The Suicide Project (Rebirth Book 1) (37 page)

It was touching that everyone cared as I heard all my new friends echoing Kyrie’s sentiment. Sergeant Ramsey held up his hands in a gesture for quiet. “Under different circumstances, if it were any of you other gals that had done the fighting, then we’d have to agree with y’alls assessment. However, since this is Teagan we’re talkin’ about, she needs to take responsibility for her actions.”

Still confused, Kyrie demanded, “What do you mean? That’s not fair!!”

Clearing my throat, I tugged on the back of Kyrie’s shirt to get her attention. “Kyrie, don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal. I don’t mind performing my penance. What I did last night was wrong.”

Harper and Allegra both jumped to their feet as they demanded, “But
why
?! Why is Teagan being punished?”

Rather than answer right away, Sergeant Ramsey turned back to the TV monitor and pushed a button on his remote. The image of Leif post-fight appeared on the screen. Sharp gasps resounded around the room at the evidence of the aftermath. I winced when I saw that he was sporting two black eyes from the broken nose that I had apparently given him.
Oopsies!
A wide metal strip was taped across the bridge of his nose but the tape couldn’t hide the horrible purple coloring that marred his pasty skin. He also had a split lip. It was at that moment that I realized I hadn’t seen him in the Mess Hall for breakfast, and he was also conspicuously absent from this meeting. I worried that he was hurt way worse than what the screen showed us.

Giving everybody a serious look, Sergeant Ramsey said, “Y’all might not’ve known this, but Teagan has been studying martial arts since she was a little girl. She holds a black belt in Karate and is highly skilled in Jujitsu and Aikido. She’s even dabbled in the Muay Thai style of fighting which was exhibited in the video when she used her elbow to break Leif’s nose. Leif didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of defeating Teagan and she knew it. It was an unfair fight from the beginning. She held back her strength when she jabbed him in the throat, but if she’d punched him any harder she might’ve actually killed him.” Turning his stern gaze on me, he finished by saying, “I’m glad that yer okay Teagan, but remember; there is no honor in defeating an unworthy opponent.”

Properly chastised, I nodded my head in understanding and answered, “Yes sir.”

Satisfied with my automatic compliance, Sergeant Ramsey crooked his finger at me as he concluded our meeting. “Good. You come with me, your punishment begins now. The rest of you can head on over to the Gym to begin training.” With Sergeant Ramsey in the lead, I was escorted out by Sergeants Kami and Honda as they flanked me. The gentle tinkle of Mercer’s dog tag announced that he brought up the rear as he loyally followed behind.

The moment we stepped out into the hallway, there was an eruption of voices from within the classroom but I couldn’t make out what was being said behind the closed door since everyone was talking at once. Casting a worried look at my chaperones, Sergeant Honda was the one to respond to my silent plea.

Patting me kindly on my shoulder in a show of support, he said, “Don’t worry about them. They’ll get over it.” I seriously had my doubts though when I heard a few of the voices escalate to shouting.

“IT’S LIKE YOU GUYS ARE CONDONING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN! IT’S NOT RIGHT!!”
Uh oh!
I clearly heard Gideon’s voice above the din as he argued on my behalf. It was slightly shocking since Gideon was generally quiet and laid back by nature. I had never heard him get this worked up before.
About anything
.

I groaned as I worried about Gideon getting himself into unnecessary trouble over a misplaced sense of allegiance to me. Yes I made a mistake, and I fully intended to pay for my sins. Although I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about what exactly my upcoming punishment was. I happened to have a very fertile imagination, and my mind was jumping all over the place as I started picturing all sorts of painful and unnerving scenarios in my head.

We walked outside the front doors of the Mess Hall to a waiting van parked alongside the building. It looked like the same van I rode when we made the move from the smaller barracks to the larger one. Curiously, I climbed into the backseat and took the place next to Sergeant Kami as Mercer jumped in and sat on the floor in front of me. Sergeants Ramsey and Honda sat in front.

Since it was daylight, I took great interest in our surroundings and watched the scenery zoom by as I tried to enjoy the short ride. Fairly soon we arrived at a large hangar located about a mile away from the main building. Climbing out I followed everyone inside. As my eyesight adjusted to the dim interior, I saw that there were numerous vehicles within the hangar. Turning to me, Sergeant Ramsey said, “Your punishment is to thoroughly wash every single vehicle housed inside this garage.”

