Heaven in Hell

EDGE OF CLIFF

ROSHESH'S POV:
Now I can fully understand the tornado named CJ! Even if he had us sitting in an air conditioned office, the tone, the looks and his words would be enough to have us sweating. And the man can never have anybody sitting on their ass! I pity the people he directly trains. No wonder Dad had put in that kind of efforts. I would never face that man without proper prep!

And Kyra, shit! God, why did I have to say that? I know that Kyra has to step up and either quit or be the best because we can’t take any chances with Aarham. I would rather watch her go through hell here than when we face Aarham. But damn it, I really should have thought about my days with him. I don’t think I can see her go through that when she is not ready to see him as anything other than Dad. Damn it! I just hope I am not a part in ruining their bond.

Chief enters the room and I know that our time of cool down is over! Time to buckle up and go one more round at it. Before I entered the house that I call home, I never could imagine that it is possible for someone to go through this kind of training and survive. I was sure every workout I went through was going to be my last one because who the hell can go on without sleep or so less food for days! But the fear of living back on streets, of hurting them or disappointing him – all of these ensured that I gave my everything even when I was tired to the core and somehow, through it all, I got better and better at it. What was my maximum became a breeze through soon enough. Looking back, I never thought in any future that I dreamt of for me that I would be able to do this or be here. God, I have becoming a sappy sod!

"Gym" Well, here we go again.

We all assemble in the gym tired while the day has just started, as usual.

"I have an announcement tonight. Whether it is good for you or bad, depends on your performance here. And I'll let you decide that. Pick an exercise. I'll announce the counts. Nail it and we rest then move to next. Fail and we go at it again with additional counts. Kyra, Ashwin, Arjun, Officer Siddharth, Officer Roshesh and Prescott - this is the order" See, this is what I was thinking about. We will go at it until we no longer can. That is how we get better each day.

"Push-ups, sir" Perfect start. Good one, Kyra!

"100" Not that bad, sir!

Kyra counts out loud, while we keep pushing. I'm happy to see that we have reached a place where 100 push-ups is an achievable level, after a break or for starters only though.

Once those counts are over, we get a 2 mins break before it is time to go for next. Ashwin says "Squats, sir"

"250" And Hades is back! Ashwin keeps count and we make it to 250 without a fail. I wanna shout and celebrate even these small victories. But I think I'll settle for the minimal rest Sir announces - a minute!

Arjun says, "Suicides, sir" What? Our legs just got a good one! We could have done some thing else, Arjun.

He chuckles with a "Prescott, give me a number" And the mind games start. Dad, please low ball him.

"30, Chief?" Is that low, Dad?

"45, Prescott"

"Yes, Chief. 45 suicides, team" Arjun, you better be on your best performance for months if you don't want to pay for this.

We make it to 15 with a good pace. Then the slacking starts. I expected fire on our asses the moment we slowed down. Instead there is silence despite our pathetic attempt at suicides. I don't know whether I should celebrate or be terrified. And whenever you get that feeling, let me give you a pro tip- be terrified.