CG Ch#4
Roy paused for a moment and looked at his prisoners. Once more, he felt something in the air, and noticed that the two men were looking at each other again. A volume of information that he could not understand flowed between the men. There was a... connection of some sort between the two, something honest and good. It made Roy want to break something.
Roy then applied his billy club with the diligence and easy of someone who takes pride in their handy work. He whacked Hutch/Jones across his right shin with the club, in payback for the kick Starsky had given him. He reveled in the cry of pain he elicited from Hutch. He stood there for a moment, soaking it in.
Pain rocketed through Hutch. He hoped his leg wasn't broken. He clenched his teeth and rode the wave of pain to its peak and slid down the other side of it to the dull, throbbing ache that now resided in his leg.
Starsky couldn't take it any longer "Stop it Roy! Dammit! What'sa matter with ya anyway? Can't ya take on someone who ain't handcuffed and shackled? Huh?! Afraid to fight someone on an even playin' field? C'mon, let me go! I'll take ya on with both hands behind my back!"
Starsky was growing more frantic with each passing second as he tugged at his cuffed hands in a vain attempt to free himself; to help his friend, to stop the pain, to do something. He kept up his useless struggle even when Roy turned back towards him.
Smack, twist, release, lift, Roy eyed Starsky/Harold and merely smiled at him as he cracked the club against Starsky's ribcage. He stopped for a moment, contemplating his next move. Smack, twist, release, lift
Starsky gasped with pain. His ribs ached and burned. He closed his eyes and panted through the worst of it.
Roy mentally tallied up the score. Yes, all grievances were paid in full, for now.
Roy knew he had to prepare for his return to Boot Camp, there were just a few finishing touches left to make everything perfect. He put his club back on his belt loop and turned to Hutch and made a fist with his right hand and swung at Hutch's face.
Hutch instinctively moved his head out of the way and there was a dull metallic bang as Roy's knuckles hit the van's reinforced interior.
"SON OF A BITCH!" Roy bellowed in pain. He sucked on his injured knuckles and favored Hutch with a dirty look.
Hutch felt his stomach knot up, he knew what was coming 'I'm sorry Starsk' he said with his eyes to his friend. He watched as Starsky gave him a barely perceptible nod. Hutch closed his eyes. He couldn't bear to watch Starsky get hit on his account.
Starsky merely held his head up and took the blow. He wanted to make a smartass retort to Roy but refrained to keep Roy from hitting Hutch in retaliation. Not that it made much of a difference; Roy turned around and slapped Hutch across the face anyway.
"That should do it for now" Roy nodded. He sat down next to Starsky on the hard metal bench and put his arm around Starsky like they were old chums and gave him a one-armed hug. "Whew, I don't know about you two, but I'm tired."
Starsky curled his lip is distaste at Roy "Git away from me" Starsky leaned away from Roy as far as his bound hands would let him.
Roy removed his arm from Starsky's shoulders then took his club off its ring and whacked himself in the face with it – hard. Blood ran from his now split lip. He let it flow and made no attempt to stop it. It dribbled down the front of his uniform.
The duo stared at Roy in stunned and disgusted amazement. They exchanged a 'What-the-fuck?' look. They thought they had seen everything. But Roy had just raised the bar. They watched as Roy suddenly tensed up and glared in turn at the two detectives.
They were doing 'it' again, whatever it was. Roy was determined to find out what it was and make them stop. But that could wait while, for now he had other business to attend to.
"Now, I'm going to tell you what your new full names are and what you are in for. If asked, you will tell them exactly what I will be telling you. And remember whoever disobeys, the other one pays. Got it?"
They reluctantly nodded.
Roy then gave them the information. And they recited out loud what they were told.
"Now, remember the rules boys, you disobey, the other one pays" He exited the van "We'll be at Boot Camp in twenty minutes" he then blew them a kiss as he slid the door shut.
They heard him open the driver's door and then they were moving again.
"Hey Hutch"
"What?"
"I don't have to go any more"
"Me neither"
Needing comfort after their harrowing experience, they stretched their legs out and touched the only way they could, with their shackled legs.
"How's the leg, Hutch?"
"I don't think its broken, hurts though. How're the ribs?"
"They just need a little barbeque sauce" Starsky smirked through the pain, trying not to laugh at his own silly joke; it would just aggravate the pain that had taken up residence in his ribs. "Ya got any bright ideas, Blintz?" He closed his eyes briefly 'Please have some ideas'
"Aside from avoiding pissing Mr. Psychotic off? None whatsoever"
"Hey, Hutch"
"Yeah?"
