The Suicide Project (Rebirth Book 1) (25 page)

Worriedly, I chewed on my bottom lip. But I concluded that if he had been out walking Mercer, then how could he already know what had taken place in the classroom? Maybe I was jumping to conclusions and he was still clueless. As soon as Mercer saw me, he started jumping in excitement and tugged frantically on the leash. Taking a deep breath, I pushed through the door and faced my fate.

“NO CHOCOLATE FOR A MONTH!” Sergeant Ramsey practically roared at me, as soon as I set foot outside.
Well, shit. That answers that question.
I winced when I saw his livid face. I wondered how much trouble I was in. Instantly feeling the need to defend myself, I blurted, “It was all Ruby’s fault. I couldn’t stand listening to her berate poor Marisol anymore!”

Holding his hand up to put a stop to my excuses, he bellowed, “I don’t care about any of that! What I care about is your problem with profanity. What am I goin’ to do with ya? Yer my star pupil! What kind of example are you settin’ for everyone else with all those obscene words that keep spillin’ out of yer mouth? How can I trust you to be around my sweet, innocent little Kyrie if you keep using such vulgar language?”

Dumbfounded, I stared mutely at him for a moment before clarifying, “So let me get this straight… I’m in trouble for swearing, and not because I threatened to beat the crap out of Ruby?!”

“That is correct!!” Sergeant Ramsey shouted back at me. “I wouldn’t care if you took a box knife to Ruby’s chest, extracted the silicone gel, and beat her to death with her own implants! I want you to make a greater effort to stop yer cussin’!”

Okay.
Wow.
Yet another mystery solved, because a woman could just tell if another woman had breast implants or not. Ruby looked to be about Gideon’s age too, so why in the world would a 19 year old need to have a boob job? The hilarity of Sergeant Ramsey’s statement sank in and I tried to smother a laugh at the picture he painted. Those words were completely unexpected coming from his mouth. I lost the battle as I bent over and started laughing hysterically. I couldn’t wait to tell Sam and Gideon about his breast implant comment.

I quickly pulled myself together when I saw that he was still glaring at me. Wiping at a tear from the corner of my eye, I struggled to keep a straight face. I totally felt like I was gonna lose it again though, so I put my hand up to my mouth to at least block his view of my grin. When I felt composed enough to speak, I commented, “On the contrary, I bet you
would
mind if I pummeled one of your test subjects to death with her own implants. What a horrible way to go.” That finally got his mouth to twitch a little, so I rushed on to explain my side of the story.

“I’m deeply sorry, Sir. I really am. But when I get angry it’s like I have this alter-ego, and depending on how mad I am, sometimes I have no control over what comes out of my mouth. Back in that classroom, I was beyond angry. I was enraged. But I definitely would’ve dialed it down a lot if Kyrie were there. It was because I knew she wasn’t around that I let loose with the cussing. I apologize. I fully accept whatever punishment you decide to dole out.”

Releasing a pent up breath of frustration, he admitted, “We’ve all known that Ruby was a problem. She’s been a thorn in our sides since her arrival, and we’ve been debating on methods of discipline for her in hopes that she’ll get better and lay off Marisol. We didn’t know how bad it was though until you called her out in class. Marisol doesn’t talk much during her counseling sessions with Dr. Duffy, and she won’t confide in Jamie so we’re at an impasse on how to help her. I fully admit that we decided to hold off on punishment until your arrival to see what your reaction to Ruby would be. Now that we know you like her about as much as we do, we want your input on how to deal with her. She’s disrespectful to everyone and doesn’t take anything here seriously. She came from money in her former life so she’s used to getting everything she wants. None of the other sergeants or I have much experience in dealing with spoiled rich girls. She’s constantly testing us to see what she can get away with. We don’t want to have to put her down by lethal injection since we’ve already invested so much in her.”

I contemplated his words before I voiced my opinion. “I think you need to make an example out of her.” Gesturing to Mercer, I added, “Make her the resident “pooper scooper” as punishment for the next week. She can pick up all of Mercer’s droppings, and the droppings of any other animals that you might have hiding around the base. If she refuses, then you can place her in solitary for a week. And I’m talking about true solitary confinement… a bed, a toilet and sink, and that’s it. Meals are simple and under-seasoned; a protein, a veggie, no dessert, and only water to drink. No television, books, or any other item of comfort. After that treatment, she’ll realize how good she has it here with everyone else. Make it clear in a way that she’ll understand that she
will
be penalized every single time she acts out and misbehaves. That’s the best way to show her you won’t put up with her crap any longer.”

