An Unexpected Stop On The Tour

[goodgulf]

An Unexpected Stop On The Tour

Ida smiled as she sipped her champagne. She was tempted to call for another glass just to see an inmate walk across the floor to provide her with the glass of bubbly. Unused to dealing with servants, it tickled Ida to watch the girls move at her beck and call. Of course "girl" was a misnomer; none of the inmates were that young. Many were in their teens, but the youngest of those were in their late teens.
But regardless of their age they looked young, standing there in there in their uniforms. The Zuckerman Institute dressed its girls alike, its uniform giving them an almost schoolgirl look. Ida was convinced that the inmates were made to look young as one more way to keep them down. As if the staff carrying straps wasn't enough, and if that wasn't then there was always the discipline room with its secure benches and countless instruments. She had seen what they could do to a feminine backside and it was a thing of beauty.
Smiling at that memory, Ida wondered if she could find fault with one of them and send the girl to that room. Just knowing that a girl was there on her word, even if she didn't see it happening, just knowing would make this trip a special one.

Then Mrs. Truman spoke up.
"I know that they went a different route, but it has been a while." Mrs. Truman stated. "When should I be expecting to see my daughter Aubrey and the others arrive for drinks?"
The person who seemed in charge of the place, a pleasant face fellow named George Whitney, turned to Mrs. Trumen with a bemused expressed on his face.
"Um, oh." George Whitney said in surprise. "That. Um, you really should have been told and ... that is, I had assumed that you knew and had consented."
"Consented? Consented to what?" Mrs. Truman asked imperiously.
"Um, that is, well, um, well I really thought that..." George Whitney cleared his throat then started again. "There is a policy, a written and firm, very firm, policy, here at the Zuckerman Institute, that some tour guests, that is, tour guests who happen to under the age of 21 and female, um, that is..."
"Well?" Mrs. Truman demanded. "Stop all that whinging and get on with it."
"That is..." George Whitney stopped and took a deep breath. "Your daughter, as with all female tour guests under the age of 21, was taken to the discipline room."
"Yes? And?" Mrs. Trumen demanded. "We all went there. We all saw girls jumping as they were dealt with. Get on with it."
"Um, well, the younger ladies aren't taken there to watch but rather, um, experience." George Whitney stated. "That is to say, your daughter is experiencing a small part of what being an inmate here is like."
"What are you talking about?" Mrs. Truman demanded. Then it dawned on her. "You don't mean... You don't mean that my daughter is stretched over one of those benches? You do! That's what you're saying. That she won't be here until she's in no condition to sit."
"Um, well, I did think that you knew..." George Whitney began. "All of the young women in your daughter's group have been taken there."
"But... there were several girls with her." Mrs. Truman exclaimed hopefully. "Perhaps they haven't gotten around to Aubrey yet. There might still be time to stop it."
George Whitney shook his head sadly.
"Even if they haven't, well that wouldn't matter." George Whitney said apologetically. "As I said, it is a firm policy. There's nothing that I... There's nothing that anyone can do to stop it from happening to your daughter."
Mrs. Truman wasn't used to being told no.

Ida didn't want to do it, but she couldn't help herself. The look on Mrs. Truman's face. She had to laugh.
There was nothing Mrs. Truman could do to or about the Zuckerman Institute but that didn't mean that she would calmly endure laughter. Not when Ida was barely older than her daughter Aubrey.
"Watch that tongue of yours." Mrs. Truman snapped, turning a small part of her anger on the girl.
"But it's just so funny." Ida sniggered. "Everyone knows about that policy. Aubrey should have known about it. I did. That's why waited until after my birthday to come here."
There was nothing Mrs. Truman could do to save her daughter, but she wasn't about to accept Ida's taunts.
"Birthday?" Mrs. Truman asked theatrically. "But your twenty-first birthday isn't for another two months. Or is it three?"
"It was two months ago." Ida answered truthfully. "Aubrey was at my party. Remember? It was a masquerade and she wore that panda costume. She got red wine on it and had to buy it."
"No, she bought that costume after Nathan's party." Mrs. Truman countered.
Ida could feel everyone's eyes on her. Especially the embarrassed George Whitney's eyes.
"No, you're mistaken." Ida asserted. "I'm 22."
Mrs. Truman turned back to George Whitney.
"What does policy say to do when someone's age is under dispute?" Mrs. Truman asked.
"Look, I can prove it." Ida said. "My driver's license is in my purse."
But of course she wasn't carrying it. She had been forced to check it, along with her phone and coat, when she entered the institute.
"Well, in the case when the subject is unable to prove...." George Whitney paused. "But that sort of thing usually happens at the entrance. Not after the tour begins. The normal exception, the only exception I know of, is in cases when the guest is being escorted with a surprise planned for when the tour reaches the discipline room."
"So there is a policy that is followed when girl's true age is discovered or revealed?" Mrs. Truman asked. "Splendid. Then just as my daughter is firmly entrapped by your policies, so young Ida must be entrapped by those same iron policies."
"But I knew about the policy." Ida protested. "That's why I waited."
Mrs. Truman stared hard at George Whitney.
"Haven't you ever had a girl who knew about the policy and came anyway?" Mrs. Truman asked. "Say one that was curious about how the inmates are treated here?"
"Um, well, that scenario isn't exactly unknown." George Whitney conceded.
"And while you can't interceded where my daughter is concerned, you can definitely act here." Mrs. Truman stated.
"This is ridiculous." Ida said. "Just let me get my purse and I can prove..."
"I'm sorry, but that isn't the policy." George Whitney stated. "It seems as if you are in for a second trip to the discipline room."
"But this is stupid!" Ida protested. "I was careful to wait until after my birthday."

Ida scanned the room for support but saw only smirks.
"But I'm 22!" Ida screamed.
She was still screaming her age when they drug her from the room.
Later, when she, Audrey, and the others joined the group for drinks, Ida tried to pretend that nothing had happened. But she didn't once during drinks and joined the younger girls in standing for the meal.

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