"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" I say feeling like a rookie. Well, I guess I am a rookie.
"Okay, take the stance." He looks like he wants to help me get in position but because the last time I nearly stabbed him for getting close to me, he maintains his distance.
"Very good." He says looking me over. I blush again. He doesn't notice as he continues with the lesson. "You need to line up the front sight post between the rear dove tail posts as you aim the gun at the target."
I look over at him with my eyebrow raised, not knowing what the heck he's talking about.
He smirks. "Three in a row, you're ready to go." He says as he points to the sight alignment.
"Oh." I say with a quiver in my voice because I know what's coming next.
"With the pad of your index finger squeeze gently but firmly straight back on the trigger." He says.
I take a deep breath and everything in me wants to put the gun down but I don't. I slowly pull back on the trigger and close my eyes as the round goes off."
"Hey!" He yells at me. "Watch it! Don't shoot the ground. Do you want those bullets to come ricocheting back at us? Don't close your eyes!"
The intensity in his voice scares me. "I'm sorry, I didn't try to shoot at the ground." I try to hand the gun back to him but he quickly pushes the muzzle back downrange since I was accidentally pointing it at him again.
"Crap!" I say feeling stupid. My heart is pounding with adrenaline and for some reason I feel like I want to cry. I look down at the pistol. Nothing should have this kind of power. It's like I felt it in my bones, the power this machine has to take a life. I start feeling nauseous and my hands shake as I continue holding the pistol point down range. I want to get it out of my hands but we didn't really go over what to do once I took a shot, so I just keep it aimed.
Tony's hand goes to my back. This time I feel comforted by his gesture. "It's okay Willow. It's scary the first time you shoot." He takes the gun from me and I feel as if a thousand pounds have been lifted off of me. I shake my hands out several times and wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans.
"I don't think I want to practice anymore." I say still feeling on the verge of tears.
Tony's face turns gentle. "If you don't want to practice anymore that's fine, but I can promise you that if you keep practicing you will feel more confident. You just got scared. You closed your eyes and dropped your aim when you anticipated the recoil of the gun."
"I just don't like it." I take a deep shaky breath and shake my hands out again.
He puts his hand on my shoulder then removes it quickly. "I understand. Are you sure you don't want to try again?"
I think of my mom with that question. She's so strong and carries herself like the leader that she is. If I am going to fight with her, I need to learn to do this. I need to be brave like my mom is. I look down at my pistol in his hand then back up at him. "Okay, I’ll try again." I feel the nausea start to build up again as I take the gun from him.
He demonstrates his stance and aim for me again. He takes a shot and hits the target in the middle of the head. He gestures for me to try. "Aim at the chest for now." He says.
I take the stance and breathe a few deep breaths as I aim the gun. "Three in a row, ready to go." I whisper. I will my eyes to remain open as I gently pull the trigger back and shoot. The recoil is not nearly like I imagined it would be. I look at the target. "I hit it!" I say excitedly. I want to jump up and down but I remember the deadly weapon in my hand this time.
"Yes, you did!" Tony's unable to keep from catching my excitement. "Okay, this time try to aim for the chest." He says.
I laugh nervously. I hit the target sheet this time in the lower corner. Nowhere near the drawing of the body but I’m just happy to see the small hole that hit the white paper. I steady myself and aim again. This time I take several deep breaths and focus everything into lining up the sights on the middle of the target's chest. I pull the trigger and manage to hit it in what might be the stomach.
"I'm getting better." I say excitedly. Although the gun still freaks me out, I'm getting more amped up about actually being able to hit something.
"Yes you are." Tony smiles at me.
I shoot a few more rounds and manage to get a pretty good shot in the chest. It's no bulls eye but still, it would do some damage if I had to go up against a Reaper. Tony lets me practice for a little while longer until it's time for lunch. We put everything away and then he graciously reminds me to do something to change my eye color back again. I decide to walk through the wall, ignoring the door and disappear from his sight. I laugh when he calls for me. He catches up with me out in the hallway.
