Chapter 6 Rico #2
He holds his hand up and crooks an eyebrow at me. “It’s Sukkot. The kids made me build a damn sukkah in the back yard then insisted we sleep out there last night. My back feels like a crunched-up bag of Cheetos and I got stabbed by more thorns than I could count.”
“You loved every minute of it, didn’t you?
” I say with a grin. He harrumphs but doesn’t deny it, and that warms my heart.
He and his wife have five children together and I don’t know how they manage it.
But as much as Haskell complains, it’s clear he loves them dearly.
I don’t know much about Sukkot, other than it’s traditional to build some kind of three-sided hut, but that sounds like fun to me.
“Who’s hungry?” Kwon yells, summoning the rest of the team from wherever they’ve been lurking around the firehouse. Foster sets an overloaded plate in front of me with a flourish before serving everyone else.
“You’re not looking for special treatment are you, Probie?” I ask with a grin.
He bats his eyelids at me. “No, sir,” he says coquettishly.
“Ew, get a room,” Nelson complains as he throws his ass into a vacant seat. But his best friend snaps his fingers in front of his face and shakes his head.
“Teddy’s no longer a single man,” Quick reminds him. “No one here is competing with an NFL quarterback, so keep dreaming, Sawyer.”
“Retired quarterback,” Teddy corrects him, but there’s no hiding his beaming smile.
“Yeah,” Bell joins in as he puts down plates in front of both Nelson and Quick. “Not all of us like to hit and quit it like you, bro. Teddy understands this little thing called ‘commitment.’ You should look it up.”
Nelson pretends to look offended. “And deprive the good hotties of SoCal of all this fire?” he asks, bouncing in his seat while Quick rolls his eyes. “Nah, man. Wild horses couldn’t tie me down. But you guys enjoy all that lifelong monogamy you’ve been getting down with recently.”
It might be my imagination, but I swear I catch Quick flinching for half a second. That could just be Rocky sticking his head in his crotch looking for food, though.
“I fully intend to,” Zahir Delacroix announces smugly in response to Nelson’s suggestion.
Our lead paramedic sits down with his partner, Yara Ortiz. I’m pretty sure they were double checking the stock on the bus against the third watch’s report. Not that those guys are likely to make a mistake. Del’s just diligent like that.
And apparently a little sassy after coming back from his honeymoon last week. “And by the way,” he adds, “it’s ‘wild horses couldn’t drag me away.’ At least get it right when you’re trying to troll us happily married folks.”
“Aww,” Ortiz says, throwing her arm around her partner’s back and leaning the side of her head against his shoulder. “You have a husband now. Is that weird or just awesome?”
“Mostly just awesome,” he tells her with a grin. “Although this jet lag has been surprisingly troublesome. I think I’m finally over it now, mercifully.”
“You never got to tell us much about Japan last shift,” Foster says, his eyes wide. “Was it everything you hoped it would be?”
Del nods, his typical calm aura even more serene if possible. “And then some. Definitely worth waiting to do it this time of year. Colt and I almost didn’t want to leave.”
Kwon scoffs. “Well, it was a good thing you did. I don’t think there’s a force of nature strong enough to keep Drayton Hendrix in one place longer than three weeks. He was chomping at the bit by the end. Has anyone heard from him?”
I’m not surprised when everyone around the table shakes their heads.
Hendrix has subbed for us twice now, but he’s a nomad Australian who lives out of his van, traveling with his surfboard wherever the wind takes him.
In his previous stint, he only did a couple of shifts with us.
But after almost a month as a regular here, the One-Thirteen feels different without him this time.
Not that we aren’t glad to have Del back, of course.
Yet again I wonder about Haskell’s looming but inevitable switch to either a desk or a training role. The Captain and I will be on the hunt for a new Driver-Engineer at some point, and we both agree Hendrix would fit the bill perfectly.
The only question is whether or not we can convince him to take a permanent position, and I think I already know the answer to that. He’s floated with the One-Two-Two over in San Clemente more often. I really should drop them a line someday and get their thoughts on the matter.
But that’s a concern for another day. Considering everything on my mind currently, I’m pretty sure I can afford to let non-urgent issues like that slide for the time being.
