Page 8
Story: Orders and Obsessions
“Come on, John, my ninety-year-old grandma can do better than that!” Mason yelled at one of the men who couldn’t army crawl through thick mud while stuck under a giant net that he couldn’t touch with his back fast enough.
“Get out of the way!” his loud mouth yelled. He spoke from his chest, and his voice was so loud that it could move the sun around the earth faster than a day with just a push from his strong sound waves.
It was very hard for me to climb a huge fence, and then I stayed at the top.
“I hate this man,” I told Amber, trying to catch my breath. “This whole f*****g bootcamp is just some sexist shit where the men can oppress the women and he’s the worst.” I pointed down at Mason, who was at least ten feet below us.
He yelled at us, “What are you two women talking about? This isn’t a social event. Get down on the other side.” Amber smiled at me and said she was sorry before climbing down.
I looked down at the ground. There was a thick mud pit under the fence I was sitting on. There was soft, clay-like mud there on purpose to break our fall. I bet it was deep enough to cushion a ten-foot drop. If I threw myself into it, it would probably splatter everywhere.
“Lieutenant, Sir, may I speak?” I asked in a sweet voice. He looked up at me, put his hands on his hips, and made a scowl.
“Okay, Rivers, you can go. What do you want?” He sounded annoyed, as usual.
“I can’t climb down, sir.” He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath to calm down his growing anger. I sucked in my lips so I wouldn’t smile. He moved closer and tilted his head back to look up at me.
“Why can’t you climb down Rivers? Either start climbing or I’ll call in another disciplinary.” He crossed his arms over his chest. People climbed up the ten-foot fence, gave me a warning look, and then climbed down the other side, as they were supposed to. I sat on top, still, and held on to the fence for dear life.
“I don’t like heights, Sir,” I said.
“Jesus Christ Rivers!” He rubbed his stubble and moved closer. “You got up there, you can climb down.” I looked over the edge to see how close he was to the mud pit. He had to get a little closer.
“I can’t!” I yelled. He moved closer. Bingo! I let go of the railing and jumped. My feet hit the mud pit first. I was right to think that mud was everywhere. He ran his hands over the Lieutenant’s dirty face and flicked thick, wet mud out of his eyes. I heard a few people laugh around the assault course. Mason stared at me and breathed in and out slowly.
“Am I going to get in trouble for this?” I asked, feeling bad. “I lied because it was an accident.”
“Five extra laps of the assault course, Rivers. Don’t insult my intelligence by pretending that wasn’t done on purpose. Now get out of the pit and get moving.” He said this through gritted teeth, making it clear that he didn’t like me. I fought my way through the mud and then shook myself off on the grass.
I think it was a bad idea because now I’m dirty and wet, but seeing him dirty too made it all worth it. I saw him flick dirt off of himself or give his clothes dirty looks every once in a while. I laughed at how uncomfortable he was.
He kept me back for five more rounds of the assault course after boot camp. I rolled my eyes because I just wanted to get them over with. I crawled through the mud, climbed over fences, shimmied up a rope, and ran through tires, and it wore me out. I was dying by the third round.
“Come on, Rivers, speed it up,” Mason yelled out of boredom.
“Hey! F**k you!” I stopped next to him and poked my finger into his iron-like chest. He looked down at it slowly, but other than that, he didn’t react to what I said.
“I swear to god, Riley.” He shook his head and took a deep breath through his nose.
“You’re out here every day telling us what to do. I bet you couldn’t or wouldn’t do this yourself!” I pushed him with both hands into his chest, trying to knock him back, but he didn’t even move.
So I tried again, but this time he stopped me by grabbing my small wrists with his two huge hands.
“What the f**k don’t you get?” he said in a low voice. “Do you want to go to jail?” he asked me, really wanting to know.
“No.”
“You know this is what I do for a living, right?”
I didn’t say anything.
“I literally get paid to keep you in line and make you do all of this. You need to be ready for the fitness test or they’ll send you away.”
He kept a tight grip on my wrists and pointed his head towards the assault course.
“If you step out of line, it’s my job to tell the judge. You’re here because you avoided jail, so now you have to behave. If you don’t, I’ll have to tell the judge that your boot camp isn’t working.” He let go of my wrist, and I let my arms drop to my sides. “You have two more rounds to finish.”
“Yeah, two more rounds of an assault course that you don’t have the guts to do yourself,” I said under my breath.
“F**k sake Riley!” He clearly heard me, oops.
“Hold this.” He took off his walkie-talkie belt thing and gave it to me. It was surprisingly heavy.
