Chapter 9
2230 Words
~Christa~
Cappie “Her promotion has already been approved, so get over it. I’m not going to waste my breath in justifying it, but I’m sure if you think about it, she has gotten every one of you out of a bind at some point during the past four months, and that is what a leader does. Thirdly, to make sure you lot of mutts are ready for what you are going to face, we will be training longer hours and harder than you have ever trained before. We will make you the most elite and sought-after squad in the history of policing!”
I ponder if he just said that to get them to stay.
Tank “We will be spending this month on more than just getting you fit. We will be teaching you skills that your general cadet isn’t taught unless they are sent to special forces. You mutts will be going right into the thick of things, and we don’t want to be attending funerals every week. GOT IT!”
Squad “YES, SIR!”
Cr@p, now they are even scaring me. They are making it sound as if we will be going right into the middle of a warzone again.
Cappie “For those of you who still feel you want to transfer; you are welcome to see me this afternoon. Bradley, call your squad to attention. Let’s get this day started.”
Miller and Freddie run to the front, and I call the squad to attention. It’s off to the hurdle course just as Tank said, but now I’m not just one of the guys, I have Tank shouts orders in my ear of how a Lieutenant should be leading her squad.
They are relentless, and suddenly dad’s stories about his early army training days come to mind. I bet this is worse! The day flies by, and before long we are back information, and I’m actually relieved that it’s over.
We haven’t worked this hard or been this tired since the first day we started.
Cappie “If you boys, and girl think you are done, we have a surprise for you. Get yourselves cleaned up and grab dinner, then meet us in the media room in half an hour. You can bring dinner along for those of you who take too long to beautify yourselves.”
That was so clearly aimed at the prep squad that I almost burst out laughing. We are dismissed, and I rush them all off to the barracks. Taking my lead from what Tank had taught me that day. If one of them is late, it’s my fault. If one of them is injured, it’s my responsibility.
When I’m done with showering and I’m dressed, I walk into their barracks to check on them.
Christa “Come on boys! Get a move on!”
Some grabbing for their pants complains immediately that I’m not allowed in there.
Christa “Oh, hush! You have nothing that I haven’t seen or sucked or, for that matter, f@cked, now get your butts outside in five minutes, or you are going to the dining hall naked!”
I walk outside and have to bite my tongue not to burst out laughing. Miller pops around the corner fully dressed.
Miller
“You thoroughly enjoyed that, didn’t you?”
Christa “It was funny, wasn’t it?”
They start piling out of the barracks, mostly dressed except for the odd one that is still tucking his shirt.
Christa “You guys are my responsibility.”
I say as we file in behind them, and I make them run to the dining hall.
Christa “Grab your plates, boys! We don’t have all night! I want to grab some shut-eye.”
Tank pulled me aside during training today. He told me to make sure that the guys in the squad really knew that I was their superior now. I give the orders, and they have to follow them. He gave me a little recorder to carry with me.
Cappie and Tank will review my performance as part of the report they have to give to their bosses to prove that I deserve my rank. I have to be careful what I say, though.
I never planned on being this girl, but I guess you play the cards you are dealt. If I have to be the b***h of the bad bunch that has to protect the citizens of our country from the worst of the worst, then that is who I will become. I came here to protect and serve, after all.
I didn’t join the force to be mommy’s little girl. I decided all of this while I was taking a shower and realized that if I wanted to survive my chosen dream, I would have to stand up for it. Especially after everything I’ve given up for it. Well, now I know that it wasn’t much.
He moved on as if it was nothing.
Christa “Line up!!”
I shout once the guys start dishing up, and I have them line up in two proper rows like in school, so we can run to the media room in two neat lines. Miller is grabbing my dinner. Another thing Tank taught me… Delegate to my two “Deputies” so I can take care of the squad.
With everyone ready, we start our walk out of the dining room. There are some of the guys laughing at what they see and others murmuring and some just plain rude with their below-the-belt jokes, but I’m proud when I see even the two preps not paying them any attention.
If only those guys knew how far my guys were going to go in life, while they all end up behind desks, shoving paper, and dealing with the small stuff. My guys will be taking down the big cases.
Walking into the media room, I point them to the back and they start filling up the seats from the back. I don’t even notice Cappie and Tank sitting in the corner at the desk watching my every move. Once everyone is seated, Miller hands me my plate, and I take my seat next to them.
Cappie “Okay, so you all have surprised me. Twenty-five minutes and you are here. You can all eat. I didn’t say you can’t eat at this time. We just wanted to show you what you are going to be in for. We have put together some of the footage of the playground and some of the information on the big crime bosses you don’t want to cross swords with. Bradley, that means you. I know you are going to want to go in hot and fast, but don’t mess with these guys. Follow the lead of your Captain. He knows how to avoid these guys and keep you safe.”
