I nodded as I looked around for Tony and Cal. Finding them, I motioned toward the front door and headed up the walk. I wondered what Emily was doing right at that moment. Was it time for Nina’s History class? I couldn’t remember. I felt someone tapping my shoulder.
“B, what are you doing?” Tony shouted through his mask. “Where’s the ax?”
I looked down and saw that I was holding only the hose. I shrugged and hollered, “Rookie! Go grab the ax out of the engine!”
Tony shot me a look as Cal headed back to the truck to grab the ax. I pulled off a glove and put a hand on the front door to test for heat. The door was hot, and the knob was too hot to touch. Not a good sign. When Cal returned with the ax, I put a hand on one of the windows next to the door and said, “Bust the glass, but stay back!”
Cal nodded and swung the ax. The sudden gush of air made the flames flare up.
“GET BACK!” I yelled, as I shoved Tony and Cal off the porch and ducked. The sudden increase in heat caused the five small windows surrounding the door frame to explode, sending glass fragments flying. I waited a moment before lifting my head off of the porch. I called out, “You guys okay?”
“Yeah, fine,” Tony replied, as he pulled Cal up off the ground and climbed back onto the porch. “You okay, man?”
I nodded and grabbed the ax from Cal’s hand, swinging it back before bringing it down through the door. The wood splintered but remained intact as I pulled it out and took another swing. This time the door cracked, and when I wiggled the blade, the cheap wood split in two. Tony kicked the door into the house and aimed the hose at the front entry.
It took an hour to put out the fire, and when we were done, the homeowners thanked us profusely. It felt surreal to have people whose lives had just been consumed by flame thanking us. Chief made sure they had the information they needed to get resources while the Red Cross volunteers took inventory of what their immediate needs were.
“Damn, no matter how many times it happens, it always amazes me how quickly those folks get here!” Tony said, looking at the volunteer handing the couple a booklet of resources and a small amount of cash while the other one made hotel reservations for them.
“Are they always that quick?” Cal asked, watching with awe.
“Yep, that’s the power of having thousands of local volunteers in every community,” I nodded. “They always have someone ready to go. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it.”
As we loaded up the engine for the trip home, Tony came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder.
“You okay, B?” he asked quietly. “You don’t seem like you’re in the game today.”
“I’m okay,” I replied. “Just got a lot on my mind.”
“Well, you’d better get some of it off your mind before Chief calls you to the carpet,” he said, adding, “Or someone gets hurt.”
I stood by the side of the truck holding my helmet as Tony hauled himself back up into the cab, knowing I had to get Emily out of my head.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Emily
The sun shone through the windows in my classroom on an unseasonably warm Friday afternoon in February as I handed back the graded tests to my sophomore History class. I praised them for their hard work and attempts at addressing the finer points of early 20th century immigration, and reminded the ones who hadn’t done as well that they still had several more chances to make up for less than stellar grades.
“Nice work, Nina,” I said with a big smile, as I set her test down on her desk. She gave me a nervous look that quickly turned into a wide smile as she saw that the grade on the top of the page was an A.
“Thank you, Ms. Fowler,” she said, smiling up at me.
“Don’t thank me; you did the hard work!” I said, returning her smile. I handed out the rest of the papers and then went over the answers before the bell rang.
Nina hung back as her friends headed to their next classes. Nervously, she approached my desk and said, “Ms. Fowler, I need to talk to you.”
“Okay, what’s up?” I replied, looking up from the computer where I was pulling up a PowerPoint lecture for the next class.
“Not now,” she said, looking toward the door and then back at me. “After school?”
“Are you all right, Nina?” I asked, suddenly worried.
“Yeah, fine,” she nodded. “I just need to talk to you in private.”
“Okay, I’ll wait here for you after the last bell,” I agreed. She nodded, then turned and ran out the classroom door.
I spent the last two periods of the school day worried that something was wrong with Nina. I had a sinking feeling that she was going to tell me she was pregnant and ask for help telling her parents. I sincerely hoped that wasn’t the case, but I steeled myself just in case it was. I didn’t want to be judgmental, but I wasn’t at liberty to offer her any advice on how to deal with the situation outside of advising her to tell her parents.