Upping the Ante – Chapter One – emersli1

Reading Time:
14 Minutes

Buck pulled into Yreka shortly before five o’clock.  He was towing most of his things in a U-Haul trailer and had been traveling since sunrise.  Following his GPS to the address he’d been given, Buck looked around at the place that would be his home for at least the next two years.

It was a small town, but that didn’t bother him.  It was different from Los Angeles, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.  No, the worst thing about Yreka was that it was short of Diazes.  It needed at least two more for Buck to consider it a forever home, but as a for now home…it would work.

Buck had left his Diazes back in LA, along with his heart and the remains of his career.  Bobby’s stonewalling his return to firefighting had left Buck with few options.  And remembering some advice from an old codger in Montana, he had switched the deck.  Rather than pursue legal means, he evaluated his life goals and chose a different route to attaining them.

Look at him, adulting like a Boss.

Of course, he’d had a little help.  Christopher and Eddie had helped him sort through the possibilities, and while the path Buck had chosen wasn’t one he would have imagined taking six months ago… he was excited about the possibilities it opened up.

Completing his degree in Animal Management with an internship with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife hadn’t been on his radar, back before a kid with an axe to grind and too much time on his hands blew up his firetruck.  Now if he could just find his duplex in time to unload and put his bed together…

Spotting the address Buck made a final turn into the driveway, careful not to block the garage to the other side of the duplex.  No need to get off on the wrong foot with the neighbors.

Climbing out of his truck, Buck took a minute to appreciate another change.  He had traded his Jeep in for a truck that could stand up to the demands of his new job.  The Jeep had been so old the CDFW had refused to certify or insure it, so Buck would have needed another vehicle for work anyway.

He might have talked it over with Maddie… offered to give it back to her.  But she hadn’t been responding to his texts and phone calls had gone straight to voicemail for nearly three weeks now.  Buck had known she was worried about him going back to firefighting.  Goodness knows she’d spent enough time sending him suggestions for ‘safer’ occupations.  Then she’d just gone dark.

He guessed he’d displeased her enough with his determination to pursue his own way that she’d just cut him loose.

Whatever.  Moving up the front walk to his side of the duplex, Buck fished the keys he’d been sent out of his pocket.  

As he entered, he saw the video tour of the place had been spot on.  Two bedrooms.  One bathroom.  One combined living/dining with a kitchen at one end.  Walking through quickly he found no surprises, so Buck headed on back out to the U-Haul to start unloading.

To his surprise, there was a stranger leaning on his trailer.

The man smiled and moved towards him.  “Hey.  You must be Evan.  I’m Jake Townsend.  I’m one of the second year interns in the program.  I live next door.  Dr. Meecham wasn’t sure when you’d get in, so I’ve been keeping an eye out for you.”

Buck smiled and shook the man’s hand.  “Yeah, I’m Evan.  Good to meet you, Jake.  I figured if I got in today, I could spend tomorrow just settling in before I had to report Monday.  Right now, I’m just hoping to get my bed in and assembled before nightfall.  I’ve been on the road since six AM and really don’t want to have to sleep in my truck tonight.”

“Well, I think we can do better than that.”  Another man came around from the other side of the trailer.  “Between the three of us I bet we can at least get you unloaded.  Hey Evan.  I’m Marshall Sutherland.  I’m the other first year intern.  I’m in the duplex across the street, with the other second year intern.  He’s gonna cook supper and keep it warm for us for whenever we get finished.”

The fact that the other interns had planned to help him out…watched for him, were ready to help him unload…even had a plan for dinner.  Buck hadn’t expected any of that, and it gave him hope that the team he was joining would truly be a team.

The way the 118 had been once upon a time.

Refusing to allow his thoughts to drift any further down that path, Buck unlocked the back of the U-Haul.  

Eddie had turned out to be the Tsar of Packing…so Buck’s trailer was Organized.  All his bedroom furniture was in position to be unloaded first, followed by kitchen things.  The living room furniture would be unloaded last.  Eddie had explained the rationale behind the arrangement to him multiple times as they directed the students helping Buck pack his furniture.

