“Sit down, Recruit,” I order her.
She does as I ask, looking like she’s being held hostage by some terrorist, which in all honesty may not be too far off considering how mad I’m getting every second I’m forcing myself to endure with this immature child.
“Touch me and I will get Mrs. Strauss,” she warns me, trying to sound as confident as possible through her trembling voice.
“Do not threaten me, Recruit.” I say, getting in her face like she flunked her morning inspection. “What in the hell is your deal? What do you have against me? Why are you so hell-bent on being a thorn in my ass?”
“Because you wouldn’t put your thorn in my ass.” She wags her head at me like I’m not her superior.
“Excuse me?”
She turns red, fully realizing how ridiculous she just sounded. But her face is set, like a kid in mid-tantrum. She sticks by what she meant. It all comes out in a flood, “I want to fuck you, you idiot!”
I sneer wordlessly before making sure nobody is standing at the door, eavesdropping on our conversation.
Scarlett drones on.
“I’ve been trying to get you inside of me since I first showed up and you haven’t taken me up on any of my advances. I intentionally fall in the mud so I could take my shirt off and show you my bra, and you just tell me to keep my shirt on and wait until the whole class hits the showers to try to get clean.”
I cannot believe this bullshit. Yet it continues.
“I stop wearing said bra during morning runs so you can get a good look at my tits, and I never catch you staring. In that defensive tactics and body throw demonstration, when you held me up and threw me over, I even tried to grind on you and you asked me to show some proper defensive form. Like, how obvious do I have to be?”
I feel both of my fists want to ball up in anger.
“You’re a student,” I say with gritted teeth, “I’m an instructor. You know the rules. Or you should. We cannot tolerate in any sort of misconduct for numerous reasons.”
“Is one of those reasons the fact that I’m not related to you?” she says, pursing her lips and regaining her malicious confidence.
I scoff, trying to play off her knowledge as nonsense. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“You can pretend all you want, Mr. Clark, but you’ve got a public Facebook. And so does Kayla. And you know what, so does your mommy. And boy, does your mommy love to post pictures of you and you sissy. You should know that, since she tags you in them.”
Just another precaution Kayla and I failed to consider before her enrollment. I’m rarely on that stuff, anyway. Here I thought that Scarlett was a shit student but apparently she’s quite adept at doing some research.
“She’s not my sister,” I inform her. “She’s uh… a family friend.”
“Sure, sure,” she mocks. “You should really check the captions your mom writes on the pictures she posts on Facebook. You can’t lie to someone who knows everything, Zach. You’ll just look foolish. And you certainly do look foolish right now.”
Did she call me Zach? This shithead could be a Bond villain. She really has me bent over a barrel. But what does she want?
Scarlett leans back on the chair she’s sitting on, looking at me inquisitively. “So. Now that Kayla is out of the picture, how about we have a go?”
Frozen in shock, I watch as Scarlett stands up from the desk, turns around, and pulls her sweatpants and underwear down to her knees, revealing a bony pair of legs leading to two gaping, wide-open holes.
“Come on, Mr. Clark. I’ve been a naughty girl, don’t you want to punish me,” she begs in a stupid child-like voice.
I groan in disgust. And start to pace from eagerness to exit this situation.
“Don’t be gross,” I tell her. “And pull your pants up! You little cretin! I’m not going to lay a finger on you today. Or ever. You very efficiently fucked up, the second you got me fired.”
She turns around and hurriedly raises her sweatpants. “Fired? What, you took the fall for Kayla?”
Against my better judgement, I nod slowly. Part of me wants to rub her sad little face in something as real and true as what I have for Kayla, to scare this fool straight with an example of real dignity and real respect.
“You really are an idiot. Whatever. You’re missing out on the tightest pussy you could have ever had,” she dumbly brags as she brushes past me.
I laugh. Something tells me that she brags a bit too much about her pussy for her account to be believable. But I’m already forgetting Scarlett’s even here.
There’s only one person I want to want me. The woman of my dreams. The only person who has ever been so kind as to sacrifice their own dreams for my well-being and happiness. Someone who doesn’t deserve to have their dreams ripped from them.
“So you really don’t want any of this?” Scarlett asks, whirling around to face me. She pulls down the front of her waistband, as if I’ve never seen a woman before. I stand tall, hand on my belt.
“I really don’t,” I reply, bored.
“Whatever. I can get better guys than you.”
“So how ‘bout you try doing it without ruining any more lives? Would you be so kind?”
She rolls her eyes and turns back to the door.
“One more thing, Cadet.”
She freezes but doesn’t look back to me.
“Decide what you’re here for. Badge bunnies and home wreckers get no respect from real cops. The ones who would be watching your back and saving your life—if you don’t fuck them over.”
