Chapter 2. Ethan #2
He's got this look in his eyes, even with his mouth relaxed. Like he's been told not to smile but can't help it. Blue eyes, black hair, tattoos all over his neck. Trouble incarnate. But… damn it.
I close the folder. Doesn't matter. I have a goal: graduate with honors, get out, have a life. I'm doing well… great grades, staff trust me, no issues. I don't need to think about some kid's face.
My mouth goes dry anyway. Another mentee.
Endless meetings with Griff, thirty extra hours of admin, monitoring another unfixable lunatic.
My last mentee set off two fire alarms in three days and got the whole unit locked down.
I lost three weeks of privileges because of that little shit.
Trashed his ass for it, but it didn't fix him.
Violence rarely does. I just like making idiots pay when they stand in my way.
One more note at the bottom. Griff's handwriting: "Please meet me in my office after you get this, so we can go collect the kid."
Deep breath.
I don't want another mentee. They're always the same: reckless, no regard for anything, ready to destroy your record without a second thought.
I could be prepping for clinicals, training, sleeping, reading.
Instead, I'll spend my foreseeable future babysitting a criminal brat.
But it's the deal. The whole reason leaders exist, the whole reason I get the privileges.
Doesn't stop it from sucking.
I leave my office, round the corner, linoleum squeaking, take the stairwell two at a time.
Burns off the nerves. There's a smell from the canteen, beans or something.
My stomach growls. If I close my eyes, I can almost pretend this is a hospital or a run-down hotel instead of a facility for kids sick in their heads.
I'm being dramatic. Most kids keep to themselves, too scared or uninterested to cause trouble. I hope Liam's one of those. But I remember the photo, that look in his eyes, and I know he's not.
I think of Parker. My worst mentee. Fucked in the head, not in a workable way.
They transferred him to a psych ward after he tried to hurt himself.
Before that, we were in the vegetable patch, and he spotted a rabbit.
Caught it and tried to kill it, just for fun.
If I hadn't intervened, he'd have smashed its head with his hand.
When I screamed at him to let go, he laughed, psycho laugh, trying to freak me out.
Didn't work. Made me hate him ten times more.
I spanked his ass after that. Satisfying, watching him cry. He had a good ass, at least, and enjoyed the spankings more than I'd have liked.
Maybe I'm a bit of a psycho too.
When I reach Griff's office, I knock, then stand straight. Hands behind my back, eyes down. Griff respects formality. Show up late or sloppy, and you run drills till you puke. He's done that to me more than once, especially when I was a rookie. They break rookies hard here.
But I respect the man. He works harder than we deserve.
Sixty kids, and he knows every name, every file, every family history.
That's his job, sure, but he could be doing much less.
He knows I don't like being called by my last name, and he makes sure the staff respect that. Good man, even when he's terrifying.
"Come in," Griff calls. Early fifties, gray hair clipped short, green eyes, nose crooked from at least two MMA breaks, faded military tattoos. He doesn't look up right away. His way of making me sweat.
"Sit, Ethan," he says, setting his iPad down. "You got your assignment."
"Yes, sir. I reviewed the file."
He slides the tablet toward me, taps the screen. Liam's photo again, even better on the bigger display.
I keep my face neutral. "Thoughts?"
"Just another kid, sir." Even if I had concerns, I wouldn't voice them. I don't bitch or melt down like some of the other leaders. I keep my mouth shut and handle it.
"You understand the structure. His infractions become your infractions. If Liam can't adjust, it reflects on you."
"Yes, sir. I'll make sure he toes the line."
Griff's mouth quirks. "That's what I want to hear. You won't do it alone. I'll help you too."
He stands. Meeting over. I follow him out. "First twenty-four hours are the most important," he says. "Set boundaries, establish trust. He steps out of line, figure it out."
"Yes, sir."
He'd better believe I will.
That's how Aspire works. You fuck up, you pay.
Staff have their methods. Push-ups until your arms give out, planks, holding heavy books, running laps, anything their sadistic minds can think of.
The boring kind too: staring at walls, writing lines.
And the worst, the hole. Solitary. That one breaks people.
Corporal punishment isn't official. But leaders handle it. Belt to ass, traditional. It happened to me. Happens to everybody. And now, on this side of it… yeah. It gives me satisfaction. A thrill. The control, the submission, the tremble in their muscles. Makes me hard, most times.
Everyone pretends not to notice. Staff look the other way. It's just how things work.
When I reach the admin hallway, Liam's still being processed. I watch him through the glass.
He's in uniform. Sweats a half size too big, black sweatshirt with the logo over the heart. And he's smiling. Actually smiling, the little fucker.
Up close, worse than the photo. Straight black hair razored short on the sides and long on top, fringe over his forehead. Eyes bright blue. He doesn't look scared.
Why doesn't he look scared?
A tattoo curls from under his collar up his neck, ending next to his ear, a geometric, diamond pattern.
He has this twitchy, restless energy. Bounces his leg, checks the clock, taps something.
In two minutes, he moves more than I have all day.
He flashes a grin at one of the staff. Like he hasn't just been admitted to this hole. And, he is handsome.
I clamp down on the thought and crush it.
This one is going to be hell.