Eddie must be a holy terror at Jenga.

But he was right.  As the three men unloaded the trailer into the duplex, everything went smoothly and quickly.  Nobody tripping over somebody else because they had furniture belonging to two different rooms.  No boxes of kitchen implements in the bathroom or clothes in the living room. 

While Buck and Jake put his bed together Marshall, who had declared himself a techno-wizard, was setting up his entertainment and gaming systems in the living room.  All three finished at about the same time and walked across the street to the supper waiting on them.

Moving into the duplex directly facing Buck’s side, the smell was the first thing he noticed.  He’d been expecting pizza.  Or maybe something from the grill out on the patio.

Instead, whatever was cooking smelled like it had come straight from Isabel Diaz’s kitchen.

A man standing, stirring something on the stove turned to look at them.  “Hey guys.  All finished?  This is ready to go if you are.”

Marshall moved forward to introduce his next-door neighbor.   “Evan, this is Mateo Carrillo.  He’s the other second year intern in our group.  Mateo, this is Evan Buckley.”

Evan reached forward eagerly to shake hands.  “Hey man, thanks for feeding me!  This smells like my Abuela’s kitchen.  I can’t wait to try it.”

Mateo looked a little startled but shook hands gamely.  “You must really favor your father.  Sorry.  That was probably rude.  And making assumptions.  And now you’re going to think I’m some sort of prejudiced jackass.  I’m just going to shut up now and slink away in shame.”

Buck couldn’t help laughing.  “No need to slink away on my account.  And definitely don’t leave before you serve me up a bowl of that pozole.  It smells awesome.  And no.  Abuela is my fiancé’s grandmother, but I’ve been told under threat of her chancla to call her Abuela.”

“Oh no!  Not the chancla!  You do not want to be on the wrong end of an abuela armed with a chancla and righteous indignation.”   Mateo was laughing now.  “And you’ll have to serve yourselves, but come on guys.  Marshall, you know where the soup plates are.”

Marshall reached into a cabinet beside the stove, getting out four bowls as Mateo turned to get silverware out of a nearby drawer.  It was only then that Buck noticed the arm crutch.  

“Hey, I can set the table if you’d like?”  Buck wasn’t sure what was appropriate here.  He knew what he’d do at home to support Christopher, but Chris was an eight-year-old.  Mateo was a full-grown man, with agency and everything.  Everything he and Eddie were trying to provide for their son.

“Actually, if you look in that cabinet there…you could get us each a small plate for the bread.”  Mateo dropped the silverware into a small basket and looped the handles over his shoulder, grabbing his second crutch and moving towards the table.

Evan looked in the indicated cabinet and found the bread plates, still noodling away about the basket full of silverware.  “You know, that’s a really clever adaptation.  Did you buy the basket from an assistive technology company, or is it a do-it-yourself project?”

He looked up to see Mateo looking at him in some surprise.  “Well, that’s not usually the first question.  Usually it’s something along the lines of ‘how can you work as a field biologist on crutches?’.  But, I’ve found that for anything I can safely make myself…I’m better off.  Not only is it cheaper, I can try it out and modify it to suit me and my own particular quirks.  Some things you have to get from an AT company, and I’m just glad they exist now.  My doctor always told my mama that if I’d been born ten years earlier it would have been very different.”

“Huh.  I’ll bet I can make something like that.”  Buck brought the plates over, grabbing the breadbasket on the way.  The other two guys had dished up the pozole and brought it to the table.  Marshall grabbed four beers from the fridge and started to put them around.  “Oh, hey, would you happen to have a bottle of water or something?”

All three men stopped moving.  Jake tentatively ventured, “Tee-totaller?” as Marshall switched the beer for a water bottle.

