4. Artez
“Uncle Tez.”
“Uncle Tez.”
“Uncle Tez!”
“Uncle—oh, he’s waking up!”
My eyebrows furrowed as my eyelids slowly lifted. The sleep I had was immaculate—fan on high, blackout curtains to hide the sun, blanket pulled up to my chin, and satin pillowcases for optimal comfort. Everyone knew I took my off days seriously, so the unexpected voices confused me.
When my eyes adjusted to the light coming from the hallway, I sat up and searched for the owners of the voices. Two identical faces greeted me.
“Jadyn. Jordyn. What are y’all doing in my room?
” I rubbed the last bit of sleep out of my eyes before swinging my legs over the side of the bed.
I usually locked my door to avoid interruptions, but they had caught me slipping.
My eyes scanned the two eager bodies as they closed the distance between us.
“We waited patiently, Uncle Tez,” Jadyn explained as he sat beside me on the bed. He looked just like his mother: peanut butter skin tone, dark brown hair, almond-shaped eyes, and no respect for my privacy.
“Like a hundred hours. Mama said when the clock said two o’clock, we could come in here and wake you up,” Jordyn added.
He and Jadyn were only six minutes apart, with Jadyn being the oldest. They shared all the same features.
The only varying identifier was that Jordyn had a small mole on the right side of his face that reminded me of Tia and Tamera Mowry.
“She did, huh?” I rubbed a hand down my face before I continued. “Let me freshen up and get dressed. Y’all go downstairs and wait for me, okay?”
“Okay!” they exclaimed in unison. With fast movements, they raced each other down the stairs as I stood up and headed into my bathroom to shower and do my daily routine.
The Gilliam family lived in a five-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bathroom house in the suburbs of Cade’s Cove.
In the home, my mother, sister, and two nephews lived with me.
Although I was the younger sibling, I took on the responsibility of being the head of the house to take care of my family.
I brought in the most money, from a salary of $80,000 with the fire department and over six figures with my vintage car restoration business.
As soon as I got my footing with the fire department and got us caught up on bills and things, I opened a car restoration business where I rebuilt classic cars and sold them to the highest bidder.
It was an homage to my father. One of the first memories I had with him was when I was five years old.
He sat me on his lap while he rode to town in a 1967 Chevrolet Impala.
I could still hear the loud hum of the engine to this day.
Everything I did, I did with my family in mind. They were all I had. I risked my life day in and day out to keep my family safe. A house fire killed my father, but I wouldn’t let it claim anyone else I loved.
After my shower, I pulled on a pair of basketball shorts, a plain T-shirt, and some socks. I made my way down the stairs to the dining room where my family congregated.
“Good morning, family.” I spoke to the room. On the way to the kitchen, which was only separated from the dining room by a marble island, I kissed Mama on the cheek.
“Boy, it’s almost dinnertime,” she responded with a gentle laugh.
Denise Gilliam was a firecracker of a woman, with a head as hard as a rock. She didn’t listen to me or the doctors who told her to prioritize her health, which led to her losing half her foot to diabetes. She still got around good, but some days, that stump gave her the blues with phantom pains.
“I’m right on time then.” I grabbed a water bottle out of the refrigerator and gulped it all down within a few seconds. Then, I turned my body and threw the empty bottle at my sister, Alana’s, head.
“What was that for?” she asked as she picked up the bottle and swatted me with it.
“You sent thing one and thing two to my room when you know I just came off a shift.”
“They wanted to play.” She lifted her shoulders into a shrug.
“It’s shit like this—”
“Ooo! Uncle Tez cussed!” Jadyn exclaimed.
“Ten dollars in the swear jar, Uncle Tez!” Jordyn shouted.
I nodded. “Y’all got me. Alana gon’ put it in the jar for me since my wallet is still upstairs.”
“Wait. What?” Alana asked with furrowed brows.
“It’s the least you can do for orchestrating my sleep interruption.”
“Fine.” Alana rolled her eyes.
I chuckled. “Alright, kids. Let’s get some fresh air before dinner. Go put on your shoes, and we’ll head to the park to play a little basketball or something.”
The twins cheered in unison before they ran out of the room to grab their shoes.