"They are mostly brown now. Nice." He smiles and then lets his smile drop again. I hate that there's this uncomfortable tension between us. I’m glad that my eye color is changing colors quicker now than when I first arrived.
We grab a bite to eat at lunch. I look around but don't see Molly anywhere. I guess she's off with her new boy toy. I hope she's not doing anything she'll regret.
My mom comes to sit with Tony and I. "So how's training going?" She asks.
"It's going." I say.
"Your daughter is catching on very quickly." Tony elaborates looking annoyed at my short answer. "We are going to practice hand to hand combat next.”
Yippee! I manage to keep my thought to myself.
My mom tells us about the plans she's making to send the same group out tomorrow to take Molly home. She doesn't want me to come but she quickly relents when I pitch a fit. Everything is set to start at dawn as long as the rain lets up. I look out the windows of the dining hall. It's still nearly dark outside as sheets of soaking rain fall from the sky. I hope it lets up soon.
We finish our lunch and I go back to the training room with Tony. He shows me a few combat moves like dodging hits, punching, kicking and getting out of holds. I try them a few times but since we are both a little uncomfortable being close right now, we don't really get much good practice in.
Around five we decide to call it quits for the day; which is a good thing since I’m starving. I run to my room to get washed up and meet Tony back in the dining area. As I walk through the foyer, I spot Tony talking to Molly at the other end of the room. I try and squelch the foreign feelings I’m having and make my way over to them. I’ve decided I’m going to be nice to Molly or at least I’ll die trying.
Tony catches my eye when I’m about half way across the room. Molly must sense Tony’s not listening to her anymore because she flippantly turns around and glares in my direction. I guess I must be cramping her style.
“Willow,” she says through clenched teeth and a faker than life smile.
I nod my head at her. “Molly.” I state. “How have you been holding up? I haven’t seen you all day.” I try and keep to the small talk so I can keep the more awkward conversational moments at bay.
“Good, good,” she replies halfheartedly. I return her fake smile and turn my attention to Tony. “Hey, thanks for helping me out today. I really do feel I’ve learned a lot…like if I really needed to defend myself I could.” I hear Molly do a small snort next to me. I take a deep breath and try to think happy thoughts to keep from using some of my newfound skills on her.
Dinner goes off without a hitch…well, if you don’t count Molly’s unrelenting flirtation with all the guys at the table. I’ve concluded she must have some pretty deep daddy issues so I try and not make a huge deal over it. Tony doesn’t seem fazed. Either he’s used to people flirting with him or he’s trying to not hurt her feelings. For goodness sake she’s jailbait next to him! I feel guilty thinking about how lovely it is that we’re taking Molly home in the morning! Well, God willing that this rain lets up. I send a silent prayer to the Man upstairs.
We clear our table putting the dishes in the large plastic bins.
“Wello,” I hear a little voice call from a table nearby. I turn around and see Sebastian sitting in his little booster seat with all the other children. I put my hand on Ton
y’s shoulder and whisper for him to give me a few minutes.
“Not a problem,” he says in return.
I make my way over to Sebastian. I notice he hasn’t touched his food while all the rest of the children are having their desert. I squat next to him and ruffle his curls. “What’s going on my little man?” I ask.
He has his bottom lip stuck out and his eyes have tears in them just waiting to be released. “I don’t wike what they give me. It’s uky.”
I look down at his plate. It doesn’t seem that bad except I know he hates peas. Back home, if his plate even had one pea on it he wouldn’t eat anything on the plate. I scratch my head and think about what I could say that might convince him to eat the peas. An idea comes to mind. Something I used to do back home.
“Hey Sabby, you remember back home when the little green Martians came to visit and they left these strange green eggs that wound up on our plates?” His little head bobs up and down. “Well, I think they’re back!” I say in a conspirator-like tone. His little eyes get as round as saucers. “And they’re going to be looking for them so we better hurry up and hide them so they don’t get mad!” I take his fork from his pudgy little hand and move the peas a little at a time underneath his mashed potatoes. Once they’re all hidden I wipe my brow in mock relief. “Phew, that was close!” I say. “Now those scary Martians will never find them.” A little smile breaks across his face. “So, you’d better eat your food. That desert tonight was mighty yummy and I’d hate for you to miss out.”