“Nope.  Blood thinners.  For at least two more months.  They’re hoping to get the rod and screws out of my leg in about three weeks.  If all goes well they can start weaning me off them at that point.”  Buck took his seat along with the others, ready to enjoy a better meal than he’d expected to have tonight.  “Ordinarily one beer wouldn’t be a big problem, but I sat in my truck driving for ten hours today.  I stopped every two hours to get out and walk around, but safe is probably better than sorry tonight.”

Marshall sat down and looked across the table at Buck.  “I have so many questions.  But it would probably be rude to ask.”

“Actually, no.  It’s not rude.  We’re going to be in places together in the field where you might truly need to know…so, did any of you happen to catch the news reports about the bomber in LA about eight months ago?  And the fire truck explosion?”  All three nodded solemnly.  “Well, I was the guy under the truck.”

Mateo looked at him seriously.  “My doctor said that man would be lucky to keep his life, forget about his leg.”

Buck remembered surfacing from the anesthesia, not knowing what sort of world he’d awakened to.  “Yeah.  I was twice lucky.  Even recertified for my job.  Then I threw a clot in my boss’s backyard at my own ‘Welcome Back’ party.  Nearly drowned in my own blood in front of everyone I cared about.  They finally figured out the hardware in my leg was causing the clots, so they’re going to go in and remove it.  I’ll be in a walking boot for a week or ten days, just to make sure things don’t shift.  And they’ll start backing down the meds.”

The breadbasket made the rounds of the table as the men settled in to eat.  After a few very appreciative noises from each of them, Buck looked around at the group.

“So, tell me a little about yourselves?  You’ve heard my sordid background…it’s somebody else’s turn.  Not that you have to get really personal or anything, just ‘cause I had to.  Yeah, I’m gonna shut up and eat now before I bury myself any deeper.”

Jake chuckled before taking a drink and clearing his throat.  “Well, I’m Jake Townsend.  I’m going into the second year of my Environmental Science internship and wrapping up my degree in ES virtually out of Oregon State University.  Single, no kids, parents still married…to each other.  There has been a remarkable lack of drama in my life so far, which I am apparently making up for in my love life, which is a dumpster fire.”

Mateo shook his head.  “He’s not kidding.  The last girl he dated showed up at his door at midnight one night dressed like a mash-up of Bambi’s Daddy and the Fairy Godmother and tried to lure him into the woods to…what was it, man?  Chase and conquer her in a sacrifice to the Mother Moon?  Something like that.  I went over when the screaming started, after calling the cops.  It was a nightmare.”

“Just the latest in a long line of crazy.  Honestly, sometimes I envy gay guys.  Men can’t possibly be as insane as the women I’ve dated.  Or maybe I just put out some ‘crazy’ pheromone or something.  I don’t know, but after that particular episode I decided to take a break before I accidentally broke the universe or something.”  Jake sounded puzzled and mournful, and Buck had to laugh.

Jake took a spoonful of soup, nodding to Marshall that it was his turn.  The slightly younger man gamely picked up the baton.

“OK, so I’m Marshall Sutherland.  I’m getting my Wildlife Management degree out of Oklahoma State University.  Girlfriend back in Stillwater finishing up her degree in Business Administration  Then she’s going to take over the world while I hold her purse.  And deal with any creepy-crawlies.  Jennifer absolutely refuses to deal with anything that has more legs than she does.  Nothing particularly exciting about me.  No bunny-boiling ex’s or skeletons in my closet.”  The man gave Buck a friendly smile.  “Just your ordinary, everyday Okie.”

Mateo looked a bit askance.  “Sure, except for the way you earned your college tuition money.”

“Tell me you didn’t steal a bunch of diamonds…”  Buck was wary, looking at the guy intently.

Marshall shook his head contemplatively, like that might have been a reasonable suggestion if he’d only thought of it first.  “No, no.  I just did some rodeoing.  That’s all.”

Buck instantly beamed.   “Oh!  Me too.  What events?  I tried a little rough stock, but I’m really too tall.  Especially when you consider how long my legs are relative to the rest of me.  I was pretty good at bulldogging though, and not too shabby at calf-roping.”

