Fifty Pushups Miss ☑️

Ch07 Crazy Family

It was 6 in the morning when he walked away letting me rest for one whole day. 
It was still unbelievable. 
I couldn't decide what to do, just then Nick called me from behind. "Hey Jane! You did it!"

He gave me that compliment with a strong pat on my shoulder. 
Ow. 
"C'mon woman. Get used to this." 
"Thanks for scaring me Nick."

"But seriously. I never imagined Wills changing his mind so easily." 
"Easily? Did u not see I was hardly breathing?"

"Haha. I saw that. And guess what. You should be proud of yourself. He actually let you speak for so long! He would never let others speak in front of him. May be just.." 
"Col James" 
"Exactly. And me too, but only sometimes." 

"He let me take a break today. Can you believe it?" 
His eyes were big. "No I can't. He really did?" 
"Yes! Though it makes sense based on his warning for the coming harsh training days."

" Well, that's new. This never happened to him." 
"What?"

"I mean just like dad, training under him rarely includes a mid-week break. Dad always kept him on his toes. I still can't believe he underwent all that for years!" 
"Why your dad is a martial arts trainer too?" 

"Dad trained our batch. Wills underwent special training in extra hours, apart from the usual training." 
"But you said Col James trained him."
 
"Jane, Colonel James is our dad. " with raised eyebrows. 
My mouth opened and I felt my jaw fell on the ground. They are all family? Father and two sons. At same place at same time.

I was surprised that day when Killer punished Nick for helping me, despite being his real brother. And today it's literally a shock that uncle James trained Killer and Nick both, and all that Nick ever mentioned about Killer's training. How could a father do that to his son? This was a bigger shock than that punishment. This place is full of crazy people. 
My goodness. 

"Lost, are you?" 
"Obviously! You say Major Killer was screwed every day by Col James. And now you say he is your father. How am I supposed to react? Which father does this to his sons?"

"Fathers do only the best for their sons. If he wasn't trained that way, he would have been dead in that special mission. And only dad could have trained him for it. You haven't seen tough people in your life."

What he said was true. I haven't seen such a family in my entire life. I never thought such people can even exist. It was all sounding like a story. How do they live like this? Living with each other so formally despite of knowing so closely, despite of being a family!

"How is it like to be this way?" 
"You want to know how family members live like strangers?"

"Yea... Can say that way. I want to know how did you guys end up being in army, like this. Why is he like a killer, and you, more sensible." 
He raised an eyebrow with that last word.
"I mean more.. calm."

"Well it all started back when we were in school. We've always seen and heard so high of dad and army. The respect dad used to get from everyone created our interest in joining army too. And surprisingly both of us were eager to join. Dad came to know that when we were in 6th standard. One day, he asked us in a very serious note. "Do you want to join army and serve your country  like me?" Our answer was clear. I still remember the smile I saw on his face that day. We decided we'll try our best to make him happy and become like him. We entered sports in our school and tried to achieve best. Luckily we got good coaches and we succeeded well. Dad let us free for training at school. In fact sometimes he made our lives a little more challenging." 

"How?" 
"He had a deal. We were supposed to clear all our exams with atleast 80% marks. Staying in field and studying were two opposite poles for us. And we didn't like studying that much. But everytime we scored less, he would ground us at home and make us work out under his supervision. After making us sweat for hours and hours, he would say "I wonder what are they teaching you. You guys are equally bad in studies and stamina."

It used to give us boost and enough fear for next time. 
This went on till we appreared for our army entrance tests. We came to know that dad is one of the instructors who'll be judging us.
We went to talk to him.
He spoke very clearly. "If you become a part of the group I'm supposed to test, be ready to face extra tough targets."

And he proved it too. We were in his pool and he made us all cry. 
Running, pushups, pull-ups and what not. He would occasionally say that the two of us should plan our future outside army, because he won't let two lazy guys come in. We literally had to work our asses to reach his standards. That was the day we came to know why everyone was scared of training under him. We were really scared about him failing us in the tests.

Results came. And with shaking hands, we both opened our letters. It said we cleared and Wills topped in both theory and physical. It was a great moment. We ran to dad. 

There he was standing glowing with pride. I ran and hugged him but Wills stayed a step back. Dad hugged us both. It was a very emotional moment for all three of us. 
He then said "Dare not call me dad or ask me favours in the academy, got it?" 
"Yes dad" 
"Yes Sir, boys."