Later that morning Dr. Struem, the prison hospital's medical doctor (who was also a prisoner), instructed Viella on the duties, which included taking the vital signs of the patients every hour on the hour, and keeping the rooms and the equipment spotlessly clean. "When these chores are completed you can hang out in the waiting room and read magazines or watch the viewer or whatever as long as you don't leave the building until the shift is finished. At that time you will return to the women's cell block."
He introduced her to Maley, another female nurse, and told her that Maley would be her supervisor. He then left the room, and Maley proceeded to show her how to perform the duties.
Later, during the afternoon of her first day, the warden, with Maley right behind him, walked through the door.
The roll of his stomach hung over his belt and jiggled as he stepped through the doorway. "Well, what have we here?" he asked in a rhetorical tone. "A new nurse to attend to our unhealthy patients."
Maley stepped beside him as if protecting her territory.
Viella noticed immediately, but didn't say anything because she was smart enough to keep her mouth shut.
The warden walked over to the bunk next to Viella and leaned against it. He was huffing and puffing as if he had just run a mile. "What is your name, darlin'?" he asked.
He knows my name, she thought. So, why the games? Maybe just trying to make conversation. "Viella," she said rather tonelessly.
"Viella, what a wonderful name. And a nice looking woman, too, I might add."
She didn't like him ogling her, but since there was nothing she could do, she kept wiping down the bed frame with disinfectant.
The warden smacked his lips a couple of times and then said, "Thursday night I have a meeting with my officers, but Friday night I have nothing to do. . . . Maybe we could have dinner together at my house."
Dinner at his house was the last place she would ever want to . . . And then the helplessness of her situation struck home. She grimaced and almost burst into tears as she realized that if he had a mind to rape her, she would be powerless to stop him.
The warden watched as a look of horror swept across her face. He took great joy in her weakness and a large grin encompassed his face. "Yes," he said. "I will write it in my date book: Friday night Viella will have dinner with me at my house."
She turned her back to him and continued wiping down the bed frame. Her face turned white, and her hands began to shake.
Yes," said the warden. "We will have great fun." He turned to leave. "Now you take good care of her, Maley," he said. And he walked out the door.
As the door slid shut Maley screamed at Viella. "You clean every bed in this room and then you mop the floor!"
From that moment on Maley was openly hateful and bitter toward Viella.