Tom's POV
April 1987
I pulled up to the address that Captain Briody gave me during our meeting. 21 Jump Street, Metropolis. I almost thought I was in the wrong place, because this address was to an abandoned church. I checked my hair in my rear view mirror, making sure not a single hair was out of place. I had to look professional for my first day.
I was instructed to meet with the captain at this precinct. I was a little nervous, because I did not want to make a bad first impression. I checked the time and realized that I was going to be late. I grabbed the cup of coffee that I picked up on my way over and a piece of paper that had the name of the captain on it. I placed it neatly in my pocket so I would not forget.
I walked up the stairs to the church and looked down at the street. It was so cold, I could see my breath. I pushed the door open and walked inside. I immediately noticed a punching bag, a red water cooler, an organ in the back corner, and large stained glass church windows at the back of the tall chapel. There was soft music playing, but it took me a second to see anyone. I took off my hat and held it, along with my black coffee in a white styrofoam cup. I glanced around and saw a bunch of kids sitting at desks and walking around the uniquely decorated church.
I heard someone shout, "everybody out the back door!"
A few heads turned towards me, and my eyes widened at them all. They all looked like teenagers. Not one of them was in uniform. Was this where I was supposed to be?
"It's a bust! Nobody told you this prom ain't formal." One of the guys walked up to me. "Doug Penhall."
I was very confused but offered him my hand anyway, which he took. I introduced myself and asked, "this is Jump Street Chapel?"
"Only if you're Catholic. Ioki thinks it's a Buddhist temple. For me, a synagogue. My mom's Jewish which only means I celebrate both guilt and hell," he said. He looked like a beefy meathead jock. This guy is a cop?! Who let him graduate from the Academy?
"His father was a priest," another guy walked up to us. He looked Japanese, and had thick black hair. "Don't play Bingo with this guy. He's a killer. They want you to infiltrate student council?"
"I doubt it," I said. I glanced down and noticed that he was holding a rat in his hand. Wait, a hamster. I decided not to question it.
"H.T. Ioki," he introduced himself.
"'H' for Harry, 'T' for Truman," Doug said.
"I'm here to see—" I took out the slip of paper from my pocket and read the name off of it "—Captain Richard Jenko."
"Yo! Jenk!" Doug shouted over his shoulder. Then he turned back to me and gestured toward my hair, "you got to turbo-charge your hair or something, Hanson. You look like Richie Cunningham."
My eyebrows stitched together. I did not think anything was wrong with my hair. Did a hair come out of place? I patted my hair down and Doug walked off. Ioki saluted me, so I saluted back.
"Newbie?" I heard. I turned toward the voice and saw a girl sitting at her desk, using her thigh as a surface to write on her paper. Looking across the room at her, our eyes joined for a breath or two. I felt my facial muscles pull into a smile when I saw her, that I could not control.
Her feet were kicked up on her desk, and she was rhythmically bouncing her black converse sneaker on top of the other. She wore denim jeans and voluminous brown hair with a thick blue scrunchie wrapped around her wrist. I have never seen her before, and I know I would have remembered her if I had.
It took me a moment to come back to my thoughts, I was trailing off for a moment. I couldn't help but smile at her when I said, "hi."
Frozen, I held my breath. When I saw her, I fell in love. And she smiled, because she knew. I know she knew. I felt something in the pit of my stomach that told me that she was someone I had been waiting for. Maybe I'm being dramatic... but maybe someday she will agree and admit that she felt the same.
"Hi." Her smile could have knocked me to my knees. Just one look and I almost felt succumbed to her angel eyes. The sounds in the room seemed to fade away. She asked, "did anyone tell you that this is an undercover unit?"
"Yeah," I answered. It was hard to remember what was in my mind before this conversation, I was getting distracted.
She gestured toward me with her pen and she asked, "then what's with the uniform?"
I looked down at my uniform and started stuttering, "I—uh..."
She chuckled, "you're fine."
I looked back up at her and shook out my hand slightly to try to shake my jitters out. Maybe I'm just nervous for my first day. I decided to start over and introduce myself, "Officer Tom Hanson."
"Yeah," she said and dropped our eye contact to look down at her papers again. "Heard you the first time."
