When I was unbound and could stand and look where I pleased, rubbing my chafed wrists, of course I looked at Aleko. I couldn't help it. My heart pounded to see him looking back at me, right into my eyes. I may have given an imperceptible, mortified shrug. I wanted to say something, but what?
Now you know, Aleko. I'm a criminal. I'm not brave, I squeal like a child when I'm spanked. I'm naked, so you can see - you can see... everything. You can see I'm... well, you've seen prettier girls. Of course the welts don't help...
I'm going to be crucified today. Yes, crucified (are you shocked?) - not because I'm strong enough to take it, but because I deserve it. So there it is, now you know all about me, no secrets. If you're satisfied, just go home and despise me. Let me suffer through my punishment without your beautiful eyes on me!
They led me over to a corner, where the centurion had ordered his slave to lend me his loincloth. "This is Jerusalem, you know." The man obediently lifted his tunic, untied his loincloth, and handed it to me, letting his tunic fall again to cover him. I took the long strip of cloth and held it clumsily around my hips. I had never worn a loincloth.
Realizing with an impatient grunt that I didn’t know how to tie the thing, the centurion took it from me, opened it, exposing my most naked bits again, and centered my bum on it before wrapping it around, folding it over, feeding it roughly under, between my legs (the first time a man ever touched me there), pulling it snug (very snug!), and tying it off. It wasn’t really long enough, probably because my hips were too broad, so it felt very tight, and looking down, I could see clearly the shape of my vulva under the thin fabric. I could feel the fabric cinched between my buttocks too. I had never worn anything that felt so silly.
I suppose it would have been worse to march through Jerusalem completely naked, but wearing this small, ill-fitting masculine garment seemed almost to draw more attention to what it veiled, and I felt very… condemned. Foolish. I was wearing the shameful uniform of death. What was Aleko thinking of me?
The next thing I knew, the instrument of my execution was before me: an uneven beam about my height, pocked with nail-holes and stained with old, dark blood at each end. One of the soldiers held it upright on the ground. “Carry it,” he ordered. After blinking for a moment, I bent to set my bare shoulder at about the center, moving as if in a dream, trying to take in what I was doing. The soldier helped me get beneath the beam and balance it. Then I stood there, half naked, surrounded by grown men, my heavy cross on my shoulder, waiting for the next order. This was actually happening!