CHAPTER 11
I had been super excited ever since my computer chimed the day prior alerting me of an important impending email. The message sent from the private secretary of General Hawk informed me that I was being considered as a candidate for the D.E.F. I was assigned the first interview spot of the afternoon, but the combination of excitement and anxiety had prevented me from sleeping well that night. I had taken a longer than usual morning shower to help myself wake up and eat a light breakfast. I had hung my dress blues on my closet door the night before and was contemplating when I should put them on. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand and decided that now was as good a time as any.
Since joining the G.I.Joe team, I had been searching for an assignment or task force, that I could make my own. The Marine Corps had trained me in urban warfare, but I had had little opportunity to further hone my skills. I saw the possibility of joining the D.E.F. as an opportunity to not only expand my military horizons but also to use my training to do some good in the world.
I hated drugs, especially the illegal ones, but more importantly, I despised the drug dealers peddling their wares to the innocent and destroying families and communities around the nation. As if the whole operation of synthesizing and smuggling the drugs around the country wasn’t bad enough, these devilish individuals were making a profit off of poisonous substances that were causing painful addiction and horrible deaths.
It had been roughly nine months since I finished basic training and became a full-fledged enlisted member of the G.I.Joe team, and now I was being given the opportunity to possibly join a specialized task force. The whole experience seemed surreal. I continued to toss around the idea in my head as to whether Dangerous should accompany me to my interview. The two of us had become quite a team, and I would want to bring him with me if, I was indeed chosen as a member of the D.E.F. Professionally speaking, I figured it was better to place all my cards out on the table than to surprise them after the fact.
I checked my uniform in the mirror one last time. I was satisfied with my overall appearance and had made my decision. I fitted my pet cheetah, Dangerous, into his working harness. I crouched down on one knee to get closer to his level in order to deliver some very important directions.
“Alright kitty, you can come with me, but you need to be on your absolute best behavior. No funny business. Got it?”
Dangerous chirped and looked at me as if to say, “Who me?” then attempted to roll over to elicit a belly rub.
“Ehhh! What did I say?”
The tone of my voice further established my seriousness to the cheetah, and he immediately returned to an upright position, slightly flattening his ears and awaiting further instructions.
“Good Boy! O.K. Dangerous, time to go and make a good first impression.” With the tone of my voice returning back to normal, the large cat perked up his ears and accompanied me out the door.
The walk to the interview room would take about five minutes, I had timed it the day before, but being early meant being on time in my mind. I was greeted along the way by several familiar faces. I passed Mainframe first. He glanced over at me and gave me a thumbs up but continued walking because he was in a conversation with Dialtone and Firewall. As I got closer to my destination, I noticed two of my friends, Clutch and Footloose, in the vicinity.
“Hey! Are you guys interviewing for the D.E.F position too?”
Footloose seemed less than interested.
“Woah, take it easy there bro! I’m gonna be taking a ginormous pass on that one. I’ve got my mind set on joining the Dino-hunters team.”
“We have one of those?”
I was really hoping they did in my mind. How cool would that be? Who was I kidding? What purpose would they even serve?
“Shh! it’s a top-secret man. I don’t want everyone else knowing about it.”
I never knew when Footloose was being serious, and when he was making S#!T up. Sometimes, I wondered how he was even on the team. He was always such a stoner in my opinion, but the team had mandatory drug screenings and he always passed. So, I guess he was clean, but it didn’t change the fact that he was still a really weird dude.
“What about you Clutch? Any interest?”
“Nah, my place is in the garage turning wrenches, but good luck bro. I hope you get it. I think it would be a good opportunity for you to get out there and make things happen.”
He shook my hand and gave me a fist bump for good measure.
“Oh and man, that cat of yours sure got big. Are you seriously bringing him into your interview? I mean, kind of weird no?”
It bothered me a bit, but I anticipated a similar question once I got into the interview room. Dangerous was my partner, and at the moment was being very well behaved standing pressed against my right leg.
“He’s part of the team just like Junkyard, Max or Freedom. He’s not my pet if that’s what you’re implying. When he’s wearing his vest or leash, Dangerous is working.”
“Well, good luck to both of you then. Hey, one more thing, are you coming to the Pit Pub tonight? They’re having karaoke.”
Clutch knew I was a sucker for karaoke, and it was almost the weekend, that combined with the fact that I had the late security shift tomorrow, made a late night a definite possibility.
“Come on man. You gotta belt out some GNR bro! Plus it’s been a while since we all sat down and shared a beer together. Look--- Don’t answer now. Just think about it alright? Hey, good luck again with your interview. Text me later.”
