I went to the sailing club, there was a stiff breeze blowing, just right. I had a look around and asked if anyone wanted to go for a sail. The socialites were looking at their nails and expensive shoes; they were not going anywhere near a boat. A fifteen-year-old lad said, “Would you take me, please?”
I said, “Certainly.”
It was just a little unusual for a girl to take a lad out, but it was in sight of everyone. There was a big age difference, and I could see this boy was itching to go for a sail. My boat had a ‘trapeze’ for the crew.
The lad asked, “Where is the trapeze harness, please?”
I said, “Have you been out on one before?”
“Yes,” he replied, “Several times.”
The harness was in the bottom of the sail bag; I had never used it. I checked the latch mechanism and the trapeze rigging. Everything was in good shape, so off we went.
The lad, Salim, had done a lot of sailing. We had the fastest reach sail I had ever had. He was light, but the trapeze let him use his weight to maximum effect. I was, for the first time, afraid that the boat would become uncontrollable, but I hung on. It was scary, the first time I had feared losing control of the boat.
A small crowd had gathered on the dock at the front of the club. They had not seen sailing like it. Even the socialites came for a look. This hard sailing was tiring. An hour of it was enough, so I got Salim to help me put the boat away.
I bought him a soft drink, went to shower, and changed into dry clothes. As usual, a girl followed me into the changing room. I’m sure she wanted a look at my bum. There were the stripes on my upper thighs to look at now.
I found Salim and had a very public talk with him. He came from a relatively poor family but was on a Navy scholarship at school. These let him, in his spare time, hang around the club; offer help, go sailing, etc. It was an excellent practical training for him.
I told him how he could contact me through my parent’s company phone number and see if I wanted to go sailing, which I often did. Nowadays, I could not always get a crew with Salma away at university.
The story would stick. I would be on the right side of social and official opinion, without a doubt.
There is my ‘Cat May Look at a King’ act, so I went out onto the railed-off veranda overlooking the beach. They could see me from the bar. To poke a bit of fun at them, I leant over the rail so they could see the outline of my bum in my rather casual but non-revealing clothes. How long will it take before curiosity gets the better of them I wondered.
It took about ten minutes. Two girls came out, one of whom I knew a bit.
They started talking about my sailing. They had seen us scream up and down in the strong breeze and they knew about the twenty-five-kilometre trip; the navy sending me back, etc. They marvelled at the way I had sailed that day, how they would not have dared, etc. So I said, “I feel so on top of things these days, I have more nerve than ever. I don’t know what it is, but I feel so alive.”
The one I knew said, “We heard about what happened to you, the prison, etc.; it doesn’t seem to have bothered you.”
“Bother me!” I said, “In what way should it bother me?”
They looked very embarrassed. Then the one I know, who is called Aisha, said, “But you got two hard canings in there, isn’t that right?”
I said, “Of course, that’s the law. Those canings woke me up. I felt so much better afterward. Sure, they hurt like hell, but once that wore off, I never felt better; they did something to my nervous system. You ought to try it sometime. (Publish and be damned) It’s at least equal to sex.”
They looked away, but the other one said, “Is that why we see cane marks on your bottom today? You have been getting woken up again?”
“Yes,” I replied, “Look at how I sail.”
They did not know what to say or where to put themselves. As intended, I had given them a shock!
I thought I would press my point, so I said, “Seriously, why don’t you try it? It is legal between adults in private. It must be boring sitting about in the clubhouse all day.”
Aisha said, “Most of us got caned growing up, didn’t we?” looking at her friend.
Her friend Malika agreed. My friend went on, “It hurt, but I had ‘feelings’ afterward. I wouldn’t mind having them again. I’m not married.”
Finally, Malika said, “I only got it twice and my father did it. He did it so hard; he cut me badly. The marks took over a month to disappear. That’s something I cannot face again.”
I said, “I know it’s not unusual for us to get caned growing up, but why you are so fascinated when you see the marks on me?”
Aisha said, “We got a shock when we saw you with that police lady in here. They caned at least two of our friends in prison and they recognised her.”
I replied, “Well, so what if they did? I do not say I agree with what happens about the caning of girls, but right now, it is the law. There’s nothing we can do about it. I suffered from it, but I do not care.”