That was it?! THAT was my punishment?
I quickly let my eyes scan the inventory and counted a total of 9 vehicles.
Pffft! Piece of cake!
I shot Sergeant Ramsey a dubious look as I clarified, “Just to be sure – you want me to wash these 9 cars…and that’s it?? That’s my whole punishment?”

He snorted as he replied, “What did you think we’d make ya do?” He stood there staring at me with an expectant expression on his face, and I realized he sincerely wanted to know what had been racing through my head.

Shrugging, I said, “You could’ve made me today’s resident pooper scooper, or you could’ve made me scrub toilets all day long. You could’ve loaned me out to Amos to be his kitchen slave, and forced me to spend hours upon hours peeling potatoes. You could’ve sent me to the track and made me run 15 miles, or at the very least, you could’ve thrown me into solitary confinement for the day to ruminate all my transgressions or something.”

All three of them chuckled at me as Sergeant Ramsey said, “Thanks for the list of ideas for all your future punishments.”

Sergeant Honda caught my eye and crooked his finger at me to follow him as he turned towards the far wall where a shelving system was fully stocked with everything I would need for the task at hand. He pointed out where the bathroom was located, and he even pointed out the mini fridge that held cold drinks in case I got thirsty.

As they took the time to orient me with my surroundings, it occurred to me that they planned to leave me there in the hangar by myself all afternoon, with just Mercer for company. Clearing my throat, I hesitantly asked, “I’m aware that this is supposed to be a punishment, so I have no right to ask. But… I was wondering if it would be possible for me to listen to a radio while I work? Pretty please? It’s kinda spooky in here all by my lonesome.” I batted my eyelashes coquettishly as I flicked my glance between all three Sergeants. I wasn’t above cranking up the charm in order to get what I wanted.

Eyes twinkling at me, Sergeant Kami reached up to one of the higher shelves and brought down a small portable stereo that I hadn’t noticed was there. Handing it to me, she gave me some final instructions before leaving me to my own devices. “We need to get back to the others to prevent a possible riot on our hands.” Handing me a small paper bag, she said, “Here are some snacks that Amos packed for you in case you get hungry. Take care, and we’ll come back to pick you up later this afternoon.”

Waving goodbye to them, I filled a plastic bucket with warm soapy water and got to work. More than half the cars were covered in a thick film of dust, and I couldn’t help but wonder how long they’d sat neglected in this warehouse. As I finished washing the first car, I happened to peek inside the drivers’ side window and saw that the keys were sitting in the ignition. Shocked, I peered into the next car and saw that it too had keys just dangling there.
Well…that’s just stupid!
These cars were practically begging to be stolen by Aidan, Leif, or maybe even Zima. If they only knew…

It definitely made it easier for me to do my job though. I devised a method in my head, and pretty soon I became engrossed in my project. Since the hangar was a fairly large building, I drove all the clean cars to the back wall and parked them in reverse at an angle. It was enjoyable for me, in the sense that I got to drive a car again. It was especially fun having a large variety cars at my fingertips. When all 9 cars were squeaky clean and sparkling on the outside, I got to work vacuuming the interior of each car. Finished with that task, I found a special cleaner for the rims and proceeded to clean the wheels of each vehicle until they were positively gleaming.

Since no one had come to check on me yet, and since it was still bright outside, I figured I’d have time to wax them all. Internally I realized that my obsessive-compulsive side was peeking through, but personally I felt there was definitely something to be said about taking great pride in your work, no matter how big or small of a task it was.

Singing along to the radio, I got to work on washing the windows. The current song playing was one of my favorites, and I lost myself in the rhythm of the music as I shimmied my way from car to car. Suddenly, I felt the tingly prickle along the back of my neck that signaled I had company. With a rag in one hand and a bottle of window cleaner in the other, I turned around to face the door to the hangar and saw Sergeants Honda and Flynn standing there watching me.

