24. Zeke
Zeke
The bay doors are open, letting in the late afternoon sun. The station is quiet for once. No calls. No alarms. Just the members of our shift scattered around the day room. My brothers and I are sitting in the bay, after making sure the rig was stocked.
My brothers’ eyes have been on me since I arrived, and I know there’s only one thing they want to talk about.
Selena. I should have known the second I walked through the door they’d want every little detail of what happened. We just happened to get dispatched so they couldn’t pounce on me.
But now, we have nothing but time, it seems.
"So?" Jay asks as he sits down on the bumper of the rescue truck. "You gonna tell us what happened with Selena?"
"I haven’t had a chance. We’ve been a little busy," I remind him.
"Well, we aren’t now, so spill," Eli speaks up as he sits down beside Jay.
I glance down at the concrete floor, then take a deep breath.
"First off, we need to do some digging about the area she stays in."
“Why?” they both say in unison and I can see the way their bodies tense up.
“It’s just a rundown neighborhood. The building she lives in is crap. She lives on the fourth floor, and the elevator doesn’t work. I was able to walk in right off the street. I’m almost positive that it wouldn’t pass fire code if the inspector were to walk in there today.”
My brothers look at each other and give a knowing nod. We’re going to be investigating. Just another task added to our list.
"Okay, once we win her over, we’ll tackle her living situation. That may be changed anyway with her mother selling their family home," Eli says. “Now, get to what happened. What did she say when you explained everything?"
I hesitate, because while it was progress, it wasn’t a slam dunk. We’re really not any further with winning her over than we were before. "She let me inside."
"That's progress," Jay says triumphantly as his mouth spreads wide with a smile.
I snort.
"Progress? That’s up for interpretation."
"It’s fucking progress. She has us blocked, but she let you in. Why are you not seeing the plus in this?” he snaps.
"Jay has a point." Eli shifts how he’s sitting, angling his body toward Jay. "Letting you into the apartment is huge."
I don't know if huge is the word I'd use. Yes, she let me in, but to me, huge would be Selena being more accepting of the misunderstanding. Huge would’ve been her kicking that ass of a boyfriend out the door when he showed up.
But it definitely wasn't nothing.
"Does she understand why we said it?" Eli asks. “That we were trying to deal with the situation in the only way we knew how?”
The question makes my stomach tighten. Because that's the real problem. Not whether she let me inside. But rather if she actually believes us.
I shake my head. Because the answer isn’t clear. "I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"I only had a few minutes to talk. To explain to her that she didn’t hear the entire conversation."
"A few minutes?" Jay repeats. “Why just a few minutes? If she let you in, I doubt she kicked you out.”
I glare at him.
"All I was able to tell her was that it was a misunderstanding, but before we could go any further, the fucking asshole boyfriend showed up."
"Of course he did." Eli groans, letting his head fall back as Jay rolls his eyes.
"Guy's got impeccable timing," Jay mutters. “Worms his way into a family dinner and ruins our plans, then shows up at her apartment doing it again.”
“When he showed up I knew I wasn’t going to be able to freely talk to Selena, so I left. But I did let her know that I’d be in touch.”
"You left?" Jay asks.
"What was I supposed to do? Start a fight in her living room? Act like Tarzan? Throw her over my shoulder like a caveman?"
His grin widens. "I mean..."
"No."
We settle into a comfortable silence for a moment.
"Well…" Eli draws out.
I already don't like that tone.
"Well what?" I ask.
"Somebody needs to go next," Eli points at me. "But not you, Zeke. You had your chance."
"I talked to her for three minutes. How is that a damn chance?" How dare he count me out?
"Still counts," Jay pipes up.
"It doesn’t count," I argue, my hands balling at my sides.
"It absolutely counts.” Eli looks at me sternly before directing his attention to Jay. “So how are we going to determine who goes next?”
"I should go," Jay says, standing up.
"Why you?" Eli asks.
"Because," he says bluntly.
"I could just—" I start but immediately I’m cut off by both Eli and Jay shouting ‘no’.
"Rock, paper, scissors," Jay blurts with excitement. “Best two out of three. No ifs, ands, or buts.”
“I like that,” Eli says, as he stands. “On the count of three.”
I count them down, and on three, Eli throws out a rock, while Jay does scissors.
“Eli wins,” I announce. “Get ready. Three, two, one.”
This time Eli throws out a rock again, and Jay does paper.
“Jay wins. One to one. Next one determines the overall winner.” Eli grumbles, but they get ready, and I count them down again.
This time Eli decides to go paper, and Jay does rock.
“Eli wins,” I announce.
"YES!" Eli begins jumping around the room like a kid.
“I hope you have better luck than me,” I tell him just as the alarm goes off and we rush into action. Time to fight fire.
For the first time all day, the knot in my chest loosens. Because no matter how complicated this gets, one thing is obvious. None of us are giving up.