Page 54 of Irons

Powerful

Wrenly

I was sitting in a classroom for orientation and would soon start training classes. My instructor was a man they called Jennings, an honorary Original. I tried my hardest to stay alert and pay attention, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Travis.

I stayed with him pretty late last night. He told me stories about the high school he went to after his incarceration. I told him about Shelby and how that accident probably saved her life. She was on the same path as him, but the accident scared her enough to learn how to set goals and follow through. She ended up graduating with honors then went on to become a physical therapist and now has a family of her own. I stayed in contact with her and knew first-hand how she felt about Travis. Her parents may have blamed him, but not Shelby. She blamed herself because she was the one that provided the pills. He might have been drinking and smoked some pot, but she said he was pretty chill until she pressured him to take the pills. Within an hour of swallowing those pills, his behavior became erratic, out of control, and explosive. She didn’t even know what the pills were, but told him they were safe. When I told Travis about it, he looked like he was going to cry but held back his emotions. Hopefully, that information lifted some weight off his chest.

Jennings gave us an overview about rules, policies, and procedures. Then we learned expectations and honestly the lifestyle of Creed’s Lake. We would be tested periodically for physical and mental strength. After every mission we had to speak with Bolton. Once a month we were tested for sexually transmitted diseases, which I’m not sure I want to know why that came about. We were expected to stay in top form, physically and mentally. Then came some strict rules, which weren’t a surprise at all. He went over our health insurance, retirement, and then brought out a map that showed what they hoped Creed’s Lake would look like in five years.

I hadn’t watched a clock tick so slow since high school. Up until lunch I thought I’d spend the day after training with Travis, but I learned I’d be with Magnus because Travis was taking Addie to speech therapy. Magnus said Addie was really attached to Travis and would have tantrums if he didn’t check in with her daily. I never took Travis as a guy that would pay that much attention to kids. Unfortunately for me, that made him even more attractive. Not in the sense where I changed my mind about ever having kids, but I always found it attractive when men were good with them.

After lunch, the new prospects joined us. They weren’t eligible for a majority of the benefits we were given right away. They had goals to meet before they became permanent employees and residents, so they were exempt from our morning orientation. It was more of a meet and greet once they joined us. We were let out early so the prospects could have their own orientation.

The rest of my day was spent with Magnus in the command center. He was going through special requests, possible contracts, and then assigning new contracts to certain teams. I quickly understood why they needed more executiveoperatives. There was too much work and not enough Originals. We hadn’t even dove into all of his work. He had a few meetings. One with accounting, one with the tech team, and another with Felicity and Morgan. Felicity was pulling together the monthly activities calendar, and she was also helping Morgan with the Christmas giving tree and finalizing the holiday activities calendar. They just needed Magnus to approve how they were spending their budgets. My mind was spinning, and I had no clue how the Originals were surviving all the work plus their missions.

Typically, Magnus and Travis would go out for beers after work, but since he was busy we met up with Stone and Bolton then went to the tavern for bar food and beer. After that, I thought the day was over, but I was wrong. We had to go to the Community Center to check on things. Thankfully, I had my side by side and could go home, but I think Magnus went to Club X. It was still ten before I got home.

The next day was all classroom work. It was like going through the same training I did in the Marines. Jennings was refreshing our memories and then making us take tests. Near the end of the day, we got to watch a movie. I knew the others didn’t think much of it, but I got a kick out of it.

Creed and Travis documented the building of Creed’s Lake. I got to see a twenty two year old Travis on the screen as he sat at a table with the other much younger Originals. At the time, the property now known as Creed’s Lake was mostly a wooded area, except the lake seemed to be open to the public.

The camera moved from one Original to the other as they each stated what they hoped Creed’s Lake would be someday. Travis looked like a baby compared to how he looks now. I added up the years and realized he served four years, just like me, except I was over a year behind him. I was probably still sittingat camp waiting for orders when he was filming the self-made documentary. It was funny, because even back then they were giving each other hell.

Then it went on to show the road being dug, then what’s now Creed’s house, which was huge. They documented each stage as it was built.

Then I saw Travis on his bike and my heart about stopped. I knew that bike, it was Tony’s, and my heart broke for him. I was disappointed when the movie stopped, but quickly realized I was only minutes away from seeing Travis. He was meeting me at my house in fifteen minutes.

He pulled in my driveway in a side by side the same time as me. It took everything inside me not to act like a fool and run into his arms the moment I saw him. Instead, I played it cool and walked out of my garage like a normal person. That might have been all for nothing, because he once again pulled me into him and hugged me tightly, just stirring up all those same crazy and out of control feelings he did on Sunday.

He took me to the shop where I met a very strange man. I couldn’t decide if he was a hippy, a biker, or just a pothead. His name was Victor and Travis warned me about him before we even stepped foot in the shop.

Victor was a big guy with long hair that was braided and a beard that oddly enough was braided as well. My best guess was that he was at least in his mid-forties. He wore a Grateful Dead t-shirt, jeans with holes in them, and flip flops. He smelled like Spam and something else, something fishy I couldn’t quite identify. He offered me a brownie and some gummy bears but that was a hard pass.

His office consisted of a drafting table, blue prints of bikes, a few drawings, a shit ton of crocheted stuff, posters onone wall of James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Willie Nelson. The other wall was movie posters of American Graffiti, Easy Rider, some naked chick, a spot where one was missing, and a Sons of Anarchy poster. The man was a walking contradiction, because I spotted an AR 15 just laying randomly on a table under a knitted peace sign. He spoke like a surfer dude, but there was a picture of an older couple standing in front of a farmhouse.

He tried to hug me several times, but I was able to back away rather quickly. “You’re missing a poster?” I pointed at the bare spot on the wall.

Victor turned and cocked his head then scratched his beard. For some reason I worried he had fleas in that thing. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

Travis snorted. “That was a very old and worn poster of Morgan in a bikini, remember, Victor?”

Victor shuttered, like he had a bad memory hit him. “Yes, of Mrs. Creed.”

I smiled. “Mrs. Creed?” I hadn’t heard anyone refer to Morgan that way.

Travis turned to me. “Creed taught Victor a very valuable lesson.”

“He raided my house for all my posters and magazines. It was scary because he was pissed.” Victor still looked scared.

I looked at Travis, questioning Creed’s right to do such a thing.

“You don’t want to know what Victor did to warrant that, believe me.” Travis warned me.

“Brownie?” Victor offered again, like he forgot he already offered. “They’re not very strong, I’m not sure if I baked them too long or got bad weed.”

I smiled. “No thank you.”

Victor shrugged. “More for me then.”

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