Sergeant Ramsey seemed to seriously consider my words before nodding his head in satisfaction. “I’ll run that by everyone else before we take action.” Glancing down at his watch, he handed over Mercer’s leash before advising, “You need to make good on your promise to Marisol and go change back into workout gear to meet her in the gym for your first training session. We are placing her well-being fully in your hands; you have our full support in treatment where she’s concerned. We all care about her, but are at a loss as how to help her. Her health is declining and she’s starting to waste away. If you can Teagan, please help save her.”

“I’ll do everything in my power to help her in any way I can.” I was filled with a new determination and resolve to help save Marisol since the Sarge voiced it as a life and death situation.

I said goodbye to the sergeant, and ran with Mercer back to my room to change clothes before heading back out to the Gym. One interesting thing I had already noticed about the puppy is that he somehow could pick up on my moods. Earlier outside, even though he was happy to see me, because I was apprehensive about meeting with Sergeant Ramsey he instantly had become subdued and sat on the ground to watch me. Even his tail had stopped wagging as he became fully attentive to me. Now, because I was happy again and looking forward to starting the training with Marisol, Mercer was happy too and his tail was once again wagging with enthusiasm.

When we arrived at the Gym, Marisol hadn’t yet arrived so I sat Mercer down along the wall with a chew toy, and I put on a pair of boxing mitts to start warm up with the punching bag. The desire to pound on something was still coursing strongly through my veins. Pretty soon, I was completely immersed in punching and kicking the hell out of the sand bag that was hanging from the ceiling, so it came as a shock when I heard a timid little voice announce, “I’m here.”

I looked up and saw that Marisol was standing beside Mercer with an uncertain expression on her face. I hadn’t even heard the door open! I was panting hard as I asked, “How long have you been standing there for?”

“Just a few minutes.”

I took a seat on the ground and motioned her over, patting a spot on the ground in front of me. I had a little brown paper bag with me that I had gotten from Amos in the kitchen, and I pulled it in front of me as I addressed Marisol and started pulling things out one at a time.

“Before we do any kind of exercise today, I would like it if you ate a little protein first for energy because if you’re going to train with me, you’re going to be burning a lot of calories. You need to replace what you burn off, with nutrient rich things that your body will need for fuel.” I handed her a hard-boiled egg, half an apple, and a carton of strawberry greek yogurt. “Can you try to eat some of this while I get some water down? I didn’t realize how hard I was going at it with the punching bag.”

I was relieved when Marisol obediently starting eating everything I placed in front of her. When she was finished, I passed her a bottle of water and instructed her to drink a few sips while she watched me demonstrate what I wanted her to do. “In order to gain muscle, we need to incorporate weight training into your workout routine. We’ll go slowly, and steadily increase the amount of weights until you’re strong enough to begin martial arts training with me. If you do what I say and eat what I tell you to, then we’ll get you caught up with everyone else in no time at all.”

This first day, we did exercises with kettlebells, and I warned her that her arms might be very sore tomorrow so I wanted her to drink the peach protein shake I had Amos make especially for her. To my delight, she drank the whole thing down and even flashed me one of her hesitant little smiles. I wanted to hug her, but remembered Kyrie’s warning to move slowly where Marisol was concerned. Instead, I bade her to sit again on the matt and watch me do exercises on the punching bag again. After demonstrating a series of jabs and hooks, I asked her if she wanted to give it a try if her arms weren’t too sore.

Nodding her head enthusiastically, she grabbed a pair of gloves and got to work pounding the sand bag next to mine. I watched with approval before ripping my tank top off, using it to mop my dripping face. I was wearing one of those black workout bras that sort of served as a miniature tank top, but it was fine because I was decently covered. It felt overheated in the Gym and I made a mental note to ask Sergeant Ramsey if we could have some overhead fans installed.

Flinging my tank top down, I rejoined Marisol and started punching the hell out of my bag. “Just pretend it’s Ruby’s face you’re hitting and I guarantee you’ll instantly feel a hundred times better.” I grinned at her and nodded my head to let her know I was dead serious, and she giggled as she did as I asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her really going at it, and I was so proud of her that I started cheering her on.

