Chapter 6:
"Alright! Hit the showers! Now!", The training officer blew his whistle a second time, and the sound rang out through the gymnasium.
Rick stood up, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, feeling as if his lungs were on fire, but he still marched towards the changing rooms.
"Feel like I'm gonna throw up", Shane muttered under his breath.
"Not the only one", Rick breathed back, barely moving his lips.
It was his fourth day at the academy, and he had decided after the first day that he had stepped into hell. The rules and punishments were unlike anything he had ever faced, and it was a rude awakening for someone such as himself, as well as Shane. He was still coming to grips with the fact that this would be his life for the next eight months, and despite the mental and physical strain it was already putting on him, he was determined to get through it.
He refused to show any sign of weakness, even when he felt as if his heart was going to explode in his chest. He only opened his mouth when he was spoken to, or to breath, otherwise he said nothing, and he thought of nothing but the task at hand. He knew Shane was following the same route as he was, as neither wanted to have to do an extra set of laps or push ups.
However, It was more than just about avoiding punishments to Rick. Michonne's parting words had imbedded in his brain, and it came as such a shock to him to hear her talk that way. He always knew he was a pain, and he would be the first to admit that his attitude stinks, but to hear her repeat a message that he had grown accustomed to hearing from everyone else, was a slap in the face. He decided It was time for him to prove everyone wrong.
"I think I realised somethan'. This ain't no academy at all, they're just trying to kill us"
Rick shook his head at Shane as he pulled off his sweatshirt, "Can't argue with that"
"Didn't your brother go through this T?", Shane tapped the teen on the other side of him.
"He did", T-dog nodded, throwing a towel over his shoulder, "He said the first week is heaven compared to the rest. Every week they take it up a notch, so you don't get used to it"
"You heard that? I told you, it's hell"
Rick sighed, "We can't back out now, boys"
"Damn right we can't, they'd probably shoot us as soon as we hit the fence"
The other males around them snickered at Shane's joke, knowing to keep their voices down. They were beginning to form a bond through their suffering, and Rick took some comfort from knowing he wasn't the only one that was completely unfit. He had thrown his last pack of cigarettes away before leaving his mother's home, and he barely got a chance to crave his old habit, or notice any withdrawal symptoms.
He stood underneath the shower and allowed the water to pour over him as he immersed himself in his thoughts. It was the only time of the day that he was allowed to wander to all corners of his mind, as when he was in bed, exhaustion sent him straight to sleep.
Michonne was the first person his brain would focus on. He'd try to conjure up an image of her smiling, but it wouldn't last long, as he'd soon remember her looking at him with tears in her eyes, angry and yelling. A combination of guilt and shame would rip through him, and he'd shake his head as if he could rid himself of the memory in such a way. He only allowed himself a small window of time to think about her, and once the time was up, he blocked himself from that luxury.
Once he had finished showering, and dressed in a clean sweat suit, he made his way to the recreation room to make a quick call to his mother, as he hadn't spoken to her at all since he left.
The room wasn't that busy, with a few people playing pool, and others watching TV. Rick preferred to unwind in his dorm room, and had only visited the area once since his arrival.
A dark haired girl had just stepped away from the phone as he approached it, "It's got a timer. You only get sixty minutes a month… and ten minutes at a time so… don't waste them. Just slide your ID badge in there"
He slowly nodded as he followed the direction she pointed in, "Thanks…"
"It's Donna. And no problem"
He leaned against the wall after slipping his badge in the slot above the phone and dialling his mother's number.
"Hello?", She answered after only two rings.
"Hey mom"
"Finally Rick! Why haven't you called?"
He sighed, "Too tired to"
"I can imagine. How is it? Are you getting on well?"
"Good and yes. It's fine, just a lot of work is all"
"I'm so glad to hear that…", She cleared her throat, "So I spoke to Michonne. She told me what happened"
Rick released a small groan as he ran his hand over his mouth, "Yeah? Great".
"You didn't want to end thangs more amicably with her? Poor girl came over here and got her stuff out, like she weren't welcome here anymore or somethan'."
Rick frowned, his hold on the phone tightening, "She moved out?"
"Of course she did"
He pinched his nose bridge with his thumb and index finger, "She didn't have to do that. I never said anythan' about that, at all"
"Well, obviously she didn't see it that way, as she's gone now. I wish the two of you would have considered how-"
"Is she back at her mom's?", He didn't mean to interrupt his mother, but he needed to know.
"No, she's staying at Patsy's house with Paula"
He clenched his jaw as his eyes roamed the room around him, "Alright."
"I hope you talk to her. You can't just throw away a friendship like that, especially like that-"
"Mom, I don't get that long on the phone, so I was just calling to see how you're doing", He hurried.
