Chapter three let's go
Just a friendly little reminder that this is an AU.. Also a majority of my military knowledge comes from the British Army Cadet Force which I was a part of for the best part of four+ years and my knowledge of American army ranks comes from the internet.
Enjoy
~ January 14th, 1917 – Private Danny Murillo's point of view
Everyone and I mean everyone in our friendship circle including CSM Ragan kept an eye on me after the fainting episode that I had yesterday. Jordon told me that he didn't want his jacket back, so I decided to use it as a blanket for myself. I woke up ten minutes after I had fainted with no memory of it happening. I think I asked Jorel how long I had slept for before he told me that I had fainted. Rigo would definitely worry about me even more now. If I managed to get Jorel and George worried then Rigo would definitely worry. George also gave me a bit of his rations on top oh mine just to make sure that I am okay and not about to faint again. They did mention I was pretty pale still from the fainting episode.
They do not want me to faint again which would be a repeat of yesterday. To be honest neither do I, it was horrible enough being on this train feeling sore and weak. It is truly the worst feeling in the world. We now only have a few hours left before we get to our destination according to George who has done this journey a few times. When we get there, I will find out if I will see Rigo at the station or at the camp itself. I am starting to get excited about seeing Rigo again. The last time I saw Rigo must have been the 25th of November 1915. I have admittingly counting the days since I last saw him. I did get a phone call on my 21st birthday from him though which is nice, because I knew he could not have been there for the actual day. He has been working so hard training people here, it's made mom proud.
It has now been, 1 year, 1 month and 21 days since the day he left home to be stationed at this base came. I guess I am a little weird for knowing the exact amount of days. However, I bet back home our mom is going to be counting for all three of us boys. She will pray everyday for our safe return once the war is over. Our sister Lisa-Marie will be praying too. I will be praying myself, that if I do survive that father is not around to kill me for leaving home against his wishes. That is if he does not end up in prison before the war is over. Knowing him as well as I do, he will end up there at least once, maybe twice before the war is out. He already messed up the day he last attacked me as Dylan was there watching. If I decided to take legal action against my father I could easily have my new friend back me up.
"Are you feeling okay today Danny?" George asks me, when he gives me my rations for the morning like everyone else gets. Well, I assume that it is the morning right now. We can't really tell whether it is day or night on this train carriage until we get to camp as this lacks any sort of windows. "Yeah, I am as good as I can by right now," I tell him. Then he gives me a portion of his rations on top of mine when a lot of the other people aren't looking. "You don't have to this George," I tell him. He crouches down in front of me. "I promised Rigo that I would keep an eye on you and I would look after you. I have the rations to spare anyway," he tells me, very seriously by the tone he spoke to me in. Of course, it would all come down to my older brother asking George to look after me when I was on the train, it always does.
Rigo has always been over protective of me, often taking the beatings for me when I was younger to spare me as many of the horrible experiences as he could. He knew as I grew older that it would not last forever and when he left for the army father decided to make up for the lost beatings Rigo protected me from growing up. Father was very angry that he had lost so many opportunities to unleash his anger on me because of Rigo being so protective. There was nothing I could have done about it because I knew that there was a chance of the school I went to finding out and asking some questions about my health which would have led to an investigation and us being removed from mother and father.
George and Rigo were joined at the hip when I was very young. So, this didn't really surprise me. I know Rigo would have worried a lot when he saw my name appear on the list of new recruits being trained for the frontlines. Then again, we both knew that my name would have appeared eventually. The army is a strange way for me and my brothers to escape what our father does to us when we are home. I think the whole extended time away from home this job brings is a huge bonus. Our mother is devastated that it must be this way. She cried when Rigo left for the first time and then again when Kyle left for the first time. She is probably crying over me right now. She could even tell our father that I have died or something to justify the tears. Not that mother really needs any reason, she's living through hell right now.
