Amy Santiago was not scared. Amy Santiago did not know the meaning of the word. Amy Santiago was number eight in a family of eight children; if she was a timid child she never would have made it out of the crib in her parents' bedroom.
Amy Santiago may not have been scared, but she could admit to being a little nervous. Just a little.
Recently, she'd begun to feel like maybe her classmates didn't love her as much as her teachers did. Being voted 'Most Appropriate' in the end of year superlatives had been such a thrill for her at first, but on the walk home from school with Luis and Marc she reflected on that day's events and she wasn't so sure about being 'Most Appropriate' anymore.
She had wanted this the moment Nick mentioned it in passing over dinner one Sunday. A camp! A police camp! Imagine, how good that would look on her Academy application! And with three brothers, six uncles and her grandfather on the NYPD, Santiago had to be a name that people respected, there was no harm in making sure hers was heard early.
She didn't regret the decision, no; she just hadn't expected it to be so intimidating. She was Amy Santiago: smart, confidant, self-aware, so why was she so nervous? Why were this crowd of loud teenagers so intimidating? She was better than them all. Not only was police work in her blood, but she worked her ass off. Somehow, this never quite seemed to translate into affection from her peers, and it baffled her.
"Amy Santiago!" a voice called from the throng of youths, startling her. Towards the side of the room sat a boy, just as alone as her, gripping the same literature pack she held in her arms.
"Teddy!" Amy's eyes lit up as soon as she recognised the boy, dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"My uncle got me in!" Teddy beamed, patting the seat next to him. "I could ask you the same but I'm going to guess your answer will be pretty similar."
"Good detective work!" Amy giggled. Why did Teddy always make her giggle? Every damn time. "Nick was on the recruiting team, but he didn't even have to try to put his sales spin on this, I was all over it as soon as he mentioned it."
"Oh yeah," Teddy nodded. "Did you know that the Academy plans out the schedules? This is the real deal."
"I know! Nick told me that there's no mercy…it sounds amazing. I heard you even get to take the real Academy entrance exam at the end!"
"I sure hope so," Teddy smiled. "But how are you, Amy? How'd the APs go?"
"Oh!"
Amy blinked for a moment. This wasn't normal. People her age never just asked about school or work or any of those things Amy loved, let alone boys. Let alone boys that she only saw once in a while, and only ever at NYPD family events. This was a shock to the system, but Amy could deal with surprises. Of course she could.
"Really well, I think. I don't think I got 5s in either of them, 4s if I'm lucky, but it's only the first year. I had a really good time taking them so I think I'll go for more next year."
"More!" Teddy laughed. "APUSH nearly killed me, and I'm almost two years older than you! You did two, right? APUSH and trig?"
"Yeah," Amy nodded; again, surprised that he'd remembered. "Trig was definitely…interesting. I was the youngest."
"Excuse me," a man stood up to the podium, tall and intimidating. "Excuse me, young people. Settle down."
Oddly enough, the entire group quieted as soon as he stood to attention. This almost never happened with Principal Bennett.
"My name is Detective Raymond Holt, but you may call me Detective Holt. I am a Grade 1 detective in Brooklyn's own 99th precinct, and I am the founder of the NYPD's Cadet Camp. Some of you are here today because you want to be here, because your parole officers or principals mandated that you attend, because you received bursaries or scholarships or simply because you want to be here. It does not make any difference to me why you are here, because I promise you this: you will all leave here as true cadets in my eyes."
For some reason, when Detective Holt made this promise, she believed him. She even believed that he could magically turn around the lives of the rowdier looking individuals that Santiago now knew to be the 'juvenile detention' contingent.
"Now, young people. I will hand you over to Detective Terrence Jeffords, who will be in charge of your troop."
"Thank you, Detective Holt," an even taller man took over the podium, nodding to the older detective as he left the makeshift stage. He was younger than the other detective, huge and very well built, and somehow authoritative without being intimidating. "Again, I am Detective Jeffords, you may call me Detective Jeffords or Terry based on the situation – you'll figure it out. If you don't, well…" he grinned. "I'm in charge of Troop C – you guys, the Brooklyn troop. While I will be your commanding officer, I am also your leader, and my leadership style is very respectful: if you have a problem or a suggestion, I am willing to take it on board…I didn't mean now, but okay. Shoot," he pointed to a boy in the centre of the group, hand stretched above his head.
"Yeah, why aren't we the B Troop? B Troop, Troop B, whatever?" asked the boy, head laden with dark brown curls and eyes framed with big black plastic glasses that weren't too unlike the pair she had waiting at home. "I mean, Brooklyn! Am I right? Where Brooklyn at!" he grinned. "Where Brooklyn at? You know, like…"
"Yeah, Biggie and 2Pac," Detective Jeffords answered quickly, eyes narrowed a little. "I got that. The Bronx are Troop B. There's a certain amount of troop rivalry, but it comes second to everything else at Cadet Camp – you'll see. There are other rivalries to have, between dorms and – my next topic – precincts."