I shook my head. My nephews were like my kids.
I was the father figure in their life since the nigga who got my sister pregnant wanted nothing to do with them.
I’d worn the man of the house label for most of my life, and it extended to the kids my sister had as well.
I wasn’t perfect, but I did what I needed to do in order to give my family everything they needed.
The sirens blared through the neighborhood as we approached a wildfire that engulfed a lone house at the back of a cul-de-sac community. The wind blew, and Captain was afraid neighboring houses were in danger of catching on fire.
After several off days, I was back for another twenty-four-hour shift.
The morning half of the shift had gone by in a blur.
I almost thought we’d be free of a fire call today, but I was, unfortunately, wrong.
The call came in from a neighbor reporting smoke.
Upon investigating, they saw the flames spread throughout the house.
“Dispatch, we need all hands on deck. Can you send at least two more available rigs to help isolate this fire so it doesn’t spread to any of the surrounding homes?” Captain spoke into the communication system built into our suits.
Graves parked the truck, and we all hopped out to assess the fire. At the sight of the fire and our truck, many nosy neighbors emerged from their homes. Everyone always lets their curiosity win in situations like this.
“I can smell the gas used to start this fire from here. Let’s avoid the water.
Instead, I want to hook the hose up to the foam to fight this monster.
If my suspicions are correct, the foam should handle it,” Captain commented.
Once he’d delegated all the roles, I jumped into action.
Captain ordered me, Graves, and Cramer to clear the home.
He tasked Charles with crowd control. Juliet was on triage with the paramedics.
We breached the front door as the second team connected the hose to attack the fire with the foam from the opposite side.
The living room and kitchen were up in flames.
Cramer held an extinguisher in his hand and fought off the flames as we cleared each room one by one.
Once we cleared the first level, we moved up to the second floor.
“Help! Someone help me, please!”
From down the hall, a voice cried out to us.
In full gear, I cautiously walked down the hall engulfed in thick smoke and roaring flames to find the location of the owner of the voice.
There was only one door left to check, and the sounds of her cries confirmed the uncontrolled fire trapped her in the room.
“Cade’s Cove Fire Department! Ma’am, please step away from the door,” I called out from the other side.
“O-ok.” She let out a fit of coughs.
Cramer and Graves helped break down the door and contained the fire with the foam. I retrieved the woman by scooping her into my arms.
“T-thank you,” she mustered out in a low, gravelly tone.
“It’s no problem, ma’am.” I moved with haste to carry her out of the home. She held on to me like her life depended on it, with her lungs burning from the smoke inhalation.
When we made it out to the ambulance waiting for her, I finally got a good look at her.
She had a robe tied around her body with a purple silk bonnet on her head and black bear-paw slippers on her feet.
She was cute as hell, even with the soot covering her skin.
I deduced she had been asleep when the fire began.
“These lovely paramedics will make sure there’s no damage done,” I explained softly as I put her gently onto her feet.
She inhaled a deep breath of fresh air, then coughed.
One cough turned into three. On the fourth cough, she clutched her chest and sobbed.
The sound came deep from her gut as her face contorted into pure pain and anguish.
She cried and clung to my uniform. I held her, allowing her to release the emotions, now that she was no longer in imminent danger.
My chest tightened at the sound of her cries.
I knew the pain all too well, losing your home in a fire and not knowing what to do next.
It was a tough situation. Despite how unprofessional my actions may have been, I couldn’t leave her side while she shared her most vulnerable moment with me.
“I . . . My . . . What am I supposed to do now?” Between the rasp in her voice and the tears in her eyes, her pain was palpable. I didn’t speak immediately. I gave her my undivided attention to release the emotions swarming her.
“My home and everything I own is in the ashes. My life—” She swallowed hard. She released her grip on my uniform and took a step back. “My life is over.”
“I know you don’t want to hear this right now, but this doesn’t have to be the end. In a lot of lore, a fire is a sign of rebirth, growth, and new beginnings.” I offered her the words of wisdom given to me by a firefighter back in the day.
“No offense, but it’s easy for you to say that when you’re not the one with all their belongings under ashes.” She crossed her arms and glared at me through teary eyes.