I managed to fall asleep not long after I had eaten my rations. Dylan was the one to wake me up this time, normally Jorel does it. It has been I don't know how long since the time I fell asleep to the time I woke up though. "We are here now Danny," he tells me. As I wake up more I can see people getting off the train. They are going to prepare us to get off by each carriage and then get us to start training by making us march for the first time for most up towards the camp. "I wonder if Rigo will be at the station," I tell Dylan and Jorel. I hope that I get to see Rigo again as soon as possible. "Knowing Rigo, he will definitely be here waiting for you," Jorel tells me. Then he hugs me as gently as he possibly can as the other people around us make their way towards the door that was now open. We got some strange looks, but I ignored them.
We waited until everyone in our carriage had got off before we walked towards the door. This was so I could get off with some help and not get stared at so much because they will be focusing on the orders that they are being given. I am not steady on my feet, sitting down for two days hasn't helped my symptoms. No one was looking at us though. Rigo was waiting as we expected at the station quite close to the middle of the train. He was in a car, but he got out as soon as he saw George. He walked over to me and hugged me carefully. "Danny I have missed you so much," Rigo tells me. I hugged him back with as much strength as I had. I am so glad that I can see him again. "I missed you too Rigo," I tell him.
I could tell just by looking at him that he was very worried about me. Rigo takes me to the car that he drove here in and that I first saw him in before he saw me. "I am going to look after you while you are here Daniel. I promised mother that I would as soon as she had told me that she knew you had signed up," he tells me. I knew mother would be making Rigo promise too. Rigo helps me get into the car. I have been told by George that I was deemed unfit to walk to camp after the fainting incident in case it happened again. None of the officers around us question this, I probably look like shit right now anyways. The order came from a high-ranking officer after discussions with me yesterday on the state of my health, I wasn't the only one who fainted either as there were multiple cars around. No one can refuse the order if it comes from someone with a higher rank than you.
I wince as I sit down on the semi comfy leather seat of the back of the car. I tried to make as little noise as possible but Rigo had already seen my discomfort. It was impossible to hide it from Rigo anyways, to him I have always been an open book and he could tell whenever I needed him whether it be for physical or emotional support. He always does it in a subtle way too. He never demands that he should help me. He always asks if he can help me relax or tend to any wounds that I might have. It is just the way he goes about things. Never once forces it, I am always accepting his help anyways. "On a scale of one to ten, how bad is the pain right now?" Rigo asks me.
Currently there are no other people in the car with us, it is just me and my older brother. "About a nine right now. It is the worst that I have felt for a long time," I tell him. I felt safe being honest with my brother. He puts his hand on my shoulder. "At least you are here now, and everything will be fine soon," he tells me. I am going to recover from my injuries and our father will not be able to hurt me for a long time to come. "I know, but he had the intentions to kill me that evening Rigo. Only I saw the pure rage in his eyes," I tell him. I was keeping the tears at bay for now, Rigo doesn't need to deal with me being a cry baby. I will cry if I need to later when I have some privacy. Rigo is going to panic because I mentioned how angry father was.
I can not been seen as weak in this state and so soon after arriving at camp. I will be a target for bullies for sure. I have to be strong and power through this. Another officer came to drive the car, so Rigo can sit in the back with me on the drive up to camp. Rigo plays with my hair on the drive, to comfort us both. "How do you feel about Danny being here Rigo?" the other officer asks. Rigo makes a loud sigh, I know he has mixed feelings about it. "I am glad he is here, so I can keep an eye on him and not worry. I am not one hundred percent sure this is the life for him though. He might not be war ready," Rigo explains. It is a fair comment for him to make, I have always been the one who showed least interest in the forced lessons.
He must be friends with the other officer obviously they do work together. He did not mention our father once though. I can completely understand why though, who wants to tell people that their father abuses them? The correct answer is no one. Also, he could pass this off as the caring older brother who knows about the threats we are under. I am completely relaxed under Rigo's touch and he smiles at me. "I don't think you have been this relaxed for ages Danny," he tells me. I give him another heart warming smile to cheer him up. I like spending time with him already and it has only been ten minutes since we could see each other again. I can't wait until we get to camp and have more time like this.
