Tossed Away Kid - Chapter 12
This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to anyone in real life is a coincidence.
A special thanks to Ed for his editorial help. Please let me know what you think - wep363@myexcel.com My Web Site http://wpstories.tripod.com/
This is a story of love, hope, and trust. It also deals with rejection, false hope, and mistrust. It is not a sex story. However, this story deals with love between two male teenagers. If you are offended by stories involving love between two teenage boys, please do not read this story. There may be some sex scenes in this story; however, sex is not the main theme and will not be graphically described. If you are under age 18 or 21 or it is illegal to read this story where you live, don't get caught reading it. Reproducing this story for distribution without the owner's permission is a violation of that copyright.
Sunday morning once again I woke up early. Not really that early - 5:00 AM is getting to be my standard get up time. Mike was also up.
"Good morning, you want to go running with me?" asked Mike.
"Sure, Mike - you going to wait for Mark?"
"No, he was up kind of late last night. It's probably better to let him sleep."
We did some stretching and then went running. It was a crisp morning but not really cold. Just right for running. My mind went blank and I felt great. I don't know how far we ran but it had to be the longest jog I've ever taken. When neither one of us could take it any more we collapsed on the grass. My heart was pounding and chest heaving. After about 10 minutes we calmed down.
"I have a question for you, Mike. What's going to happen to Jefferson?"
"That's a good question, Tommy. What do you think should happen?"
"I'm not sure - but I'm afraid that if he's kicked out that others are going to resent me."
"How old did you say you are, Tommy? That's a very astute observation. There are a number of ways to look at it. First, Capt. Wright is not a psychiatrist. He's not responsible for changing behavior. Second, a police officer that is a bigot will make decisions based on their bias instead of the facts. People learn to hate over the course of many years. Third, we are all part of a team. Jefferson and some of his friends are trying to undermine the team."
"There are many ways to modify behavior. One way is positive and negative reinforcement. Then there is education. Just getting to know someone can change attitudes. By the time you get to be 16 or 17 it becomes very difficult to modify behavior. It usually takes an extreme event to change someone's behavior. At school or work the traditional form of punishment just doesn't work. If you're suspended or given time off for bad behavior it's more like a vacation. Working extra time without pay would be more effective."
"Jefferson also has some good qualities. He's a natural leader, smart, and in good shape. My dad always says, 'You don't want to throw away the baby with the bath water'. Although no real physical harm was done, Jefferson is guilty of assault. I think that the emotional abuse was worse than the physical abuse. I've also been called names by some of Jefferson's friends. We had a long talk with Sergeant Brooks and Capt. Wright about Jefferson and the others calling me names last week. We all agreed, after some discussion, that throwing them out is not the solution. We need to come together as a team. Even though Capt. Wright said anyone bullying will have a choice of going a few rounds with Mark or getting kicked out, we all felt that would not be appropriate in this case. Sergeant Brooks wanted to go a few rounds with Jefferson but with Jefferson being a minor that wouldn't be appreciated either. However we did come up with a plan. It won't be easy for you. But I believe in it. If it don't work Jefferson and his friends will be terminated."
Mike went on to explain the plan to me. It sounded like it's going to be a real long week. We walked back in the apartment and Mark was just finishing cooking breakfast. Danny ran up to me and threw his arms around and gave me a good morning kiss. Just a quick peck on the lips as neither one of us had brushed our teeth yet. Breakfast wasn't bad - better than boot camp food. Then we took our showers. The rest of the day flew by. Mike's parents called to tell us that they were going to come up next weekend and go camping with us. Mike had told me all about his parents and I was glad to get to meet them. All too soon the Smiths came by to pick up Danny and drop us off at the train station.
The ride to Great Lakes was again uneventful. We got changed into our uniforms and settled in for the night. I worked on my journal. Soon it was lights out. I noticed that two recruits were missing. Unfortunately Jefferson did show up. It's going to be a long week!
The light went on and we all hurried to get dressed and get out on the grinder. Sergeant Brooks no longer yelled and screamed at us every morning to get moving. We all knew what was expected. I'm getting to the point where 50 pushups are no problem. I can also do 25 triceps pushups. Running is hard with the extra weight of my weapon strapped to my leg. I change which leg I wear it on every day to balance my workout. We went to chow and then marched to a drill hall. Sergeant Brooks had us stand at attention in formation.
"BEFORE WE DO OUR SELF DEFENSE TRAINING I HAVE A FEW THINGS TO SAY. FIRST OF ALL YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED THAT WE HAVE A COUPLE OF GAPS IN OUR RANKS TODAY. OVER THE WEEKEND FORMER RECRUITS RICE AND JERKINS WERE CAUGHT BREAKING THE RULES. RICE WAS WITH KNOWN GANG MEMBERS AND JERKINS WAS WITH KNOWN DRUG DEALERS. THEY HAVE BEEN PERMANENTLY EXCUSED AND TERMINATED FROM THE PROGRAM."
