I turn my focus to my current situation as I nervously walk into the building that houses Morgan Thompson Security.
Just inside the door, I’m greeted by a very large man. He looks like he played pro football at one point, but now there’s gray at the temples of his dark hair, making him look older.
“Cody?”
“Yes.”
“Stormy Thompson. I own half of this outfit.” He extends his hand.
I shake it. “Cody Anthony. Thank you for meeting with me today.”
“My pleasure. Follow me back.”
He leads me to a conference room, where we both sit down.
“My partner should be here any moment,” he says.
Another man walks into the office wearing a cowboy hat and boots.
“Speak of the devil,” Stormy smiles. “Cowboy, glad you could join us.”
The man extends a hand to me. “Cody, I presume?”
I stand and shake his hand too. “Yes.”
“Josh Morgan. But everyone here calls me Cowboy.” He grins. “You should know, even though my name is on the building, you won’t see me around much.”
Cowboy takes the chair next to Stormy and I sit back down.
“Yeah,” Stormy chimes in. “Cowboy here is too busy being, well, a cowboy.”
Cowboy laughs. “It’s true. I inherited a horse ranch, and I spend most of my time running that now. And running after my two boys.”
“Is that how you got the call sign Cowboy?”
Stormy chuckles. “Hell no. We went out to a bar one night soon after we met, and this fucker had on pretty much what he does now plus ahugebelt buckle.” He laughs. “I’m from New York, so I wasn’t used to seeing that shit outside of a movie.”
Cowboy grins. “He gave me shit about it every chance he got.”
“Yeah, I did. So, tell me, Cody. What’syourcall sign?”
“It’s Pig Pen but everyone calls me Cody.”
Stormy bursts out laughing.
Cowboy’s eyes widen, then he laughs too. “You really messy or something? Because I’ll tell you right now, if you’re not into showers, you better change that. We share close quarters here.”
Stormy snorts.
“No, that’s not it. It’s because of this.” I pull up my shirt and show them the tattoo. I don’t normally pull up my shirt at an interview but it’s the quickest way to explain.
Cowboy stops laughing and stares. “Lucy fromPeanuts? Then why don’t they call you Charlie?”
“We’d just gone through an obstacle course, and I was covered in mud. When I pulled my shirt off, the guys decided Pig Pen fit better.”
“Huh. Well, you could have a worse call sign,” Cowboy shrugs.
“Yeah, ask CT about his when you get a chance.” Stormy shakes his head. Then he crosses his arms. “I think you’ll fit in just fine here. And Hawthorne speaks highly of you, says we’d be lucky to have you.”