“Thanks for the invite and the vote of confidence guys. I’ll let you know how it goes.”
Clutch and Footloose threw up some devil’s horns like we were all at a heavy metal concert, and I stuck out my tongue and returned the gesture.
I really hope the security cameras didn’t catch that.
“Come on Dangerous. We’re almost there.”
We continued up the stairs to the fifth floor. The interview would be taking place in General Abernathy’s private office, known as the War Room, and I was excited to see it since I had never been there before. My nerves had calmed a bit by this point, and I reached for the doorknob to let myself in. Lieutenant Nadine van der Ness sat at her desk and looked up briefly from her computer. I recognized her from around the Pit, but we had never engaged in anything more than a brief conversation.
“Name and rank please?” She inquired.
“Um yeah... you know me, I’m PFC Steven Kordos.”
She glanced at me once again but made no indication that she did or didn’t recognize me.
“What time is your interview?”
“1300 hours Ma'am.”
“Great. Have a seat! I’ll sign you in. The general and major haven’t returned from lunch just yet but should be here shortly. Make yourself at home and make sure that overgrown cat doesn’t have an accident anywhere. I’m all out of kitty litter”
Her tone was flat with no effect whatsoever. Seriously, what was her problem and why was everyone hating on Dangerous?
“Don’t worry, he’s housebroken.”
I had made the comment in jest, but she clearly didn’t get it, as she simply shrugged at the response and went back to her paperwork. The sounds of her fingers tapping on the computer keyboard immediately filled the room. She was an attractive woman although a bit rigid, with brown hair and brown eyes, standing about 5 foot 8 inches tall. I had seen her in the mess hall and at the Pit Pub, but she was not an official enlisted Joe team member. As far as I knew, she had never even been a field operative, but she did have the illustrious position of being the personal secretary for our leader, General Clayton Hawk Abernathy.
I took a seat and picked up a recent issue of Modern Soldier. When next the office door opened, an unfamiliar face appeared. Since I had only been on the G.I. Joe team for nine months, I still didn’t know all of our operatives. Lieutenant van der Ness stopped typing and looked up briefly from her work.
“Name and rank please.” She asked.
“Corporal Ross A. Williams, Ma'am.”
“What time is your interview Corporal Williams?”
“1330 hours.”
“I’ll sign you in and you can have a seat. The general and major will be back from lunch shortly, and after they interview PFC Kordos and his giant kitty-cat, they’ll be calling you in. Thank you for being early.”
“Of course Ma’am. Early is on time.”
She gave him a half-hearted smile and I looked back down at my magazine as the army ranger took a seat across from me. Seriously, did she just compliment him on being early? I looked up from the article I was reading, feeling as if someone was staring intently at me.
“Hey, aren’t you the team’s newest recruit from the Marine outpost in Kenya?”
“Yes Sir, that would be me. And you are?”
“Corporal Williams, but my friends call me Muskrat. I know we’re not supposed to be using our code names, but let’s be honest, that’s what Joes do and we’re not officially inside the interview room yet. You got yourself a codename kid? And what’s with the overgrown feline?”
“I’m Armed and this is my partner Dangerous. You know, we got that Law and Order vibe going.”
I leaned over and scratched my furry friend behind the ears. He was being very well behaved and I couldn’t be more proud.
“I see, I kind of got that. I heard you went toe to toe with the Croc Master and Big Boa. Kudos to you kid! Those two are some tough opponents. Not to mention, getting hit with Crystal Ball’s mind-control voodoo. What makes you want to join the Drug Team? I mean seriously, wouldn’t you rather be back out there tracking down those guys?”
I pondered the question for a moment, but my instincts told me that he might be pumping me for information. I mean, after all, he was scheduled for his interview after me, but still... I couldn’t help but think that he was trying to use me to get answers for his own interview questions. Before I could answer, he held up his hand.
“Hey, I get it. We’re in competition here. Look, I hope we both get selected that way you and I can work together in the future. I’ve been part of a couple task forces over the years, and I’m always looking to make new friends. So good luck PFC Kordos. I’m going to take a minute to hit the little boy’s room. Got me a little nervous bladder you know.”
With that, he stood up and exited the room. I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was now 1258 hours. The intercom on Lieutenant van der Ness’s desk buzzed.
“Could you show PFC Kordos in please?”
“Of course general.” She looked in my direction. “Follow me PFC Kordos, the interview board will see you now.”
I stood up and with Dangerous in tow, we followed the lieutenant into the next room. She announced me to the room, and I stood before the desk and saluted both members of the interview panel. General Abernathy and Major Morris stood and returned the salute.
“At ease soldier. Please have a seat.”