"RECRUITS JOHNSON, REYNOLDS, SANDERS, WARREN, AND TURNER, STEP FORWARD. YOU WERE ALL OBSERVED NAME-CALLING AND MAKING RACIAL REMARKS. THERE IS NO ROOM FOR THIS IN THE CHICAGO POLICE FORCE. YOU WILL BE EXPERIENCING SOMETHING CALLED EMT. THAT STANDS FOR EXTRA MILITARY TRAINING. AT 7:00 PM EVERY NIGHT THIS WEEK AFTER EVERY ONE ELSE IS DONE FOR THE DAY YOU WILL BE GOING OVER TO THE MAIN CAMP TO GO THROUGH PURE HELL WITH OTHER NAVY RECRUITS. ANY MORE PROBLEMS IN THIS AREA FROM ANY OF YOU WILL RESULT IN YOUR IMMINENT TERMINATION."
"RECRUIT JEFFERSON, STEP FORWARD. BECAUSE YOU TOOK ACTION AND MADE THREATS AGAINST ONE OF YOUR FELLOW RECRUITS, YOU ARE TERMINATED. YOU HAVE 10 MINUTES TO GET OUT OF HERE OR I WILL CALL THE SHORE PATROL TO HAVE YOU ESCORTED OFF THE BASE."
"Sergeant Brooks?"
"YES, RECRUIT TUCKER?"
"Please reconsider. No real harm was done."
"ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL ME MY JOB, TUCKER?"
"No, Sergeant, I just think that the punishment doesn't fit the crime."
"YOU ARE TELLING ME MY JOB. ALL RIGHT, TUCKER, I'LL TELL YOU WHAT. I'LL GIVE JEFFERSON ANOTHER CHANCE BUT YOU WILL JOIN THEM AT EMT. (Extra Military Training) ALSO YOU WILL ALL SPEND THE WHOLE WEEK TOGETHER. YOU WILL EAT TOGETHER, TRAIN TOGETHER, SHIT TOGETHER. IF JUST ONE OF YOU SCREWS UP I'LL THROW ALL YOU GUYS RIGHT OFF THIS BASE. AM I MAKING MYSELF PERFECTLY CLEAR?"
"YES, SERGEANT BROOKS," we all answered.
"I'VE GOT MY EYE ON YOU. NOW MARK IS GOING TO GO INTO MORE ADVANCED SELF DEFENSE TRAINING."
"Today we are going to be training with night sticks. As you learned last week you can't use excessive force when using a weapon. In review, all weapons are to be used for defense and not offense. You use your gun only to defend yourselves. It's not like you see in some movie where the officer says, 'stop or I'll shoot.' A gun is only to be used if you're greatly outnumbered or the person you're trying to bring under control has a gun. Night sticks are only to be used if you're outnumbered, being attacked by someone much bigger than you, or are attacked by someone with a weapon that is not necessarily deadly. If someone comes after you with a knife, that is considered deadly force and you should use your side arm."
"We have the night clubs with the side handles. They are padded. We also have some football gear to help protect you as we train. Those of you that have played football, help the ones that haven't to get suited up."
We all got helmets, shoulder pads, elbow and kneepads. When Sergeant assigned me to train against Jefferson I wished I had a cup too. Mark showed us different defensive techniques and we practiced. I was relieved when Jefferson took it kind of easy on me. We didn't say anything to each other. After about an hour we were getting pretty good defending ourselves. Then we went to the rifle range. To our surprise there were 4 long tables set up.
"Hi, guys. My name is Sergeant White. I'm a weapons and ballistic specialist for the Chicago Police Department. You will be learning all about different types of firearms. You will learn how to operate them, including, loading, firing, cleaning, rate of fire, and many other things. You have already learned about gun safety. These rules will be even more strictly enforced. All these weapons have been seized. These are the kinds of weapons that the criminals use. We will also be learning about different kinds of bullets. Before we're through you'll know from seeing a gunshot wound what kind of weapon and bullet was used. Needless to say this is going to take several weeks."
That guy from the movie Police Academy called Tackleberry would have been in heaven. We were shown everything from muzzle loaders to fully automatic assault rifles. Pistols that can fit in the palm of your hand to pistols that Dirty Harry might use. We didn't shoot any of the weapons but a few were demonstrated for us. We were told we would get our chance later. We went to chow and by the time we got there Sergeant Brooks had started calling our little sub-group the 'fourth downers'. He had us all sit together. I ate my food as quickly as possible. No need for long conversations.
