chapter 49

word count: 1147

buzz was fresh out of the marine corp the first time he had laid eyes on jeannie. 

she had been majoring in criminal justice at the local campus of bainberry college. her dream had always been to continue on to law school,, and then join the public defender’s office upon completion her law degree..

a quiet, studious girl,, her professors had little doubt that she had chosen the wrong profession.. coming from an upper middle class family, and having virtually no firsthand knowledge of what  life in the streets entailed, it was their general consensus that  jeannie displayed none of the qualities that would suggest she could ever become a successful litigator,, let alone have the where with all to deal with the criminal element she sought to defend.. basically they agreed,, that ‘the usual suspects’ would chew her up and spit her out..   

it was upon the suggestion of her forensic science professor,, mr. adamkeiwitz,, that she decided to take the 12 week civilian police academy course.. though the course offered no compensation, or college credits,, mr. A had suggested that she get her feet wet with law enforcement,, get a realistic view of exactly who she was going to be called upon to defend,, and gain a better understanding of the process through which the criminal element became part of ‘the system’.. secretly he had wished it would cause her to rethink her chosen field,, and not waste any more time on a degree, that in his opinion, would never serve her well.. 

much to his surprise, jeannie flourished during the 12 weeks she spent interacting with homicide detectives, robbery investigators, crime scene investigators, and the undercover deputies working dangerous narcotics investigations. so intrigued was she by the aspect of actual criminal investigations that she applied,, and was accepted into a student intern position with the new albany police department. 

much to her chagrin,, she was assigned to a position in the admittance office of the local police academy.. it had been her hopes to work hands on with the seasoned detectives that had volunteered their time to instruct the classes at the civilian police academy course she had so enjoyed.. instead,, she would be interacting with fresh young recruits,, with no real street experience at all.. 

never one to make waves, jeannie decided to put her all into her assigned position,, in hopes that her exemplary performance would make it possible for her to, in time, request a transfer to a more challenging position.. 

her first assignment  was that of receptionist in the front office.. it quickly became evident to her that in this position she was called upon to interact with,, not only the fresh young recruits, but more importantly the veteran staff of instructors..  

while she quickly became knowledgeable and efficient in directing the activities of the young recruits,, she thrived on the one on one interactions with the instructors,, all of which had abundant street experience,, and were only too accommodating when she entreated them to fill her ever eager mind with their on the job ‘war stories’.. 

so enthralled was she with her new found source of vital information,, she had taken to cataloging the stories,, chronicling them in notebooks according to the nature of the crime, during the free moments she could steal away from her duties at the reception desk.. 

it was during one such journaling session,, that she was called out of the vast storehouse of her thought process, by an voice that carried with it a very authoritative tone.

“if i might interrupt you ma’am.”

jeannie looked up to find a fresh faced recruit who’s keen good looks, combined with his high and tight military cut,, commanded the respect his tone of voice had implied. 

“absolutely!, i am sorry to keep you waiting recruit, what can i do for you?” jeannie  responded in an appropriately professional manner,, although she felt a flush of excitement rush over her,, and worried greatly that the blush in her cheeks would give as much away to the brutally handsome recruit that stood before her.. 

“i am expecting a letter of commendation from my marine commander, a master sergeant james p. dumond, will you check today’s incoming mail, ma’am.. i need it ASAP!” his plea for assistance,, sounded much more like a direct order..

“certainly recruit.” jeannie answered in kind,, as she jotted down the master sergeant’s name on the first available scrap of paper on her desk.. “and your name is?”

“private william miller, ma’am!” the recruit barked,, as he leaned in,, placed his elbow leisurely on counter above the reception desk,, looked deep into her eyes,, and purred  (in what could not be mistaken for anything but a sultry, seductive tone) “but you can just call me buzz..”

if there had been any question that the blush in her cheeks had given away her delight in being face to face with this handsome young recruit,, it had been instantly erased.. jeannie could feel the flush intensify,, and a cold sweat begin to break out over her brow,, extending itself down the length of her nose.. she hurriedly swiped at the glistening beads of sweat as she quickly turned away from the overtly flirtatious recruit in hopes that he wouldn’t notice.. as she made her way into the adjoining mail room,, she stammered back over her shoulder, “ok, i mean, um… i’ll be right back.”

in the weeks to come, jeannie became more and more entranced with the provocative recruit she had come to call buzz when no one in authority was around to hear her.. her flights of fancy quickly overtook any desire she may have had of chronicling the ‘war stories’ that had once consumed her.. 

so enthralled was she by her desire to spend her every waking moment in the presence of her first ever, real infatuation,,  she didn’t even put up a respectable fight, when he led her firmly by the hand into the cheap motel room he had premeditatedly rented with every intent of stealing from her, not only her virginity,, but her heart… 

***

as buzz lay there,, listening to the whoosh and beep of the machines to which jeannie was connected,, he couldn’t help but see that every bit of that sweet, innocent, little girl he had convinced to abandon her own dreams of becoming a public defender,, in favor of making a home for him and having his child,, remained not only intact,, but even more angelic..

he rolled his head back slowly onto his pillow and closed his eyes.. a single glistening tear slipped slowly, painstakingly, down the length of his cheek.. 

“what have  i done?” buzz demanded of himself,, as his torn, aching body convulsed in a deluge of uncontrollable tears.. tears of sincere, painful remorse that he found himself helplessly unable to suppress..