Page 5 of Close Quarters

It was an approach I appreciated, and I didn’t think I was alone. There was something nice about coming to a place and feeling like you could start anew. Everyone in the program had landed themselves behind bars and been picked to join the program. All of us had made serious mistakes that forced us out of normal life, and we were all being given a chance to correct those mistakes and make something better of our lives. It was a pretty slick and effective way to put everyone more or less on the same foot.

I veered away from the group as we approached the Big House, waving Dom off as I cut across the main ‘road’ that circled the Big House. A large building stood out, mainly because it looked newer. The original medical clinic had burned down a few years ago, a short in the outdated wiring. I’d heard Mona had been sent into a building inspection frenzy to ensure they were all up to code.

So everything was still pretty shiny and new when I walked through the doors, out of the growing heat outside, and into the cool air conditioning. There wasn’t anyone in the waiting room, but the wake-up schedule for the guys in the program was staggered, and we were the late shift, so I wasn’t surprised it was quiet.

“They got you working desk today?” I asked Reed, a familiar face at the clinic. Like Leon, he was a Tier One but had come to the ranch with medical training already under his belt. I wasn’t quite sure how the legality of him being able to work in the clinic worked, but they hadn’t wasted much time putting him in the clinic, even as a Tier Three.

“No one’s bleeding, has bones sticking out, or is in desperate need of a Band-Aid,” he said with a wry smile. “So here I am.”

“The exciting life you lead,” I told him, leaning on the counter and peering over to see what he was doing. “And paperwork! God, they’re asking a lot.”

“Paperwork is the best part of the job.”

“Seriously? That sounds like my own personal level of hell.”

“People are messy, loud, and demanding. Paperwork is a nice break from everything else.”

“More power to you, I guess. Personally, I’m good.”

Being active was the only thing that gave me any relief from the constant drive in my head. When I was a kid, I liked staying up late and saw things I shouldn’t on TV. I’d watched a lot of The Twilight Zone, and one episode had stuck with me involving gremlins on a plane and the poor bastard, who was the only one who could see them. I didn’t remember how it ended, though I thought it was a safe bet it ended miserably.

What had stuck with me was the idea of those little creatures running rampant, causing destruction and sabotaging the plane. My mind was like the plane and the gremlins. All too often, it felt like I was just trying to stay in the air. All while parts of my brain refused to get with the flight plan and amused themselves by tearing the plane apart because…well, fuck me, that was why, apparently.

Reed pushed his chair back and reached into a cabinet for a small plastic cup sealed with a lid. He handed it over and then began typing on the computer. “And there’s your?—”

“Specially designed, personal dose of meth,” I said with a wink. “Do I have to Brokeback Mountain these or what?”

“I…what?” he asked, blinking.

“Yeah, every time those two idiots fucked, they just used spit to get it in,” I said, shaking the plastic cup to emphasize my point. “Which is more painful than trying to take pills dry, trust me, but the point is the same.”

“I know I’m not supposed to say things like this, but sometimes…you really worry me,” Reed said with a shake of his head, bringing out a small bottle of water and setting it on the counter. “There.”

“Well, thank you, sir, for your kind gesture,” I said with a smile, cracking open the bottle and popping the top for the pills. There was one standard-looking pill and a capsule, both of which I downed at once, followed by a heavy drink of water. “There you are.”

“You know the procedure,” Reed said, standing up and smirking.

“Normally, I’d be happy to have a guy examine my mouth to see if I swallowed it all,” I said with a sigh, opening my mouth.

Reed stopped, his cheeks turning pink. “What?”

I laughed. “Just look, have your proof.”

“You took your meds,” he said with a sigh and sat down. “I’m having someone else do this next time.”

I let out a laugh. “Are you being bashful?”

“Get out of the clinic,” he muttered with a wave.

“Can do, will do,” I said.

I liked Reed. Honestly, he reminded me a bit of Leon. Mostly in that he really cared about everyone at the ranch and tried to do what was best for them, and he had a certain…quietness about him that was hard to describe. Unlike Leon, though, he was pretty set in his ways and could be an old fuddy-duddy about stuff. He didn’t get pissed off about things outside his preferred ‘norm,’ like, say, Max or Reno, but he wasn’t always comfortable either.

The difference in temperature between the inside and outside came like a wave, washing over me and making me cringe. It wasn’t like I hadn’t spent my whole life in Texas and wasn’t used to the heat, but I had always thought I was better suited for a state that…well, was at least a little more temperate. Or, at the very least, wasn’t filled with the same humidity as it had heat, so that tossed out Texas, Florida, and most of the southern states. I either needed to head north or directly west, and maybe I would find the climate that suited me better.

Still, I was used to it, so I pushed on, walking around the Big House to the back entrance. A couple of guys were coming out of the dining hall, and the mouth-watering smell of breakfast followed them. Meals had always been solid at the ranch, but after they’d brought Rip on board to man the cooking ship, the quality had shot through the roof. I hadn’t been here long enough to taste the difference, but the thought of his meals had me ready to bolt through the doors.

Yet I still found the presence of mind to stop outside the double doors and peer over at the bulletin board hanging next to it. Everything you’d need to know was posted there, including the yellowed and torn reminder of what the ranch stood for and its aims for us. I was looking for a far newer piece of paper with Leon’s name at the top. If I was going to be with someone other than Dom, I probably should consider sitting with them and getting to know them a?—

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