Chapter 17

While the Cats Are Away the Mice Will Play

After getting back to my room, I settled down and was about to call the family for my nightly before bed call. All of a sudden, I heard a loud boom and some yelling. The floor shook ever so slightly. I jumped from my bed and ran to the door. I threw open the door and peered out into the hall. I saw only a circle of movement. The entire class was standing in the middle of the hall in a circle. I could not see what was going on in the middle of the circle, but I knew with this group of guys it was at least going to be interesting and at most result in some form of chaos.

I ran to the circle and peered over the top of my classmates. What I observed could only be described as a bad game of twister. I saw two balled up men grappling on the floor. I could only see underwear since that was the only damn clothing these two were wearing.

Recruit James and Recruit Johnson were on the carpet in the middle of the third floor hallway participating in what I described as a bad replica of a UFC fight. It was quite comical and must have gone on for twenty or more minutes. It was a really good time until Recruit James ruined it.

Yes, my friends, while they were grappling for position, Recruit Johnson was able to slide out from under Recruit James. This was a good thing because I think Recruit James was just about to end the match with an arm bar. Recruit Johnson got to his knees and began to get to his feet, grabbing Recruit James right arm at the same time. Recruit Johnson spun James so that James was facing away from him. Johnson wrapped his arms around the waist of Recruit James and gave a loud grunt as he lifted James off the carpeted floor. All of us watched as Recruit James went airborne briefly. As James came down, we watched in horrific awe as the painted wall bowed inward and then gave way to James’s body.

Debris flew across the hall and dust littered the air. There was a loud sound of cracking Sheetrock and James’s body colliding echoed through the hall and down into the staircases. The aftermath was akin to that of a small tornado. You could see debris scattered for several feet, and it took quite a while for the air to clear.

Recruit Johnson obviously was declared the winner rather quickly. I mean, he put his opponent through a damn wall. We kind of didn’t have a choice. It was a rather thrilling match if I do say so myself.

After a couple of minutes, Recruit James began to compose himself and eventually he was able to get to his feet. Of course, he complained of dizziness and the apparent urge to vomit. Of course, we figured he probably had a concussion. This would be confirmed later after he made a trip to the emergency room with the assistance of the wonderful Highway Patrol staff.

Now on to more pressing matters. How in the hell do you hide a hole in a wall the size of a large dog? Ladies and gentlemen, when you figure out the answer to this little question, please let me know. This situation couldn’t get any worse if the hole in the wall was the size of Lake Okeechobee. I mean really when you think about it, any size hole in this hallway is going to be noticed. There is absolutely no way to hide a hole in a hallway if there is nothing in the hallway to cover said hole.

This is our current little predicament. I mean, we had brooms and a couple of vacuum cleaners, so the mess on the carpet was an easy fix. I unfortunately do not know anyone in this school that carries a bucket of drywall plaster or a trowel in their front pocket. I also don’t know of a building supply place that would deliver at ten o’ clock at night, so our options are pretty much limited.

After some debate with other classmates, we determined that placing all of the cleaning supplies in front of the hole was our best and only logical course of action at the time. After about ten minutes of lining up vacuum cleaners and brooms, we determined that our decision had been a foolish one since the hole was still very visible.

I decided to just give up. Friends, I went to bed. Well, I thought that I was going to bed. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, just as I was climbing under my blanket.

BOOM! The unmistakable sound of the door to the stairs slamming shut.

“WHAT IN THE HELL?!” yelled Trooper Benavidez.

“Apparently, someone else heard the wall collapse,” I said to Julio.

“No sleep tonight,” Julio said.

“Yeah, I am sure we have hell to pay.”

“Can’t wait. It sounds like loads of fun.”

“I know what you mean.”

“What in the hell happened here? What were you clowns doing, setting off damn hand grenades? I want all of you in your bunks now and this is not over.”

You could hear the absolute contempt coming from the lips of Trooper Benevidez. His whole aura screamed extreme anger and frustration. Apparently, we had awakened him from a very nice sleep. I was positive, by this point, that we were going to pay hell in the morning.

“Thank god, at least we can get a decent night’s sleep before having our asses handed to us tomorrow,” I said.

“We can try to get a good night’s sleep, but I have this sinking feeling that we are going to be woken up very early in the morning,” Julio said.

“I think we are in trouble,” Smith said as he walked by at a rapid pace.

Everyone wanted out of the hallway and wanted out in a hurry. We all knew what was coming and simply wanted some time to prepare before getting our asses handed to us by Lt. Hudson.

Julio and I headed back to our rooms with the rest of the class. As we flanked off, one by one, into our billets, I couldn’t help but think about drifting off to dreamland and forgetting about my worries. I rolled my weary and exhausted body down into the softness that was my mattress. I pulled the coarse sheet and blanket up over my head, placed my head on my nice soft pillow, and drifted off to sleep.