Read The Top Prisoner of C-Max for Free Online Page B

skylight three floors above them. The belt and shoes too were gleaming white. The entire package would attract the attention of men wherever she went.
    She gestured gently with one hand while she spoke. The other hung loosely at her side. If she had designed her appearance to hint at virginal purity, underscored by the gentlest sensuality, she could not have done it better.
    ‘You would all have heard the term, rehabilitation, and I’m sure you know what it means. I want you to know that it can apply to you. I know that Mr Gordon has probably been telling you that. I have studied his work and know what he believes.’ Heads were turning to look at Yudel. He looked only at the young woman who was holding spellbound this most depraved of audiences. In thirty years, no one had ever held their attention this way. ‘I want you to know that, in the words of a famous man from my country – “what lies behind you and what lies before you are nothing compared to what lies within you”. You have inside you everything you need to change your life. But only you are capable of doing it.’
    For the first time, Yudel looked around at the faces of this collection of men for whom he had always felt responsible. On most of the faces, he saw an absorption so complete that they could not have been acting. Yudel had on many occasions seen entire prison populations find God after the sermon of a visiting preacher. In every case, the motive had more to do with possible remission of sentences that may accompany a religious conversion. This young woman was no preacher and he could see that this time the attention on the faces was not a pretence. The effect on the warders was no different. As her protection, their attention should have been with the prisoners, but they were equally held by their visitor.
    ‘I want you to know that for me to be here is a privilege. To speak to you is a high point in my life. That I have been allowed to come here is something for which I thank the prison authorities.’ At that moment her eyes met Yudel’s. The smallest smile crossed her face, teasing at the corners of her mouth and she nodded. ‘All my life, I have known that I was destined to devote myself to the prisoners of our world. Since I was a child, I have felt …’ Her voice flowed on, almost melodiously. Yudel knew it was not just what she was saying that held the attention. In fact, her words were perhaps only a small part of it. It was the way she looked, the sound of her voice, even the gently gesturing right hand. As a package, she was formidable. And she had written a book on American prisons that had sold more than a million copies. Yudel would have liked to write such a book. Apparently this was the woman the minister had placed in his care. He still did not know her name.
    He felt his concentration drawn away from the speaker. He found himself looking into the eyes of the one man in the prison he truly hated, the only one ever to have pierced what he thought of as his armour-plated professionalism. The look on Enslin Kruger’s face was one of a man who had made a discovery. He saw Kruger’s lips move. He was saying something to the man next to him. Oliver Hall was where he felt strongest, right next to his boss’s shoulder, listening attentively to what the older man was saying. Kruger seemed to be leaning against him.
    ‘I know that everyone here will take this message with him. I know that my life has not been as long as some, but every moment since my childhood has been devoted …’
    Kruger’s eyes were still on Yudel. Hall’s too had turned towards him. Damn you, Yudel thought. Just remember I am still the one who leaves this place whenever I choose and you are the one who stays.
    It was over, and, to Yudel’s surprise, the prisoners were already moving away to other parts of the hall. As far as he could see, the presence of the guards had nothing to do with their immaculate behaviour. The woman crossed the small distance