"I'm hungry"
"Ha! What else it new?" Hutch snorted, but it sounded forced to Starsky.
xxxxxxxxxx
The van pulled to a halt once more, but this time they heard a flurry of activity and several different voices. The van door opened once more and they noticed a hot dry air as it blew into the van. They also got a glimpse on the prison compound, what little they saw didn't look any different then the one located just outside of Bay City.
"Welcome to Boot Camp!" A cheery voice called out and a man in a guard uniform and mirror sun glasses poked his head in the door "I'm Will, I'll be your tour guide!" He smiled at the pair.
They heard guffaws of others from somewhere in the background "Hey Will, that gets funnier every time you tell it!" someone shouted. Then they heard "Whoa! What the hell happened to your face Roy?!"
"Silly me" Roy pointed to Starsky and Hutch "they told me that they had to take a leak, so I let them out and, well, they jumped me and tried to escape. One of them got me pretty good in the face... Well, as you can see, I got my licks in on them"
"Jesus Christ, Roy! How many times have I told you that you can't coddle the prisoners? You can't give them an inch! You're just too nice of a guy, ya know? I don't think you're really cut out for this kind of work." Officer Will Gardner carped.
"Yeah, you might be right" Roy shook his head apologetically "but, I got bills to pay, I just bought that new truck... well you know how it goes".
"Yeah, yeah, tell me about it. Well, let's get these two processed and you can tell us all about your little adventure"
"Okay, hey, they never did get to take a leak, and it's been hours, and we should probably let them go..." Roy trailed off.
"There you go again, Roy" Will clapped Roy on the shoulder "being too nice again. Why don't you head over to the infirmary and get checked out?"
"You sure you'll be okay?" Roy was the very picture of concern.
"No problem! I got plenty of help here, go on now!" The one called Will waved Roy off.
Starsky and Hutch exchanged a look of incredulity. God help them if Roy was the 'nice' one of the guards.
They went through the very humiliating process of being stripped searched and they were finally then given leave use the toilet, deloused and then allowed to use the showers. The whole time they were watched. It made their flesh crawl but there were no other options.
They were then issued new prison uniforms; blue jeans and a light blue denim shirt with their inmate number sewn across the left side of the chest. They were then lead to a cell. They requested to go to the infirmary to have their injuries looked at and were told that the nurse had just departed for the day.
Just outside the cell, they were released from the handcuffs. Then, unceremoniously, they were shoved in. Solid concrete wall surrounded them on three sides. The cell itself was very small. The attending guards then departed, leaving the two alone. There were no other inmates in any of the other four cells in this area.
Starsky looked about "Good thing neither of us is claustrophobic, this room is so small, we'll have ta go outside to change our minds" He sat down on the edge of the lower bunk bed, gingerly holding onto his ribs as he did so. He put his head in his hands and released a gusty sigh.
Hutch sat down beside his friend. He was exhausted. The drug induced sleep that had been forced on Starsky and himself had not been the kind of restful sleep that they had needed. He leaned his back against the wall and sighed. He hoped that they would have some time to rest before anything else happened. But first he'd have to have a look at Starsky's ribs.
"C'mon Starsk, let me have a look at your ribs" Hutch rested his hand gently on the back of Starsky's neck.
"Yes, mom" He grinned at Hutch. He opened his shirt and Hutch hissed in sympathy at the large bruises that the club had caused.
"That crazy... ya think any of 'em are broken?" Hutch gently moved his fingers over the slanted bruises that clearly outlined where the club had struck.
"Ow! Careful! No, just really sore"
"They should be wrapped, to protect 'em" Hutch cast about and his eyes settled on the sheet from the bed above them. Without hesitation, he pulled it down and carefully ripped along the edge giving it about a four inch width. He then had Starsky exhale as forcefully as he could and Hutch carefully wrapped the makeshift bandage around Starsky's ribs.
"Better?" He said softly as he met his friend's dark blue eyes.
"Yes, mom" Starsky grinned at him.
Hutch's eyes then drifted to the new bruise on Starsky's cheek, just below his left eye. "Starsk, I'm really sorry about you getting hit on my account, I shouldn't have flinched" He reached out and gently touched it for a moment.
Starsky sighed "Hutch, forget about it, I already have. Roy is nuts. You are not responsible for his actions."
"Still-"
"Drop it, okay? Now, let me have a look at your leg. I noticed you can barely put any weight on it."
Hutch sat down and eased his pant leg up to expose the damaged shin.
"Wow! Bet that smarts!" The shin in question was very swollen and quite red. Starsky didn't think that there was much of anything he could do for it. He didn't have any ice to reduce the swelling and nothing to splint it with.
