It was 0600 and the two men faced each other in the training hall. Both were dressed in the training clothes of black workout pants and white t-shirts. There was no one else in the hall; Skipper made sure of that. He didn't want anyone distracting them. Rico was grateful. While he loved hand-to-hand, he didn't like to hear the not-so-quiet whispers of "psycho-freak" from the observers.
The two went into fight mode and slowly began circling each other. If there had been anyone watching, they wouldn't have known who moved first. But before Rico knew it, he was flat on his back. Stunned, he looked at the smaller man standing above him. No one had ever dropped him to the mat. He had apparently underestimated the captain. Well, he wasn't going to hold back now.
A half hour later, both men stood panting and wiping sweat from their faces. They lost track of how many bouts they had. Rico managed to take down Skipper a few times, but Skipper won the most bouts. Rico was confounded. That little man was a lot stronger then he looked.
"Very good, Rico. I see that I picked a good man. If you are still willing to join my unit, I'll send you the location of your new quarters." Rico nodded his agreement, still puzzling over this man. "You look like you have something on your mind, soldier. Mind telling me what?"
Rico's eyes widened momentarily before narrowing. What this some kind of joke. The man knew he couldn't talk well. Was he making fun of him? Well, he wasn't going to play that game. Rico crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head.
Skipper regarded him. If he was to understand Rico, he needed him to talk. "That's an order, soldier. Tell me what's on your mind."
Rico glared at him, but felt compelled to tell him. In a stream of sounds and much arm movement, he told the captain how he was baffled that he was defeated by a man much smaller than himself. No one had ever defeated him before and yet this man had. He just couldn't understand it. Then he stopped talking and his arms dropped to his side. When the Skipper continued to look at him, Rico inwardly sighed and waited for the inevitable "huh?"
Skipper smiled and said, "well it was about time someone defeated you, to show you that you could be defeated. There are people out there tougher than the boys you fight here." He wagged a finger at Rico. "And never underestimate a man just because he's smaller than you."
Rico was stunned. "You un'stan' me?"
"Naturally," Skipper said, smiling confidently. They began walking back to the locker room. "I simply listened to the sounds you made and watched your lip movements. That gave me the gist of what you were saying."
Rico was silent while they changed. No one had ever bothered trying to understand him. Even when he talked slowly and carefully, people couldn't seem to understand what he was saying. But this man understood what he said. He walked with him out of the locker room and down the deserted hall. 'But', he thought, 'it could have just been a good guess. After all, we had just fought, so he could have simply figured that's what I was talking about.' Rico decided to test Skipper. He cleared his throat and said a couple more sentences.
"Hmm. I've never tried rice pudding, but I suppose there's nothing wrong with people liking it. I agree that the Die Hard movies are great. All that action!" Rico stopped and stared at the captain. Skipper smiled, knowing that Rico was testing him. "Now, that's all for this morning. Someone will come and take you to the new quarters by 1100, so be ready to move immediately. I'll see you this evening."
Unconsciously, Rico began to follow him. Skipper looked over his shoulder and small smile playing on his lips. "You're dismissed, soldier. Go pack." He continued without looking back again.
Startled, Rico saluted, even though he knew the captain couldn't see it. But, as if he knew, Skipper saluted back while continuing to walk away.
Rico sat on his bed, humming softly. At his feet was the bag that held everything he owned. In his hand was his Ms. Perky doll. Brushing her hair always helped to calm him. Some part of his brain told him that she's wasn't a real person, but that didn't seem to matter. She didn't laugh at him. She wasn't afraid of him. She understood him. She was the only one who understood him. Till now.
That captain was a strange man. He wanted Rico to join his unit, and was going to let him do kabooms. He actually understood what Rico said. He was able to beat Rico in hand-to-hand. He wasn't going to try to take dollie away. Well, he said he wasn't going to. It seemed too good to be true. Maybe it was. Maybe it was some kind of joke.
Something digging into his hand brought him back from his thoughts. He looked down to see that he was squeezing Ms. Perky way too tight. He relaxed his grip and murmured, "sorry, baby."
He jumped when there was a knock on the door. He gave Ms. Perky a quick kiss before putting her in the bag. The door opened to a man who looked around his age. The man was a few inches taller than Rico. His light brown hair was just within regulation length and combed back. His eyes reminded Rico of the ocean. "Are you Rico," he asked, looking between his tablet and Rico. When Rico nodded, he put the tablet in his messenger bag and continued, "good! Skipper wanted me to bring you to our HQ."