"Oh, right. Well I'm all fine over here, and I'm glad to hear from you"
"I'll probably be back in the afternoon on Saturday"
"Alright then, I should be home"
"Alright, see you then. Bye"
"Bye, son. Love you"
He paused for the shortest moment, "Love you too. Bye"
He stared at the phone after he hung up, surprised by his mother's little declaration. He couldn't remember the last time she had told him she loved him, nor could he recall the last time he said it to her. He figured it must have been when he was a young boy. It was strange to say the least, but he still picked up the phone again and dialled another number.
"Who's that?", Daryl rasped.
"It's me. What's going on?"
"Nothan' man, why'd it take so long for you to call? And Shane?"
"Because there busting our asses up here. Hey, how's your neck?"
"It's fine, I get the stitches taken out next week"
"Good".
"Your cars getting patched up, you can probably get it by the weekend"
"Yeah? Thanks for that"
"No problem"
"How's Sasha doing? She didn't get in trouble did she?"
"Nah, she's alright. Getting ready for college and all that"
"Yeah? How are you feeling about that?"
Daryl snorted, "She ain't leaving the country, she's only going about an hour up the road"
Rick smirked, though his friends answer was a profound one to him, "Yeah, guess you're right"
"Ay, when y'all coming back?"
"We can leave tomorrow night, so if they don't kill us in the day then we'll head back"
"Yeah, you better. Jenny's having her party tomorrow night, remember?"
"Oh yeah… alright. I'll talk to Shane. I'll give you a call before we leave"
"Alright. See ya'"
"Bye"
…
"What the hell is this man? They can't call it meatloaf? It looks like somethan' that came out of one them garbage disposals"
Rick snickered at T-dog's reference as he stabbed at his food, "You better eat it. We won't eat again for another five hours".
"I know, man. You know by the time were done, we will have done nearly fifteen hundred hours of physical training? I don't even think I've done that much in my entire life!"
"I know I haven't done that much. I used to skip gym"
T-dog chuckled at him as he finally began tucking into his tray, "There's Shane and Oscar"
Rick glanced up, and sure enough his best friend and a fellow student were heading towards their table, both looking as exhausted as he felt, "Took y'all long enough"
"Some idiot decided that he'd talk back to McCoy, got us all doing an extra ten laps around the green", Shane almost barked, dropping down in his seat.
"I get that whole, 'Work together as a team' thing, but if someone talks back then that shouldn't have anything to do with the rest of us", Oscar scowled at his food, the same way T-dog did, "If they asked me to kick his ass, I happily would have. I think that's a fair punishment"
They all sniggered as they began to pay some attention their meals. Rick was trying his best to conserve his energy by focusing on eating, rather than talking. He figured he needed every last morsel of strength to get him through the rest of the day.
"I can't wait to sleep all weekend. That's all I want to do", Oscar sighed at the thought.
"We're meant to be hitting up a party later on", Shane gave Rick a knowing look.
"You think you'll be able to go to a party after today?", T-dog looked at them with disbelief.
"I'm not promising anythan', Shane", Rick warned.
"What's an hour or two?", His friend urged, "We just go and check it out. That's all"
Rick scoffed, "He said that to me before, when we had just got back from another party, and we both fell asleep in some girl's bathtub. Her mom woke us up the next morning, screaming her head off"
Oscar and T-dog chortled at them, while Shane grinned that memory, "It was a good night though?"
"Sure-"
"Hey guys!"
Rick rolled his eyes to the other side of the table when he noticed the two girls taking a seat next to Oscar and himself, one of them being the girl he knew as Donna. He would have thought of it as innocent, if Donna hadn't sent him a shy smile, which caused him to inwardly groan.
"What's up?", She asked, taking her bottle of water off her tray, "I saw you on the track earlier? You're pretty good"
He shook his head as he began to move his food around with his fork, "Not at all. I'm terrible"
"No way! You're better than me at least. I'm like, slowest out of all the girls"
He flashed a ghost of a smile as he peaked at Shane, hoping his friend would take the signal to take over the conversation, but all three of the males around him had already immersed themselves in conversation with the other girl, "So, uh, you're not from Kings County, right?"
"No. I live in Atlanta actually. I chose this police academy because I heard it was so strict and that's what I wanted"
"Seems like everyone got that memo but me"
She chortled at his quip, "You're doing good… what made you join?"
"It leads to the kind of career path that I need... You?"
"My mom's an officer… I've always admired her for it"
He slowed nodded, "Yeah? Nice."
"So what are you doing later? I haven't seen you in the rec room much?"
"Uh, nah, I don't really hang out there… and I'm still pretty undecided about later, but I know I'm definitely going back to town… what about you?"