She pauses for a beat, then pushes the door open, slips through and is gone.
I sigh. Got no idea how that one is still here.
Now that that’s settled, I brace myself to walk right past Strauss’s office and into the Chief’s. A change of plans hatched in my head as Scarlett pathetically offered me her silly body.
I have no use for hearing what Maude has to report to me. She will either tell me I’m fired or tell me I’m not. For this to work for Kayla and me, I need a different kind of discussion than what she has to offer.
Chief Douglas, on the other hand, has a much bigger say in who stays and who doesn’t. Plus he’s absolutely key in helping me figure out how to help Kayla if she ends up getting expelled by Strauss’s ruling.
During my time as an instructor, I’ve managed to uphold good, solid connections with all of my higher-ups, but for the most part I merely kept a professional distance. In the few times we’ve had out of work gatherings, I tolerated or feigned interest in them personally, just to make my life a bit more worry-free.
Because everyone knows who my stepdad was. And everyone knows who the Chief was to my stepdad. I had to maintain an extra degree of caution and distance, so that no one would doubt my merit was self-made.
While I made damn sure I never got special treatment, Chief Douglas has always been a source of support for me. And now I do need something special. Due to his high position, he’s always excruciatingly busy, so I rarely see much of him. God. I hate, loathe and curse to high heaven the position I’ve put myself in, along with Kayla.
But I can’t let my pride fuck up this last chance for us.
I’m still hers. She’s still mine. I know she’s just being strong for us, but this time, I’m helping her.
“Zach!” Chief booms with a growing smile when I poke my head into his office. “What in the holy hell are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be seeing Maude today?”
“Ah, I’d rather spend my time with better company,” I joke as I take a seat in front of him. “How have ya been, Chief?”
His face sits as heavy as a rock.
“Worried,” he pipes abruptly, in a matter-of-fact tone. “I heard about the little mess you’re in. You’re not creeping on the recruits, are you?”
I shake my head, “No, no, no, Chief. The whole thing is nonsense.” Am I losing my shit or did no one tell him it was my Kayla who stands accused?
Chief chuckles
joyfully and slams a giant hand on his desk. “Well, what are you doing here then? Go clear your name, boy!”
“No need. Somebody already did that for me,” I tell him. “The recruit I was accused of being inappropriate with. She gave Maude the low-down on what really happened, but… that’s kind of why I’m here,” I inform him, hearing my voice flatten out, going low and serious.
He sighs. “Well, go ahead and catch me up. What’s the condition?”
I’m half-surprised he hasn’t already deduced everything from tiny clues I can’t see. The man’s practically the Redneck Sherlock Holmes. I think of Ma, still silent, and search his face. No, I see no trace that he’s aware I am fucking the daughter of my stepdad, his oldest and dearest friend.
I will do this carefully.
“The report made to Maude was that the recruit was in distress at the time of the incident. She suffered a bout of depression and as I was the only instructor here overnight on the day in question, it was me she found when looking for help. She told Maude that I only appeared inappropriate because it was after Lights Out, because she came to my dorm and because, in her compromised state, she attempted to seduce me.”
The Chief’s eyes shot up. “Oh, well that’s gonna do it.”
“Exactly,” I continue. My words slow. “It’s very likely that she’s going to be expelled.”
Before Chief can respond with his “well, hell yeah, she will,” I raise my palm to stop him.
“Chief. It’s Kayla.”
His eyes narrow, his heavy face goes cold as ice. Suddenly I’m staring down the mean street dog my stepdad always described in the Chief’s younger days. I start to sweat out of concern for my safety. I’ve had many years to size up the Chief. I’ve sincerely concluded that, bare-handed, this man could rip me in half.
But thoughts of Kayla keep me frosty.
“Chief, understand I can’t allow Kayla to be expelled. I don’t know if you’ve been checking her scores, but she’s at the very top of this class. One of the most promising recruits I’ve ever trained. She is a Thomas, through and through. We cannot allow to have a recruit like her thrown to the curb for a minor fuckup, if you’ll excuse my language,” I explain.
Chief huffs, looking blankly over his desk, eyes widened with labored comprehension. “Zack, this wasn’t supposed to happen. You said you were looking out for her.”
He slams his fist on his desk, this time in frustration. On his office walls, several framed paintings of cowboys on horseback rattle from the impact.
“I know you’re partial to her—hell, we both want nothing but goodness and glory coming to her name. But if she’s truly this troubled….?”
“It’s not that she’s troubled. Chief. I don’t know how to frame this, so I’ll just say it.”
This pricks up his ears like a bloodhound. His jaw juts forward instinctually.
“Kayla and I were in a relationship prior to her enrollment. We’re together.”
“Son, please tell me you’re joking,” he begs, all of the color drained from his face.
