Small Promise; Chapter 6: Bootcamp Love Letter
Elena sat on the porch and watched the mailman drive up to the driveway gate of her grandparents estate and drop something into the built in slot. She figured it was bills, or some club offering something fake for something that didn't exist. She waited with her hands in the pockets of her light blue jacket until the mail carrier was out of site, and she slowly made her walk down the sloping front path. She did this every morning before school. She would bring the morning paper in, get the mail, feed the cat and walk to school. Quite boring, but she was used to it.
When she looked into the box, she was surprised to see just a small, creme colored,
severely battered envelope, with her name, Elena, the house number, and the city. There was no return address on the front, but that didn't damper her sudden excitement. She held it for a minute, then smiled softly, in that same longing, sad way she tends to look at everything she can't have, as she pulled the envelope out of the mailbox and looked over the names. It was for her, and she wanted to read whatever may rest inside. She usually didn't get mail, her grandfather wouldn't allow it. "What do you think you are doing," she thought to herself, as she found herself folding the envelope and tucking it into the back pocket of her pants. She bit her lip and giggled, he would never know.
Elena withdrew the newspaper and skipped back up the path leading to the porch. She knew this was going to be a good day. She lay the newspaper on the coffee table inside and measured out a cup of dry food and water for the cat. She grabbed her backpack from under the table and slipped it on, and was almost out the door when her grandfather stopped her.
"Wasn't there any mail today," he asked her, and she sheepishly smiled. "Nope, he just the paper today," she said, and he walked away, grumbling about something. "Bye?" She offered but he was already off in another room.
It didn't take Elena long to walk to school, only ten minutes, but she liked to leave early; she liked to spend the least amount of time in that spooky old house, and her grandparents never actually took her to school, so they couldn't argue with time. She liked to spend her mornings at the beach. She would usually walk there, all of about fifteen minutes away, and call for a ride to school from a friend.
She happened to get there just a bit faster this morning, and nervously retrieved the envelope, so excited but so suspenseful at the same time. She sat down on a large piece of driftwood and gently opened the corner, careful not to rip it. Her hands were shaking as she unfolded the three pieces of paper, and she started looking over the sloppy handwriting of some unknown writer.
"Dear Elena of Costa," it began, and she smiled as she read on,
"It's been awhile since we met, and I don't know if you even remember me, but I have nobody else to write to, and I think of you constantly, so I thought I'd write and tell you what's been going on with me lately.
I went to Midgar, like I planned, and applied for that job, and they sent me off to... here. We arrived here, at Fort Condor, three days ago at sundown. It has to be the most rundown place I'd ever seen. There were so many other kids our age, I was shocked. Some of them looked excited, some of them looked sad, but most of them looked just as plain out confused as me. Soon after I had stepped out of the helicopter we came in and pulled my bag out, I realized that the others I had been traveling with had left me.
I wandered around for a good hour or so, being pushed around by the older kids like a lost dog, searching for a good place to lie. I can't even describe some of the things that were said to me over the last three days. Seems allot of folks around here don't like Gongagans, though I'm not sure why, and it definitely isn't right. It's the person, not the place, you know? Maybe it's just me though.
Anyway, I eventually found the front desk. It was more of a dilapidated tent with a propped up three legged table than anything else, but I'm not one to judge. Maybe it's the only thing whoever runs this place could afford. Or maybe the guy's just a cheap ass like my dad was. I guess it's not my place to say. But, I did find my way, never the less, and I had to sign all this paperwork and stuff. It was boring, I didn't even read any of it. Something along the lines of "You're already here, so we own your ass and any activity your ass may participate in, and if your ass gets in trouble, we don't know you, screw off, have a nice day." Right. So, I figure, whatever job that may be waiting for me after this so called "training exercise" has to be worth it. I still don't understand though, why I should have to go through... what seems to be a boot camp, just to work as a janitor. Am I going to have to avoid grenades while mopping the hallway? What kind of a place have I gotten myself into? I guess that doesn't matter anymore, now I'm in it for the ride, wherever it may lead.
