The night was quiet, with a gentle breeze chasing away the last fragments of the warm day and spreading the faint scent of lilac and lavender. He'd been driving for thirty minutes from the station house, but was surprised to find his journey was over. His body had automatically gone through the motions while his mind was elsewhere. He pulled up to the house in his sports car, parked and killed the motor. The house was dark and he knew JoAnn and his children were sound asleep. He grabbed his duffel bag from the back seat, dragged himself up to the door, inserted his key and turned swiftly. He thought he had heard a low meow coming from beneath the bushes by the door. It sounded like a kitten and with his curiosity aroused, he stepped away, bent over and peered closely at the branches. The sound came again, but even though he parted the bushes, he couldn't see what made it. He heard a rustle as the sound shifted and green eyes, highlighted by the moon's light, flashed at him.
Roy was tired and bending over was too much for his sore and aching back. He wanted only to go in, take a hot shower and curl up spoon fashion against JoAnn, but he didn't. Instead, he carefully grabbed the porch post and slowly lowered himself to the concrete step. He could hear and feel the popping of his joints as he went down. Talking softly, he enticed the kitten to abandon its shelter and creep closer to him. He felt the kitten as it rubbed against his leg and heard its loud and rumbling purr. It sneezed as it caught the scent of smoke embedded in his skin. It climbed into his lap and proceeded to knead his leg as he stroked its head and back. He noticed it had no tail, but it didn't seem to keep the kitten from making itself at home. As long as Roy rubbed his hand on the kitten, it kept up a steady purring.
Subconsciously, he continued the strokes and his thoughts wandered through the hallways of his brain in search of images of the last shift. He grinned as he focused on Johnny and Chet getting into a prank war. Each man had tried to out do each other.
It started with Johnny substituting whip cream for Chet's shaving lotion. Chet had overslept and was groggy when he ran into the station. He had just enough time for a quick shave before dressing for roll call. He didn't see Johnny switching the cans and he didn't look as he grabbed it from his locker. But everyone in the station knew something had happened when Chet yelled out Johnny's name. Johnny had a twinkle in his eyes as he plastered a “who me?” look on his face.
The battle lines were drawn and Chet was aiming to fire the next volley, but it misfired when Captain Stanley went to use the commode. In a station house with only men, no one used the toilet roll spindle. The roll was left sitting flat on the back of the tank and you used your finger in the hole to grab it. The hole was full of Vasoline, compliments of Chet, and Hank's yell could be heard down the block. Chet headed outdoors to hide in his car. When he grabbed the door, his hands slid off. Johnny had sprayed WD-40 on all the door handles.
Roy grinned at the memory. Johnny was two up on Chet and Chet was assigned two weeks of latrine duty from his pissed-off Captain. Chet vowed to get even with his pigeon, which only caused everyone to grin in anticipation of the coming entertainment.
Chet won the next score in their volley by tricking Johnny into chomping on chewing gum that turned his mouth and gums purple. Captain Stanley growled at both of them and told them to knock it off, then told Johnny to go wash his mouth out with soap. The antics quieted down after that and since the day was becoming so boring, Marco and Chet decided to take a quick nap.
Mike had parked the engine outside and was polishing the chrome when Johnny came up and whispered in his ear. Mike gave a large grin and nodded in agreement, watching as Johnny hooked an inch and half line to the engine. Trailing the line behind him, the prankster went over to a previously opened window and aimed carefully at his target. With a thumbs up signal, Mike fired up the engine and turned on the water. Chet's sputtering scream was ear splitting, but not loud enough to drown out the klaxon in the bay. Everyone scattered in response and an overly soaked Chet bounded outside to climb on board just before Mike pulled out.
While they sped in the squad to the latest fire, Roy smiled at his motor-mouth partner patting himself on the back for his latest prank on Chet. Gently, Roy reminded him of the Captain's earlier admonishment to knock it off. Johnny's face drooped in remembrance as he gave directions, but soon brightened up as they neared their destination. He was always a kid on an adrenaline rush when they came to a fire. He was no different with this one.
It had been a bad one, a storage facility out in the industrial area. The fire had started at one end of the yard and quickly marched itself toward the main building. By the time Station 51 arrived, the building was leaking smoke through its sky lights and flames were rising through the eaves. Captain Stanley called in a three-alarm and deployed his men in an effort to contain the fire to the building. An acidity odor permeated the area and coated the interior of their nostrils with the foul stench.
A man came running up screaming that his two friends were still in the building. Cap sent his rescue men in for search and rescue and had Marco and Chet cover them with a one and half fire hose. Unbeknown to the firemen, the two men had made it out of the building and were on its back side. Roy and Johnny separated and started their search on opposite sides of the building. Roy was heading toward the office when he heard Johnny's shout. “Roy! Get out! Get out, NOW! These boxes...they contain fireworks. It's a freaking fireworks factory!”