Marshall’s answering grin was broad enough to almost split his face in two.  “Saddle bronc, mostly.  I’m too light-weight to really do very well in bulldogging, but I was pretty good at calf-roping too.”

Mateo groaned and shook his head in mock despair.  “Oh no!  Jake, how did we wind up with two baby interns who each independently looked at a literal ton of muscle and thought, ‘Hey, why don’t we?’”

Marshall and Buck turned to the man with identical innocent expressions.

“Great, just great.  Look at them.  They look like choirboys, but they’re probably more like imps.”  Shaking his head in mock sorrow, Mateo looked over at his fellow intern.  “We’re going to have to watch them very carefully Jake, or one day we’re going to look up and find one of them riding a moose.”

Dropping the act, he looked back towards the newbies.  “OK, so I’m Mateo.  Second year intern finishing up my Biology degree out of Colorado State.  As Evan said earlier, we’ll have to rely on each other in the field, so just for clarification… I have a fortunately mild case of cerebral palsy.  It mostly affects my lower limbs.  I use adaptive controls in my truck, and generally use a four-wheeler in the woods.  I do some climbing recreationally, but I haven’t had a partner in the field who could support me in that, so I generally haven’t brought that into work.”

Buck hesitated just a moment, before offering, “Well, I’m certified in Urban and Wilderness rope work, so if you felt like you wanted to…I’m willing to explore the possibilities in the field.”

Mateo gave the matter a little thought as he chewed.  “I’d want to go out with you a few times to get comfortable with each other’s abilities and skill sets, but yeah… in theory, it’s something I’d like to explore.  In other news, I have a long term partner who’s currently deployed.  After this tour he’s looking at moving into the Reserves and we’re planning on going to grad school.  And Jake, I think it’s just you.  There are plenty of crazy guys out there.  I haven’t dated any of them, but I’ve heard stories…”

Buck picked the baton back up as it seemed the conversation had come full circle.  “OK, well…I’m Evan Buckley.  I’ll finish my AAS in Animal Management with Moorpark College in December.  Then I’m transferring in to Washington State to complete my BS in Zoology.  I was in the Navy and did a year on a sub and about a year and half in SEAL training.  I had some issues with the mental aspect of training, so I rang out and finished the year out at Norfolk.  I moved into the Reserves for my last two years.  My commitment ended about a year ago.”

“I worked for three years for the Los Angeles Fire Department.  I’m engaged to be married to my former partner, and we have the most awesome eight-year-old ever.  Christopher has CP as well.  He’s in the planning stages for his next surgery, so Eddie didn’t feel it was the right time for a job change.  They’re back in LA.”  Buck grinned, as he always did when thinking of Chris.  “When he finds out one of my partners is both a fellow CP patient and a kickass field biologist, he’s gonna be stoked.”

Mateo’s expression cleared a bit.  “That’s why you were curious about the basket.  Hey, man.  Any questions you have…feel free to ask.  I’m all about helping a fellow achieve as much independence as possible.  And if you’d like, I’d be happy to answer any questions Christopher might have.”

Marshall looked thoughtful.  “Have you guys considered adding Equine Therapy to Christopher’s plan?  There are a lot of benefits to be had for balance and muscle control.  And the emotional aspect too.  I worked part time the last three years in an ET practice, and I’m PATH certified.  I could recommend some places…”

He trailed off with a questioning head tilt.

Buck considered that.  “You know, we haven’t really considered that.  Chris has had surfing lessons, which really helped when we got caught in the tsunami…”

“What?”  Jake exclaimed.  “You got caught in a tsunami with your eight-year-old son?  You know, suddenly I’m not the least bit envious of people with drama in their lives.  I feel incredibly thankful for my nice, boring life.”

Buck laughed.  “Yeah.  Drama is definitely overrated.”

As the conversation and meal continued, the four men getting more comfortable with each other, Buck felt his excitement and hope begin to rise.

This new deck was going to work for him.