Ben Stewart - Don't Trust, Don't Fear, Don't Beg

‘Okay, cool, got it. What’s mine is yours, what’s yours is mine.’

‘Exactly. Okay, what else? You have the morning inspection, and after they’re done they say, “Do you have any complaints or questions?” And you’d better not say yes, because it doesn’t matter what you say. If you say you have a problem, they’ll give you a real problem. So just say nothing.’

There’s a bang on the wall, Vitaly holds up a hand in apology, jumps up and pulls a sock into the cell. He unfolds the note.

‘Aaaah, it’s a kursovaya. It’s a circular, sent from the boss cell. The normal letters are called malyavas ’ – ‘deliveries’ – ‘but this one goes to all the new people, you and your friends.’

He hands it to Dima. It’s written in prison slang – an ornate language that is both rough and formal.

The best of day and time to you, all arrestees! Here is hoping this note finds you in good health and strong of mood. Here is the deal. There is us and there is them, there are thieves and there are stars. The stars have stars on their shoulder plates, and these, dear friends, are the guards. Then there is us, we are the arrestees. We are the thieves. Now, the doroga is most important, it keeps us as one, together, in solidarity. It is what keeps us alive. If there is anything you need, you will have it. All you need do is ask. You will not sell or buy things, no, you are expected to give. If you have something, you give it. If you need something, it will be given to you. If you want to be a part of the doroga , you are welcome to join our community of ropes, you will be supported, you will be given what you need. If however you are afraid to be a part of the road, we understand, and you will still be given support. But do not interfere with the doroga . If you interfere with the road then you will be punished, you will no longer be part of us, you will be one of them. You will no longer be a thief. You become a star.

The note sets out other rules. Violence is absolutely not allowed. No arrestee is permitted to commit violence against another arrestee, if they do they will be punished, and they will be punished with violence. Only sanctioned violence is permitted, and it is for the kotlovaya – the boss cell – to determine if, when, how and against whom violent retribution is wrought. And you are not permitted to be rude. Hard cursing is not allowed against another prisoner. One is permitted to say, ‘I hate this fucking shit,’ but you can’t say, ‘Fuck you.’ You will treat other arrestees with respect.

Dima finishes the note, shakes his head with incredulity and hands it back to Vitaly. The Russian consults his list of names and cell numbers, writes an address on the note, folds it then drops the kursovaya into the sock and bangs on the wall. It whips away, heading for another activist. Vitaly turns back to Dima.

‘This is a black zone. There are black zones and red zones. That means there are things here that are not allowed but are still tolerated by the guards. Other prisons are red zones, that means nothing is tolerated. It’s a much harder job for the guards in a red zone. The prisoners in those places are in for their fifth or sixth stretches, they’ve got ten-year terms, they don’t give a shit. But this is a black zone. That’s why the road is tolerated. They know it happens, just don’t get caught.’

‘I don’t want any trouble.’

‘Who does, Dimitri, who does? There are six walls here, three facing into the yard – the ones you saw when you arrived – and three facing out to the street. On each wall there is a boss cell. All the goods, the sugar and the cigarettes, everything, it all flows to and from that cell. The road operates on each wall, and each wall has its own kotlovaya , its own boss cell, its respected prisoner. So we have six bosses, responsible for maintaining order in our community.’

‘The mafia.’

‘No, no, Dimitri, please. We prefer to call them respected prisoners. You should too.’

‘Right.’

‘Now, the boss decides which prisoner goes into which cell. Of course he can’t tell the guard to put this guy into cell three-zero-six, but what he can do is determine what category of cell some prisoners go to. They tell the guards and the guards co-operate with the kotlovaya . And there are basically four categories of cells. There are cells for the normal prisoners who participate in prison life – me, you, your friends – and we call them “people cells”. The prisoners in those cells are the ones who get the respect, they’re the ones who get decent treatment from the system, right.’

‘Right.’

‘Then below that are the sherst ’ – it’s the Russian word for ‘wool’ – ‘the informers. If they demote you to sherst they have you put in a certain cell. The guards don’t want any killings, right. They don’t want any trouble. So when the boss says, “This guy, we want him in the sherst cell,” the guards move him there.’

‘Okay.’

‘Then there are the cells for passive homosexuals.’

‘Passive homosexuals?’

‘In some ways we’re more tolerant in here than on the outside. It’s okay to be a fucker, but not a fuckee. It’s not okay to give a blow job to a guy, but it’s okay to get one. You can cum, no problem, but you can’t put out. If you do, you’re petuch . A passive homosexual, and that’s bad. The passive homosexuals are a caste. They’re the ones who clean the toilets, they do the shit work. Sometimes we make them wear dresses.’

‘And they have their own cells?’

‘Yes, that’s right. Petuch cells. Let me see your bowl and spoon.’ Vitaly gestures with his fingers. ‘Come on, give them to me.’

Dima holds them out, the Russian snatches them and examines each in turn. ‘Okay, good. You’re not marked down as a poof. If they have you down as a poof they put the number “2” on your bowl and spoon. If you have a “2” on one of these that means the bosses have got you marked as obizhenny. Then you’re demoted to a petuch cell. Okay, then below that there’s another category. Former employees of law enforcement agencies. Cops. Prosecutors. There are lots of them in prison, there’s a lot of crime that goes on in that sector of society. Bribery, murder, everything. And they end up here. They have their own cells as well. They keep themselves to themselves, otherwise they tend to get killed.’

Dima blows out his cheeks and whistles. Vitaly stands up and pulls an exercise book from the shelf. ‘And this…’ He holds it reverently. ‘This is the domovaya . Every cell has one, this is our house book. This needs to be kept religiously. This is where we keep the list of prisoners’ names and their cell numbers for the doroga . The domovaya is very much a challenge for the regime, because we prisoners are not supposed to know what’s going on beyond the walls of our cells. We’re supposed to be in isolation.’

SIZO means ‘isolator’.

Vitaly tells Dima that the domovaya allows the bosses on the wall to maintain discipline. So if somebody is a sherst, if he’s sold out another prisoner and the bosses want to know where he’s been transferred to, it’s all in the book.

‘And if somebody is abused by the guards, you want to know where they are so you can support them. It’s very important that we maintain our community. As soon as somebody is put in your cell, you send a kursovaya to the whole prison saying there’s been a change in my cell, such and such has moved in. His name is this, his crime is this, his date of birth is this, and that’s all noted in the domovaya in each cell.’