Starsky then got the feeling that they were being watched. He flicked a look at Hutch, and they turned to look through the bars at the new comer.
Just outside of the cell was a smallish guard. The man was somewhere in his forties, his shoulders were stooped and his graying hair was greasy. "Hi! I'm Officer Randall Watters" he indicated towards Hutch's exposed leg "Don't let me stop you, I like to watch" He chuckled. He looked disappointed and stopped when the pair simply stared at him.
Starsky rolled his eyes at Hutch and shook his head. He turned his attention back to Randall "Could ya get some ice for my friend's leg? Bandages, splint and maybe some aspirin?"
"You wanna hear a joke?"
"Not unless you can get us some of those medical supplies"
The man continued as though Starsky had said yes "It's so hot in Arizona that when a dog chases a cat, they both walk!" He laughed.
The pair simply stared at him.
Randal tried again "It's so hot in Arizona that both taps give hot water"
Hutch looked at Starsky "Do you think he's here to torture us?"
"Yep, and its working"
"It's so hot in Arizona-"
"Uh, Randal, could you get some medical supplies?"
"Nope, infirmary's closed until tomorrow. It's so hot in Arizona that your car overheats before you drive it!" He grinned at the pair.
"How 'bout some ice? Could you please get us some ice?" Hutch tried to keep his tone pleasant. It might be worth listening to a few more dumb jokes if they could get some ice. Then again, maybe his leg didn't hurt that bad...
"Sure, I can do that! I'll be right back!" Officer Randal left.
Starsky shook his head "This place has more nuts than a peanut plant"
"Starsk, I hate to tell you this but the peanut isn't a nut. It's a legume."
"What's a legume?"
"A bean"
"You're kiddin'?"
"Nope"
"Then why are they called a peanut?"
"Probably because no one would want to eat something called a pea-legume" Hutch deadpanned.
"No one but you, Blintz!" Starsky grinned.
Hutch smiled back at him.
"Sounds like you two ladies are having a really swell time" Roy said sarcastically. "Just like a couple of little girls on a sleep-over. You better get your rest. You'll need to ready to work tomorrow." He smiled evilly at them; he then called out "Randal!"
"Yeah Roy?"
"No ice for these two"
TBC
Roy paused for a moment and looked at his prisoners. Once more, he felt something in the air, and noticed that the two men were looking at each other again. A volume of information that he could not understand flowed between the men. There was a... connection of some sort between the two, something honest and good. It made Roy want to break something.
Roy then applied his billy club with the diligence and easy of someone who takes pride in their handy work. He whacked Hutch/Jones across his right shin with the club, in payback for the kick Starsky had given him. He reveled in the cry of pain he elicited from Hutch. He stood there for a moment, soaking it in.
Pain rocketed through Hutch. He hoped his leg wasn't broken. He clenched his teeth and rode the wave of pain to its peak and slid down the other side of it to the dull, throbbing ache that now resided in his leg.
Starsky couldn't take it any longer "Stop it Roy! Dammit! What'sa matter with ya anyway? Can't ya take on someone who ain't handcuffed and shackled? Huh?! Afraid to fight someone on an even playin' field? C'mon, let me go! I'll take ya on with both hands behind my back!"
Starsky was growing more frantic with each passing second as he tugged at his cuffed hands in a vain attempt to free himself; to help his friend, to stop the pain, to do something. He kept up his useless struggle even when Roy turned back towards him.
Smack, twist, release, lift, Roy eyed Starsky/Harold and merely smiled at him as he cracked the club against Starsky's ribcage. He stopped for a moment, contemplating his next move. Smack, twist, release, lift
Starsky gasped with pain. His ribs ached and burned. He closed his eyes and panted through the worst of it.
Roy mentally tallied up the score. Yes, all grievances were paid in full, for now.
Roy knew he had to prepare for his return to Boot Camp, there were just a few finishing touches left to make everything perfect. He put his club back on his belt loop and turned to Hutch and made a fist with his right hand and swung at Hutch's face.
Hutch instinctively moved his head out of the way and there was a dull metallic bang as Roy's knuckles hit the van's reinforced interior.
"SON OF A BITCH!" Roy bellowed in pain. He sucked on his injured knuckles and favored Hutch with a dirty look.
Hutch felt his stomach knot up, he knew what was coming 'I'm sorry Starsk' he said with his eyes to his friend. He watched as Starsky gave him a barely perceptible nod. Hutch closed his eyes. He couldn't bear to watch Starsky get hit on his account.
