Tears Mean Weakness

Chapter 5

Maybe my father could've just as easily been the one to take the bullet - instead of the one behind the gun...

Dinner was long, and pretty enjoyable considering I didn't have to worry over Blair anymore. The ice cream bowls had been cleared from the tables, and everyone was just sitting and talking. We were waiting for the kitchen staff to tell us to leave.
It was only 5:00 pm and we still had until 8:00 pm to do anything we wanted.
"So, what are you guys doing now?" I asked, my hand resting on my chin and my elbow resting on the table.
"Why don't we play football?" suggested Jake. "I think the fields are empty, everybody will probably go for the games room now," he said. I was definitely up for beating the boys.
"Sure," I said. "I'll play." Everybody clapped and stood up, moving towards the door. The Sergeant stood at the door, blocking the exit. Everyone stopped in their tracks, waiting for him to move. He eyed us all suspiciously, and I braced myself for the questions, the accusations. So when he simply stepped aside, allowing us to leave, I didn't ask any questions. I followed the group of boys out into the sunshine, feeling my father's eyes burning in the back of my neck. I didn't turn back.
"So, I'll go get the football," I said, pointing to the shack behind me. The boys agreed and made their way to the field.
I ran up the wooden steps to the shack, and opened the door. A woman was in there, replacing the shower essentials and soaps for this week, and clearing the rest of Blair's things away for the new trainee. At this point nobody knew anything about a new Soldier joining us. The lady turned to smile at me.
"Runaway?" she asked, looking at Blair's bed.
"Yeah," I sighed. "Not surprised. Army life wasn't for him, I guess. He made that pretty clear since he got here." The lady nodded, sadly looking at the empty bottom bunk which had once belonged to Blair.
"Still, it couldn't have been easy for any of you to adjust in a place like this. Your still here. How long ago did you come, five years is it?" she said. I looked at her.
"You can remember me coming here?" I asked. It was strange that this lady knew me, especially as I didn't know her. She laughed a little.
"Of course I can. Your one girl in amongst a hundred boys. You stick out, like it or not," she replied, moving towards the door. I watched her walk out, and along the footpath to the next shack, most likely to start cleaning all over again.
I grabbed the football from under Rowan's bunk, and ran back to the field.
The nine of us had been split into two teams. Team A: Rowan, Tommy, George and Logan, and Team B: Will, Austin, Liam and me. Jake had agreed to referee for one match. With Blair gone, the teams were uneven.
We split into our teams, Jake holding the ball and raising it in preparation. Every player stood in anticipation, ready to pounce as soon as the ball was kicked. After what felt like years, Jake finally released the ball - and I shot off like a rocket. I headed straight towards the middle of the playing field, keeping my eye on the football that was slicing through the air. I jumped, high like I was about to do a flip and grabbed the ball with both hands. I aimed my feet toward the place I took off from, and as soon as my feet landed - I sprinted off. I passed the ball to Will, who passed to Austin. The two of them ran towards the left hand side of the field, passing between them. I was pleased with my team. I had the three most athletically skilled players.
Austin and Will were near enough the marker cone, and were about to make the touchdown. However one pass with too long of a distance allowed Rowan to intercept the ball. He was sneaky.
I ran after Rowan, nearly running up the back of his heels, and threw myself towards his legs, tackling him. None of the boys took it easy on me, so I wasn't doing them any favours. With Rowan on the ground, Liam snatched the ball and began to sprint to the other end of the field. I stood up, and watched as Austin scored a touchdown. Point 1 achieved.
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We had been playing for almost an hour, and my team was up by two points. Everyone had had enough.
"Okay, you guys win. I'm bored now," whined Rowan, stalking to the edge of the field. He lay down. It was still sunny out, and roasting, but the air tasted acidic.
"Jacobsen was teaching me some of her tricks earlier, in the gymnasium," said Will. Rowan sat up intrigued.
"What tricks?" he grinned. I looked at Will in a way that said 'thanks for that' and then shrugged.
"Just some stuff I learned a while back. No big deal," I said. The rest of the boys began to shout, telling me to show them. In the end I gave up being modest, and walked backwards to give myself space. I pulled my arms a few times, loosening up and preparing my muscles. Everybody watched me, expectantly.
I ran forward, cartwheeling neatly and the launching into several back handsprings in a row. After the handsprings, I fell backwards into a crab and performed a back walkover, and finally I finished with an aerial. The aerial seemed to happen in slow motion - my body twisting through the air and landing - left foot. Right foot. The boys whooped and laughed and clapped, clearly impressed by my display. After the applause faded, Jake questioned Will.
"So, what about you? Didn't Jacobsen teach you how to do the flips?" Jake smiled smugly, assuming that Will had failed in his attempts.
"Yeah, she did," replied Will. "Watch."
I followed Will and confirmed that we should do three back handsprings. I counted from one up to three and we both turned the trick neatly and perfectly synchronised.
***
After Jake had watched Will do the handsprings, Rowan dared Jake to learn. He accepted on the condition that all of the rest of the boys tried too. So here I was, standing at the front of the group of boys and performing a trick over and over, on a training field. Eventually, all nine of the boys could turn the trick. Some were neater than others.
"Okay, so why don't we all try to do it say... like... five times, across the playing field," I suggested, motioning from left to right with my arm. They all agreed, and we got some space.
"Three, two, one, NOW!" I shouted, and everyone flew into full flips. As we all landed our final back handspring, a huge eruption of thunder boomed, and raindrops the size of golf balls came plummeting down. Everybody shielded themselves from the rain.
"We should get inside!" I shouted over the pattering.
"Where's the fun in that?!" yelled George. It was clear he was up for splashing around - and he wasn't alone. The rest of the trainees began to jump around, splashing water at one another, and having a blast in the process. I stood off to the side, in objection to joining in with any of it. So I just stood and watched - until...
Austin whispered to Will, and before I could object, they both ran towards me and picked me up. They had me in a Queen's Chair, as I shrieked with laughter. Austin gave me a boost up to Will's shoulders and Will spin around as the rain got heavier by the second.
We jumped around, rolled about in the mud, even tried to turn tricks - but we gave up when we all fell flat on our faces. The air was still warm, despite the rain, and each of us was having a blast.
I stepped back a little, watching the boys have a pile-on, when I saw a tall figure behind the fence of the training field. He was wearing camouflage and holding a huge umbrella over his head, keeping bone dry. My father. Sergeant.