leaned her head to the side to attempt to see my behind. I couldn't control myself any longer and threw her the dirtiest glare imaginable.
"Say that again and I'll write you a shot." I growled, watching her stand up straight again soon after. "Now stand still" I repeated and clicked the device twice that kept count of all the prisoners from the amount of times I had clicked the button.
I left the room and went on and on and on until I finally reached the end. All in all, it had taken me around half hour to get through my unit and I just had the last room to go.
I entered inside and saw the girl that had the book yesterday. She had her head bowed and her body was slumped as she rested her weight on one foot while her other was bent at the knee casually. She was staring at nothing but on the bed I saw she had been reading a book different from the one yesterday. One glance to the shelf above her head showed she liked books, she really liked books...the shelf was full of them. They were all stacked tidily on top of one another, the title of each one printed on the spine for easy recognition.
"Apologies on making you stand for so long inmate" I said while I clicked her. I didn't get an answer but then again I wasn't expecting one going by what Yuri had told me yesterday.
I glanced outside her door and saw my fellow officer reasonably far away after starting his count so I stayed where I was for the moment. I saw that the girl looked really bored and kept glancing over to her bed...I could tell what she wanted.
"Are you not allowed to read while we count you?" I asked. She looked up at me and even though I was standing by her door quite some distance away from her, who was standing near the back of the room, I could still see the colour of her eyes. They were a dark brown but had hints of lighter brown in them. I knew that if she turned to the side a little to allow the light from the lamp behind her shine onto her face, those little specks would light up the rest of her eyes. They really were unique.
She shook her head to answer my earlier question, eyes still on me. Thankfully she wasn't like a lot of the others, scanning me and perving on my body parts. I actually felt grateful. I bit my lip in thought and glanced out of her room again to see my shadow officer had barely moved, maybe an inmate had been asking him something.
"Well, I'll allow it" I murmured quietly, she managed to pick up what I said easily and a confused look came on her face followed by a suspicious one. "I'm not going to get you in trouble...you've been stood here for ages so the least I can do is make it a little better for you while we wait to finish up" I smiled.
She glanced over to that book, still with the extremely suspicious look etched on her face. She wasn't going to do it so I went over to her bed, picked up the book and handed it to her.
"Really. Take it, I'll just tell you to throw it back when he comes in" I shrugged and backed away so I could be half in the room and half out, making it easier to turn my head to and fro. I didn't consider this favouritism, just a nice gesture. Right now she looked harmless enough and I felt bad that she'd been standing for around an hour...even I found that hard to do.
I leaned against her door while I stared outside at the officer finally beginning to come closer after around fifteen minutes of waiting. He was about four doors away now.
"Hey" I whispered, she looked up almost immediately. I glanced at her book and she got the message, throwing it back on her bed and standing up straight. Officer Park came in a short while later and once he clicked his counter, he took mine and compared.
"Perfect" he smiled and motioned me out of the room. I turned to leave but stopped just short of outside when I heard him speak. "You" he addressed the girl with an unnecessary attitude in my opinion. "I expect this room spotless by the time we come back."
Was he blind? It was spotless. I opened my mouth to say something to him but then thought it wouldn't look good on me to stick up for an inmate so stayed silent. I saw the anger in her eyes after she too finished looking around the very clean room and then raised her eyebrow as if to say 'what the fuck?'
The next thing that happened shocked me. The officer that I had perceived to be a genuine and kind-hearted person simply smirked at her reaction, walked right up close to her and reached out his hand to rest on the wall behind her. Okay whatever he was doing I was not cool with. Even though she hadn't flinched and was glaring straight back at him with equal hostility, I myself didn't like it one bit.
Then...a crash when all of the neatly piled books on her shelf flew to the floor as that same hand of his pushed them swiftly off of it. My jaw dropped in surprise and actual disbelief. Was this even allowed? That's fucking bullying.
I watched on as the officer removed his hand and repeated himself. "I expect this room spotless" he said before he walked back out. "Come on Hwang" he called, his tone changing back to the one he had used all morning with me. Meanwhile I looked at her face as she bent down and started to clean up, I couldn't help but then glance at her clenched fists as she tightened her hold on the books. "Hwang!" He shouted and I immediately turned and went to him. Well, this had just taken an unexpected turn.
I know this was what some officers did...acted like assholes to the inmates so they'd be feared by them but that...that was just a dickish move that I still couldn't believe. She had acted correctly, standing where she should have been and yet he did that. Gosh that had really pissed me off.
"Okay Tiffany. So we will now make our way back to the start and search the now clean rooms for any contraband okay?" He smiled sweetly.
I just nodded and started to walk, what a prick. If he did that again when we returned to check that her already spotless room was clean, I think I just may have to report him. I guess he noticed that I was a bit off and thinking back to his behaviour that he so blatantly showed me, he started explaining himself.
"If you didn't like that, get used to it." He said with no remorse. I frowned but kept my gaze ahead as we walked in sync. "If those inmates begin to think that they can become alpha and make us omegas, they need to be knocked off their self-made podiums. We are at the top of the food chain here, not the prisoners, not Nichkhun, not the owner of this prison, us. We are the ones who deal with the criminals"
"She didn't look like she was trying to rise above your rank" I retorted
"Well, you don't need to see it to know that she wants it. Everyone here wants it. Imagine being a prisoner and being able to tell your friends in this place that you have a correctional officer wrapped around your little finger. The next thing you know...you'll have a lot more than you bargained for when her friends expect the same." I felt his eyes on me before he sighed. "Listen, I'm not telling you how to do your job, but treating an inmate anything other than an animal isn't going to get you anywhere. They aren't human, they are vile, disgusting beings that don't even belong on this earth" Wow, just wow.
"Officer Kwon told me yesterday that nobody knows what crime each inmate has done so they're treated fairly...right?" I asked.
"Yes..." He replied, slightly confused at the sudden change of subject.
"How can you be so sure that that girl, or any other inmate in here is so bad?"
He laughed at my question. "Why else would they be in here? They are thieves...they assault, they murder."
"What if they were thieves because they stole to feed their family as they were so poor to afford it otherwise?
What if they assaulted because they were getting abused to the point where they were close to committing suicide unless they got the person away from them? What if...they had murdered to prevent the killing of one of their family members, or out of self-defence that led them to be wrongly charged?"
"..."
"You can do whatever you think is right...but like you said, don't try to tell me how to do my job. If I treat them with respect, they'll treat me the same way back." He laughed at that but before he could reply to me... "I'm not saying that all of them will, there'll come a time when one of them tries to get one over on me but a lot of these women aren't the cold-blooded murderers with no soul it seems you see them as.
They are mothers, they are daughters, sisters, aunts and even grandmother's who were trying to survive in the outside world...don't judge them until they show you a reason why they should be judged."
And with that, I effectively silenced him. That's right... Burn.