"We're gonna stay in and study. I think I did horrible on that traffic law exam so… need to brush up on our reading"
"Yeah? Well, we'll probably need to start doing that soon"
"I can help you if you'd like? I got all the books… saves you having to get a book from the library or something…"
Rick resisted the urge to shift uncomfortably, "You don't have to do that"
"I don't mind. I left my social life in the city so it's not like I'm busy or anything…"
He couldn't see a way to turn down the offer without offending her, "Uh, sure… but how about I get back to you on a day? Cause I'm still trying to get used to… all this"
"Oh yeah, I get it. That's fine, just drop by my room some time or something… I'm in dorm three-one-eight… in the Tristan building"
"Alright, I will…", He lied, wishing he had eaten his lunch quicker.
…
"I think you need this. I get that you're pretty beat up at the moment, and I'm not saying you need to pay any attention to a bunch of girls… I just think a change of scenery might give you a little boost…"
Rick tipped his head to look at Shane, "A boost?"
Shane divided his attentions between Rick and the road, "Yeah, a boost. A mood boost. You can't be sitting around moping when you ain't tackling the gym like a mad man… Especially if you're the one that initiated the break up…"
He cringed at his friend's words, "Yeah. Well she ended it"
"Can you blame her? If I was her I would have punched you square in the nose… and kicked you in your ball sack. Right in the middle of both your nuts. You know that line that we all have? Going right down the middle of our nuts? I would have aimed for that"
Rick hated that he laughed at Shane's explanation, "Fuck you, man"
"You wanna know how I found out that area is extra sensitive? Paula was-"
"Ugh! Don't tell me! I don't wanna know!", Rick recoiled in horror.
"You need to know this! I doubt you'll be getting any ass for a while so you have to live through me!-"
"I don't want to!-"
"Well, actually, Donna looks like she might be trying to give you some", Shane cackled evilly, "How much do you wanna bet she's a freak? How much?"
"I don't care. I don't want to know. I'm not really focusing on getting any 'ass' right now"
Shane's eyebrows sprung up, "See. We can't even joke about it. That tells me that you're depressed, so call her or somethan'-"
"I'm not calling her"
"Why the hell not? 'Chonne ain't rude or anythan', I doubt she'll cuss you out-"
"She basically did when we last spoke"
"What? You didn't tell me that? What did she say? Tell me. Tell me now"
"She called me a jerk and told me to fuck off or somethan'", Rick briefed.
Shane began to snicker, "I always knew I liked her… but that's still pretty tame-"
"Not for her it's not. I could probably count on one hand how many times I've heard her swear-"
"Remember that girl that cussed you out that one time for not calling her? She called you every name in the book. Even I hadn't heard some of the thangs she said-"
"Oh yeah", He cringed at the memory.
"See? You've suffered worse, so you can give her a call"
"Nah. I know she doesn't want to talk to me-"
"How? How'd you know that? That's what girls like! They like to know that you'd still call and check on them after everythan'! It shows them that you still care, even if you're an asshole. And 'Chonne's always known you're an asshole, but she was still there."
Rick ran his hands over his face as he groaned, "Change the subject. I hear what you're saying, but just change the subject. Please?"
"Fine. Did you call Daryl?"
"I did. He said he and Glenn are gonna be at his house"
"Alright. I wanna go home and change first-"
"I'm gonna have to borrow a shirt or somethan'... I told my mom I'd be back tomorrow"
"Yeah? So wait, I know you said change the subject but I got a question, is she still living at your moms?"
Rick side eyed his friend, "No. She's staying with Paula"
Shane squinted at the windshield, "You think she's going to Jenny's party? I know Paula was all about it when I told her?"
He pursed his lips as he thought about it, "I don't think so… she knows somethan' happened with me and Jenny, so I doubt she'd wanna go-"
"Y'all ain't together anymore though. That might change how she sees thangs now"
Rick shifted uncomfortably, hating how his friend's words made him feel, "Maybe…"
"Man. We can't even light anythan' up anymore", Shane almost pouted as realisation seeped in, "There's so many thangs that we didn't get to blow up"
"That's all behind us. We have to be law abiding citizens now, if we wanna up hold it", He sighed, peering out the passenger window.
Shane looked at him as if he spoke Latin, "What the- Who the hell are you?"
Rick rolled his head against the headrest to look at him, "What? It's true"
His friend shook his head with disbelief, "I don't know what's going on here. I really don't."
"We should aim to get back to the academy by seven on Sunday. We got drills on Monday morning and I do not wanna screw that up", Rick advised as he took out his phone.
Shane glanced at him again, still shaking his head, "Alright. That's fine. We'll do that then"
Rick looked at his friend strangely for a moment, but shrugging it off. He wasn't going to let the fact that they were back in town distract him from his goals. He was serious about wanting to do well, and he imagined it would come as shock to many, not just Shane.