21 Jump Street (Tom Hanson)

First Meeting Mickey Gregg

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."