“Did you learn any Japanese cooking while you were over there?” I ask Del, hoping to lift my team’s spirits by changing the subject. “We’d love to try some.”
“Oh, believe me, Lieutenant,” he replies with a grin. “I’ve been meal planning for days. You guys are going to be sick of me.”
“Too late for that!” Nelson crows, sparking off a wave of banter between the squad. I regard them warmly for a second, before leaning over to Del while I still have his attention.
“Don’t forget to file your spousal paperwork when you can,” I remind him. “I know things were busy over the summer, helping with all the rebuilding after the earthquake, but now you’re back—”
He waves me off. “Already done. Apologies for the delay. There were a lot of forms, and tying Colt down to fill them out was a challenge when he was already dealing with so much upheaval with his own work. But now he’s self-employed, we knew we needed to get him covered by my benefits as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.”
“It’s no problem,” I murmur. However, my mind has already wandered off, and I eat the rest of my breakfast without hearing much of what anyone else says around me.
Del’s right.
We do get good benefits with this job.
The tones sound just as we’re clearing up, so we race off to the call and have to face the slightly congealed pile of dishes when we return.
The next several hours are much the same.
Busy, but not overly tricky or distressing.
We see to a house fire, a three-car collision, and a gas leak at an office building.
By the time evening rolls around, I’ve rolled this idea around long enough in my head. I need to voice it out loud to determine if I’m clinically insane or if there’s a tiny grain of potential there. So I jog upstairs to knock on the captain’s door.
Usually, Julian Valentine does his best to eat with us, but he’s missed all three of the meals we’ve managed to squeeze in so far this shift. When he tells me to come in, I see a half-finished sandwich on his desk.
“Please tell me that’s not all you’ve had all day,” I comment before I can stop myself. I hate the idea of him being hungry when we can easily bring him up a portion of whatever we’ve got going on.
He blinks up at me from his mountain of paperwork and then glances at the plate by his elbow. “I honestly have no idea,” he says with a tired laugh.
Valentine is something of a kindred spirit to me.
I think we’re a lot alike in how we feel a keen sense of responsibility for everyone around us and keep our private lives close to our chests.
Plus, while he might be Black and I’m Hispanic, there’s a lot of common ground at times in being men of color and some of the challenges we face in positions of authority.
“I’ll bring you something up,” I promise.
He nods and beckons me in with crooked fingers. I’d guess he’s about a decade older than me, but on days like this, he seems more fatigued than that.
“What can I do for you, Flores?” he asks kindly.
As I lower myself into the chair on the opposite side of his desk, nerves suddenly grip my heart, making my throat tight. “Um…I was hoping to ask some advice, sir, if that’s all right?”
“Sir?” Valentine leans back and regards me with his full attention. “This must be serious. Of course. Anytime, Rico. What’s on your mind?”
Isn’t that the million-dollar question? A sound comes out of my mouth that’s half a sigh, half a laugh. “Too much,” I admit. “What I’m about to say might be incredibly stupid. If it is, can you promise not to rinse me too badly for it? At the very least, don’t tell Nelson or Kwon.”
My intention was to make him laugh. However, he interlaces his fingers and rests his elbows on the desk, fixing me with an intense look.
“My man. If there’s something I’ve come to appreciate lately, it’s not to let doubt get in the way of living your life.
Otherwise, one day, you’ll look around and realize it’s too late. ”
My stomach drops. “Julian, are you okay?”
He shakes his head and manages a feeble smile. “Me? Yeah. My pops, though…” He licks his lips and looks away.
“I’m so sorry,” I say. “If there’s anything I or the team can do—”
“It is what it is,” he interrupts with slightly forced cheerfulness, meeting my gaze again. “My point is to seize the day, Lieutenant. So the more incredibly stupid the idea, the more intrigued I am. Hit me with it.”
If I’m honest, I’m still not entirely sure if I’m serious about this or not. But Valentine’s little pep talk has inspired just enough carpe diem in me that I throw caution to the wind.
As well as several other things out of the window, including the rule book and possibly my sanity.
“So…I was thinking of getting married,” I begin.
He blinks once. “Okay. Whatever I was expecting wasn’t that. Go on.”
I do.