"I'll shove chillies down his throat today."
Charles said coldly as he went ramrod straight and looked forward.
Commander was coming out of the gym, breathing hard. And there was a cut on his lower lip with blood seeping down. He cleared it with the back of his palm. I swear I missed a few heart beats right there.
****
General Warren walked towards us and stood fuming.
"Control his mouth before I kick all of you out."
That was a clear warning.
"Yes sir."
Charles said quivering.
"I'm fine with your basic framework. You and Neil bring the official proposal to my office tomorrow and I'll see how to talk to HQ. But this -"
He pointed at his bleeding lip.
"- if he can not control his anger, consider it scrapped from my side."
"It won't happen again, sir."
Charles promised and commander left.
"This fucker.."
Someone's body is going to be minced soon.
We entered to find Neil lying on the floor grunting in pain.
One of his eyes was swollen and he held his left pinky finger tightly in his right hand.
I was horrified to see his state.
They didn't spar, they beat up each other!
He looked at us with one functional eye and released a relaxed sigh.
"He agreed."
Neil said and I noticed his gum was bleeding too.
Ouch! That must have been a power punch.
So much pain and the first thing he has to say is that commander agreed to their plan?
"I heard."
Charles said as if nothing bothered him.
"Med care. I'm broken."
Neil requested.
I finally moved to pick him up but was stopped.
"Twenty first."
Instructor Charles said cruelly.
I turned to him.
"Are you crazy! He's exhausted to even move! How will he-"
"Are you, sir?"
"I... Instructor... I think I broke this..."
He lifted his pinky finger up.
Oh goodness.
"Even better. Will give a nice sting of memory. Twenty before anyone even touches you."
I don't think Charles has a heart.
Neil looked at him confused who looked back mercilessly.
Neil turned around without a word and grunted loudly. They had some conversation I wasn't included in.
"He probably broke one or more ribs too."
I said softly.
"Well then he'll suffer through it all."
I can't believe this!
Such cruelty!
Suddenly I saw six men around us - two I knew, one being Kelly. The rest four - I had never seen.
One man started requesting Charles.
"Instructor.. He-"
"He will push twenty for reason he knows already."
Neil tried his best and kept falling.
He was on eight and struggling hard when Kelly boosted him "Come on, sir. You have to do it for us! Push it!"
Following him, the rest started encouraging him and Neil somehow gathered some strength to complete twenty.
He fell on the last count.
Charles went and bent next to him.
"I appreciate your silence throughout this suffering."
"I've learnt my lesson, Instructor. I'll control my anger here onwards."
Neil said wheezing loudly.
"You are our leader, and I'll be glad to put my life on line for you before anything even touches you. But that bad a control again, and I'm leaving. With all due respect, sir."
"Won't give you a chance, Instructor."
That's enough testing for now!
"Boys, get him to med care."
We all rushed to pick him up and carried him to the medcare before anybody sees his swollen eye which was starting to turn dark.
*****
"What the heck?"
Major Richard was surprised but acted quicker than I could register.
After examining Neil's face and ensuring that there's no permanent damage, he handed Neil an ice pack to cover his black eye and gave him ice cubes to keep in his mouth to stop the bleeding from his gums.
He then examined his pinky finger and let a loud sigh.
"That's not good."
He remarked and all of us raised our eyebrows.
"Broken?"
I asked him.
"No. It's dislocated. Must be hurting, right?"
Marks asked Neil who jerked a violent yes.
Damn.
And he pushed twenty with that!
Fuck.
"Any other day I'd relocate the joint without a warning. But not today. Hold him."
Marks told Charles and Kelly.
"What do you mean hold him?"
"Hold?"
Both of them asked in the same tone.
I would have laughed if Neil wasn't going crazy.
"He's going to kick me off while I place it back. Instructor, hold his arm. And Kelly - hold his feet. Firmly."
He replied quickly and Neil gulped.
'It will hurt more?' was clear on Neil's swollen face with one eye open and other covered with ice pack.
Nevertheless, he was captivated and Marks got hold of his left hand.
He used all his power and snapped his pinky finger out.
The plop sound was louder than Neil's muffled cry.
But it lasted for only a second.
"Bend it."
Marks told Neil and was glad that he replaced the joint correctly.
Neil had relaxed visibly since the most painful problem was tackled.
Charles and Kelly stepped aside and Marks examined rest of his body.
Neil was stripped to just his shorts and was made to stand with support.
There were countless marks and bruises over his torso, back and arms.
Marks tested and poked between his ribs to look for any broken ones. Gladly there was none.
After doing a detailed assessment and ensuring that there wasn't any other grave injury, Marks turned infuriated.
"Now. Will you care to explain what the fuck happened?"
I've never seen Major Richard Marks lose patience and talk angrily.
Neil did a great job pissing everyone.
"I'm sorry. I.. I should have controlled myself. Warren said something and I just lost it. I swear it won't happen again."
Neil apologised honestly.
"You were lucky he just displaced your finger joint. If it was any of us, we would have broken it into pieces."
Okay.
Marks is not just pissed.
He's boiling.
Neil continued to look down as the seniormost member of his team scolded him.
