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"Fine Fine" I waved him away "Just lost my balance"

He knelt next to me "It’s brutal the first time"

I squinted at hiht you looked…shaky"

Recognizing the man from the warden’s office, I pushed to my elbow in alarm "You followed me?"

"Of course Your face hiter than a full ed out and you wobbled when you left What was I suppose to do? Let you fall and crack your head open?"

"No…sorry I’m just… That was horrible!"

"It’s a punishment It’s not supposed to be fun"

"But it seemed…cruel"

"What did?"

Was he teasing reen eyes, but it didn’t spoil his genuine interest in my answer

"The smells, the shrieks, the darkness, the…"

He waited When I didn’t continue, he said, "Did you actually see anything cruel?"

"No, but--"

"Your iination filled in the details"

I wanted to correct hiination, but my experience

"I won’t lie to you It is bad, but not cruel They’re fed, given water, exercise and fresh air No one is tortured or har what most of them have done to others, it’s more than they deserve Here…"

He hooked his arainedto remember the last time I ate

"What are COs?"

"Short for correctional officers We abbreviate everything"