Enter the Station

The sun rose above L.A at a cool 6:30 AM, its light casting off of the buildings downtown.

Rolled down the street in my 2011 beat up Chevy, I tried to find the entrance to station employee parking. At last, I located the steel gate, a tired officer looking to be on his fifth cup of coffee in a tiny little booth.

"Employee ID?" the officer asked, failing to hide the dejectedness in his voice. It was clear that he would be anywhere else than here right now.

"Umm....actually I'm a Rookie, starting today, so I don't have that yet - can I still enter....?" I responded, though once I reached the word "Rookie", the officer let out a huge sigh. Before heading back into the booth raising his voice. "Name, age, and driver's license."

"Max Colins, 22, and here," I fished out my beat-up wallet and handed him my license, and after a few button presses and scrutinizing, he flipped a switch. The gate opened in front of me.

"Since you don't have your employee ID yet, you won't be able to get into the employee entrance, you'll have to go through the front. Bye." The officer didn't waste another moment talking, instead turning back to his almost-empty cup of coffee. I headed into the the parking lot, parked in a spot relatively close to the employee entrance, and grabbed my backpack, phone, and wallet. Before making the long trek across the parking lot, around the station, and heading in the front. Even in the early hours, the lobby was filling up with citizens wanting to file complaints. Before the next person in line could go, I quickly walked to the front, nodding to person in front.

"Sorry, it's my first day today, and I'll only be a moment." The guy threw his hands up and seemed like he wanted to argue, but didn't want to start a scene right then and there. I turned my attention to the desk officer - a 30-something year old asian cop, already seeming to start getting gray hairs.

"It's my first day today - was told in the acceptance email that I should get my employee ID and picture taken now?" I handed my driver's license over, and like the officer at the parking lot, the desk officer sighed, taking my ID and turning around the run it against their database. After confirming everything was valid, he pressed a button to unlock a keypadded door. "Head through there, first office on the left. Mike will sort you out."

Mike turned out to be an old, veteran cop, who seemingly wasn't trusted to be out on the street anymore, and right now was just waiting until he was old enough to collect his pension. After half an hour, I walked out with a newly minted official LAPD ID, a bag containing my Class A and B uniform, and a paper with the combination to locker 223 on it. Looking down at it all, I couldn't help but feel a tinge of proudness - I had made my way through all of those hard-ass academy instructors, all those complicated application and interview questions. But I knew that my journey was just beginning.
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Let's see....locker 223. Ah, there it was. I entered the combination, expecting a click, then......nothing. Slowly this time, I entered the combination, yanked hard, only to be stopped by the deadbolt. I must've looked slightly pathetic trying to wrench the door open, that another cop came over, already fully dressed.

"These lockers are from the 2000s - you've got to push in and twist slightly." Taking the advice, I pushed the lock in and gave it a twist, and the locker popped open. Relieved, I turned around to fully face the smiling officer in front of me, looking to be nearing 45.

"Thank you so much, Officer....?"

"The name's Nolan, John Nolan. Training Officer. And before you ask, no, I'm assigned to somebody else. Make sure you get ready in time for roll call!" And with that, he headed for the exit. Hm. At least everyone was nice. I got my uniform on without trouble, made sure to smooth everything out, and put everything save for my phone in my locker. Locking it, I turned to leave, before a loud yell echoed through the locker room.

"BOOT!"

"I instantly snapped to attention, casting my gaze around wildly, before landing on another officer zeroed in on me. Unlike the last one - Nolan or whatever - this one had a sharp haircut. A cold, calculating gaze that seemed to melt any sense of happiness. I eloquently responded. "Uhh...are you talking to me-"

"Shut up!" The man fixed his gaze directly on me. "So I heard it's your first day today - the first day of a meaningless career for you within the LAPD. Tell me, were you really the bottom of your class? Really could only do 10 pushups at your physical?" I tried to keep my composure, but my mind was racing, anger starting to course through my veins. Who the fuck did this guy think he was - saying my stats out loud for everyone to hear? Trying to be mean just for the fun of it? I read his nametag - Bradford. I took a step closer, trying to calm my voice.

"Listen, I don't know who the fu-....heck you are, but I'm trying to not be late to roll call. So can I please get on my way?" I could see the anger building up in Officer Hard-ass's face, and new I had fucked up, but like a savior from god, a feminine voice rang out from outside the locker room.

"Tim, need you for something, let's go! Roll call in 5!"

Tim immediately seemed to cool down when he heard the voice. After giving me a dirty look, he head for the exit. I exhaled, knowing I had avoided danger by a very small margin. Grabbing my phone, I exited the locker room.