I waited a moment because I was expecting her to introduce herself. She seemed stand-offish, and not too pleased that I was here. I finally asked, "what's yours?"
She dropped her papers on her desk and stood up and walked over to me. Now that she was closer, I could see her dark hazel eyes. She has really pretty eyes, they were hypnotic. It was like looking at an antique bookshelf or looking into a beautiful forest. They stopped me and stole my breath. I never really knew what I wanted, but when I looked into her eyes, it became clear.
She chewed her gum and said, "Mickey Gregg."
"How do you do, Miss Gregg?" I asked her, assuming that she was the younger sister of Doug or something.
"Officer," she corrected.
I raised my eyebrows in shock. Maybe it's because I have only worked with older men, but I would never have guessed that a young and attractive woman could be a respected police officer. "Officer?"
"Don't seem so surprised," she said, seeing right through me. She sounded like she was joking, but I don't know her well enough to know for certain. I just hoped that I did not offend her already. She crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows at me.
"I— I'm not," I stammered. I don't usually trip over my words, I don't know what had gotten into me. "I would have remembered you at the Academy."
"Maybe I would have rung a bell if you were there two years ago," she said. How old is she? I would never have guessed that she was older than me. I guess this is the perfect precinct for her to work at.
"Is that a fact? I guess I was a little too late."
"No matter how you slice it, you're here now so it doesn't really matter," she said, "coming to join our crew?"
"Think so," I said, looking around at the precinct. I still could not believe that this place exists. Who decided that this should be a precinct for police officers? It smelled like old wood and Hostess Twinkies, and looked like it was decorated by a preschooler. "This is an official... police station?"
"Yeah," she said casually... like this was normal. "Jump Street headquarters."
I was unimpressed. I laughed and said, "this is ridiculous."
"You might not like us, but you better respect us," she said. I noticed her looking at my hair, and she finally stopped when I pat my hair down again.
We were both interrupted when I heard the sound of squeaking. I looked behind Mickey as she turned around and saw some guy walking towards us from a yellow and red fireman's pole that was at the other end of the chapel. He said to me, "hey, what's happening, man?"
He wore a bomber jacket with fur, and an European hat on top of his thick brown hair. He did not look like a cop in the slightest. A drifter? Possibly. A hippy? Definitely.
"Excuse me," I said to Mickey before I walked over to the hipster. He looked much older than the rest of the officers in the chapel, so he would be my best bet for finding the captain. "Hi. I'm here to see, uh... Captain Jenko."
"Yeah? Far out," he said.
I waited to see if he was going to elaborate, but he did not. I raised my eyebrows as I asked, "is he here?"
"Yeah." He chewed on a toothpick. Mickey left me and headed back to her desk, kicking her feet up on the table again and leaned back in her chair, no longer paying me any attention. I found myself looking back at her constantly without even meaning to.
From across the chapel, Ioki called out, "yo, autograph."
He walked off, so I followed him. I was getting impatient so I asked, "could you tell him Patrolman Hanson is here? I don't want him to think I'm late."
I heard some muttering coming from behind me, but I ignored them. Why were they being so immature? I was not going to let my new coworkers make fun of me for taking my job seriously.
"Hey, you ain't late," he said to me. Then he paused to listen to the music and asked, "you like that sound?"
I was getting frustrated so I barely gave it a listen and I snapped, "not really."
"Me neither. Praise God, hallelujah! Maybe I'm sane! Been a deadhead since Woodstock."
The man began walking away so I followed him. "I didn't go, I was only five. Look, I really got to check in with Captain Jenko."
"Yeah," he said and walked over to Doug to inspect his gun for no reason.
"Yeah, well, where can I find him?" I asked. I was about to ditch this maniac and see if Mickey would be willing to help me. She seems to be the most logical person here after just a thirty-second conversion with her. Besides, I wouldn't mind talking to her again. In fact, I hope I do.
"You're looking at him, Hanson. I'm right here. Except on Saturday nights. I play lead guitar with some dudes in my garage band."
"You're Captain Jenko?" I was in disbelief. I looked him up and down, hoping that he would announce that he was joking and send me to the real Jenko. He was the most unsophisticated, weird, hippy captain I have ever met. And I have met a lot of captains.