Starsky merely held his head up and took the blow. He wanted to make a smartass retort to Roy but refrained to keep Roy from hitting Hutch in retaliation. Not that it made much of a difference; Roy turned around and slapped Hutch across the face anyway.
"That should do it for now" Roy nodded. He sat down next to Starsky on the hard metal bench and put his arm around Starsky like they were old chums and gave him a one-armed hug. "Whew, I don't know about you two, but I'm tired."
Starsky curled his lip is distaste at Roy "Git away from me" Starsky leaned away from Roy as far as his bound hands would let him.
Roy removed his arm from Starsky's shoulders then took his club off its ring and whacked himself in the face with it – hard. Blood ran from his now split lip. He let it flow and made no attempt to stop it. It dribbled down the front of his uniform.
The duo stared at Roy in stunned and disgusted amazement. They exchanged a 'What-the-fuck?' look. They thought they had seen everything. But Roy had just raised the bar. They watched as Roy suddenly tensed up and glared in turn at the two detectives.
They were doing 'it' again, whatever it was. Roy was determined to find out what it was and make them stop. But that could wait while, for now he had other business to attend to.
"Now, I'm going to tell you what your new full names are and what you are in for. If asked, you will tell them exactly what I will be telling you. And remember whoever disobeys, the other one pays. Got it?"
They reluctantly nodded.
Roy then gave them the information. And they recited out loud what they were told.
"Now, remember the rules boys, you disobey, the other one pays" He exited the van "We'll be at Boot Camp in twenty minutes" he then blew them a kiss as he slid the door shut.
They heard him open the driver's door and then they were moving again.
"Hey Hutch"
"What?"
"I don't have to go any more"
"Me neither"
Needing comfort after their harrowing experience, they stretched their legs out and touched the only way they could, with their shackled legs.
"How's the leg, Hutch?"
"I don't think its broken, hurts though. How're the ribs?"
"They just need a little barbeque sauce" Starsky smirked through the pain, trying not to laugh at his own silly joke; it would just aggravate the pain that had taken up residence in his ribs. "Ya got any bright ideas, Blintz?" He closed his eyes briefly 'Please have some ideas'
"Aside from avoiding pissing Mr. Psychotic off? None whatsoever"
"Hey, Hutch"
"Yeah?"
"I'm hungry"
"Ha! What else it new?" Hutch snorted, but it sounded forced to Starsky.
xxxxxxxxxx
The van pulled to a halt once more, but this time they heard a flurry of activity and several different voices. The van door opened once more and they noticed a hot dry air as it blew into the van. They also got a glimpse on the prison compound, what little they saw didn't look any different then the one located just outside of Bay City.
"Welcome to Boot Camp!" A cheery voice called out and a man in a guard uniform and mirror sun glasses poked his head in the door "I'm Will, I'll be your tour guide!" He smiled at the pair.
They heard guffaws of others from somewhere in the background "Hey Will, that gets funnier every time you tell it!" someone shouted. Then they heard "Whoa! What the hell happened to your face Roy?!"
"Silly me" Roy pointed to Starsky and Hutch "they told me that they had to take a leak, so I let them out and, well, they jumped me and tried to escape. One of them got me pretty good in the face... Well, as you can see, I got my licks in on them"
"Jesus Christ, Roy! How many times have I told you that you can't coddle the prisoners? You can't give them an inch! You're just too nice of a guy, ya know? I don't think you're really cut out for this kind of work." Officer Will Gardner carped.
"Yeah, you might be right" Roy shook his head apologetically "but, I got bills to pay, I just bought that new truck... well you know how it goes".
"Yeah, yeah, tell me about it. Well, let's get these two processed and you can tell us all about your little adventure"
"Okay, hey, they never did get to take a leak, and it's been hours, and we should probably let them go..." Roy trailed off.
"There you go again, Roy" Will clapped Roy on the shoulder "being too nice again. Why don't you head over to the infirmary and get checked out?"
"You sure you'll be okay?" Roy was the very picture of concern.
"No problem! I got plenty of help here, go on now!" The one called Will waved Roy off.
Starsky and Hutch exchanged a look of incredulity. God help them if Roy was the 'nice' one of the guards.
They went through the very humiliating process of being stripped searched and they were finally then given leave use the toilet, deloused and then allowed to use the showers. The whole time they were watched. It made their flesh crawl but there were no other options.
They were then issued new prison uniforms; blue jeans and a light blue denim shirt with their inmate number sewn across the left side of the chest. They were then lead to a cell. They requested to go to the infirmary to have their injuries looked at and were told that the nurse had just departed for the day.