"Nope, I don't think I have ever been this relaxed if I am honest Rigo," I tell hm. It is very hard to be any level of relaxed around our father, so any time I get to be away from him like this then I will be relaxed. When I was in the café I couldn't be relaxed because father could walk in at any time. Rigo clearly enjoyed spending the time with me during the car ride to camp. I wish we could spend more time together. After this we can only do it when we both get breaks during the training sessions we have. "Don't forget Danny, you can report to medical if you start feeling worse. Or let one of the officers around you know," Rigo tells me. he wants me to be safe when he knows that he is not around to help me himself.
"I will go if I feel worse, don't worry Rigo," I tell him, and he grins at me. He knows that I will keep to my word. Jorel and George will definitely help me keep to my word too. I will have no choice in the matter. Maybe Dylan, Jordon and Matt will help me stick to this too. I do trust them all enough for them to remind me to go to the medical tent when I need to go. I wonder how they are all coping with the march up to camp. Most of them will not have done this before, marched anywhere with their luggage on their backs. They will be tired and probably sore by the time they get to the camp. I know I might get bullied because I was driven up. They will assume that because my older brother is an officer that is the reason why. They might not listen to the commanding officer who at the time didn't know who my brother was said I was unfit to walk to camp after the fainting episode I had on the train.
"Good, you know there is only so much I am allowed to do to help you even as your brother while we are here," he tells me. I had guessed even he would be limited on what he can do to help me out while we are here. I can't been seen as the favourite just because I have two siblings who are already high ranked and a father who is also high ranked. "He would have to go to make sure he gets pain medication when we arrive anyway," the driver says, making a fair point. I was ordered to get checked over when we got there. "Yeah true, I will make sure that he gets it," Rigo says. Then the car ride went silent as I looked at the view of the outside world from the window. I was taking in everything I saw. I know Rigo feels sorry for me, I don't know what the other officer would think though.
Rigo knows that I was the most sheltered child out of the four of us. I was the only child who spent a majority of their childhood locked inside the house or the back yard. I only left when I had school, hospital visits or a part-time job to go to. It just shows people how much worse the abuse has become over the years. I don't even think I have been outside of Los Angeles before, so this is going to be an interesting time for me. "What do you think Danny?" Rigo asks, when he sees I was just staring out of the window. From what he told me before hand, the camp is surrounded by dense forest which is used for training. "I feel like all of this is really weird. I am discovering things I should already know about the world around me," I tell him.
"Maybe on a day when you are feeling better, we have the day off training, and we get clearance from higher up I will take you out to the town which is close to camp. They love seeing the soldiers," Rigo tells me, after a while of silence has passed. That sounds like a fun idea and a good way to spend some time off duty with Rigo and there will be no risk of our father beating us both. "Yeah that sounds good," I tell him. The pain was starting to catch up with me and it was not a pleasant experience now. It probably showed in my face now how much pain I am in. "Don't worry kiddo, we will be there in two minutes," the driver says, and Rigo helped me relax again him a little more. I was not as chilled out now. It was not this bad on the train, but I had Jorel and George give me medication when I needed.
"I know the pain is really bad right now, but you will be fine once you get some medication into your system," Rigo tells me. I manage to rest my head on his chest. "I know, I just need to suck it up for now," I tell him. Rigo really does not like it when I tell him that I need to suck it up because that was what father always told me. It is what we are both used to and always have been used to. I know we have both always been told by our father to suck it up when he beats us to the point where we are crying or in a lot of pain. I don't like it either, but we could never stop him. It is like he is addicted to seeing his sons in pain and he gets a sick amount of enjoyment from it. It is very disgusting when you think about it a lot.
"You will not have to suck it up for too much longer Danny. I promise," Rigo says, and inside I want to cry more. I sighed, I have made Rigo unhappy and it upset me a lot. He might even be pissed off with me right now. I am in too much pain to move away from him even though that would make it one hundred times worse. He rubbed my chest and kissed the top of my head; the officer wouldn't have cared what my brother did. "I love you Danny, I am definitely not mad at you for this. It is not your fault that we lived with a mad bastard for a father," Rigo says. I love that description for father though, it fits perfectly with the man that is supposed to be our father. "I love you too Rigo," I tell him. I am glad that he is not mad at me anymore. Not that he was mad at me in the first place.
