"The Turning Point"

by Doc Sara

It had been one of the worst days that John Gage had ever had on the job, not that there had been any really serious injuries or illnesses on the runs he had been on.  As a matter of fact, all of their responses had been pretty much routine.  However, he did not usually get vomited on quite so much in a single shift.  There was the vomiting tourist group at the sushi bar on Main.  That was bad enough.  They were called to a residence for an unknown-type rescue only to find that a woman's husband had locked himself in the bathroom.  He was making no sound.  The wife was afraid that her severely obese husband had had a heart attack.  Johnny and Dwyer forced the door open just in time for the heavily inebriated husband to upchuck all over Johnny.  After taking care of their patient, they stopped to use the water hose at the front of the house.  Dwyer had told Johnny there was no way he was riding in the same vehicle with him until he was hosed off at the very least.  Yes, Johnny's day had been a real winner.  Chet had not fared much better.  He was bitten by the kid that he tried to rescue from the roof of an apartment house while Dwyer, Johnny, and the other guys were trying to talk down the child's mother, a 40-year-old stripper, who was tripping on LSD.

By 6:55 p.m. both men were rushing to get out of the fire station.  They had each pulled a half shift for members of C-Shift and did not plan to tarry once their replacements had arrived.

"Man, what a day," Chet exhaled, still feeling as tense as he had been since that morning when the boy bit him.

"I know the feeling."  Johnny was totally bummed.  He was so ready to get out of there, but he wasn't quite ready to go home just yet.  He needed to unwind.

"Johnny, whadya say that we go out for a beer and unwind a little?"  Chet was heading out the door of the station as he spoke.

Johnny thought a second.  "Sounds like a plan, Chet.  I'm a little too keyed up to go home right now anyway.  A beer sounds good."  Johnny was headed for his Rover.  "We can take my truck and we'll swing back by here so you can get your van later."

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After they had been driving around for too long to Johnny's liking, he pulled over and parked.

"Chet, you said you knew where this place was.  Now where is it?"  Johnny was getting a little peeved now.  It was bad enough that Chet had him driving in all different directions to get to what was supposed to be the hippest new bar in the Carson area.  But with the energy crisis and supposed gasoline shortage, burning unnecessary fuel was not on his list of things to do either.  Then to top it off, they were in a part of town that he was unfamiliar with.  He didn't know that Carson had an area that seemed this seedy.

"It's supposed to be around here somewhere."  Chet looked over the immediate area.  "Well, it's not the right place, but there's a bar on the corner.  Let's just go in and have a beer and get this damn night over.  Maybe we'll even get lucky and find a couple of babes to take home."  The thought perked Chet up.

"Fine.  Let's go."  Johnny was beginning to wish that he had never accepted Chet's offer.

The two men got out of the car and headed down the street to the bar on the corner.  They walked in.  The name of the bar was The Turning Point.  It was a clean place, nothing fancy, but nicer than they had expected for the part of town they were in.  Little did they realize what an eye-opening night this would be for them!

They walked up to the bar and Johnny ordered a couple of drafts while Chet looked around for a table.  The bartender was very friendly.  It was nice to have someone be so pleasant after the bad day that he had had.  Johnny took the mugs and walked over to the table that Chet had found.  After sitting down, Johnny took a long drink of the cold brew.  It hit the spot.

"Hey, Johnny, they must have entertainment here.  That looks like a stage to me."  Chet pointed to the area that was aglow with lights.

"Maybe."  Johnny suddenly had the urge to go to the bathroom.  The few sips of beer he had drank combined with all the coffee he'd had before they left the station was catching up with him.  "Do you see the men's room?"  They both looked around and Chet spotted it.

"Over there."  He pointed to Johnny's left.

"I'll be right back.  We'll finish our beer and leave."  Johnny was developing a nagging feeling that coming to this bar had been a huge mistake.

He made his way to the bathroom and took care of business.  He washed his hands and splashed cool water on his face.  It refreshed him a little.  Johnny felt like there were eyes watching him.  It made him feel uncomfortable.  He hurried out of the bathroom.

He was surprised to see two young men just sitting down at the table with Chet.  He was getting extremely nervous.  His stomach had started to tie up in knots already.  He sat down.  The two men, obviously having already had a few drinks, looked at him and smiled.

"Hi.  I'm Sam and this is Dave," the first of the men smiled and said.  They reached out to shake Johnny's hand.  He reluctantly accepted the hands proffered and smiled a very forced smile.  Through gritted teeth he looked at Chet and whispered, "What's going on?"  Luckily the music was loud enough that Sam and Dave didn't hear him.

Chet, also with a forced smile on his face, leaned over and whispered, "Sorry, Johnny, but we're in a gay bar."  Johnny's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, because at the same time Chet spoke those words he witnessed two men engaged in a rather engrossing lip lock.  He nearly gagged!  "Hey, Johnny, we'd better play along and work our way out of this place.  If they think we're a couple, maybe they'll leave us alone and won't be hitting on us."  Chet was just as nervous as Johnny.