Just outside the cell, they were released from the handcuffs. Then, unceremoniously, they were shoved in. Solid concrete wall surrounded them on three sides. The cell itself was very small. The attending guards then departed, leaving the two alone. There were no other inmates in any of the other four cells in this area.
Starsky looked about "Good thing neither of us is claustrophobic, this room is so small, we'll have ta go outside to change our minds" He sat down on the edge of the lower bunk bed, gingerly holding onto his ribs as he did so. He put his head in his hands and released a gusty sigh.
Hutch sat down beside his friend. He was exhausted. The drug induced sleep that had been forced on Starsky and himself had not been the kind of restful sleep that they had needed. He leaned his back against the wall and sighed. He hoped that they would have some time to rest before anything else happened. But first he'd have to have a look at Starsky's ribs.
"C'mon Starsk, let me have a look at your ribs" Hutch rested his hand gently on the back of Starsky's neck.
"Yes, mom" He grinned at Hutch. He opened his shirt and Hutch hissed in sympathy at the large bruises that the club had caused.
"That crazy... ya think any of 'em are broken?" Hutch gently moved his fingers over the slanted bruises that clearly outlined where the club had struck.
"Ow! Careful! No, just really sore"
"They should be wrapped, to protect 'em" Hutch cast about and his eyes settled on the sheet from the bed above them. Without hesitation, he pulled it down and carefully ripped along the edge giving it about a four inch width. He then had Starsky exhale as forcefully as he could and Hutch carefully wrapped the makeshift bandage around Starsky's ribs.
"Better?" He said softly as he met his friend's dark blue eyes.
"Yes, mom" Starsky grinned at him.
Hutch's eyes then drifted to the new bruise on Starsky's cheek, just below his left eye. "Starsk, I'm really sorry about you getting hit on my account, I shouldn't have flinched" He reached out and gently touched it for a moment.
Starsky sighed "Hutch, forget about it, I already have. Roy is nuts. You are not responsible for his actions."
"Still-"
"Drop it, okay? Now, let me have a look at your leg. I noticed you can barely put any weight on it."
Hutch sat down and eased his pant leg up to expose the damaged shin.
"Wow! Bet that smarts!" The shin in question was very swollen and quite red. Starsky didn't think that there was much of anything he could do for it. He didn't have any ice to reduce the swelling and nothing to splint it with.
Starsky then got the feeling that they were being watched. He flicked a look at Hutch, and they turned to look through the bars at the new comer.
Just outside of the cell was a smallish guard. The man was somewhere in his forties, his shoulders were stooped and his graying hair was greasy. "Hi! I'm Officer Randall Watters" he indicated towards Hutch's exposed leg "Don't let me stop you, I like to watch" He chuckled. He looked disappointed and stopped when the pair simply stared at him.
Starsky rolled his eyes at Hutch and shook his head. He turned his attention back to Randall "Could ya get some ice for my friend's leg? Bandages, splint and maybe some aspirin?"
"You wanna hear a joke?"
"Not unless you can get us some of those medical supplies"
The man continued as though Starsky had said yes "It's so hot in Arizona that when a dog chases a cat, they both walk!" He laughed.
The pair simply stared at him.
Randal tried again "It's so hot in Arizona that both taps give hot water"
Hutch looked at Starsky "Do you think he's here to torture us?"
"Yep, and its working"
"It's so hot in Arizona-"
"Uh, Randal, could you get some medical supplies?"
"Nope, infirmary's closed until tomorrow. It's so hot in Arizona that your car overheats before you drive it!" He grinned at the pair.
"How 'bout some ice? Could you please get us some ice?" Hutch tried to keep his tone pleasant. It might be worth listening to a few more dumb jokes if they could get some ice. Then again, maybe his leg didn't hurt that bad...
"Sure, I can do that! I'll be right back!" Officer Randal left.
Starsky shook his head "This place has more nuts than a peanut plant"
"Starsk, I hate to tell you this but the peanut isn't a nut. It's a legume."
"What's a legume?"
"A bean"
"You're kiddin'?"
"Nope"
"Then why are they called a peanut?"
"Probably because no one would want to eat something called a pea-legume" Hutch deadpanned.
"No one but you, Blintz!" Starsky grinned.
Hutch smiled back at him.
"Sounds like you two ladies are having a really swell time" Roy said sarcastically. "Just like a couple of little girls on a sleep-over. You better get your rest. You'll need to ready to work tomorrow." He smiled evilly at them; he then called out "Randal!"
"Yeah Roy?"
"No ice for these two"
TBC