Chet and Marco heard the shout and turned to run. The four men made it to the exit door just as the building exploded with fireworks traveling in every direction. Marco and Chet were blown through the door and twenty feet away from the opening. Roy was shoved up against the wall and Johnny was tossed against a metal hopper. Roy was still conscious and knew that he and Johnny needed to get out of there immediately. It was a painful crawl over to his friend who was supine and out for the count. Roy checked for a pulse and found it weak, but still beating steadily. Quickly checking for breaks and finding none, he raised Johnny up to a sitting position and positioned him onto his shoulder into a fireman's hold. Slowly, he stood and staggered through the door where he was met with a mist of water. Several firemen took Johnny away from him and he was led over to the far side of Engine 10 to sit on the bumper.
As the EMT gave him oxygen, he listened to the fireworks exploding and watched the other EMT work on his partner. Johnny's lack of response agitated Roy and he finally lurched to his feet to go to him. Cap had come over to check on his men and put a warm and gentle hand on Roy's shoulder. He firmly pushed him down to a sitting position. “Stay put, Pal. He's in good hands. You do what you're told to do.”
Looking up at his Captain, Roy protested, “But Cap...”
“Roy, that's an order. All four of you are going to Rampart to get checked out.”
“I'm fine. Just ate a little bit of smoke.”
“Still, that's enough in my books for a free ride to see the doctors. Let them determine if you're fine and can come back to work.”
Within minutes, both he and Johnny were in the back of an ambulance on their way to Rampart. By the time they arrived, Johnny was awake, in pain, but aware of where he was. Neither of the two wanted to stay, but since Johnny had been unconscious, Roy knew that his partner wouldn't go home that night and would be a guest of the establishment. Roy was right and barely kept himself from being admitted for the night. His back was severely bruised from landing on his air tank and he had some cuts on his arm, but no broken bones. He was told to take off the next shift and report to the hospital for a release before going back to work. He asked about Marco and Chet and found that they had bruises and cuts, but were being released to return to work.
He stayed while they got Johnny settled into his room. Johnny had a concussion and bruises on his back and shoulders, but would be in the hospital for only a few days. While sitting by his partner's bed, Roy noticed that Johnny was nodding off and he was not far from going to sleep himself. Doctor Brackett came in and saw how exhausted both men were. He beckoned Roy out of the room and ordered him home for the night. Roy agreed and decided to call a taxi, since the engine and several other stations were mopping up the fireworks factory fire and would be out most of the night. He went back in to tell Johnny goodnight and was greeted with a soft snore. Knowing his partner would be waken ever two hours through the night for vitals check, he was quiet as he left to call a cab. So lost in his thoughts, he didn't remember the ride to the station house and the drive home.
He shook his head as he went back over the thoughts he had while watching his partner closely in the ambulance, following every breath that lifted Johnny's chest. How many times had they been in this same situation? If he was being truthful with himself, the answer would be too many. When would they tempt the hands of fate for the last time? Fate was a fickle woman and they had crossed her path quite often during the course of their jobs. Would it be worth it if he lost his best friend? He wasn't sure. He could still feel the anguish of his emotions as he pondered the future, what his future would be like without Johnny's zest for life and fun-loving nature.
As he sunk deeper into his bleak thoughts, his hand was nipped and butted by the kitten in his lap. Roy had stopped stroking and the little night visitor wanted the attention. With a grin, he began petting the kitten and felt the loud purring through his hand. Looking closely at the little fuzz ball through the moonlight, he thought its fur must be dark gray with black tiger stripes. He marveled at its small size in comparison to his giant hand. The miniature cat got curious and reared itself upon Roy's shirt looking up into his face. Stretching itself to its fullest length, the kitten gently patted Roy's cheek and licked his chin with a rough, rasping tongue. With a soft chuckle, Roy pried the cat's claws out of his shirt and repositioned it back into his lap.
He had been stroking its chin and ears for some time when he felt the kitten stiffen and the loud purring stopped. The head swiveled to look back to the left at the sidewalk. A soft, chuffing noise was coming toward them, interspersed by a loud meow. The kitten gave one last pat to Roy's hand and bounded out of his lap to join his mother and sibling. After a small reunion and a good licking by mother, who overbalanced the kitten onto its haunches, the family lined up into single file and marched off to continue down the sidewalk. The mother was tailless, but walked with a regal bearing of a queen. Two of her kittens were Manx cats like her, but the rest of her brood, with proper posture, waved their tails stiffly in the air.
Roy grinned as he watched the family of six move out of sight and then frowned as he felt his soreness. Gingerly, he grabbed the post and pulled his exhausted tall frame slowly up. Taking as deep a breath as his beaten body would allow, he inhaled the heady fragrance of the lilac and lavender plants that encased his porch. It overpowered the smell of smoke that had stayed with him from the fire. He walked slowly, but with a lighter step, thanks to his little visitor. Going to the door, he unlocked it, grabbed his duffel bag and went into the house. His heart had lost its tight grip of fear and his mind was at peace as he closed and locked the door.
The night was quiet, and a gentle breeze weaved its way through the bushes and the tree leaves spreading nature's perfume. It momentarily woke a sparrow, which protested with a sleepy chirp and the night grew silent again.
_______________
Author's note: In memory of Miss Kitty, Obi-won and Wookie who were short visitors in my long night and special thanks goes to Craig Kedigh, retired Firefighter/EMT from Del City, Oklahoma for his delightful stories of life in the station house.
*Click above to send LaJuan feedback
Stories by LaJuan Guest Dispatchers