Sam and Dave turned back to Johnny and Chet.  "So, we've never seen you two in here before.  First time here?" asked Dave.

"Yeah."  Chet tried to sound casual.  "I'm Hank and this is Mike."  He pointed to Johnny who was stunned by the aliases that Chet had chosen!

"Well, Hank and Mike, what you do guys do for a living?"

Without thinking, Chet automatically said, "We're firemen with L. A. County."

Johnny turned to his shift mate with eyes the size of saucers, unable to believe that Chet had told these strangers what their profession was.  At least he hadn't told them what station they were with.

"Oh, how exciting!  My dad was a fireman until he retired a couple of years ago," Sam said proudly.  "He was with Station 42 over at San Dimas."

"That's cool.  We're with Station 51 here in Carson."  As soon as the words left his lips, Chet knew he had done it now!  He could feel Johnny's eyes boring a hole through his skull at the moment!

"What a small world!  Then you guys know my cousin, Tom Dwyer.  If only he wasn't my cousin," said Dave with a wink.

Chet looked at Johnny who now had eyes the size of dinner plates.  They were in trouble now!  If Dave told Dwyer that he had met Hank and Mike from Station 51 at a gay bar, then they were done for!  Why oh why did they have to come to this bar of all places!  When word got out that a couple of the guys from Station 51 were at the bar, he and Johnny wouldn't be the only ones to pay the price.  Because of his bright idea to choose the alternate identities that he had, now Cap and Mike would be dragged into this!  Never having been much of a praying man, he was sure ready to give it a shot now!

Johnny was in a daze.  How could this have happened?!  Chet just kept digging this hole deeper and deeper for them both.  How would they ever explain being in a gay bar in the first place, much less explain how they were known as Hank and Mike?  He felt a major headache coming on.  Not knowing what to say, and hoping they could turn the tide of the conversation, Johnny just smiled uncomfortably.  Maybe these guys were already buzzed enough that they would forget ever having met them.  They needed a lot of prayers sent up for them at the moment.  Where was Marco when you needed him?

Sam looked intently at Johnny, seeing him as the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome.  It didn't really matter that he was a fireman.  He'd still be attracted to him if he was a ditch digger.  Hoping to make the evening more enjoyable for himself, Sam was ready to make a move.

"I guess you guys see a lot of action.  Interested in a little extra action tonight?" he said looking at Johnny and slowly licking his upper lip.

Dave was busy with his own flirtation with the shorter Irishman.  He was turned on by the mustache.  Facial hair works well on this man, he thought to himself.  "We only live a couple of blocks away."  He offered Chet a come hither look. 

"We, uh, we're kinda private and just, uh, really don't feel comfortable, uh, talking about it."  Not caring that what he said made absolutely no sense, Johnny thought he'd hyperventilate.

"Well, if you change your minds, we'd be up for a little something different."

Chet looked at Johnny and thought that he'd have to pick him up off the floor.  The younger man was as white as the sheets on their bunks at the station and looked like he was going to throw up, and he just might be joining him!  He could feel the sweat popping out on his face and his throat tightening up.  "I think Mike's had a little too much to drink.  I really should get him home."  Chet tried to make excuses for themselves and reached for Johnny's arm.  Johnny cringed at his touch.  He followed his first impulse and jumped up and ran to the bathroom again.

When Chet got to him, Johnny was on the floor hugging the toilet and vomiting his insides out.  "Hey, you okay?"  Chet was really concerned.

Johnny finally stopped barfing and looked up at Chet, his brown eyes drilling into the Irishman.  "Get me out of here before I kill you."

"No problem there, Gage."  He actually feared that Johnny might follow through on his threat.  The paramedic refused his help in getting to his feet.  They made their way back out into the bar and headed for the front door.  They were cut off by Sam and Dave.

"Hank, Mike, hope to see you studs again sometime."  Sam and Dave looked entirely too eager for Johnny's liking.

"Doubt it," Johnny said under his breath as he rushed past them and out the door.  Once outside he sucked in all the fresh air that he could.  Then he realized that it was raining.  The rain was as cold as ice.  That's what Johnny would like to have right now, a cup of nice ice chips to chew on.

Chet came out the door and saw Johnny just standing there in the rain.  "Hey, man, let's get in the car.  We're gettin' soaked."  Chet hurried for the Rover.

After both Johnny and Chet were comfortably buckled in their seats, Johnny locked the doors and looked over at Chet.  "So help me, Kelly, if you ever breathe a word of this to anyone, you'll be in so much deep shit that nothing will ever take the smell out of you.  I just hope those guys drink a lot more and get plastered and forget all about meeting us and where we work."  Johnny had never been so serious in his life.

"Johnny, believe me, this will go with me to my grave."

Johnny started the car and they pulled away from that particular district, praying that they never got a call to this location and praying that they never saw Sam and Dave again!  He would forever remember to stay away from this vicinity and the Turning Point Saloon.

Tha… Tha… That's All Folks!!!

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