Rigo still does not know that I fainted. They just told him I was ill on the train and they were making me ride in the car as a precaution. To minimize the risk of me fainting on the march up which would have been bad because there were not going to be any medics on route or anything like that. Not to mention how embarrassing it would be. "Oh there's the Murillo kid that passed out on the march up" does not sound like a good thing to be living with for my time here. It would anger Rigo and the last thing I want is for Rigo to get so angry that he attacks on of them and gets kicked out of here. Kyle has been deployed and I need my brother right now. I feel safest with him around and I want it to stay that way.
We manage to make it to camp before the group who are marching up. I knew the car was obviously a lot faster than a group of people marching. The new recruits will take longer to march at first because they will all be getting used to it. Rigo, George and I are already used to it at this point. "Right off to medical before anyone else arrives," Rigo says, then he guides me there. I would not have known where it was anyway. Luckily for us, the nurse was there and checked me over straight away. She gave me the medication I need for the pain I am in. I know it will be okay and I will be fine once it kicks in and I get the chance to rest a bit. Which might be easier said than done here. Only time will tell with that.
"I think you will be fine and fit enough for briefing today, but I would be cautious about you doing a lot of physical activity for now. At least until you feel better," she tells me. I was okay with that, although I was not sure what to expect when I went in. Rigo will make sure that the right people know about the nurse's recommendation for me. I think my mom told Rigo about my injuries before I got on the train, so maybe most of the right officers know already which means they can adjust my training schedule accordingly. I think the most I will not be allowed to do is the physical exercise training and tests that they have within the first month. I think I can sit in the theory tests and maybe miss out on the initial weapon practical's. It sucks but I know most of the basics already, so it is not a huge loss.
The next officer I saw was CSM Ragan. Now the pain medication has kicked in I feel a whole lot better now than I felt on the train which was the last time he saw me. I feel like I can speak easier now. "How are you feeling now Danny?" he asks me, still informal because it was only him, Rigo and I in the area. "I am feeling a lot better than I did on the train," I tell him, being honest with George. Rigo stays by my side because he is very protective, and I mean VERY protective over me and we don't need to leave the medical tent just yet. "Yeah, that is good. At least there should not be a risk of you fainting again now you can get more rest," George says, which made Rigo gasp. I knew that would worry him, I was hoping to kinda keep it from him, but I knew that was impossible.
He is worried about my health enough as it is right now and there didn't need to be an extra worry. "Oh my god, are you okay?" Rigo asks me, and he hugs me very carefully. He had the knowledge of my injuries in mind. "Yeah I fainted yesterday, but I feel completely fine now," I tell him. Rigo made me look into his eyes until he is satisfied that I am okay. I hug him back and we walk towards where the briefing will take place. We got there just as the rest of the new recruits start to arrive onto camp. The rest of my friends are happy to see me now as I am more stable on my feet. I am starting to feel a lot better now, but I know I need to heal from my injuries before I can really be okay. Father was rough.
The briefing didn't take long, they knew the new recruits were tired from the march and the train ride so there was no point overloading them with information. They just outlined the rules and what they expect from us while we are here. I heard some people complain about the early 5 am wake up call, but I am used to it. Our father always made us get up at that time in the morning and do laps in the backyard. Rigo and George are in charger of sorting the recruits into groups which will then be given a billet to stay in. A billet is essentially our temporary home while we are here until we are deployed. The billets on this camp only have a huge main sleeping area with metal beds and there are two rooms for the officers. The toilet is outside because these wooden buildings were not designed with that in mind.
"Danny, I want you to get some rest now okay? The train journey was rough, and you are probably going to be off duty for at least this first week," Rigo tells me. I decided to take one of the beds closest to the room which I know is Rigo's. Like I mentioned, the billet has two rooms at the end which only the most senior officers are allowed to sleep. The rest of the beds are for the recruits and there is the bathroom outside. They said that at the rate people are being recruited they might need bunks in these rooms. This is going to be an interesting few months for sure. Only a few recruits cramped into one of several living quarters having to share one bathroom is going to lead to fights. I hope the other guys can stay with us too.
