19
Vera had no idea how tightly her hands were gripping each other, nails slicing into the soft skin.
On the screen, Joan was smiling. “Yes, Smith was a leader… of a sort.” She shook her head derisively. “It’s called ‘Top Dog,’” she explained. “It’s a system prisoners often use to impose their own hierarchy. As Governor, I worked against it, of course—no prisoner should have power over another—but Bea Smith did gain significant power while I was on remand.”
Work against it? Vera snorted. Joan actively used the Top Dog to maintain her own power.
She ignored the voice reminding her that she had done the same.
“And did Bea Smith ever threaten you? I’ll remind our viewers that she was able to murder Jacs Holt by viciously stabbing her in the neck with a pen. She has also been outspoken in her criticism of your policies as governor.”
“No, no,” Joan shook her head. “Once again, I was no threat to the power dynamic. The Top Dog makes the rules. I followed them. Only…”
“Yes?” Hayley urged.
Joan shrugged. “The problem with allowing a prisoner to rule the other women is that it creates the opportunity for cruelty.”
“And you saw this cruelty?”
Joan sighed. “There was one inmate… a lovely young woman. Very young. She was imprisoned on a minor charge. She was attacked by the other inmates, and she pressed the panic button in an attempt to save herself.”
“What happened to her?” Hayley asked softly.
“She was saved by the guards,” Joan stated firmly. “That’s the point. But in pressing the panic button, she went against Smith’s direct order that no prisoner must ever press the button.”
Hayley shook her head. “Why would that be an order? Surely even the Top Dog would agree that such a button is necessary!”
Joan snorted. “Not Bea Smith. To her, pushing the panic button was akin to being a lagger. She enacted her own punishment.”
“Punishment?”
Joan nodded. “She brutally shaved the girl’s head, leaving multiple cuts, then allowed the women to further abuse the girl by publically throwing dirt and rubbish at her as she cowered on the ground, in fear.”
Hayley appeared horrified.
“The girl later tried to kill herself,” Joan added.
“But she survived?”
“Barely,” Joan replied, looking down at her hands. “I found her, in the showers. She had made a rope out of her bedsheets…” Joan trailed off.
“You found her?” Hayley nudged gently.
Joan nodded, still staring down. “She had hanged herself, probably only moments before. I got her down as fast as I could.” She looked up, directly into the camera, her face full of anguish. “I performed CPR, breathing into her, pushing on her chest. I thought that was it—I thought we’d lost her. But then she coughed!” Her face broke into an angelic smile. “I rolled her over and covered her with a towel. We saved her!”
“It sounds like you saved her, Joan,” Hayley pointed out.
Joan shrugged demurely. “I had the training. I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time.” Her face darkened. “She certainly didn’t deserve to die like that. She had a long, full life ahead of her.”
Hayley still appeared scandalized. “But how did Governor Bennett let it get that far? Why did no one stop Smith?”
Joan sighed again. “Governor Bennett was an exemplary deputy governor,” Joan explained, “but it may simply be that she is not yet ready for the full governorship…”
The screen showed Hayley leaning forward, concern emanating from her posture. “Are you saying Governor Bennett is inept?” she asked.
A close-up of Joan’s face once again filled the screen. “Of course not,” Joan smiled. “Anything but. Vera Bennett is a consummate professional. I trained her myself.”
“But,” Hayley said, leaning further, “there’s something… She’s been promoted and demoted from that position before…”
Joan held up her hands. “I’m simply saying that there are… conditions… which make her governorship untenable…”
“Conditions?”
Joan shook her head. “Discretion,” she stated. “That is not my story to tell. The mechanisms behind her promotion are between Governor Bennett and the Board of Directors that promoted her.”
Hayley’s eyes narrowed. “Alright. Let’s get right to it, shall we? Answer this: should Governor Bennett be running Wentworth? Are the women safe under her guard?”
The camera zoomed in as Joan looked away, seemingly staring into the distance for a long time. “Let’s just say,” Joan stated, finally turning back, “that I would run Wentworth very differently, if I could return.”
“If you could?” Hayley asked, picking up on the wording. “As in you want to return, but are not able?”
Joan’s eyelids fluttered sadly. “This process, this trial… I have a stain upon me.”
“Even though you were exonerated?”
Joan inclined her head. “Even though I am completely innocent. Derek Channing—the General Manager—has expressed to me that the optics of me resuming my position are… not good.”
“But that hardly seems fair!” Hayley exclaimed. “You were falsely accused! Surely you should be able to resume your position—surely you deserve your position!”
“The General Manager does not agree,” Joan stated simply. “And now I am left with heavy legal fees, and no manner of employment.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Look for alternative employment,” Joan stated wryly. “I have no other choice.”
There was a long pause before the camera focused once again on Hayley. “Well,” she said, turning to face her audience, “I think we can all agree that Correctional Services have lost a true leader in Joan Ferguson. Thank you,” she stated, turning to Joan, “for speaking with us. I hope that our viewers feel as outraged at your mistreatment as I do. Thank you for sharing your story.”
Joan smiled. “Thank you, Ms Jovanka.”
Hayley stared into the camera. “And thank you to our viewers for watching this exclusive interview with Joan Ferguson, former Governor of Wentworth. Tune into tomorrow for my exposé of—”
Vera clicked the little X on her screen, eliminating the interview.
She didn’t know what to think.
Joan hadn’t revealed her Hep C status, but what she had done was much worse. So much worse. Vera buried her face in her hands. She’d just been declared incompetent on national television.
Her phone rang. She clicked “answer,” but didn’t say anything.
“I’m coming to get you right now,” Jake’s voice drifted up to you. “Don’t say no. I’m coming right now.”
“Yes,” Vera finally choked out, her voice nothing more than a whisper. “Yes.”
She clicked “end,” and turned to stare at her reflection in the silent darkness.
***
Derek Channing knew who was calling before the first ring.
Sure enough, when the phone finally rang, he recognized the name: the Chairman of the Board.
“Fuck,” he stated emphatically to an empty room.
***
Joan turned off the television and leaned back against the soft black leather supporting her.
A long, slow smile spread across her face.
Optics.