“Tanks Wello!” he says and gives me the sweetest little hug. He lets me go and dives in to his food. I smile at the teacher and she mouths, ‘thank you’. I mouth back, ‘no problem’ and give her a smile.
Tony’s standing near the end of the table smirking at me. I drop my head in mild embarrassment. I didn’t mean for him to see that. Why I’m embarrassed, I can’t quite say though. I walk up to him. “Hey, thanks for waiting up.”
He laughs under his breath. “No prob. I think it’s cute how you’re the only one who can get the little guy to eat his peas. I don’t blame him. Peas are like the antichrist anyway.” He holds up his finger like he has an idea. “But, maybe they really are Martian eggs. That would explain the taste!”
I punch him playfully in the shoulder. “Very funny.” I laugh a little with Tony as we walk down the hall. “So, what’s the plan for the night….and where’s Molly?”
“Molly who?” Tony teases.
“Seriously, did you lock her in a closet or something?”
Tony purses his lips. “I may or may not have done such actions.” We both laugh a good belly-shaking laugh. Tony rights himself. “No, I asked your mom to take her for a while. She can be a little…over the top sometimes.”
I raise my eyebrows at him. “A little?” I ask playfully.
Tony just shakes his head laughing under his breath. “Come on, Willow. I’ve got an idea.”
I shrug my shoulders and give him a sly grin. “Whatever it is, it sounds good to me. I need to unwind from all that work this tough instructor made me do.”
"Yeah, he sounds like a really mean guy." He says which makes me laugh. He turns and looks behind us making sure the coast is clear. He bites his lower lip, grabs my hand and begins running down the hallway. I try not to pay attention to him holding my hand but it is very distracting. We turn several corners until we come to the stairwell door on the far end of the hotel. Tony releases my hand and opens the door. A musty smell permeates the air.
“Why did we have to come all the way over here to get on a different stairwell when we have one that was a lot closer?”
He wags his eyebrows at me. “That is for me to know, and you to find out.” He doesn’t try to explain further before he grabs a candle and matches that he must have stowed earlier.
“Did you plan this?” I ask him. It seems unlikely that there would be candles and matches in a random corner of a stairwell.
He doesn’t answer me but simply hands me a candle and lights one for himself. “Come on, there’s something really cool I want to show you.” I nod and let him lead the way.
After many stairs and several stops to relight my candle, we come to the basement door. Tony reaches in his pocket producing a key that just so happens to unlock this particular door. The verdict is in…it was totally planned. The door opens and flings dust with it. I cough a little and wave my hand in front of my face trying to clear the air. It’s dark in the basement and it looks really spooky. I can’t say I’m too keen on the idea of waltzing my way in there.
Tony must sense my hesitance. He holds out his hand to me. “As friends,” he says.
I try to weigh the pros and cons of this choice but give up. “As friends,” I repeat placing my hand in his.
He squeezes it and then leads me into the basement. I try and lighten the mood with humor. “So, do you lead all the girls down or just me?” I can feel him laughing through his hand.
“Just you, Willow.” Argh, the way he says my name! I can’t put a pin on it, it’s just different.
The flickering glow bounces off of the walls casting shadows on all kinds of hotel items. I guess this is where they kept their extra beds and what-not's. We round another corner and Tony comes to a stop in front of a large metal cabinet. “Can I have my hand back?” He asks.
I hadn’t realized how hard I was squeezing his hand. I blush in embarrassment. Thankful he can’t see it. I let go of his hand. He jimmies the handle for a second and then the door swings open. Another cloud of dust explodes leaving me in a small coughing fit. I clear the dust away by waving my hand in front of my face again.
