Page 65 of Horn in My Side
“Now we’re all acquainted, let me welcome you to Squad Thirteen,” Nick said.
“Thirteen?”
Nick laughed.“It’s a lucky number for satyrs, and since I’m squad captain, I chose the number.”
“We’re still working out our name,” Sterling added.“I voted for Fire Howlers.”
“And I wanted to call us Ash Kickers,” Ven chimed in.“Like kicking ass?Get it?”
“I don’t know how we can call ourselves anything since we’ve never responded to a real fire,” Ian said.
“Anyway,” Nick continued.“Should we start, Jim?”
Jim cleared his throat.“Ven, could you please help get Mal outfitted in the proper gear while we do some warm-up exercises?”
“Aye, aye, Chief.”Ven gave him a salute.“C’mon, Mal, I’ll show you where we keep the extra gear.”Mal trailed behind Ven as he led him toward the back.“So, you’re Vrig’s nephew, huh?That’s cool.I mean, Vrig was a great guy.I loved hearing stories about his time with the Army Corps of Engineers.I wish I could travel the world too.What do you do, Mal?And where did you live before you moved to Dewberry Falls?”
“I’m a contractor,” he said.“And, well, I don’t really live anywhere.I go wherever I can find jobs.”
“Wow, you travel a lot too?”Ven’s eyes widened.“That’s amazing.”His eyebrows drew together.“I’d leave Dewberry Falls if I could, but my mother and sisters won’t let me.”
“Won’t let you?”
“Yeah, my mother’s the head of our cadre and I’m the only male in the family.She won’t let me do what I want.”He sighed as they stopped outside the door at end of the hallway.“I know she’s worried about me and all, but ...Oh sorry, I don’t mean to bore you with family drama.”The troll gestured for him to enter the room, then led him to an empty locker.Mal placed his wallet and phone inside, checking his notifications quickly for a message from Jasmine.Once he saw her text saying she had reached home, he sent a quick reply and closed the locker.“What next?”
“Let’s get you outfitted with the proper gear.”Ven helped him pick out everything he needed—helmet, jacket, pants, boots, and gloves, then showed him how to put it all on.
“You look great, man,” he said, giving Mal a thumbs-up as he stood in front of him in the complete uniform.“Jim will probably want to go through a couple dress drills—that means putting all this stuff on and off over and over again.We have to practice until we can do it in under two minutes.He’ll go easy on you since it’s your first day, but make no mistake, he takes his position seriously even though we’re a volunteer crew, and he expects us to work as hard as professional firefighters.C’mon, let’s go back outside.”
Sure enough, once Ven and Mal joined the others, Jim started them on rapid dress drills.While it seemed simple enough, thebulky gear was tricky to put on, and it took Mal a few tries to get everything in the correct order quickly.He felt like a fish out of water, and he envied how the others got their gear on in under two minutes while he struggled.
“Don’t worry,” Nick assured him with a grin.“It just takes practice.”
After a few more tries, Mal succeeded in getting the gear on properly, though it still took him more than five minutes.Then, the real work began.For the next two hours, Jim had them doing hose deployment skills—unloading and loading the hoses, pulling and laying them out, connecting them to the hydrant, advancing, and other techniques in how to properly handle the hose.Mal first stayed on the sidelines to observe how it was done, but eventually Jim had him joining in.
“The only real way to learn is to do it,” the chief said.
Being the new guy, he did get some razzing from the others, but Mal understood it was all in good fun, and a way to release the tension.Jim didn’t let them take it too far, though he did get in a few jabs himself.
“That’s a wrap.Great job, everyone,” Jim said at the end of the night.“And we’re happy to have you onboard, Mal.”They all cheered.“Thanks for being a good sport, even though we gave you a hard time.It only means we like you.”
“Sorry I called you butterfingers when the nozzle slipped from your hands.”Sterling patted him on the back.
“And that I said you were slower than two sloths fucking,” Ven said.
“It’s all right.”It wasn’t Mal’s first time to be the new guy, and on tight-knit crews like this, he knew that you had to have thick skin to earn respect.
“So, now that we’re done,” Ven said with a long sigh, “should we all head to the Salty Dog?”
“Of course,” Nick replied.“Mal, you should join us.”
“Join you?”he asked.
“Yeah, we go to this bar called the Salty Dog after training for drinks.”
Mal shook his head.“I don’t think—”
“C’mon, man, just one drink,” Nick countered.“It’s a tradition.”