When we were both shiny with our sweat and panting hard, I called an end to our first day. We exited the gym and started heading for the Mess Hall. Marisol had reached down and was softly rubbing Mercer’s head as we walked side by side, and I was happy that she had bonded with the pup. Walking through the front doors, she came to a screeching stop as we saw that everyone was congregated in the Mess Hall for dinner. I whispered under my breath to Marisol, “Go shower and meet me back here for dinner, okay? We’ll eat together. Don’t look at anyone else…if they’re staring, it’s because they’re just jealous. You did great today Marisol. I’m very proud of you!” She gave me a shy smile as she jogged off down the hall towards the women’s dorms.

After watching her jog off, I turned to the rest of the Mess Hall and tried to ignore the stares as I made my way to the drink station at the very back. Sure I was wearing a skimpy top and I was glistening with sweat and probably should’ve gone straight to my room, but I was literally dying of thirst. As I passed by the table that Ruby was sitting at, I made direct eye contact as I delivered another one of my death glares. Mercer growled softly from beside me as he kept pace with me.

I greeted Sam and Gideon at the last table before reaching the drink station. Grabbing a fresh cup, I filled it with water and stood there to drink the entire cup before refilling it again. When I turned back around, everyone in the Mess Hall was still staring at me. Stopping beside Gideon I murmured, “Is it because of my earlier outburst, or because they’re now all afraid of me or something?”

“Nope. It’s probably because of your amazingly tight abs you have on full display right now.” I looked at his face and saw that he was staring straight at my midsection with appreciation. I laughed and nudged him as I asked where Kyrie was.

“She said she wanted to wait for you, so she’s in your guys’ room I think.” Sam grinned as he commented on Marisol’s appearance when we entered the Mess Hall. “Even though you guys were all the way up at the front, we could tell from back here that you’ve already made progress with her. Good job Teagan! We all knew she was in good hands!”

I smiled as I excused myself to shower. As we passed by Ruby’s table again, I glanced down at Mercer and couldn’t resist a little experiment. When we had walked ten steps past her table, I bent down to Mercer’s height and whispered in his ear. “Mercer, stay and guard Ruby. Watch her and don’t let her leave, okay?” To my surprise, Mercer issued a little “Woof!” in reply before planting his butt right down on the ground and staring at Ruby like I told him. I kissed the top of his head before I turned and jogged off down the hall to my room, trying to ignore the curious looks being cast my way.

When I reached my room, Kyrie was sitting on her bed with Jamie and she was caressing the new pink sneakers I had ordered for her online. They must’ve just arrived today along with Gideon’s gaming system. When she saw me, she jumped to her feet squealing with happiness. I held my hand out to her when it looked like she was going to hug me.

“Oh! I forgot! I’ll wait until you’re done with your shower before I hug you! Thank you so much for my present. Jamie said you bought them for me, and I love them! Thank you!” She was so excited, she was kind of doing a little dance as she bounced from foot to foot.

“You’re welcome sweetie! I’m glad you like them! But I have to hurry and shower because I left Mercer guarding Ruby, and I don’t want to be gone too long.” Jamie shot me a curious look at that statement but I didn’t bother taking the time to explain the story to her. Instead, I rushed through my ritual in record time and was back out of the shower in under five minutes. I chose skinny jeans and a plain white shirt to go with my black biker boots when I finished my shower. Even though I was in a hurry, I took the time to dry my hair fully and even let Kyrie brush it out into a shiny mass before we left our room. Jamie had mysteriously disappeared when I emerged from the bathroom, so it was just me and Kyrie walking with our arms linked as we headed to the Mess Hall for dinner.

I felt the tension the moment Kyrie and I stepped into the Mess Hall. It was completely silent except for a low continuous rumble of warning coming from Mercer. He was exactly where I left him, still guarding Ruby. Curiously, I shot a look at all the sergeants who were present with Jamie and Dr. Duffy along one wall of the Mess Hall. They weren’t doing anything at all except “observing” the situation with Mercer and Ruby. Even Amos was perched in front of his post in the kitchen with his arms crossed over his chest. When he saw my arrival, he shot me an amused grin.
I guess he’s not a big fan of Ruby either.