"All of us are here because we said bye bye to our personal problems and accepted you for who you are. If you can't give it back the same way, you know what to expect."
Marks said pointing at all of us.
"This better be the last time I hear you losing control of your tongue and temper."
That was a scary ass warning.
"Yes sir. I promise that was the last time I brought you all down."
Neil replied with his eyes on the ground.
Marks took deep breaths and calmed down like nothing happened.
"So, what did he say?"
"Said he's fine with our terms. We need to... report him... with our deal."
Neil said looking up hesitantly.
"What?"
It was funny how Marks understood that Neil wanted to say something more.
"He.. Is.. Angry.."
Neil started.
"Don't test my patience, Captain Prince."
Marks warned him.
Charles answered on his behalf while Neil looked for words.
"He punched General on his lips, gifting him a cut. He was bleeding when he left and sure as hell pissed."
"What?!"
Marks was beyond shocked now.
He hurried, shuffled around and picked up his first aid kit.
"Instructor Charles - we need to talk. I'm not letting this one slide. Oh goodness!"
Marks said as he rushed out probably to go to Commander's office and stitch his wound all the while getting a laser glare from him.
Neil continued to look down.
Such a baby.
I must have smiled at my thought because I found Kelly looking at me and having the same little smile on his lips.
"So you two find this funny?"
Charles spoke loudly for everyone and the smiles got flushed instantly.
"No...no.."
"Negative, Instructor."
We both hurried up before he drags our asses.
"It's my fault. I own it, Instructor."
Neil said looking up determined now.
"Ah glad you said it, Sir. You will own it for sure, but your team will pay for it."
And I heard my heart plop down.
"What? No. It was my fault. I'll pay for it. Why drag them?"
"Because you pissed them all."
Damn it!
Charles is going to use the guilt drive on him by driving all of us dead.
"Instructor please. Listen to me. It is nobody's fault but mine. And I'm ready to make up for it. Please don't -"
"Go take a shower, change, come and sit outside the ground. Watch your teammates getting lashed for your deeds."
Charles said without a heart.
"Everyone on the field in five. I don't care if you've had water or food all day or not."
Fuck all of us!
And Fuck you Neil!
All of us gulped our anger down instead of glaring Neil while he apologised with his eyes.
*******
"James Dwight."
I introduced myself to the men I saw for the first time.
They were in Neil's team and I had no clue!
"Garry"
"Nelson"
"Waldo"
"How come I never saw you before."
"We aren't supposed to meet anyone."
One of them replied.
I raised my eyebrows questioning.
"They are three of Neil's many birds."
Charles said walking towards us.
"What about the rest?"
I blurted out.
"They only watch for him. They're not in the team. Only these three are."
Charles cleared my doubt.
"And just how many birds does he have?"
"I don't know. Only he knows."
Charles said shrugging his shoulders.
Damn this man is dark!
Marks joined us the next moment mumbling to himself angrily.
"What did he say, sir?"
Charles asked concerned.
"Who said he was angry? His balls were on fire! He was that pissed. And just how strongly Neil punched him? He was equally beaten. This boy needs to shut his mouth on time. Commander warned me that he'll call it off any moment if this repeats."
Marks replied joining us in the formation of straight line.
"Just live tonight all of you. And I promise he'll keep his tongue tied throughout the rest of his life."
Charles warned us about a grand screwing we all will be going through just to push Neil into a bad guilt trip.
As expected, Neil made his entry and stood right outside.
"Take a seat, gentleman."
Marks shouted angrily.
"I'll stand, sir."
"No you don't, sir. It going to be a long night. Sit down."
Charles spoke and Neil looked like a slapped kitten.
They were leaving no room for him.
Neil sat comfortably and our shipwreck began.
We went to hell and back multiple times while Neil just sat there and looked at us.
Every part of my body was grunting in pain but I was glad to be on this end, and not where Neil was.
I could never live through the guilt he was going through.
Getting your brothers get screwed hard just because you made a mistake - it's an age old method of Army to teach you discipline and make you think the next time you repeat it. I've attended such galas over hundred times. But in all of them, the culprit was the center of attraction. He'd sweat and bleed more than the rest, or atleast equal. This is the first time in my life that the culprit is sitting and watching his brothers getting smoked.
Trust me, I can't fathom his mental state.
It must be awful.
He must have seen that coming that's why he was begging Charles to punish him instead of us.
But guess what?
This isn't a lesson just for him.
It's a lesson for all of us.
That none of us is singular.
What we do affects everyone else in the team and we better use our goddamn brain before doing anything stupid.
RIP to Neil's bad-temper. It won't make an appearance ever again.
I hope it doesn't.
************************************
Well hello from Neil's team!
And how did you feel meeting his birds for the first time? 😁
And how would you feel if you were Neil, sitting outside the ground?
One such treatment turns a socially detached person into a considerate one.
************************************
Wishes to all my readers and their loved ones for the new year.
I hope we live a better life ourselves and be a reason for someone else's better life in 2021.
My motto for another year - We don't know who went through what. Why not consider everyone as hurt and heal them with our kindness.
I'll be happy if you all make it your motto too. This world needs compassionate people. ☺️
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See you all next year 😁
Stay safe, stay kind!