I sat down and Dangerous laid down at my feet. There was little reaction from either of the interviewers to the large cat.
“So PFC Kordos, you are one of the newest members of the G.I.Joe team and yet, here you sit ready to apply to my new task force. I applaud your enthusiasm, being that you’re still very much a rookie. What is it that you feel you possess that will make you the best choice to join this task force? And... what’s with the cheetah?”
The major was a rather intimidating-looking individual. He clearly had at least fifteen years of service on me. To his right sat General Tomahawk, or General Hawk for short. He was my commanding officer and someone I also wanted to impress with my service record and abilities.
I’m not going to lie, I was completely intimidated. In my mind, I was a young upstart and as far as I knew, the newest member of the Joe team. I was certain that most of the other applicants had twice, if not three times, the experience that I possessed, but I wanted to make a difference. Clearly, the general thought I was a worthy candidate, or my resume would have been overlooked and pushed off to the side. But then a little bit of my insecurity kicked in because I began to think that the reason I had been considered was so that the Joe team could simply trade me off to a new task force and no longer have to deal with me. So many thoughts filled my mind, and I began feeling slightly overwhelmed.
I quickly steadied myself, took a deep breath and finally offered up what I considered to be a respectable response.
“Well, Sirs.” I addressed them both. “I would like to start off by saying thank you for giving us the opportunity to be here today. I know that we are quite possibly the newest recruits for the G.I.Joe team, and that there may have been several other candidates with way more credentials than us, but nonetheless, here we are ready and willing to meet the challenge. I am not better than my teammates, nor would I ever say or imply that I am, but I feel this assignment can provide with valuable experiences that will further cement my value to the G.I.Joe team. Dangerous and I have been training really hard in anticipation of an opportunity such as this. I want to be part of this team so we can make a difference not only militarily, but one that firmly society. Drugs and the opioid epidemic are a terrible problem, and tens of thousands of individual lives are torn apart every year by them. Dangerous and I would like to be given an opportunity to be part of the solution.”
The major looked up at me for a brief second and then back down at his papers. “That’s a wonderful sentiment PFC, but what can you offer this team?”
I felt at that moment as if the position was drifting further and further out of my grasp, and I pondered my response.
“I sir, want to make a difference, and I am willing to learn any necessary skills that would assist me along the way. I have been trained in urban warfare by the Marine Corps so, I have some experience in dealing with civilian matters in and around major cities and towns. I have also spent countless months training Dangerous to seek out controlled substances and in apprehending hostiles. I may not know all the answers to the problems, but I am willing to put forth my heart and soul to work with the other members of this important task force to save the lives of others.
Please, Major Morris, drugs are evil and you need good team members to wage the war against them. Everyone has to start somewhere, please allow Dangerous and I the opportunity to make a difference. I promise that we will not let you down.”
“I appreciate your candor PFC Kordos, and you wouldn’t be sitting here today unless your commanding officer saw fit. I have several other interviews to conduct today, but I thank you for sharing your passion with me. One more thing, how would you feel if I called you PFC Melvin?”
I sat frozen for a second but had learned to no longer be paralyzed by that childhood nickname. It was a traumatic experience from my past that I had learned from and one that I would no longer allow to have power over me. I laughed aloud at the notion.
“I’m ok with that. What are your feelings about me referring to you as Sergeant Shaft? I’m one bad mother. . . shut your mouth!”
At first the major didn’t get my joke, but then snickered.
“I see you like your comic books PFC.”
“No, not comic books sir. I just can’t help myself and I like to quote movies that I think are appropriate, or fitting to the situation at hand.”
“Well soldier, I do happen to be one bad mother and that’s damn right.”
We both laughed.
“Well thank you again for coming in today. I will be making my decisions and everyone will be notified by the end of business tomorrow. Please exit through the side door.”
We all stood and exchanged salutes. Dangerous chirped once before the two of us left the room. I wasn’t completely sure of how well the interview had gone, but I would not know until the next day. Overall I was satisfied with my responses and the only thing I could do now was stay positive and focus on the remainder of my obligations. Dangerous definitely deserved some belly rubs and more than one treat for his exceptionally good behavior. I was a little unnerved and wanted nothing more than to just grab some lunch and return to my room to veg for a bit. Maybe I should meet up with Clutch and Footloose for karaoke later. I really needed something to help me decompress.
As I made my way through the exit, I could hear the intercom buzzing on the Lieutenant’s desk and the General’s voice asking for Corporal Ross Williams to be shown in. I exited into the hall with Dangerous in tow. I would be sure to check in with Corporal Ross later, but for now, I had other matters to attend to.
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