Massachusetts State Trooper Pierre Guillot walked through the halls of the Massachusetts State Police Academy. The New Braintree facility was teeming with students. Young men and women who wanted to become police officers. He smiled, remembering his days at the Academy. He lived in the school dorms for five days a week and only went home on the weekends. He paused as he remembered a particularly compelling memory. The memory of something he'd rather forget but which haunted him.
Pierre remembered an instructor named Anderson Coleman. Anderson Coleman was a tall, good-looking black man in his early forties when Pierre met him. He was a fine, masculine-looking specimen. A Sergeant with the State Police and also an honored instructor at the Academy. He was a stud whom many ladies on campus, both students and officers, took notice of. Coleman was single, and very attractive. He was also a very tough bastard who put most of the recruits through hell. The only recruit he treated decently was Pierre Guillot, the wide-eyed young Haitian he met on his first day.
"Hey, there, young man. You look lost, where are you headed?" asked sergeant Coleman. Pierre had simply stared blankly at the towering, tough-looking police officer. He had been blown away by the sight of this tall, large black policeman in his uniform. Indeed, special instructor and sergeant Anderson Coleman looked magnificent back then.
"Uh, sorry, sir. I was just looking for the dorms," Pierre scratched his head. " I'm kind of new here, and the campus is so big. I just want to find the dorms and get settled in, you know? Everybody's been giving me a hard time."
Sergeant Anderson Coleman had stroked his goatee and smiled at the young man. "Don't sweat it, son. I remember what it was like on my first day at the Academy, the dorms are down this way, past the field."
Pierre nodded, smiling. " Thank you, sir."
Sergeant Coleman looked him up and down. " I work for a living, young man. Around here, folks call me sergeant Coleman, and since I'm going to be your instructor, you'll have plenty of reasons to remember the name." He extended his thick hand, waiting for him to shake it. After a moment, Pierre shook the sergeant's massive hand.
"Relax, son. I don't bite," sergeant Coleman laughed. " Lucky for you and all of them sissies among the recruits." Pierre shook his hand and looked at the man. Straight in the eye. For reasons he couldn't fathom, Pierre smirked. It was as if something compelled him to. " Well, sir. Some of us recruits come from places a lot tougher than this Academy could ever be and don't scare easily."
Sergeant Anderson Coleman looked at Pierre Guillot. " Were you in the army, son? I've been through the army boot camp experience and this place is a lot tougher than any of Uncle Sam's training grounds."
Pierre looked him in the eye. " Might not be enough to scare someone like me, sir. I'm a farm boy from Haiti and where I'm from is just about the toughest place on earth. A man has to be strong to survive down there. No cops to call for help, no reliable hospitals, just your own strength and determination as a man. That's the only thing keeping you alive, that and the grace of God."
Sergeant Anderson Coleman looked at the recruit Pierre Guillot up and down. Seizing him up. Pierre stood his ground. He was six feet tall but the sergeant was a few inches taller and a lot larger than he was. The man was massively muscular and looked like he could play linebacker for the National Football League, either that or he could join the World Wrestling Federation. The dude was huge! still, Pierre's father had taught him to never back before anyone, man or woman, regardless of size. He stood his ground. Stared hard at the sergeant. Finally, sergeant Coleman relaxed. He smiled.
" You're alright, man," Coleman said, shaking his head. "What's your name, son?"