Stevens School Runaways - Part 2 (hist, tort, CBT, psych)
By Platypus (formerly Dark Man) 
plupy@surfbest.net

copyright 2005 by Platypus, all rights reserved 
(First published on Eunuch Archive)

* * * * *
This story is intended for ADULTS ONLY.  It contains
explicit depictions of sexual activity involving minors. If
you are not of a legal age in your locality to view such
material or if such material does not appeal to you, do not
read further, and do not save this story.
* * * * *

Two young inmates of a harsh reform school eventually
receive their not-so-just desserts.


Stevens School Runaways - Part 2

"Those two kids in 14c – Bridges and Hansen – are up to no
good. Did you listen to their tapes – especially over the
last few days? I tell you -- those two bear watching," said
Mueller, the reform school's chief of security operations.

Eddie Mueller usually kept his distance from the kids unless
a punishment session was required. He often supervised – or
when necessary – introduced pain-causing procedures. All the
boys' rooms were bugged, monitored with high-tech
surveillance devices – a fact unrealized by inmates until
the moment for "punishment intake" – a pre-punishment
orientation required by school charter. This prepping took
place in a special antechamber adjacent to the dreaded
"dungeon" where punishments occurred.

"I played the tapes over several times," headmaster Taylor
said, "and you're right, I have a few concerns. But nothing
that should be acted on yet. Those two are potential trouble
– but we're not going to punish them until they screw up.
This talk about absconding is just that – talk, unless one
or both of them acts it out. For the time being, it's just
this strange impulse mixed in with simple boyish curiosity –
nothing more."

This -- during a February 26th staff meeting – was the first
serious discussion about the roommates. Mueller had
mentioned them once or twice in previous meetings, but only
in passing.

Several adult faculty and staff crowded the stuffy chamber.
The conference room on the third floor was old-world,
imposing, like a British study – especially the bookcase
with dusty tomes. Except there was a big-screen television,
videocassette recorder, and even a compact disc player
arranged against the far wall. No Harry Potter, nothing
magical. Everyone sat on high-backed purple-cushioned
chairs. Gathered around a 1930s era oaken corporate table
their number included Manny Graves, a tall and gruff-voiced
African-American with finely chiseled features. Graves might
have been a professional basketball player. Instead he
taught shop and metalworking. A proud father of three, his
sons ranged in age from six through nine and "were all going
to college if he could help it." Looking rather morose, he
reflected upon the last Stevens punishment weekend. His
turn. He'd taken part. Afterwards, he'd felt nauseated,
remorseful, sated. Had he enjoyed it? My boys will never be
like these little punks. These kids are a different species.
Except Payton's face haunted him -- an angel's visage. And
that odd scream -- high-pitched, intoxicating, unnerving.
Different from the screams other boys might make – at least
those he'd helped punish. Still, there was novelty brewing.
How might Bridges or Hansen scream? His musings grew
muddled. "A whole weekend? Why do we need a whole weekend?
Those 14 year olds last semester – what a mess – and right
before Thanksgiving," he ended up saying.

"There has to be a severe penalty for absconding," Charlie
Mason said glibly, "We had no choice. Payton and Singletary
made it almost to Perkins before we caught them – what we
did was necessary." Mason taught 8th grade history – saw
Rich Hansen in class three periods a week. He liked the kid
– a handsome boy with the makings of an athlete, and a
decent student. He didn't know Tommy Bridges well. But when
it came to Stevens' school procedure – this eleven-year
veteran was loath to cheat. Even if it would consume an
entire weekend -- when an absconding occurred, it had to be
dealt with promptly and thoroughly. Mueller and Mason
resided in Perkins with their families – Mueller legally
married with six kids – Mason's situation common-law … Mason
and his estranged wife had produced a whiney red-haired
daughter. Mason viewed his occasional participation in
prolonged punishment sessions for errant boys as a stress
reliever – like going to a movie. It's a duty he performed
almost cheerfully but he didn't consider himself a pederast
like Cousins, or even particularly sadistic. It's the power
that attracted him, a certain escalation of control over a
boy and his body that were usually merely implied. Besides,
staff volunteering for punishment sessions merited double
overtime pay.