“By the way, her name is Nasrah. She saw me get my second caning. We had already become friendly in the prison and we maintained contact afterwards. I have met with her twice before we went sailing.”
“Did you know she is junior officer grade, only one grade below me? I don’t care that she saw me get a caning. We are all sisters under the skin.”
“She is not interested in what has gone before. As far as she is concerned, whatever happened in prison, it’s finished. She just wants to get on and enjoy her life and thinks everybody wants to do that too. I agree with that. Do you think, please, you can gently let the gang in there know that Nasrah cannot and will not talk; she is not interested? The prison stuff is all in the past.”
“Please be aware, it was not her that did the caning. The police sent her as part of her training to be a prison guard for six months. She didn’t ask to be sent there.”
“So why did you get such a shock when you saw me with her? Don’t tell me that as a friend of mine, she would not be welcome here. She is applying to join.”
I had turned it around on them; they did not know what to say. They must have thought I was the girl from hell.
Aisha took my hand and said, “Please don’t be angry. We are not being unkind. It’s just, well, we were not expecting it.”
I said, “I’m not angry. Shakespeare said, ‘More in sorrow than in anger’ and that is how I feel. Let us go in for a coffee. We should all be friends.”
They brightened up.
The cafe area was not very full. We found a table in one corner. I sat right in the corner, looking out, because I could see who was around and who was listening. It helped me tell if I was the centre of attention. If people wanted to look at me, some of them would have to turn around and try to look into the corner.
We ordered three iced coffees. Malika said, “You put it so clearly, you have a direct, simple view of things. If your friend wants to join, we will be happy and make her welcome. It has to be our way.”
I took her hand. I said, “Thank you so much, generosity of spirit is a very great thing and I appreciate it. It will impress you, once you know Nasrah, with what she has done for her family. She has helped her mother bring them from almost nothing to a good place in our society. Thanks to her efforts and those of her mother, they can have a good life in the future.”
They both looked a bit embarrassed.
I thought this would please Nasrah when I could tell her.
Aisha looked around; we were far enough from the other occupied tables. She asked, “If it’s not a rude question, how often do you get caned?”
I said, “That all depends. The prison caning was unbelievably painful. It was six weeks before I needed another caning. If it’s a lighter caning, then it’s every three to four weeks, maybe.
Malika asked, “How much better do you feel?”
I replied, “If work has been getting on top of me, it takes a ton of weight off my shoulders after I have had a good caning. Usually, I don’t feel that until the next day. That’s when it kicks in.”
Aisha said, “Malika and I are not married. There is not much stimulation in our lives. Our families run big businesses. We do some work but not much, we are bored. “
“We know you have some sort of government job, and you only come down here to sail. Our group comes mainly for the social life. There is that look in your eye when you see us sitting in the bar or cafe, and we deserve it. Some of them don’t like it, but does it matter? What do they do anyway, apart from hanging around here?”
Oh, Dear, I thought, I must not let my aversion to intimidation show. I need to deal with that look in my eye.
So I said, “Did the gang send you?”
Aisha laughed and said, “No, we came on our own. No one planned it. We were curious to find out a bit more about you, how you sailed like that, and, of course, the cane marks. They are the talk of the place.”
“That’s not to say if a few other girls went into the changing rooms and we followed, we would not see something. A few of them will be absent for about six weeks. When they come back, they sit down carefully for a few days. They look a bit withdrawn and upset. They don’t go to the showers. You are not alone, for sure.”
“Why don’t we go for a little walk down to the dinghy park? I said. We can have a chat on the way.”
The two of them looked a bit surprised. “It’s not good to keep on talking here, I said, it’s too public.” We got up and walked to the dinghy park.
“You said that you believe I have a government job. Yes, I do. I have to be very careful of whom I befriend. That lad Salim, for instance, I will not need to tell my security people about him. He only goes for the odd sail with me so far. He is under the radar.
“But if I make adult friends and interact with people who don’t have any kind of security clearance, I have to tell the Government about them, each time we meet. By the way, I don’t make the rules; I only have to obey them.”
Aisha said, “Surely there has to be a way around it?”
By now, we were down by the boat and I made a show of taking off the plastic cover.
“Neither of you has any kind of security clearance?” I asked.