With a smirk, Sergeant Flynn shook his head at me as he said, “Why am I not surprised to see that you’re actually having a good time, even though you’re supposed to be serving a punishment?” I just shrugged as I grinned guiltily. I tended to tackle everything I did with gusto, and never half-assed anything. It’s just the way I was.

As they approached me, I saw both of their eyes widen in surprise as they surveyed my work. Sergeant Flynn whistled in appreciation as he shot a covetous look at the shiny black Hummer I was standing beside. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was his. My silent question was answered as he visually caressed the vehicle with a critical eye and started to croon, “Look at you baby! You’re so beautiful! Daddy missed you!”

Rolling my eyes at an amused Sergeant Honda, I muttered, “Geez, I feel like we should give them a moment of privacy or something. My ears are starting to burn.” As I surveyed the other cars, I asked, “Sergeant Honda…do one of these cars belong to you?”

Nodding his head, he turned and pointed to the shiny silver sports car with black tinted windows. “This baby belongs to me.” I couldn’t help sighing in exasperation when I saw that he was smiling indulgently at his car.
Boys and their toys.

While their attention was otherwise occupied, I stretched my sore muscles and let loose a massive yawn. I hadn’t realized how achy I felt until that moment, and suddenly, the lack of sleep from the previous night finally started to catch up with me. When another mighty yawn burst forth only ten seconds later, I felt Sergeant Honda grab my elbow to steer me towards the exit.

When I finished rubbing my tired eyes, I opened them and saw that we were back outside in the sunshine. There sat the black van. Frowning, I couldn’t help but point out how dusty it was. “I should’ve washed this one too. It’s really dirty.”

“Nah, we’ll save it for another time. You’re crashing hard, kiddo. It’s been six hours since you were dropped off at the hangar. You’ve been working very hard and you’ve done an amazing job, but we know that you hardly got any sleep the night before. We’ll take you back to the Mess Hall so you can eat a late lunch/early dinner, and then it’s off to bed for you. Jamie can give you some sleeping pills if you think you might need it, but you definitely need to rest because we’re hitting it extra hard in the gym tomorrow for training.” I could’ve danced for joy at Sergeant Flynn’s announcement, if only I had the energy.

Climbing into the backseat with Mercer, I let my head fall backwards onto the headrest as I wondered what everyone else was doing at that very moment. The Mess Hall was empty when we arrived, except for Amos who was standing beside the buffet. He smiled in greeting and gestured for me to serve myself. To my surprise, the three of them all joined me when I sat down to eat, and I saw that they had plates full of food too.

After a brief companionable silence, I decided to voice a question since my guilty conscience was threatening to smother me. Clearing my throat to get their attention, I hesitantly asked, “Is Leif going to be okay?”

Sergeant Flynn nodded his head and swallowed his mouthful of chicken before reassuring me. “He’ll be just fine. The injuries you saw on the monitor are really the only injuries he suffered. Just the broken nose and split lip. He just looked extra pitiful because we waited until he fell asleep before we took that picture.”

“More than anything, his pride took a beating because you warned him that you were going to kick his ass, and you were able to back it up with the action. The little pissant should’ve listened to you, Teagan.” Amos was matter of fact when he pointed out that the misconduct truly lay in Leif’s hands.

I sighed as I vented. “I shouldn’t have done it though. I feel bad. I’m 6 years older than him! It’s just that everything that comes out of his mouth pisses me off.”

There was another brief moment of silence before Sergeant Honda blurted out, “Watching your fighting style last night was breathtaking. Sergeant Flynn and I were on watch last night in the security room, and when we saw the fight taking place…it’s like we were mesmerized. We couldn’t move…we were entranced. I was almost sad to see the fight end so soon. To have someone like you in our program, with a background in mixed martial arts… it’s like we hit the jackpot.” I was humbled by the admiration and respect I clearly saw reflected in all of their eyes as they smiled proudly at me.

With a full belly and a clear conscience, I bid everyone an early goodnight as I retreated to my room. After changing into my pajamas, I slipped beneath the covers and fell asleep instantaneously. My last thoughts before sleep claimed me, was that the sergeants really did care about all of us. They treated us well and tried to make sure we were comfortable here. I felt like our happiness
did
matter to them, despite what some of the others thought. We had a good thing going here. Why would anyone want to leave?