"Don't worry Rigo, I will rest as much as I possibly can," I tell him, and he smiles. Then Jorel, Dylan, Jordon and Matt walk in. They are now the only other people in the room, no other new recruits followed them in here. I think George might be joining us as well, but only time will tell. "I am glad you are with your brother again," Dylan tells me. There were some stories Jorel told of my brother on the train which made me miss him more. Rigo grins at me. "Yeah and you guys better keep an eye on and look after my little brother," he tells my friends. I was honestly surprised he did not call me baby brother as he often used to do before we left for this place. "I am sure they will help Rigo. They already helped me a few times on the train ride here," I tell him.
I winced at the sting that came from the cuts on my back when I moved and stretched a little bit. "I have food for everyone for tonight," George says, and he brings a stack of trays with him. We each get a tray and since it has been a while since we last ate we just start eating. "I have an extra tray if you need it Danny. You could do with a bit extra food at the moment," George says, and I nod at him. I could tell I was probably going to need it and no one in the room was going to question it. "Hey Danny, I'll let mom know you arrived in one peace," Rigo tells me, and I give him a thumbs up. I do plan on writing home to mom and our sister as much as possible. It will be risky because there is always the chance father will see it, but I will be as careful as I can.
The others start talking amongst themselves after dinner is over. That gives Rigo and I a chance to talk more about our "father". It was going to be a private conversation too. "When we write home, I will put your letter in with mine since father never bothers to read my letters," Rigo says. I give him a kinda sad smile. I wish father cared about us more. I was a little worried about our mom getting letters from me, so that she knows I am alive and well. Father was the one who didn't need to see them. "Thanks, I don't think though that he will truly stop hurting us until we all die," I tell him, getting some feelings off my chest. Rigo hugs me gently. "I know Danny, I signed up so that I knew if I did end up dying in action at least I died with some dignity intact," he tells me.
That was also one of the reasons I signed up and I suspect the reason why Kyle signed up too. "I just wanted to get away from it all and feel like I can breathe again. I honestly could not cope any longer with all the abuse he was doing," I tell him. There were things about it I was not willing to share with Rigo yet, but maybe one day I will. Our conversation stops for now as Dylan walks over to us. "Don't feel too worried about training for a while Dylan. It is not that hard to begin with," Rigo tells Dylan, who did look really worried about something, but I was not sure what it is that is bothering him exactly.
Rigo does not yet know that Dylan was there when father last attacked me on the day that the café closed. I do have a sneaky suspicion that George is going to tell him tonight or early tomorrow morning because he heard the story while we were on the train. I don't mind Rigo knowing though, any fuel we have with our eventual legal battle against our father is welcomed with open arms at this point. The less chance of it ending up being my word and my brothers against his the better. I know mother and sister will defend us, but I don't know what kind of defence father would have against his own family if we go him charged for all the pain and damages he has done to us over our lifetime. Having said that father could scare Dylan out of giving us a testimony against him very easily.
"I am not worried about the training. I am more worried about Danny and his health if I am being honest with you," Dylan tells us. I smile at Dylan and it makes him feel a little bit better and hopefully relieved about my health situation. "I will be okay Dylan. I do not think he can hurt me again from here, so I can heal and recover and then throw myself into training like everyone else," I tell him, and he hugs me. I hug him back, then I realize that I am actually getting pretty tired by this point in the evening. I want to stay up and talk to Rigo though, we haven't talked much since we met up again. "You can go to sleep you know Danny?" Rigo tells me, and I shake my head. I am not tired to the point where I would have to sleep just yet.
"Not yet Rigo, I want to stay up for a bit longer," I tell him, trying not to sound like a little child and whine. Rigo just chuckled and pulled me onto his lap for another hug. "Okay Danny, all I want is to make sure that you can take care of yourself and ask for help whenever you need it," he tells me. I am going to spend the next few hours relaxing in Rigo's arms until I either fall asleep or Rigo sends me to be, so I can get some sleep. After about two hours I got really hungry, so that second tray that George had brought with him has come in handy. I started eating it, no one else was going to and I didn't mind that it was cold. George smiled at me when he noticed that I was eating the second tray that was mine.