“That’s a valid assumption, but I know this feeling all too well. I was in your shoes when I was a young kid. I only had clothes and toys and shit. The fire took something irreplaceable—my father.”
Her eyes widened. “I’m sorry for your loss. I didn’t mean to be so insensitive and rude . . .”
“Nah, you’re good. You didn’t know my story until I shared it.
It’s what sparked my interest to be a firefighter and help save people, like I wish someone would have done for my dad.
Even though I was much younger when the fire happened, I can tell you it’s a lot to process right now, but you’ll find your footing again. ”
“Thank you. I really appreciate your kind words.”
“It’s no problem at all. Would you like to use my phone to call someone?”
She nodded. “Yes, please.”
I reached into my pocket and retrieved the rectangular device.
I held it out for her once I unlocked it.
While she dialed the number, the paramedics called her over to check her vitals.
I stood off to the side to give her some privacy.
Without being a creep, I perused her frame.
Even in her disheveled and dazed state, she looked beautiful.
Her skin, although covered in soot, was a deep brown.
Her forehead was big and shiny, but I thought it looked good with her features.
Despite our circumstances, I admired her beauty.
It was weird for me to find her attractive at her lowest, huh?
“Yo, Flame! You good over here, brother?” Cramer asked as he jogged over to me.
With a short nod, I answered, “Yeah, I’m good. She’s using my phone to call someone to come be with her.”
“Okay. We’re going to finish up in the house. We also tried to see what we can salvage.”
“Cool. I’ll join y’all as soon as I finish up over here.”
Cramer gave me a pat on the shoulder before he returned to the job.
I returned my attention to the woman as she finished up her call.
She held my phone in her hand as the paramedic finished up her vitals.
When they gave her the all clear, she stood and walked over to me. She held the phone for me to take.
“Thank you. My parents are on the way. They live about forty minutes away, though. I really hope my phone didn’t take any damage during the fire. It’s probably the first thing I’m going to look for when I go through the house.”
“I’ll sit with you until your parents get here. My crew is working to clear any hot spots left in the house. Once all the hot spots have cooled down, I can walk through the house with you to see what’s salvageable.”
She smiled softly. “I’d like that a lot.”
I returned her smile with my own and took off the remaining parts of my uniform until I was in my black CCFD T-shirt and soot-stained pants.
“You know . . . in all the chaos, I didn’t even ask your name after you saved my life.” She folded her arms over her chest.
My lips pulled into a gentle smile. I stuffed my hands in my pockets to keep from fidgeting and openly ogling her. “My name is Artez, but everyone calls me Flame.”
She raised an eyebrow. “A firefighter named Flame is hilarious. Where did the name come from?”
I chuckled. “It’s something that’s been stuck with me since I was a teenager.”
She giggled. “What were you doing in high school for a name like Flame to stick?”
“I used to be infatuated with fires. I used to set cars on fire in the neighborhood. If I’m being honest with you, . . . I was on the fast track to a terrible ending, but my captain saved me from a life of crime.”
“I’m glad you found something positive to do in your life, Flame. My name is Mali.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mali, despite the circumstances.”
She smiled softly. “Yeah.”
A comfortable silence washed over us. The surrounding sounds filled the space as our gazes locked. Mali was a pretty name for a beautiful woman. It fit her.
“Flame! The house is clear for a walk-through,” Captain called over to me.
“Let me grab the flashlights off the truck, and we can head inside,” I offered.
She nodded. “Sounds good.”
Within a few moments, I had two large flashlights in my hand. After I held one out for her to take, she looked up at me with pleading eyes. Under the light from the streetlamps and fire truck, her eyes twinkled.
“I know this might be weird, but can you hold my hand?” she asked softly.
Pride filled me as I processed her request. She wanted me to be her anchor as she walked through the results of the chaotic fire. Despite being strangers, she trusted me at the moment to provide security for her.
“Of course.” I held out my ungloved hand for her to hold. Cautiously, she wrapped her small hand over my larger one and took a deep breath. Her hand was cold against my palm. I instinctively rubbed my thumb across her knuckles. She visibly relaxed.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Ready.”