"It gets better, doesn't it?" He flicked at my chest and made me follow him into his office. I wanted to walk back through the chapel and run down those stairs and never come back, but I knew I could not do that. It was a great internal conflict, but I finally kicked myself into following Jenko. I didn't mean to, but I found myself looking back at Mickey and I thought that she was looking my way, but she immediately turned back to her paper.
I snapped myself out of it and we walked into his office, and it was not any more professional than the squad room. There were posters on the wall, a dart board, and even a piano. He pointed up at a poster of some musician holding a guitar and said, "hey, can you believe that guy? Huh? He could squeeze more music out of a Stratocaster than Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Alvin Lee put together. Oh, man. Jimi was the best. Too bad he had to throw it all away on a short ride getting high."
I stared at the poster, trying to figure out who the musician was. Not Jimmy Dorsey... Jimmy Buffett, maybe? That name rings a bell but I don't think that's him on the poster. But I'm getting close. Jenko was rummaging around the corner of his office and I finally gave up. I said, "I'm not... uh, familiar with him. Who did he play with?"
Jenko walked up to me and said with a straight face, "God." Then, he put up a blue bag of potato chips in front of my face and asked, "breakfast?"
I glared down at the bag and said, "no, thanks. I'll grab an omelette later."
"Nu-uh," Jenko grunted. He snatched my fresh coffee from my hand and tossed it in the trash. He said, "no, you won't. When was the last time you saw a teenager have a cup of black coffee and an omelette for breakfast? Nu-uh."
I furrowed my eyebrows together. That sounded incredibly displeasing to me. Jenko continued, "from now on it's potato chips, sodapop, french fries, and pizza, man. It's a Pepsi generation, sport!" He tossed the bag of chips my way and a can of soda, which I struggled to catch.
"Don't call me sport, okay?" I demanded. I hate being called sport. It makes me feel like a child, and I want to be taken seriously. No one has taken me seriously ever since I became an officer. Even coming into this chapel, I've had my appearance made fun of twice already... and I've only been here for a few minutes.
"Hey, I'm your boss. I'll call you anything I want. Have a seat, sport," he said and gestured to the chair next to him.
I walked over to the chair and tried to sit down, but it was very uncomfortable. I glanced down at the food he tossed to me and I felt my tongue grow sour. Even when I was a teenager, I didn't eat this sugary crap. I've been called straight-laced, but that's probably because I was raised by a cop. My father used to work for the Metro Police Department, and I wanted to become a cop just like him. It felt demeaning that I was put in something as outlandish as the Jump Street Program.
"Look, Hanson. While you were out in the field, getting your butt kicked by all the bad grown-ups, me and my guys here were training to do some real battle. See, the way I look at it, child is the father of man. I mean, these bad grown-ups are coming from somewhere. They don't just hatch that way. That's why we try to yank them out while they're still in high school. You dig?" He took a gulp from his soda can.
"Dig?" I sneered my lip. Who talks like that anymore?
"Hey, spare me the wrap about how I talk, okay?"
So, I can't comment on the way he talks but he can call me whatever he wants? Is this how he is with everybody, or am I just getting picked on because I'm new? I sure hope there are more normal people at this precinct because I'm about at my limit already of how much weirdness I can handle.
"Yeah, I know, you went to Woodstock, right?" I asked sarcastically.
"Right on, brother. We are ahead of you here, Hanson, so I'm gonna have to rush you through some of the training."
"What kind of training?" I asked. Was the Academy not enough?
"Teach you how to be a teenager again, sport. How does that grab you? I'm talking about the bad kind. The kind that gets into trouble, the kind you're gonna have to be like so they think you're one of them. Dig?"
"Okey-dokey," I said.
"I read through your file, Hanson. Your evaluation reports say that you have gusto and wit. So, I'm going to have you train under Mickey Gregg," he said. I wiped my palms on the knees of my pants after he said that and he continued, "she's been on the team for about two years now, and I think you two will get along just fine. Don't tell the others, but she's one of the best on the team. Great coach too. I think both of your personalities will mesh together nicely." Then he shouted, "Hoffs!"