After chow we went to classes all afternoon. We learned how to stop bleeding, filled out some paperwork, started on surveillance and research. We were told that most police work beyond traffic cop involved surveillance and research. The day flew past and soon we were at dinner chow. All day us 'fourth downers' hadn't said anything to each other. Dinner was a quiet table for us too until Jefferson spoke up.
"Tucker, I heard you didn't rat on me. They have the head bugged with a closed circuit TV. Thanks for stickin' up for me. I owe ya one."
"You might not be so happy I stuck up for you when you experience EMT. >From what I've heard it's a real ball buster."
"It can't be so bad if you're all goin' through it together. We're a team now - even if it's for all the wrong reasons. If we stick together we'll make it. It took a lot of balls to stand up to Brooks the way ya did."
We didn't say anything more to each other. After dinner we got ready and the 7 of us walked over to the EMT training area. They gave each of us old rusty M-1 rifles. A company commander was assigned to each of us. There were Navy recruits there too. For the next two hours we exercised with our rifles with a company commander screaming at us the whole time. We ran in place with the rifle over our head while being screamed at to get our knees up higher. We did deep knee bends with the rifle held straight out in front of us. We did what they call 8-count motherfuckers. With our rifle held in our hands in front of us we squatted down, put our fists still holding the rifle on the ground, kicked our legs back, did two pushups, then got back up. We did 40 of those - then sit-ups with the rifle behind our heads. All the time while being screamed at. When we finished we barely had enough energy to get back to the barracks. I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.
The next three days were very much like Monday. Mark kept adding things to the nightstick training. Weapons training was fun. Classes filled our afternoon. And every night we went through pure hell. I could feel muscles hurting I never knew I had. The seven of us started bonding and by Thursday we all knew each other pretty well. Jefferson was definitely the ringleader.
Thursday after our last day of EMT training we seven were walking back to our barracks when we passed 6 Navy recruits going in the other direction. They were all big black guys. I was walking behind the rest of the guys and one of the Navy recruits put a shoulder into me and knocked me on my ass.
"Watch where you're going, you pansy little white boy."
One of the guys picked me up and started pushing me around in between the six of them.
"Unless you want trouble you better leave him alone," stated Jefferson.
"And who's going to stop us? You're just a bunch of punk ass kids."
All seven of us were ready for action. We all took defensive stances like Mark had taught us. Just as it looked like a major fight was going to break out, a staff car pulled up beside us. Capt. Wright and Sergeant Brooks, along with the Base Commander Captain Shaft stepped out of the car.
"Okay, that's enough, we found out what we needed to know," stated Captain Shaft.
The six Navy recruits extended their hands and we shook. They all patted me on the back. Good thing I didn't piss myself. The base commander got back in his car along with Sergeant Brooks, leaving Capt. Wright with us.
"As you have probably figured out by now this little scuffle was another setup or test if you will. As a matter of fact, this whole thing was a setup. Tucker agreed to go through EMT this week on Sunday in order to teach you other guys about unconditional love. The Bible says that there is no greater love than to lay down your life for your brother. I'm sure many times this week Tucker felt like he'd rather be dead than to do one more pushup with the damn rifle. But he did it for you so that you wouldn't get kicked out of the program."
"A week ago it was you that knocked Tucker on the deck and now you're ready to fight to keep someone else from doing the same thing. Last Friday I was ready to throw all six of you out of here. Mike and Mark talked me into reconsidering. Sergeant Brooks was the one that came up with this plan. You guys have really come together as a team despite coming from different races and backgrounds. You are no longer the 'fourth downers', you are the 'touchdowners'. Everyone else also got the message that racial intolerance will not be tolerated. I can tell you that you have a true friend in Tucker. Even though he'll not be going to your school he's a very important recruit. He's been assigned to a homicide case. I can only hope that this friendship you have started continues to grow."
The staff car came back, minus the Base Commander, and Captain Wright wished us a good three-day weekend and got in the car.
"After what I did to ya, you volunteered to go through EMT just to save my ass. I don't understand ya, Tucker. If it was the other way around I'd have never gone through all the shit we went through this week for you?"
"If you got kicked out because of what you did to me, do you think it would have gotten any easier for me? It would just cause more problems. My dad taught me to hate black people - all people that are different for that matter. But you know, he's wrong. I've enjoyed getting to know you guys this week even if I did go through 8 hours of hell. If I had the choice to go through this week over again I would gladly go through it in order to help someone else lose their hate."
"Jump on my back, Tucker. I'm carryin' ya the rest of the way back to the barracks."
"Are you sure?"
"Now we can do this the hard way or the easy way," Jefferson said with an evil grin on his face. All the other guys had the same evil grin.
He knelt down and I got on his back. He grabbed me under the knees to support me and off we went. I held on around his neck. We laughed and joked and had a great time all the way back to the barracks.
To be continued...