They looked at each other and said, “No.”
I said, “Well, there’s a choice. We do not meet up again, or if we do, I have to report every time I see you. The way to get around it is for you to sign the Official Secrets Act. I have a secure area on my phone with an electronic copy of it. You can read it, I can explain it, and if you so wish, you can sign it on my phone. By signing the Act, it covers you if you meet other people who require it. This includes Nasrah. It is what rules my life. What do you think?”
They were speechless at first, and then Aisha said, “I suppose this is part of being in the modern world. It’s due in part, I’m sure, to all the money flooding in because of the oil work.”
I said, “It’s not that you don’t have freedom, you just have to be careful with it.”
Aisha said to Malika, “What do you think?”
Malika replied, “We have to keep secret what we are doing with the business (I knew her family business turned over five hundred million dollars a year). Is this so different?”
I said, “You are aware, as a woman, you have way more freedom than we did before. It’s not perfect, I know, but it’s getting better. Look at our life expectancy. We can hope to reach seventy years. We were lucky if we made fifty before.”
“How many of us died in agony in childbirth? There are forces out there who would like to drag us back to old times. Do you want to go back there? This is what this is about, safeguarding our present and future. A small sacrifice has to be worth it.”
Aisha replied, “I am happy to sign.”
Malika nodded and said, “Me too.”
I got the formalities over, and they signed the electronic version. They would get a confirmation sent to their mobile phones with a code number.
These were the first two people I asked to sign.
“Do either of you use the messaging app?” I asked.
They both did, so I went on, “Please, I don’t want phone calls. If you would like to talk, and I hope you do, may we do so via the app? Can we make contact via messages first? I switch my phone off for two days at a time, maybe longer. This is because of my work. So please don’t be angry if I reply late.”
So I handed over my mobile number on a piece of paper.
“Next time we meet up, and I hope there will be a next time, now we can meet anywhere,” I said.
The firmness in my voice surprised me. So did my ability to get a conversation going the way it needed to. I must be careful not to be authoritarian!
This had happened quickly. Was it the canings unlocking something in me, or was it my grandmother coming out, or a bit of both?
We cuddled a little down by the boat and exchanged farewells. Aisha and Malika walked back to the club, and I pretended to fiddle about with the boat. I replaced the cover, went to my car, and drove home.
The next day at work, training, and office routines continued. The training got more interesting with my introduction to mobile phone tracking software. They gave me ‘acting’ training in how to approach the target, what to say, etc.
I had to learn not just a script but also a variety of responses to things that might arise in chat. They were going to send an actor to work with me to help perfect my approach.
On Sunday, Zaineb came by and nodded for me to follow. We went to her office.
She said, “I hear you have contacted Aisha and Malika.”
“Yes,” I replied.
Zaineb said, “That’s OK; they are ‘safe’. They are both wealthy (I knew that), and they stand to lose too much if they talk. Their families are solid and involved with the government on the commercial side.”
What was Zaineb going to say?
I told her what had happened and how I had ‘dared’ anyone to come and talk to me, and those two came.
Zaineb laughed and said, “I don’t blame you. Did the conversation get around to the cane marks on your bum?”
“Yes, it did; they brought it up, I replied. I guess it’s the second time they sent someone to look at my bum in the showers. It certainly did not disappoint! On Friday, there was a second set of marks on my upper thighs.”
Zaineb said, “It’s been talked about a lot. You and I know that other girls who go to the club there have been in prison and caned. Those girls are worried that their ‘secret’ will get out.
“From what Aisha said, they can stop worrying because of your explanation that Nasrah will not talk. You covered why she cannot talk and does not want to talk. You got us out of a bind there.”
I was a little concerned that I had gone too far, so I asked, “Is it OK for me to go down there and sail, then they see me in the showers with cane marks on my bum?”
Zaineb said, “Because you are such a character and sail so well, it’s OK. You do not flaunt it. The others have to steal a look at your bum, which is a mark against them. If the authorities thought you were hanging around there to recruit and run some sort of BDSM group, it would go down badly.”
“They can see that’s not the case; you are not actively recruiting anyone for those sorts of reasons. What you may or not be doing goes on between consenting adults in private. As long as there is no injury, it is not a crime in our penal code. Cane marks are not...