I do hope that I don't have to rely on extra rations the whole time that I am being trained here. I feel like it is not fair on the other people here that I get two trays of food and then they don't get the same. George left the billet with all the empty trays back to where they came from, so they can be cleaned. I keep having moments where I am wide awake and then tired again, but I am going to force myself to stay awake for just a little while longer. "I am just going to call mother and let her know you arrived here in one piece," Rigo tells me. He is not leaving the billet just yet though, so I can keep relaxing in his arms for a bit longer. I know mother will understand why I can't phone her myself as of yet. I am not of a high enough rank to get those privileges.
"Don't worry mother though Rigo. She cannot get herself here to see us anytime soon. She wants us home and safe after this is over even though father will still be there," I tell him, speaking quieter in case someone was listening in. "Don't worry Danny, I won't tell her about any of the health issues you've had on the train. She will know you are still getting better from the thing," he replies, keeping it vague. As he leaves to go and make the phone call, I go and sit with the other guys. "Hey Danny, do you want me to stay with you tonight?" Jorel whispers, when I sit next to him. "Maybe, I am not sure if I'll have nightmares tonight or not," I whisper back. Our friendship is frowned upon a lot because people tend to assume our close bond means that we might be dating when we are not and not going to date each other.
If anything we see our friendship like it is on an adoptive brother like level. "Okay Danny, I will be right next to you anyway," he tells me. Jorel wraps his arm around me and I rest against him. "Someone looks very tired," Georges tells me. At night I guess our ranks do not matter as much now as the do during the day time. We can get away with not calling the officers by there ranks. It does feel like it is more relaxed now and we are all calling each other by our first names. No mentions of surnames or ranks. I bet George thinks I will be fast asleep before Rigo arrives back from his phone call. I know mother likes to talk for a while with Rigo about what he has been up to and what he is allowed to talk about.
Although America is not officially part of the war, we have been advised to prepare and train as many troops as possible for that eventuality. We were also told as the war gets more intense there will be less that we will be allowed to talk about, and our letters will be monitored. I was already prepared for that; I know my letters are carefully hidden in Rigo's when we do start sending letters off because there is one man that neither of us want to discover my letters. I will be hiding the fact that I have gone to the camp for as long as I can because father does have the powers to come here if he needs to and will probably end up murdering Rigo and I on sight if he knew that I was not dead from his last attack.
"Yeah, I will go to sleep soon. I don't think or feel like I have had the chance to get to know Matt, Jordon and Dylan all that well yet," I tell George, we didn't talk much on the train as we took the advice of the officers and slept for most of the time. Then I yawned and watched the guys hold back yawns of their own. I feel okay with all of them here. I am safe here; I was not scared of anything here or the potential of being on my own. "Don't push yourself though Danny. We have been told that you are not heavily training this week. Rest up as much as possible," George tells me. I close my eyes for a moment. I was still denying the urge to sleep just yet. I was kind of waiting for the others to go to bed too.
"What hobbies do you have then Danny?" Dylan asks me. I love these question and answer type of conversations and it is an easy way to get to know your new friends. "My hobbies are mainly playing the guitar and drawing. It helps me pass the time at home," I tell him. I have hundreds of drawings at home, all in boxes. I doubt I can draw a lot here, but I know it would help me pass the time while I can't train. "I am sure we can let you do some drawing while you are here resting. There are no rations on paper and pencils are far as I am aware," George says. I notice Matt is still the quiet one like I am, and Jordon is as close to Matt as I am with Jorel. Although like people assume with us there might be more to their friendship than meets the eye.