I place my candle closer to the inside of the cabinet to get a better look. Thin rectangular boxes that look extremely old, line the different shelves. “What is it?” I ask. It’s the million dollar question.
"I saw this stuff when we initially searched the building." Tony takes his hand and begins to wipe some of the dust that’s formed on one of the boxes.
I begin to make out the name. M-O-N-O, and I can’t make out the next few, but the last ones are L and Y. I wonder what Mono ly is. I take my hand and brush some of the dust off another box. “Y-A-T-Z-E-E. Hmmm, this one isn’t as worn down as the other is. I wonder what Yatzee means. I’ve never heard of it before have you?”
Tony shrugs his shoulders. “Let’s take a few out and see what’s inside.”
I nod and my hand reaches for the Mono ly box. I place it on the floor and open the lid. Inside are these tiny green and red houses. “Look,” I say. “Here’s a dog. But…why is there a thimble the same size as the dog?” Now I’m really confused.
I hear Tony laughing next to me.
“What’s so funny, huh? Since you’re so smart, why don’t you tell me what these are?”
This makes Tony laugh even more. “They’re games silly. Haven’t you ever seen any before?” He asks.
I guess I’m a bit taken aback by this. I've played games plenty of times but usually that requires our tablets or the computer, not a box of random stuff that looks ancient. “How do you know what this is? And why didn’t you say something before now if you knew what it was?”
“I’m sorry Willow, I just wanted to see what you thought of it first. The only reason I know what these are is because I’ve read about them. Apparently, a long time ago people used to play these kinds of games in their spare time. When I realized we’d have some time together this evening I figured I’d take you down here and show you; then maybe you’d like to try and play one with me.”
I scratch my head. I guess his explanation sounds innocent enough. At least he wasn’t making me the brunt end of a joke. “Fine, I’ll play. But how do we know how to do it?”
Tony reaches around me and sorts through the box. He pulls out an old, worn sheet of paper and unfolds it. “Directions,” he says like it’s the greatest invention since sliced bread.
We set the candles down in front of us and sit across from one another. I dump the contents of t
he box in front of me. A cardboard piece falls out. I notice it’s doubled over so I unfold it carefully. “Tony, check this out.” I say and show him the cardboard piece. Look, it’s so pretty, and geometrical. There are all these squares with multiple colors surrounding the cardboard.
“Look in the middle,” he says. “Apparently it’s called Monopoly.”
I scrunch my eyebrows. “Monopoly, I’ve heard that term before.”
Tony nods in affirmation. “Yeah, me too.”
We read the directions carefully and set the game up according to them.
“Tony, check out how cheap this property is!” I show him a card called Baltic Avenue.
“Man, this game is really old for land to be that cheap.” Tony agrees.
We decide I am what’s called a banker and he’s the one who holds the little property cards. We hit several road bumps in the beginning but soon we start getting into the game. My favorite part is rolling the little dice. It takes a while for me to count all the small circles but it’s not a big deal.
Pretty soon we’re laughing with every move. It’s either the greatest thing that’s ever happened or the worst. After an hour of playing, I’m rolling in so much money that I have trouble keeping it organized and Tony only has two dollars to his name and has had to mortgage all his properties.
When he lands on Boardwalk he throws his last two dollars at me and laughs. “Okay, okay. I concede. You are definitely the queen at Monopoly.”
I stand up and jokingly take a bow. We stay down in the basement for hours playing all sorts of fun games. We decide against Yatzee because it takes too long to count all those circles. We try this one called: Hungry Hungry Hippo. It's one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. I put it aside so I can show it to Sebastian later. The other one we play is Clue. Scarlet is so gorgeous in her red dress. Tony plays as Professor Plum.
Somehow I end up winning all of the games except Hungry Hungry Hippos. Tony gets so competitive while playing that he manages to break the poor hippo's tail, trying to get it to chomp up the most marbles.
We check the clock and find that it's past ten. "Wow, we missed dinner." I say.
Finding ELE (ELE Series #2) Written By: Rebecca Gober and Courtney Nuckels Page 8