"Yeah, well, she doesn't seem too fond of me," I stated. I almost felt nervous about working with Mickey. I needed a good first impression, and I felt like we didn't get that. Maybe I can take her out for coffee or something to make up for it. We have to get to know each other anyway if we are going to be partners.
"She tends to give the cold shoulder, but she will come around. Just so you know, you have no protection on the inside so she is a great resource too, if you ever have any questions."
"How old is she?" I asked.
Jenko eyed me coldly, "you never ask a lady her age, Hanson. That's the point of Jump Street. Of-age officers who look young enough to pass as high school students. All you have to know is that she is your supervisor until you're out of training."
"Right," I said.
"Hey, Hoffs! Wake up!" Jenko shouted.
Within moments, a girl with dark skin and huge dangly earrings and a jean jacket with more shiny buttons on it than I can count came in through the door. She said, "relax, relax, I'm up."
"Hoffs, Hanson. Hanson, Hoffs," Jenko introduced us.
"Hi." I let my eyes grow wide in an attempt to make her laugh. She did not. I've been told that I have a quite dry and sarcastic sense of humor. I'm used to it going over peoples heads. I'm not always so serious. I sometimes can be diverting, but that's for very specific occasions.
Jenko took my arm and led me to Hoffs. "Jude, run this cat down to wardrobe and see if you can take some of the cop out of his presentation. And for god sake, do something about that Jack Kennedy haircut too, will you?"
Three times. What is everyone's problem with my hair? I worked hard to make it perfect this morning. The only person I've met today who has not commented on it was Mickey, but she wouldn't stop staring at it.
Jenko turned to me and continued, "do what Officer Hoffs tells you, Hanson. Been real, bro." He held out his hand, so I repositioned my potato chip bag and soda so I could shake his hand. "Stick with Hoffs, here, and she'll hook us up with some field training tonight."
"Woah, I thought I was training with Officer Gregg?" I asked.
"You are. She just started an assignment over at Wilcox High School. As soon as she's done, you're gonna be all hers. Until then, Jude will help you out." He did a weird handshake and ended with slapping my palm. I tried to do it back, but he moved his hand out of the way and slid it through his hair, and then he walked out the door. "Later!"
I stared at Officer Hoffs with a look of disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"
"Oh, so Jenks a little bit of a hang-on hippy. Big deal. Cause when it comes to being undercover, the dude is the best. I'm Judy Hoffs." She held out her hand.
I grabbed it the same way Jenko did for me, and she repositioned my hand and said, "oh, that's okay, honey. My people don't do that anymore."
"Oh," I said and followed her out of the office. "Chip?"
_______________________
Judy put me in clothes I didn't even wear when I really was a teenager. She forced me to wash all the pomade out of my hair, and even got me to pierce my ears. That took a lot of convincing. I never thought I would ever get a piercing in my life. A tattoo is completely out of the question.
I came to the chapel early in the morning and saw my new team sitting around a table with Jenko holding a clipboard. Last night was my first assignment being undercover, and I wish I could forget about it. I don't think I could have done any worse than what I did. I just hoped my mistake was going to stay between me and Doug and Jenko, and not blab about it to everyone. I sat in the only empty seat, and I tried to focus on what Jenko was saying.
He began the meeting by talking to Judy, but I got distracted by Mickey. She looked like she was listening to Jenko, but not really. She occasionally chewed her gum and fiddled with a pencil between her fingers. I was trying to get a feel of how she thought about me, and so far it wasn't promising. I didn't even realize that I was staring at her until I heard Jenko's voice.
"Penhall, what's shaking with you, bud?" Jenko asked, pulling me back to the meeting.
"I figured with Jace out of the mix and my cover blown," Doug said cynically toward me. I looked away and shifted in my seat as he continued, "I could play golf for the rest of the semester."
"Yeah, well, figure again. Bob Hope plays golf, but don't sweat it, bud. We'll find a place for you," Jenko said to him before turning to Ioki, "Ioki, what's happening on the hill?"
"I got my dudes set up at Cleveland High for some quantity. I'm waiting for a clearance on that six grand," Ioki reported.
"Gregg, how's it going over at Wilcox?" Jenko asked her.
Mickey confidently tossed him a file and said, "busted a teacher yesterday. Just needs your autograph and it goes straight to big dogs at the station."