"Awesome, I would love to see a drawing sometime," Jordon tells me. I smile at the older man, that was one thing I did learn on the train that I am the youngest man in the group. I am the only 21 year old here. Jorel is 22, as is Dylan and Matt and Jordon are both 23. George is 31 like Rigo is. At least that is what I believe is the truth. "One day I will draw all of you. I will need both of us to have free time when I do it though," I tell him. Everyone is happy and they smile a lot. "That is okay, we will have some free time. I am sure of it, even if it has to be during the evening time," Matt tells me. That makes sense to me. I could draw them all over several evenings and it will be good stress relief for everyone too which is a bonus.
Then Rigo comes back and I was very excited to see him again, even if we haven't actually been apart from each other for that long this time. I had a moment where I was worried that he was going to leave me. I know that he wouldn't ever leave me if he had the choice, but the fear is still going to be there. When the two of us are at home we are joined at the hip and pretty much inseparable. "I knew Danny wouldn't be sleeping just yet," Rigo says, when he sees that I am still wide awake and cuddled up to Jorel. Jorel rubbed my arm and I smiled at him. I was still feeling super tired but the fear of having a nasty nightmare made me feel as if I was not ready to fall asleep just yet. I will sleep tonight, just not right this second.
"I'm still resting though, I am just not resting my eyes yet," I tell him, fully aware of how cheeky I sounded to my brother. Rigo decides to sit next to me, so I am now sitting in between Jorel and Rigo. "I wonder where he gets this cheekiness from," George says, a bit sarcastically. We know that I get my cheekiness from the older brother sitting next to me. Well, only Jorel, Rigo and George know about that. In the past my cheekiness has gotten me in trouble, but that has only been with my father who sees any kind of joke or sarcasm or even a cheeky little comment as something which has to be punished for. My mother once joked when I was five years old about how uptight my father was back then, I had to then watch my mother get slapped for saying it and my brother Kyle getting slapped for laughing at it.
"It's either Rigo or Kyle," I tell George, with a little cheeky grin which almost mirrored Rigo's. I decided to snuggle up to Rigo because I wanted to spend some more time with my older brother before I manage to fall asleep. It has been so long since I was able to do this since I haven't seen him in so long. I know I am not leaving the camp any time soon or Rigo. However, I know he could get called out to the frontlines at any point while I am being trained. "Mother is so glad that the two of you made it here safely. Apparently there was a bomb at the Los Angeles station after you had left and she was worried," Rigo tells us. Mother always treats Jorel as if she gave birth to him which in our minds further solidified our brother like bond.
"She doesn't have to worry too much, we will look after the trouble twins," George says. I forgot for a moment that George and a few of Rigo's friends called Jorel and I trouble twins. It was because when we were younger we got into a bit of trouble around the local town. It didn't matter who triggered the trouble because we'd always get caught together. "I didn't know we are still called trouble twins," Jorel admits. I knew we had not gotten up to much trouble lately, but it seems the nickname will always stick with a few people. "Yeah, well you are still to me at least. For me the nickname is definitely stuck. There is still a chance for you two to get up to trouble while you're here," George tells us both.
"I am sure that once Danny recovers and you both settle into life here that the trouble twins will reign again," Rigo says, sounding so proud of that fact. Jorel rolls his eyes. He knows deep down it is true though. We really could get up to all sorts of mischief if we put our minds to it. "I know it is true, but how much can we get away with here?" Jorel asks, knowing that we are living in the army camp for next few months at least. "Not much outside of this billet I am afraid. That is only because the army officers won't be as kind as we are to you," George explains. It was perfectly reasonable as well; we are in a military camp not a high school summer camp. Outside of this room we are not going to get away with anything so we must keep our mischief to inside.
"Yeah, don't worry George. We won't get into too much if any trouble. We know we are here to train for the army, and we have to behave," I tell them. Rigo played with a stray strand of my hair. He was smiling at me and I smiled back at him. "We know you will behave Danny, we are only messing with you," Rigo tells me and I yawned again. I could no wait to get better and be able to have more fun with the rest of my friends and the new friends when we get some time off. I want to be able spend time away from the camp with them when we get permission from the officers. I don't want to be the only one staying behind. I was also relieved to finally have some time and peace away from my father at last.
