YELLOWJACKET - CH.10: KINGSLAKE

MARCH

By now, we all welcomed Garrett’s presence at the station with open arms. He fell solidly into his place among the crew, though not in the way he’d likely hoped for: as a probie, he was the bottom rung of the ladder and thus was responsible for the most menial, and sometimes disgusting, tasks. If there was a job none of us wanted to do, he was first to be volunteered - whether he was willing or not.

“How’s the spelunking going over there?” I asked, as I leaned on the doorway to watch.

Garrett was elbow deep - thankfully, not literally - in the process of unclogging a toilet, surrounded by puddles on the floor. He turned to me, sweaty from exertion, and half-smiled. There wasn’t an ounce of amusement in it.

“Next time we do those presentations for kids, I think we outta mention fishing shit out of toilets.” As he turned back to continue, the smile fell off of his face. “Just to be more realistic about the job, you know? Don’t think it’s very nice to lie to children.”

 

( ☼ continue )