we started playing with it. When turned up high it gave quite a
jolt.
We would hold hands and see how many cadets
the current would effect when we made a circle. One of our goofier
cadets started connecting the prongs to different body parts. He
would then have me turn the settings on high and see how long he
could take it. He placed a probe on either side of his foot and
ended up falling backwards over the bench he was sitting on when I
turned up the unit. We couldn’t control our laughter and it became
a contest to see who could follow in his footsteps and repeat what
he did.
These are young guys mind you, most in their
twenties, and it didn’t take long before the probes were going
under clothing on unmentionable body parts. We were laughing so
hard we were crying. We called it the electric erection. We were
like a bunch of kids, good friends and family. For that short
amount of time, I felt like a kid again and not old enough to be
these men’s mother.
On another one of these evenings, my friend
Veronica drove down to check out the academy. She brought along
Betty, another of my good friends. They were able to eat dinner in
the cafeteria with me and I showed them around campus. After dinner
they asked if I could go out to a bar. I told them I would have
needed to get written permission several days in advance. We walked
around the campus for a while and I finally said to hell with it.
If Sgt. Spears from my future department could sneak up to the
tower and get drunk, I could sneak off campus.
We made a break for it and ended up at the bar
inside Chili’s Restaurant. Betty was our designated driver so
Veronica and I tied one on. I’m not sure how many pitchers of
margaritas we had but I could barely walk by the time we
left.
I stumbled into my dorm room at 0100 hours. I
was up at 0445 hours or at least that’s when the alarm went off. I
struggled to get out of bed and somehow managed to get myself to
physical training. My head was spinning uncontrollably. I showered
fast, brushed my teeth and shoved gum into my mouth (also against
the rules). My stomach was turning and I was thinking a night of
disobeying orders was not the best of ideas.
After warming up, I ran to the bathroom and
puked my guts up which helped. I then went back out and struggled
through a six-mile run and weight training. Thank god no one
smelled alcohol on my breath. I know it was a lot to risk, but I
needed to cross the line. I had done everything asked of me and
this act of rebellion felt great, although my stomach and head
didn’t. I will always love Veronica for bringing out my wild side
and helping me break the rules. I had earned this small break in
routine.
I waited all day for Sgt. Dickens to mention I
was seen leaving campus but it never happened. The week ended and
there were only two weeks to go. The following week would be the
hardest we had yet to face. Sitting in my classroom on Friday, I
looked around at all these hopeful young men. I couldn’t imagine
one of them failing at this late date. I was thinking the same of
myself.
We had all come so far and everything we had
learned was coming together. This had been the longest sixteen
weeks of my life. Two more to go and I did not plan on letting
anything stop me.
Chapter 21 Failure Is Not An Option
After what seemed like a short weekend, Monday
came around. It was our last weekly test. I had studied hard and
did well. We all passed. The rest of the day was spent in the
classroom reviewing for the final which would take place the
following Monday.
Tuesday was our Defensive Tactics final. We
had to know the names of all the major pressure points and major
nerves on the body. We had to demonstrate proper take down
procedure as well as handcuffing techniques. We all passed this
test as well.
Stop and approach scenarios would begin on
Wednesday. As they did last time, all the volunteers arrived the
evening before. We had been hearing horror stories of what we
jolt.
We would hold hands and see how many cadets
the current would effect when we made a circle. One of our goofier
cadets started connecting the prongs to different body parts. He
would then have me turn the settings on high and see how long he
could take it. He placed a probe on either side of his foot and
ended up falling backwards over the bench he was sitting on when I
turned up the unit. We couldn’t control our laughter and it became
a contest to see who could follow in his footsteps and repeat what
he did.
These are young guys mind you, most in their
twenties, and it didn’t take long before the probes were going
under clothing on unmentionable body parts. We were laughing so
hard we were crying. We called it the electric erection. We were
like a bunch of kids, good friends and family. For that short
amount of time, I felt like a kid again and not old enough to be
these men’s mother.
On another one of these evenings, my friend
Veronica drove down to check out the academy. She brought along
Betty, another of my good friends. They were able to eat dinner in
the cafeteria with me and I showed them around campus. After dinner
they asked if I could go out to a bar. I told them I would have
needed to get written permission several days in advance. We walked
around the campus for a while and I finally said to hell with it.
If Sgt. Spears from my future department could sneak up to the
tower and get drunk, I could sneak off campus.
We made a break for it and ended up at the bar
inside Chili’s Restaurant. Betty was our designated driver so
Veronica and I tied one on. I’m not sure how many pitchers of
margaritas we had but I could barely walk by the time we
left.
I stumbled into my dorm room at 0100 hours. I
was up at 0445 hours or at least that’s when the alarm went off. I
struggled to get out of bed and somehow managed to get myself to
physical training. My head was spinning uncontrollably. I showered
fast, brushed my teeth and shoved gum into my mouth (also against
the rules). My stomach was turning and I was thinking a night of
disobeying orders was not the best of ideas.
After warming up, I ran to the bathroom and
puked my guts up which helped. I then went back out and struggled
through a six-mile run and weight training. Thank god no one
smelled alcohol on my breath. I know it was a lot to risk, but I
needed to cross the line. I had done everything asked of me and
this act of rebellion felt great, although my stomach and head
didn’t. I will always love Veronica for bringing out my wild side
and helping me break the rules. I had earned this small break in
routine.
I waited all day for Sgt. Dickens to mention I
was seen leaving campus but it never happened. The week ended and
there were only two weeks to go. The following week would be the
hardest we had yet to face. Sitting in my classroom on Friday, I
looked around at all these hopeful young men. I couldn’t imagine
one of them failing at this late date. I was thinking the same of
myself.
We had all come so far and everything we had
learned was coming together. This had been the longest sixteen
weeks of my life. Two more to go and I did not plan on letting
anything stop me.
Chapter 21 Failure Is Not An Option
After what seemed like a short weekend, Monday
came around. It was our last weekly test. I had studied hard and
did well. We all passed. The rest of the day was spent in the
classroom reviewing for the final which would take place the
following Monday.
Tuesday was our Defensive Tactics final. We
had to know the names of all the major pressure points and major
nerves on the body. We had to demonstrate proper take down
procedure as well as handcuffing techniques. We all passed this
test as well.
Stop and approach scenarios would begin on
Wednesday. As they did last time, all the volunteers arrived the
evening before. We had been hearing horror stories of what we
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