“Don’t do anything stupid with it, just hold it.” I looked down at it and wondered what he wanted me to do with it.
“Get out of the way!” his loud mouth yelled. He spoke from his chest, and his voice was so loud that it could move the sun around the earth faster than a day with just a push from his strong sound waves.
It was very hard for me to climb a huge fence, and then I stayed at the top.
“I hate this man,” I told Amber, trying to catch my breath. “This whole f*****g bootcamp is just some sexist shit where the men can oppress the women and he’s the worst.” I pointed down at Mason, who was at least ten feet below us.
He yelled at us, “What are you two women talking about? This isn’t a social event. Get down on the other side.” Amber smiled at me and said she was sorry before climbing down.
I looked down at the ground. There was a thick mud pit under the fence I was sitting on. There was soft, clay-like mud there on purpose to break our fall. I bet it was deep enough to cushion a ten-foot drop. If I threw myself into it, it would probably splatter everywhere.
“Lieutenant, Sir, may I speak?” I asked in a sweet voice. He looked up at me, put his hands on his hips, and made a scowl.
“Okay, Rivers, you can go. What do you want?” He sounded annoyed, as usual.
“I can’t climb down, sir.” He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath to calm down his growing anger. I sucked in my lips so I wouldn’t smile. He moved closer and tilted his head back to look up at me.
“Why can’t you climb down Rivers? Either start climbing or I’ll call in another disciplinary.” He crossed his arms over his chest. People climbed up the ten-foot fence, gave me a warning look, and then climbed down the other side, as they were supposed to. I sat on top, still, and held on to the fence for dear life.
“I don’t like heights, Sir,” I said.
“Jesus Christ Rivers!” He rubbed his stubble and moved closer. “You got up there, you can climb down.” I looked over the edge to see how close he was to the mud pit. He had to get a little closer.
“I can’t!” I yelled. He moved closer. Bingo! I let go of the railing and jumped. My feet hit the mud pit first. I was right to think that mud was everywhere. He ran his hands over the Lieutenant’s dirty face and flicked thick, wet mud out of his eyes. I heard a few people laugh around the assault course. Mason stared at me and breathed in and out slowly.
“Am I going to get in trouble for this?” I asked, feeling bad. “I lied because it was an accident.”
“Five extra laps of the assault course, Rivers. Don’t insult my intelligence by pretending that wasn’t done on purpose. Now get out of the pit and get moving.” He said this through gritted teeth, making it clear that he didn’t like me. I fought my way through the mud and then shook myself off on the grass.
I think it was a bad idea because now I’m dirty and wet, but seeing him dirty too made it all worth it. I saw him flick dirt off of himself or give his clothes dirty looks every once in a while. I laughed at how uncomfortable he was.
He kept me back for five more rounds of the assault course after boot camp. I rolled my eyes because I just wanted to get them over with. I crawled through the mud, climbed over fences, shimmied up a rope, and ran through tires, and it wore me out. I was dying by the third round.
“Come on, Rivers, speed it up,” Mason yelled out of boredom.
“Hey! F**k you!” I stopped next to him and poked my finger into his iron-like chest. He looked down at it slowly, but other than that, he didn’t react to what I said.
“I swear to god, Riley.” He shook his head and took a deep breath through his nose.
“You’re out here every day telling us what to do. I bet you couldn’t or wouldn’t do this yourself!” I pushed him with both hands into his chest, trying to knock him back, but he didn’t even move.
So I tried again, but this time he stopped me by grabbing my small wrists with his two huge hands.
“What the f**k don’t you get?” he said in a low voice. “Do you want to go to jail?” he asked me, really wanting to know.
“No.”
“You know this is what I do for a living, right?”
I didn’t say anything.
“I literally get paid to keep you in line and make you do all of this. You need to be ready for the fitness test or they’ll send you away.”
He kept a tight grip on my wrists and pointed his head towards the assault course.
“If you step out of line, it’s my job to tell the judge. You’re here because you avoided jail, so now you have to behave. If you don’t, I’ll have to tell the judge that your boot camp isn’t working.” He let go of my wrist, and I let my arms drop to my sides. “You have two more rounds to finish.”
“Yeah, two more rounds of an assault course that you don’t have the guts to do yourself,” I said under my breath.
“F**k sake Riley!” He clearly heard me, oops.
“Hold this.” He took off his walkie-talkie belt thing and gave it to me. It was surprisingly heavy.
“Don’t do anything stupid with it, just hold it.” I looked down at it and wondered what he wanted me to do with it.