Over the next few weeks it was the normal routine: get up, fight for the best shower stall, brush teeth, marched to chow, marched to school, marched back to chow, etc. We learned about different compartments of the and how everything tied together. It was a very interesting design which kept my interest. We also learned some submarine history. The first sub was the USS Turtle. The Turtle, was powered by one man hand cranking the propeller on the front of the ship (I use this term loosely). The goal of this ship was to attach a bomb to a British surface ship without being detected. Each attempt to place a bomb failed and the ship was lost. The next great submarine invention was the H.L. Hunley. This was a Confederate Sub used to attack the Union ships. It was the first submarine to score a kill in that era. The ship had an 8 man crew and its main weapon was a floating explosive charge with a fuse. So in heat of battle, the crew would light the fuse and hand-crank the submarine away from the ka-boom. After the successful sinking of the Union ship, the Hunley was lost at sea. The last great invention to submarines was the USS Nautilus. The Nautilus was the world’s first nuclear powered submarine. Previous submarines used diesel engine for power and needed to surface to refuel. With the nuclear power the only limitation is how long can the crew go without food.
At this point in my life I was happy. Malina and I were madly in love, I am meeting new people every day and I am actually enjoying some type of schooling. Back the barracks there was a buzz about the new gaming system coming out. The Sega Genesis was releasing the Batman Returns game. This was never heard of before until now. Every game in that I played was on a cartridge which you had to blow the dust out of it just to get it to play. The CD ROM and the game were $200. That was too rich for my blood but half of the barracks bought it when it hit the shelves. You had people huddling around peoples’ locker just to get a glimpse of the graphics and game play. One guy, named Reilly, was giving us the play by-play as he connected it to his TV. “I am now connecting the CD ROM to the Genesis. Now I am going to plug in the power cord. Now…” A voice interrupted Reilly’s next sentence with a, “Shut the f*ck up and power the damn thing up already!” There were cheers and everyone agreed with the random voice. Reilly shook his head and continued connecting the CD ROM.
After everything was connected, here was the moment of truth. The part of the barracks we were was quiet enough to here a mouse fart. Reilly presses the power button on the Genesis and there was a soft “OOOOOh!” from the crowd. Next he presses the power button on the CD ROM and nothing happened. There was a small moan from the crowd of despair. Reilly presses the button again and nothing. Now we in the crowd are growing restless. Other people in the barracks are enjoying the game while we stare at the regular Sega system. Then you can see the light bulb go off in Reilly’s eyes. He turns around and plugs the AC connector into the CD ROM. Reilly almost got his ass beat for this rookie mistake we take our video games serious. He presses the button and we can hear the CD ROM spinning up. The Batman logo came across the screen and the interlude started to play. The penguin kills a woman and blames it on Batman. It was sheer magic, from the graphics to the game play.
I had sat there so long I almost pissed myself. I got up to go to the head and on the way 3 dudes stopped me. One of them said, “Why you hanging with them corny ass dudes?” I turned around and all three were staring at me arms folded. The only thing I could say was, “huh, I am going to piss.” Then I walked away. When I came back out the bathroom they were still there. They asked me the same question again I just ignored them and went back to the prime time video game seat. I watched Reilly play that game for a few hours now I was hungry. I went to the quarterdeck to use the phone to call the grinder place. Damn those same 3 dudes were by the pain phone now. I walked over there now they surrounded me. Now last time I was surrounded some dudes jumped me, so I did what anyone would do. I started talking loud and jumping around like I wasn’t scared. Who am I lying to, when people do this they are scared shitless and they also want to bring attention to the situation because they want someone to break it up. “Man calm your monkey ass down ain’t no one trying to jump you!” The voice came from Jones, who was standing behind me. To my right was Steed and to the left was Juarez. So they introduced themselves but Juarez told me to call him pumpkin head. I thought to myself, “that was a weird name but if you would have seen the size of this dudes head.” He looked like a human version of a blow pop. Jones asked me, “You wanna ride with us?” I haven’t been off base since I got here. By the time the he finished that sentence I was dressed and ready to go the hell with eating.
The four of us jumped in the dusty green Pontiac Grand Am headed to the New London mall. We get out the car at the mall walking around looking at stuff peeping out the chicks. I notice all three of them had blue bandanas hanging out their pockets. Now coming from Chi-Town I know what the colors mean. “Yo Pumpkin Head y’all Folks?” His reply was, “Yep all day…what you know about that? You ain’t no Fan are you?” “Nah man I ain’t in no gang.” I told them I knew some Folks in Chicago. They gave me the once over look and we kept walking. So they talking cash shit about Folks and I am trailing behind not know what the hell they are talking about. After about an hour my stomach was touching my back I was so hungry. We left the mall and started driving around the residential area. We see a pizza man walking back to his car. We stop the car and get out. We duck behind the car so we won’t be seen by what I have no idea. Jones turns to me, “If you hungry go get it.” What the hell is he….wait I am supposed to rob the pizza dude? Is this a gang initiation? They turned back around and looked at me with the face “what are you waiting for” look. I took a deep breath and started walking…….