"Nice work, Gregg," Jenko said and grabbed her file and a pen, "but why wasn't this reported to me yesterday?"
"You weren't here," she said.
"I have a telephone," Jenko said.
"I told Briody."
"Captain Briody? Do I look like I'm Captain Briody?"
"I'll tell you next time," she promised.
"Hanson," Jenko said which caught my immediate attention. "You're going to get your feet wet at Amherst High. Hanson, you're a disciplinary transfer from Wilcox with a suspected drug problem and a very bad attitude. Dig? Everything you need to know is in this deal." Jenko handed me a file and tossed another one to Mickey. Jenko asked, "Mick, have you met Hanson?"
I looked toward Mickey when she looked me up and down and answered, "briefly."
"You were not with us at Jace's arrest, were you?" Jenko asked her.
"No, I was still at Wilcox," she said and opened the file. "New assignment?"
"Yeah," Jenko nodded.
"Bender?" She asked. I assume that she was looking at her undercover name, because mine is Tom Bauer. "Like from the Breakfast Club?"
"Yeah, you will be undercover at Amherst," he said.
I raised my eyebrows and took another glance at my file. That's where I was going.
"But that's where Tom is going," she pointed out.
Jenko popped a potato chip in his mouth and said, "yeah, Mickey. You're going with Hanson make sure that he does not blow his cover. Again."
"I just busted a drug ring at Wilcox in a matter of hours," she said while putting the file on the table and crossed her arms. "I don't want to be babysitting some newbie... no offense."
"No, I'm with you," I agreed with her, "Jenko, just give me another chance. I won't blow it this time, I promise."
"This is your chance," Jenko said. He turned to her and said, "since you missed it, Mister Big Shot here blew his first cover in just a couple of minutes."
I leaned back in my chair and rolled my eyes. Did he really have to blab about my mistake to everyone? Transferring to this station gave me the opportunity to start over, and I really did not need more people thinking less of me. Especially my new partner.
"The case I've been working on for weeks," Doug complained.
"His mistake means I'm on babysitting duty?" She asked. I got a little offended, but it was understandable.
"Yeah," Jenko said to her and then turned to me, "read it carefully, Hanson. You don't want Gregg on your bad side. We take our undercover business very seriously once we go out these doors."
"Okey-dokey," I said to him and scanned through the documents. I mentally quizzed myself on my new profile. I wanted to impress Mickey by memorizing it as soon as possible.
"There's absolutely nothing heavy going on at Amherst... that we know of. So just keep your eyes open, stay out of trouble, and remember, you're still in training," Jenko said to me.
"Let's go do it!" Doug shouted, pounding the table vigorously, followed by a howl. I felt a little overwhelmed by his energy, but everyone else seemed desensitized to it.
"I'm glad he's on our side," Jenko said and he dismissed everyone.
I grabbed the file with my profile and glanced up to see Mickey walking away. I wanted to talk to her about our case, so I caught up to her and tried to tap her shoulder, but accidentally tugged at her arm instead. She turned around and I almost stumbled over my words when I asked, "have you read the profile?"
"Not yet. Have you?" She asked.
"Of course," I brought my eyebrows together. We got this assignment minutes ago already, and she hasn't read it through yet?
"Are you always this uptight?" She asked.
"I wouldn't call it uptight," I said, feeling the sting of her insult. "Rule-follower? Maybe."
"If you're going to be at Jump Street, you'll have to stop acting like you could be a nark. Those guys out there can smell you ten miles away." She pointed to herself and said, "I can smell you from ten miles away."
I sighed and said, "Captain Jenko says you're one of the best in the unit. Maybe you can teach me."
She seemed to calm down some and she exhaled through her nose roughly. She brought her hand up and I immediately caught it with mine. We shook hands and she said to me, "welcome to Jump Street."
Her hands were soft, and I felt a thump in my chest when she pulled away. I smiled kindly at her, but she had already turned around and started heading for her desk. I blew a raspberry and noticed her taking a peek at the assignment as I headed to the door. I couldn't yet see how Jenko thought we would be a good match.
This should be interesting.
Thanks for reading my first official chapter in Tom's POV! I have a little list of ones that people have already requested but keep 'em coming!