Well, after I had signed all that stuff I was assigned to a cabin, 247 B. I was surprised when I found it and went in to toss my shit on my bunk. The lady at the desk hadn't told me I'd be rooming with a bunch of kids. This isn't any problem for me, I don't have anything against younger kids, I just should have known. One of the guys I came with, Rufus... something or other..., was sitting on the top bunk in the corner, eating something, so that was definitely relieving for me to know someone there, even if I had just met him earlier.
The other two were a bit weird. For starters, the one on the opposite bunk, on the top, I guess his name is Zack. Black hair, green eyes, about a year younger than me, I think. He's from Gongaga too, but I don't know him. He likes to take things apart, like old radios and things he finds laying around, and make new stuff with the chipboards and parts. I got in a fight with him the first night, I called him a pansy because he had flowers and glittery pink shit around his bed. He says it's all from his girlfriend in Midgar, so whatever.
The other kid that takes the bunk below him, his name is Cloud... Yeah, I know. What a messed up kid he must be. I wonder if his parents were drunk when they named him? He's all right though. He's about two years or more younger, or at least he acts like it. The kid's got spunk, I'll say that. Way too much energy. He's kinda funny, I don't know what it is about him. He's the average cute kid, I guess. Blonde hair, blue eyes, short for his age, kinda chubby. He keeps this puke orange colored hair thing around his ankle, says it's from his girlfriend back home. He couldn't say where home was when I asked, but oh well.
The Cloud kid and me are actually doing allot of shit together, amazingly. All this teaming up bullflop we're forced to do. Rufus hasn't said anything to me since we got here, but I don't let it bother me. I think he's kinda snotty, so whatever. I think he's teaming up with that Zack-ass just to be the first to be done with it all. It seems allot of the adults favor him for some reason, but I can't see what's so special about him. Cloud basically kisses Zack's ass whenever he asks for anything or complains, and it pisses me off. The kid's smart, but he's so dumb at the same time, I hate people that waste their potential like that. Sorry, I'd erase that, but I'm using pen. Anyway.
The other guys I came with, they're a bit older. I think the one guy is still here, like me, but the older one is definitely a counselor or something. The older one, Tseng, hasn't said anything to me, but I don't care. He's probably just busy or something. The other one, his name's Rude, I guess. That's what he wants to be called, anyway. He says he sneaks out at night and goes over to the girl's side of the camp, to watch them undress. He's actually pretty cool though, he sneaked me some smokes last night, and a beer. Yeah, I started smoking, I guess. It's just something I do, for fun or whatever. It's kinda weird, that he hangs out with me. I've never had any friends before, so I'm not sure what to think. He's my night friend, and Cloud's my daytime friend. And if I had said that to anyone else, I'd probably get my ass kicked. Again.
So, I'm not sure if there's really anything else to say about that, but I guess I could tell you what I did today. I got woken up at two in the morning to do push-ups, and other needless physical work. I spent a good part of the morning running through the woods, in my boxers, being chased by a pack of Guard Hounds, and a good part of the day shaving potatoes with shortie, because we lost. I'm fast, damn can I run, but as a team we weren't good enough for them. The hottest part of the afternoon was spent shoveling Chocobo manure. I don't know why. I guess I'm the only one that didn't complain about it or something. I'm getting ready to sneak out, Rude should be here any minute. We're going to have fun, he's the only part of this that's any fun. I hate it here. He's been here a long time, so I wonder how long I'm going to be here, if I'm going to have to stay here and stuff. But, he gets to leave too, and that confuses me. I mean, LEAVE. As in, get in the helicopter and take off, see ya in a few hours, or days, or whatever. There's some other stuff too, but I won't get into it. Mostly because I don't have the answers, and I'm too afraid to ask. Everything has just happened so fast, I'm not sure what to think about allot of it.
...Well, my friend's here now, so I'm going to end this now. I hope to hear from you, if you want to and stuff. You don't have to if you don't want to. But, well, thank you for listening.
-Reno xxmonth, xxday, xxxxyear"
Elena held the letter to her chest for a minute, almost not believing someone had taken the time to write to her. "Reno," she thought. "Which one was he?" She couldn't remember, there were so many of them. So many were just a passing glance, or one night of fun, but this one came back for some reason. "Hm." She shrugged it off and got up to leave. She crumpled and tossed the letter and envelope in the garbage can near the road as she left, and wondered what she was going to get for breakfast.