It has been a month since logon had accpted me in the team while rest of the team has not accpted me yet. In this one month I have earned some respect from other soldiers on the base while my training has taught me a lot, and Logon has been giving me an even harder time after he accepted me. JOHN handed me my first payout, which was around $2,500, and told me that I had earned it and I should not waste it.
It was 5:00 in the morning as usual. My team and I were going for our morning run — the only thing that has changed is how long it takes me now. Where it used to take me 50 minutes to finish a round around the base at the start of the month, I can now finish it with the rest of the team in under 30 minutes. After the run I got ready for school. At school nothing had changed, but the whole class could see a little change in my body.
Everything was going normal until sports period, when our sports teacher asked us boys to take our own T-shirts off for no reason in the whole basketball court. Everyone did as she asked — everyone knew you do not question her no matter what, and if you did your bad time had started. As I took my T-shirt off, everyone in the basketball court was surprised to see my body: everybody, girls and boys, and even the sports teacher. The teacher asked if I had been working out. Before I could answer, Bull spoke up, saying I had joined some boxing gym, while some boys and girls suggested I was using steroids. I did not pay much attention to them.
When the teacher heard I had joined a boxing gym she smiled and said, "Well, Alex, you are in luck. There is going to be a boxing tournament between every school in LA. The winner will fight the winner from other states, and if you win you have a chance to become a pro boxer." I simply replied that I did not want to become a pro — I could not tell them I was already in the army. The teacher was in shock when she heard me refuse a chance to become a pro boxer. Bull sneered and said I was nothing more; sure, I had some muscle, but I was still the same weak boy, mocking me.
I looked Bull in the eye and said with a smile, "Why don't you come in the ring and we see who is what." The teacher saw things getting heated and, instead of stopping us, asked Bull and me to get in the ring. As we got in the ring the teacher told us to start the match. When the bell rang Bull launched his attack without thinking — and he paid a high price with a black eye. I would have been the one with the black eye if John had not given me a chance, and if Logon had not been pushing me hard in training. Everyone was surprised by what had just happened in the ring; Bull was knocked down in less than a minute — no one could believe it.
As the final bell rang I was ready to leave when I saw a message from John on my phone asking me to come to the L.A. S.W.A.T. headquarters; he said he would explain everything there. Without a second thought I packed my bag and went.
When I arrived at the S.W.A.T. headquarters gate two police officers were standing there. One officer asked what I was doing; I simply said, "Sir, I am here to meet Captain John of 101 who is in the base." One officer told me to wait while the other went inside to tell the commander that there was a kid outside who said he was here to meet the army captain. The commander did not give it much attention and told the officer to hold me at the gate — that Captain John would meet me in a minute. Just as the officer was about to leave, John spoke up: "The kid is a member of my team; please tell your officer to bring him here."
As I entered, I saw two S.W.A.T. teams and my own team standing and looking through the one-way mirror. Logon was interrogating someone in the interrogation room. When the two S.W.A.T. teams saw me they started making fun — "What, is your team short on men, captain, that you had to take a kid in?" — but when they saw John's seriousness their laughter vanished. I did not pay much attention to anyone there. I looked at John and asked what we were doing there.
John explained that the man in the interrogation room with Logon was David Mitchell — he had been captured by 50 David two days ago. I said okay, but that still did not explain why we were there. John looked at me and said, "We are here because two weeks ago three tons of C4 were stolen from a military shipment. Because he is an ex-military person himself, he knew the path of the shipment." I asked how many men were with him on that job. John replied that five more ex-military men were with him. "We need to find out where they are going to sell it," I said, "and stop them — if it goes into the wrong hands the whole city can be in danger." I asked what we had found out so far. John replied, "Nothing yet. Logon is trying his best to make him talk, but so far nothing." I looked at John and asked, "Can I give it a try?"
One of the 50 David group mocked me: "When we, FBI, CIA, your team could not make him talk for two days, what makes you think you can?" I ignored him and looked at John. John saw me and said, "Sure, give it a try." Before I went into the interrogation room I asked the commander to tell one of his men to get me a cup of coffee; the officer went to get it. I also asked the commander about David's family and told him to just agree with whatever I said or asked. The officer brought the coffee and I went into the interrogation room. Logon was surprised to see me. I told him I would take it from here. Logon looked at me and said, "He is all yours."
When David Mitchell saw me he started making fun and said they did not have anyone better than me. I simply looked at him and put the cup of coffee down. "You have 40 minutes," I said. "Give me details — where the deal is going to happen. If you don't, your family will be dead in the next 40 minutes." As I said those words he grabbed me and slapped me against the wall. Logon tried to intervene but I signaled him not to. I kept looking David in the eyes and told him that his wife and three-year-old daughter think they are coming here to the police station, but they are not. "The police officer is taking them to South L.A., the most dangerous area," I said. "Where people see a cop they are ready to put a bullet in their head. If you do not give us what we want, the officer will leave your family and car there and let the gang shoot them. When the media asks what happened, LAPD will simply say you were afraid your family might tell us where the C4 is, so you had a friend kill them and you were with them when it happened. If you think any human rights group or anyone else is going to question us, you are wrong. They might ask LAPD, but no one will ask us."
After hearing that, he let me go. I reminded him he had 40 minutes to tell us, or his family would die. If he had made his mind up to cooperate, we were right outside watching. Before I left, I added, "Remember, LAPD might not do it, but we — 101 — can sacrifice one or two lives to save others. One way or another we will find where that C4 is." When I came back where everyone was waiting, no one dared to say a thing except the leader of 50 David, who sneered, "You think that lie will get him to talk when no one here can?" As he finished, David Mitchell yelled from the interrogation room, "Fine, I will tell you everything you want — just make sure nothing happens to my family."
I went back in with Logon, looked David Mitchell in the eye, and told him his family was safe for now, but if his information was wrong he should imagine what would happen. He wrote everything on a piece of paper and handed it to me. After getting the paper I told him his family was safe for now. I went and handed the information to John. When the leader of 50 David looked me in the eye and told me that's not how they do things here, I looked back and said, "Neither do we, but we need the information which you could not get out in the past two days. Sometimes you need to do things the hard way to make things happen." As I finished, everyone started getting ready to hit the place. Before I went to get ready with the team I looked at the commander and asked, "Can you get his family here and let them meet him?" The commander simply nodded.