"You'll notice a number on the front of the packet you were given today, and this number corresponds to one of Brooklyn's 21 precincts. To the back of the hall are 21 real police cadets from the Academy: one of these cadets will be your precincts 'Captain' for the summer. You will be expected to engage in most activities with your precinct, to work as a team just like a real precinct. I'd like you to join your captains now – and no swapping. Remember, there's no swapping in the real NYPD."
Precincts! They were getting precincts, just like real cops! Maybe Amy would get the 81 and she could be just like Nick – maybe their Captain would know Nick! She didn't realise that her hands were shaking until she reached to the floor to pick up her literature pack. She had to hold the sides of her face to focus as she read the numbers in the corner – damn contact lenses – but there it was: a bold sticker reading '99'.
"What did you get, Teddy?" Amy stood, still shaking a little.
"81," Teddy answered, walking towards the back of the room. "You?"
"Oh, that's Nick's precinct!" Amy brightened a little before deflating. "I got the 99."
"Damn, I was kind of hoping we could be together."
"Me too," Amy spoke softly.
"Hey, this is you, right?" Teddy gestured to a short man dressed in a uniform that was emblazoned with the numbers '99'.
"Oh," Amy blinked, "I guess it is. I'll see you later, Teddy."
"Good luck, Amy Santiago!" and he was gone.
"Hello," Amy walked up to her 'Captain'. For some reason, nothing about this potential authority figure made her feel nervous in the least – for some reason, he actually made her feel a little more confidant. That said a bit, because Amy was by nature a reasonably confidant person. "My name is Amy Santiago, ready to join the 99."
"Amy Santiago!" the man grinned. "Welcome to the 99, my name is Recruit Officer Charles Boyle, but you can call me whatever you want!"
"Charlie," a girl piped up from next to Officer Boyle, and Amy's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw the neon-green spandex dress she was clad in. "We're going to call him our Charlie!"
"Just not Charlie, should have mentioned that first…" Officer Boyle blushed. "This, Amy Santiago, is the rest of the 99 so far: Cadet Gina Linetti and Cadet Rosa Diaz," he gestured to spandex girl and a tall girl with a head of long wild black curls, clad from head to toe in black: black leather jacket, black skin tight jeans, black military style boots.
"Latina?" Amy asked hopefully; glad to see another morena in the hall. "Soy cubana."
"I don't see why it matters who I am or what I am," Rosa practically growled.
Amy froze at the girl's words – maybe she was one of the kids sent here by their parole officers. Maybe she needed to be careful around Rosa Diaz. Rolling her eyes after a moment of staring at 'frightened puppy' Amy Santiago, Rosa relented.
"Sí,nació en Colombia pero no importa nadaaquí, ¿entiendes? Somos más que Latinas or morenas, ¿vale?"
"Ya entendido," Amy swallowed. This girl was the real deal, not some third generation Cubana like her. This probably meant a lot to her; Amy got it.
"Jacob Peralta, reporting for duty!" a voice boomed from behind.
"Jake!" Gina squealed, grabbing the boy's arms and jumping up and down. "It's Jake, you guys! Jake's in our club!"
"Precinct. And we don't exactly know who Jake is," Amy smirked at Gina, looking up to Rosa for approval.
"I know Jake," Rosa replied shortly. "We take a…we're in an after school class together. Peralta's cool."
"Thank you, Rosa," Jake grinned. "Linetti, Peralta and Diaz! We are going to be a damn cool precinct." Amy faltered a little at the boy's words. If these other girls were 'cool', what was she?
"Jakey, this is Charles Boyle!" Gina continued to jump up and down excitedly. "He says I don't have to do any physical at the camp!"
"I never said that," Boyle's eyes widened. "Every cadet has to participate in the full physical programme, I never said that…"
"He doesn't know me yet," Gina whispered to Jake, "he doesn't know that he is legally obliged to give me what I want."
"I'm sorry, Recruit Officer Boyle," Jake shrugged Gina onto his shoulder smoothly. "Gina and I go back; she lived in my Nana's building when I was a kid."
"I miss Williamsburg," sighed Gina, snuggling into Jake's bright yellow t-shirt. "Park Slope's got nothing on jammy jams with you and Nana, it's so boring. That neighbourhood you lived in in Queens, now that seemed exciting!"
"Oh, uh, I guess it was exciting," Jake laughed, seeming a little nervous for the first time. "But I'm back! Back in Brooklyn! Back in the 99!"
"So you and Gina are actually from the 99?" Boyle beamed. "Wonderful!"
"I live in Greenpoint, pretty sure that's in the 99 too," Rosa offered.
"It is! Three 99ers on the 99, wonderful! And you, Amy?"
"I'm from New Brunswick," Amy answered automatically, only realising just what she was saying after the words had left her mouth.
"In New Jersey?" Jake stared at Amy.
"Ew," Gina made a face.
Amy Santiago was suddenly very nervous.