Two
June 20, Saturday
Enoch
The car bounced over the speedbump at an alarming height and I slapped Graham’s shoulder.
“Bro. Are you trying to get a ticket? At least wait until we exit the gate to speed.”
“Honestly, I don’t know why I ever agree to let you drive us to events, Graham,” Brewer said from the front seat.
We were packed in like sardines. Three of us squeezed in the backseat with me in the middle. Apparently, being under six feet meant I was best suited to the middle seat. I was only an inch shorter than Valencia, but in the three months since I got stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson I had already learned that he was a whiner. Seemed like most people complied with whatever he was bitching about because it was the easiest and the quickest way to get him to shut up.
I hadn’t meshed well with anyone from my shop. Well, except for Ford and Navarro. Although, Navarro was older and focused more on his family than spending time with boys from work. If it weren’t for Jae moving up here with me, I’d have spent way too much time in my dorm. But thank heck he did, and wewere able to buy a nice place near base in the suburbs. It was dirt cheap, but it also hadn’t been updated since the seventies.
We were on our way to some team bonding event our supervisor had set up for our shop. It was supposed to be yesterday with a day away from the office that I definitely wouldn’t have complained about, but someone screwed up the booking date and here we were on a Saturday afternoon. And of course they made a whole day of it, treating us to brunch beforehand.
Since I moved here, I’d gotten into the routine of going to church on Saturdays, and it felt weird to be missing the service, to be veering away from my routine. I was admittedly skeptical about attending church again, but it had made a profoundly positive impact on my life. I even convinced Jae to attend with me, something I didn’t think he’d ever do having never attended church previously.
I was determined to not let this change in my routine set me off kilter, but I was beginning to regret agreeing to carpool instead of driving myself to the event. It was an awkward twenty-seven minutes stuck between Valencia and Ford before we finally parked, and I was able to climb out of the car. I stretched my body out, grateful to no longer be trapped and glanced around the parking lot. We’d definitely made it here last since the rest of the shop was huddled outside the building waiting for us.
“Damn, Graham. I thought you had a lead foot. How the hell did we beat you here?” Onassi, our supervisor, called out as we crossed the parking lot towards her.
Graham raised his hands, “Brewer held us up. And Rez was sniveling about me driving too fast, so I had to go the speed limit like an old lady.”
I rolled my eyes but smiled and followed the guys into the gym. Onassi took charge, conversing with the front deskto confirm our reservation for a group pass and beginner’s instruction for the handful of us who had never been rock climbing before and had no clue what we were doing. Apparently, two-thirds of the shop had already received their belay certificates, so it was Hanson, Ford, Michaels and me that had to take the beginner’s class with the instructor.
I stared up at the large rock walls. There were several people not in our group already climbing. Some on a lower wall without any gear on, while others were connected to ropes and scaling the walls all the way to the damn top.
I shook my head at the dizzying height, zeroing in on the sound of Onassi’s voice.
“Listen up, airmen! You already signed the waivers, so don’t make me regret bringing you out here. You follow Brett’s instructions, no funny business, and let’s all leave here as healthy as we entered, if not a little sore.”
“Yes, ma’am,” we all chorused, and she broke away with a chuckle and a pat on Brett’s arm. I think she warned him about us acting like toddlers. Most of our shop was filled with airmen closer to eighteen, some of us more mature than others, but at twenty-three it did feel a bit like babysitting when I was grouped in with my younger peers. Sometimes I forgot I was only a few years older than them. I felt more like a thirty year-old, than a someone closer to eighteen.
Brett began demonstrating how to strap into the harness and between Hanson whispering to Michaels the whole time and the blaring rock music in the background I was essentially screwed as Brett handed out the harnesses for us to put on.
Ford tripped, his shoe stuck on one of the leg straps and he crashed into me.
“Jesus, this isn’t emasculating at all. As if we don’t have to have our junk trapped between these straps, I can’t even get my damn feet in,” Ford grumbled as I helped right him.
I chuckled, glancing down at my crotch to see how the harness had bunched up my gym shorts to accentuate the area.
“You’re right,” I laughed, trying to adjust myself. “The thigh straps make it impossible to hide anything.”
“Shit,” Ford muttered as he yet again tripped.
“Can I help you out, man?” Brett asked, suddenly standing right in front of Ford.
“Uh, yeah. It’s just these damn straps. They keep getting caught on my shoes.”
“Here,” Brett motioned for Ford to hand him the harness. “If you set it up properly on the floor, you shouldn’t have an issue. So, waist loop with the buckle facing down in the back. Right leg is this blue one, so—ah, I see the problem. There’s a knot here in this loop. Let me just get a new harness. I’ll be back in two seconds.”
Brett walked away and Ford gave me a look.
“See. I’m not a complete idiot. The harness had a knot in it.”
“You sure you didn’t create that knot with all your stumbling?” I asked with a chuckle.