The pain wasn't bothering me as much anymore. However, I do realise that the train ride being so soon after I woke up from the last beating was going to mess me up a bit. The train ride was not a smooth one, so my back is sore. I am sure I have a few injuries there from the last beating I had received. I know my mom dealt with them a few days ago, but it has to be a daily thing. I have not told anyone in the room about my back injuries and I don't intend to. I don't know if I told Jorel and Dylan when I was retelling my story though. Also Dylan was there when I was in the café and he probably saw some of my injuries. I can barely remember anything that happened over the last few days if I was being honest.
It usually happens after a beating. It does take a couple of weeks for me to realise what had happened and if it is a severe beating then it tends to take a little bit longer. I know I have a lot more support this time around. Jorel is here and so is Rigo and George. The older two males are not usually around when the beatings happen because they are here being trained. I am not sure how the other three will react to recovery and helping me get through this. I have a feeling that Dylan will be willing to help. He saw the beating himself, I might even have to help him through it because I don't know how rough he considers it to be from his perspective. It's not all about me, I never wanted it to be all about me from the start.
"We should all go to bed anyway. It is either a five or six o'clock in the morning wake up for everyone regardless if you have training or not. It is going to be a long day and a rough adjustment for those not used to the early wake up," George informs us, and I felt like it was a wise choice. These guys will be so shocked at how much exercise army training will involve. It might have been made bedtime because I yawned so many times this evening. "We just take our boots off right George?" I ask. I was trying to remember what I was taught and what the night-time routine is. Asking a more experienced person is the best thing we can do when we are not sure. They know we have less experience than them and most of them are willing to answer questions.
We don't have any pyjamas with us, but I believe that we will be sleeping in our uniforms anyway which I don't mind. We have back up uniforms, so we won't be stinking, and I believe they do wash the uniforms on a regular basis. "Yeah. Also a tip I would give you is to try and keep your boots polished as often as possible and we have to shave regularly too," George says, and we all go to our respective beds to take our boots off and go to sleep. I suddenly got light-headed when I took my boots off. So, I took a minute to make sure I felt better. "Danny, are you okay?" Rigo asks me, when he saw my light-headed episode. He was so worried about me which is something I am used to by now.
"Yeah, I am okay Rigo. I just got light-headed again. I will be okay, I think," I tell Rigo. I saw more concern in Rigo's face. "Okay Danny, just try and lie down and see how you feel after a while. Maybe sleeping will make you feel better," Rigo says, feeling very worry about me right now I bet. Jorel was in the bathroom, so he didn't know about this new development in my health at the moment. I decide to follow Rigo's advice and lie down on the bed. It is comfier than when I was sleeping on the train. Then again, anything is comfier than the train. Rigo joins me on the bed, and he was ready to take care of me like he feels that he should have done. I never want Rigo to feel guilty about escaping the abuse while I stayed behind.
Rigo moves some of my hair out of my face when Jorel walks back in. "Are you okay Danny?" Jorel asks me, when he sees me laying on the bed. I probably looked really pale like I have been since the fainting episode. "I am okay Jorel, I just got a tiny bit light-headed when I took my boots off," I tell him. Rigo covered me with the blanket from my own bed just before Jorel walked in. Jorel hugs me gently and then covers me with a spare blanket from a bed that no one is going to be using. We have a few empty beds right now until the next batch of recruits come in and then those beds will be used. I hope this feeling is not going to last long because I already hate it and want it to end. I hate my father for doing this to me.
"Okay Danny, just get some rest. We are all here to look after you," Jorel says and I nod at him. I close my eyes and don't bother opening them again after I yawned. I had procrastinated over going to sleep enough. "Let's let Danny get some sleep," Rigo tells Jorel, and I fell asleep not long after that. Man I am so happy to have my big brother back at my time of need. I am going to enjoy training with him over the next few months. Now if only mother and sister could join the army and then everyone would have freedom. Or we could send father to jail and then we could all have freedom in the comfort of our home which mother owns. That would be much better than the possibility of us all dying on the frontlines.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think down in the comments and see ya next time.
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