I shrug. “That’s just how it is. We were trying to keep it on the down-low but… We didn’t try hard enough. I didn’t try hard enough. I failed her. Myself. And my dad.”
I stare down at my feet to the thick carpet of Chief’s fancy office. There it is. My pride in a puddle on the floor, drained completely out of my person, seeping out of every pore. Gone.
“Christ on a crutch, Zach! So what exactly do you want from me? Because this is a lot.”
He exhales hard, eyes seemingly deep in thought.
“This is a lot of information and I don’t have many options to offer,” he goes on, expression hardening, turning obstinate. With every sentence, his pointer finger taps down on the desk. It is easily as thick as the biggest cigar I’ve ever seen.
“Son, we are tight, yes. Like family, yes. But before all else, we uphold the law. We enforce and obey rules. And if we don’t do that, there must be consequences.”
“What do I need to do to make sure Kayla ends up on the force?” My voice is steely, matching my face. “I’ll do anything required to make that happen.”
The Chief sits as unsettled as I’ve ever seen him. He wants to be pissed but can’t quite bring himself to actually get mad at me. This creates a new tension in the air, where his anger is confused and loose, flying free, looking for a home. I brace myself for whatever comes.
“Anything?” he spits out, unconvinced.
“Anything,” I confirm.
Chief stands up from his desk and turns his back to me. He’s drawing this out on purpose. Dad called him a master at commanding with his personality first, and physical stature second. The mark of a true badass. Now, on top of that, he’s being as dramatic as possible.
But it’s not as if I don’t deserve it. And it’s not as if I can’t take it. A small price for possibly, finally having my dream with Kayla.
Besides, I am still in one piece. So far.
“There’s not a lot I can do for you, Zach. You’ve hidden the truth from all of your higher ups. You’ve acted against protocol. Very basic protocol. Even if Maude doesn’t know the scope of your responsibility for this, I know. Now, at least. And I’m not one to sweep things under the rug,” Chief recites stoically as if lecturing a rookie.
“For starters, Kayla will have to be transferred to another police academy. Somewhere she can finish, and be all fresh, without a scandal hanging over her head like a sword.”
He twists towards me, his massive torso sheathed in a brown blazer, a quarter turn so one ice blue eye meets mine. “You remember San Isabel Academy down the road?” He returns his gaze to the cowboys on the wall, away from me.
He continues, “They run the exact same session times as we do. And we already have a seamless transfer arrangement with them. She could finish out the month there, with no delay in her graduation.”
I can’t believe my ears. “Holy shit, Chief! That’s perfect!”
“Hold on,” he bellows, holding out a palm, pushing my joy away from him. He turns fully towards me, face still stern.
“That’s not all. Zach, you will not be allowed to work here any longer.”
My excitement for Kayla’s transfer overtook me completely. It instantly made me forget that I had yet to be punished. Being fired for improper misconduct with a recruit seems fair given my level of extreme stupidity. What really matters to me is that Kayla will be able to continue working towards her goal of being a police officer.
“I’m sorry, Zach. But you’re going to have to leave teaching behind.”
I nod my head solemnly. “I understand, Sir.”
We are still for a moment, in silence.
“May I recommend something to you,” he asks quietly.
I raise my head, earnest. “Of course, Sir.” I see him regarding me edgily. His upper lip raises in a challenge.
“Become a detective.”
“Sir?”
“Patrol duty is great work for some, but son, it’s wasted on you. As is teaching.”
The Chief sits back down. “I know these past years have tested you, and it’s clear to me. You should be out there working homicide cases. Juicy stuff. That’s what you’ve always excelled at. Before Arria, before Ford. And now it’s official. I’m not letting you do anything else. I’ll make sure that if you take a position anywhere, it’s as a detective. Otherwise, boy, I’m telling every last officer this side of the planet that you’ve been improper with a recruit,” he warns me with that angry cigar finger.
A detective. It was something I wanted, a long time ago. But the day Arria went down, I turned off that aspiration like a light switch.
“Well then, Chief,” I start, finally relieved, finally smiling. “Looks like my hands are tied. I just have to become a detective. Don’t suppose you’d want to help me out with a letter of recommendation, would you?”
His face breaks and he laughs with ease. “I’ll have it emailed to you by the end of the day. De
al?”
“Deal.”
We rise. He steps over to me. I extend my hand for a shake with the Chief, but he grabs it instead and pulls me in for a bear hug that leaves me gasping for air. “Get on in, boy.” He pats my back with his meaty hand, knocking even more air out of me. Despite being almost squeezed empty, entirely deprived of oxygen, I’m able to maintain consciousness.
I may die in the man’s arms here and now, but I still can’t stop smiling. Struggling for breath, I manage to say, “Chief, I don’t have the words… All these years…”
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