Dr. Thompson was at the meeting too. A lanky gentle-voiced
man with an everyman's face, he'd been resident "healer" at
the reform school for sixteen years. "Doc" lived with a high
school age daughter in Perkins, on Main Street, upstairs
from the town's barbershop. Sometimes she babysat Mason's
daughter. Parts of the physician's duties involved
monitoring punishments. It was crucial that these sessions
didn't degenerate into mindless boy-bashings. The government
guidelines explicitly stated that no bones were to be
broken, that any damage to major organs and blood vessels
was to be avoided. Boys in these Federally approved "pain
threshold" experiments were expected to experience pain,
maybe excruciating physical and emotional pain, but never
any permanent physical injury beyond superficial scarring.
Both as a top-secret national security measure and as an
absolutely essential implementation of school policy, the
system worked fine – had worked fine since the mid-1970s.
"Doc" Thompson was all for the punishment sessions – took
them for granted – even as part of his patriotic duty –
within limits – as long as the proper safeguards and follow-
ups were rigorously complied with. "I'm sure everyone
realizes that Payton and Singletary are back in classes,
fully recuperated, and most of the fears regarding their
ability to walk proved unfounded," he felt compelled to say.

"Payton is playing soccer again," added the school's
physical education instructor, Anton Reilly, "he's almost as
quick as he used to be, and still takes pride in scoring the
occasional goal." Reilly was a conversational macho-type,
well liked by the boys who hadn't yet encountered him during
an ordeal.

"Payton's sperm count is back up too," chimed in Thompson,
"and he's tolerated all of his urethral cleanings better
than I thought he would."

"How many has he had?" asked Taylor.

"Six, I think – since the initial procedures during that
first weekend."

"None of the kids like peehole scrapings," Reilly said, "or
anything else done to their cocks and balls. Can't blame
them really."

Everyone laughed. "They all scream bloody murder – never
fails – even the oldest boys," Mason said in his gravelly
deadpan.

But that brought up another point. "What about emotional
damage?" Cousins asked, "I know they get extra counseling
afterwards, but is it enough? The pain inflicted during many
of these procedures is like torture."

There was a collective gasp heard in the third floor
chamber.

Taylor finally spoke up after the long pregnant pause.
"Please don't use that word. It's not torture. I resent the
inference. It isn't the Stevens way."

"Sorry. Didn't mean to offend. But the pain – it can be
excruciating. Especially to the younger ones who tend to be
more sensitive. And those humiliation skits – making them
act out sexually beforehand – are they really necessary?"

"You are well aware, Mr. Cousins, that those practices act
as a deterrent – in combination with the rest," lectured
Taylor. "Shaming is now an established practice – even with
social workers attempting to rehabilitate youthful
molesters. Their agencies just don't broadcast the fact!"
Taylor frequently expressed irritation with Cousins –
sometimes even outright hostility.

Most of the others glared at Cousins. If Cousins didn't like
what the boys had to endure, he didn't have to stick around
and attend every minute of their punishment sessions.

Like the physician, though, Cousins had his uses – acting as
a counterweight to someone like Reilly in case he got too
crazy. Reilly, like Mason and Graves and a few of the
guards, really got off on hearing a kid scream.

"Besides," Taylor said as they prepared to adjourn, "the
procedures are pretty much set unless a danger beyond the
ordinary can be proven. We don't do anything that isn't
reasonable under the circumstances. If a kid acts out, we
punish him. If not, we don't. The boys have to be trained."

"Even the young ones?" Cousins asked.

"Especially the young ones!" bellowed Thompson. "In the long
term, it's better that we don't coddle them. Besides, the
younger boys make 90% of escape attempts."

Cousins thought about that for a moment. If there was one
thing he knew about Stevens kids, they weren't being
coddled.

End Part 2