Christa “Sir, before we begin, why are we going there if we have to avoid these guys? I understand the danger, but surely we have people that are working on capturing them.”
Tank “I warned you, she isn’t just going to sit back and watch things happen around her.”
Huh? What is he talking about?
Cappie “Christa, no, all of you, listen and listen carefully! Don’t go there thinking you are going to be a hero and follow the orders of your Captain. Don’t go all rogue. I’m being dead serious, and I mean dead! I didn’t want any of you going to that station in the first place!”
It's the first time he uses my first name.
Cappie “Tank, play the video.”
~The Playground~
The title reads and images of protesters come up on the screen.
Narrator “What once was the hub of social life, the most sought-after property for business, and even housing embassies, has in the past year turned into a war zone.”
The video changes from an old picture to the current day and pans out showing the front of the station. A journalist standing in front of the camera.
Journalist “We set out to find out what happened to the people and what is being done to help them.”
The camera turned to a shop right next to them that is now a derelict empty shell.
Journalist “What you see here is what we found in most of the streets. Empty shops and street people are too scared to take up residence inside them. People sleeping in front of the gates of the police station in the hopes that it will keep them safer than sleeping somewhere else.”
The image changes to a picture that is older of people walking past a shopping center with a restaurant filled with families and happy people. A shop is selling all sorts of trinkets, and cars are parked in front of the building in parking spots.
Then it fades to the current day. There are shops there, but they don’t look anything like what used to be there. Their signs are hand-painted. The sidewalk looks so dirty that I can almost smell it, and there definitely are no cars anywhere in sight. Someone walks into one of the shops and he or she looks like they haven’t eaten in days.
Journalist “This is a common sight in town.”
The person is in the shop and shoves something in his or her pocket. When he looks at the camera, you can see his missing teeth.
Journalist “This is just the lid of the cesspool. In this documentary, we will be taking you as close as possible to the dark side.”
You hear someone talking in the background, and the journalist doesn’t look too happy before the shot cuts to what is the outside of a club called the Mistress. The name is shining in bright pink lights. I half expected them to be flashing and the journalist to be carrying a flip notebook and wearing a hat and a trench coat.
The camera is hidden from the way it moves around and the type of shot it takes.
Journalist “Hi.”
A big burly guy comes into view, standing in front of the door. The stupid journalist clearly sounds like he doesn’t fit in, but the bodyguard checks him and lets him in. The club is dark, of course, and the music is so loud that the speaker gives a terrible amount of feedback that is quickly turned off.
Yup, definitely amateurs. The journalist quickly ducks behind a group of people. Cappie pauses the video and gets up to walk to the back of the room.
Cappie “He is lucky that they didn’t see him immediately. That kind of mistake can get you killed! The feedback showed that there was someone in the club with a microphone! The journalist is currently under protective custody, by the way, and is moved every second day with a ton of security surrounding him because if he is found, he is dead.”
Drugs are openly being used; it is clear that prostitutes are in the building doing business in which there are probably back rooms supplied for this purpose.
Girl
“Hiya, wanna buy a girl a drink?”
The girl is about my age and chewing on a piece of gum. Her outfit leaves nothing to wonder about.
Journalist “Sure, what are you having?”
Girl “How about we have one in my private room? I have anything you want. Same prices as they’re asking at the bar.”
W.T.F!!!
I can’t see what his answer is, but when she holds out her hand, he takes it and follows her. They walk behind a black curtain, and there is a passage just as long as the length of the club with red doors. How cliché! The rooms are probably only big enough to take a single bed and maybe a bedside table if you count the number of doors!!
There are more of the black t-shirt guards standing around the passage, checking their watches, and just as the girl opens her door, one bursts into a room, and you hear a guy shouting that he isn’t done yet. The guard shouts to pay up, then the sound dies when the door is closed.
Girl
“It’s five hundred for fifteen minutes and ten for the drink.”
Holding out her hand while she keeps chewing.
Journalist “How much just to have a drink?”
Girl
“Are you kidding me? SAM!!!”
She shouts, and not two seconds later, black t-shirt guy storms into the room.
Girl
“This one ain’t payin.”
She points at the journalist and suddenly the picture becomes very unclear.
Cappie pauses the video.
Cappie “Luckily, for this i***t, Sam is one of our undercover cops. If it were any of the other guys, he would have probably been roughed up really badly then kicked out of the club. Sam took him out through the back.”
He plays the video again, and we watch as this Sam guy warns the journalist that he should stay out of the club.
Journalist “I guess that’s our take for tonight.”
He looks into his jacket camera, and it is switched off.
- Writer
