Dear readers, tonight with me is a man who managed to break free of his white-trash background littered with bad decisions, and is now a valued members of a special black-ops unit in the army.
What is it like to wear an ankle bracelet?
It sucks. It rubs all the hair off that spot, you have to bag the monitor up whenever you take a shower, and if it’s a drug monitoring bracelet like mine, you can’t even use mouthwash or it will spike your alcohol measurement and set the damn thing off, then BOOM, jail time. Also, you got to pay for the delight of wearing it out of your own pocket. You can’t go swimming or wading or hand fishing, either, which used to be my favorite ways to waste time with my brother.
What was the scariest situation you’ve been in?
I guess I probably oughta say something like “getting shot at by human traffickers,” but the truth is that wasn’t near as scary as standing on the ground, watching the helicopter of one of those sex traffickers lift off with my nieces in the cockpit. I still have nightmares about that.
What was the lowest point in your life?
If you had asked me a couple months ago, I would’ve said waking up in jail with an ankle monitor and finding out I spent my last blackout drunk stealing a squad car, wrecking it, and fighting Officer Mary, the only female cop on the Holler’s police force. But once some jerk murders your brother and his wife and frames you for it, you sort of get a new perspective on this idea of lowest life points.
What did you first think of Whisky when you met her?
[laughs] Do not fuck with this chick. Seriously, when someone pulls a gun on you just because you didn’t say “ma’am,” you get that she means business pretty fast. But it got me to shut my mouth and follow orders, which keeps me from getting killed in the field, so obviously, it works.
What do you do to relax?
A’ight, no lie? I used to smoke pot and drink. Actually, I did that to party, too. But now I train–some martial arts, some weapons training, basically whatever my team leader, Whisky, tells me to do. The goal is to become a good enough operative that I’m not disposable…because NOC-Unit’s kind of known for their Essential Employees Only policy. Screw-ups don’t get second chances around here.
What is your call sign when you’re on operations?
That’s kind of a sore subject. It’s embarrassing, that’s the short answer. Let’s talk about something else.
What is your favourite music to listen to?
Dude, so far everybody I’ve met in Brooklyn and Manhattan assumes I like country, probably because I play up the good ol’ boy Southern accent to annoy them. But I never much cared for country. I’m more of a Seven Mary Three and Sublime guy myself.
Are there any romantic plans in your future?
Maybe. There’s somebody I been hanging out with, anyway. Not really sure if we’re just friends or…hell, I don’t know…but I like her. She’s pretty bad ass.
E. M. Smith came by his redneck roots honestly, his barbwire tattoo dishonestly, and his sobriety slowly. Recovery isn’t a sprint, according to his friends, it’s a marathon. That’s probably why he turned into such a fitness geek when he quit drinking. You can find Jamie Kendrick on the pages of Bad Decisions – the first of the Agent Juliet series.
Next week we will have a with us the son of a billionaire, who got embroiled in an international intrigue involving nations. Please follow the site by email (bottom-right), via Twitter or like our Facebook page to be notified when the next interview is posted.
The Protagonist Speaks 
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