Backfire (13 page)

He brushed some of her hair away from her face and wiped the tears away with his thumb.  “This is just something I gotta do.  I’ll be back before you know it and you’ll be so sick of me you’ll wish my ass was back down here again.”  He kissed her nose.  “And hey, maybe we can discuss that marriage word some more.”

Eva was able to find a smile through the tears.  “I’d like that a lot, Mikey.”

“Me too.  So calm down.  I won’t let anything happen to me.”

She closed her eyes and leaned on his shoulder, feeling their bodies slowly sway from side to side as if they were dancing.  She wished their embrace could last forever, and dreaded when the time would come when they would have to pull away and say their goodbyes. 

“Just enjoy the moment,” Mikey said. His voice was a low rumble and a sense of comfort to Eva.  She didn’t want the night to end.

Chapter Nine

Saying goodbye to Eva and his mother at the airport was probably one of the hardest things Michael had ever had to do.  He hated seeing Eva cry, and for a split second as they stood near the line to enter security, he had almost changed his mind about the whole thing.  Eva had noticed his apprehension and wouldn’t allow for it, reassuring him that things would be okay and get easier.

Even the look of worry on his mom’s face was like a punch to his stomach.  He felt guilty.  Hadn’t he put her through enough angst?  He watched them for as long as he could see them, and once they entered the metal detectors he lost sight of them.  Before going to the airport he had rented a Chevrolet Tahoe to use during his stay. 

He pulled the vehicle to the side of the road and gripped the steering wheel tightly, studying the outer edges of where the fire had already destroyed farmland, homes, and animals.  The grass and trees were blackened, marking the place as if it were a battle zone on some unknown planet.  The wall of smoke ahead of the burned areas was a thick and giant wall of grey haze.  The winds howled, aiding in allowing the fire to grow at a rapid pace. 

Michael watched for a few more minutes.  His palms left a moist streak on the wheel.  Seeing it up close and personal brought on a whole new level of nervousness.  Breathing in, he merged out onto the highway and made his way to Manor, desperately searching for a way to get the image of Eva crying out of his head.  This was going to make their relationship stronger.  He had to keep telling himself that. 

Lieutenant Harlan was waiting on him at the stationhouse when he got there, extending his hand as Michael came in.  “I can’t help but offer another thanks to you for doing this.”

Michael returned the favor and nodded.  “It’s the least I could do.  I drove up as close to the fires as I could get over in the Bastrop area before coming over here.”

“It’s haunting, isn’t it?  So many people without homes now.”

Nodding, Michael tried to hide his uneasiness.  “Yeah, it’s pretty intense.  Listen, do I need to buy some turnouts and gear?  Whatever I need to do, just let me know.” He had read that most of the volunteers had to spend their own money on things, and the gear didn’t come cheap.  

Harlan sat down at a desk and sifted through some paperwork.  “No.  There’s a firefighter who’s got some extra gear stowed away at his house he said you could borrow.  It’s not the newest stuff, but it’ll be good enough for what you’re gonna need. There’s no need to spend that kind of money when you’re not gonna be here for a real long time.”

Michael walked into the garage area where the trucks usually sit, feeling like he should dive right in, but at the same time, he wanted to take his time.  After Eva had fallen asleep the night before, he had stayed up for hours reading about wildfire fighting and the process. 
For the most part, they approached
fires in the same order that they did in New York.  To protect their trucks, departments would attack the backside of a fire with water, and men in the front would build up firebreaks by digging trenches and chopping trees down.  He also read about different terrains and how things differed.  Bastrop was hilly with forested areas, so he assumed that they would be doing a lot of firebreak work.

“The guy you’ll be borrowing from is Jack Lawton.  He’ll be back here in a little bit.  He just radioed in and said he was on his way.”  Lieutenant Harlan patted him on the shoulder.  “I don’t think we’re gonna get you out there on the fires today, McGinnis.  We are pressed for time, but I want to make sure you’ve got a little training before going out there.”

“What can I expect, exactly?”

Harlan buried his hands in his pockets and sighed.  “To be honest, it changes daily.  I’ve been doing this for over twenty years and I have never seen anything like these fires.  Sometimes they have us behind the fire with our trucks and sometimes they have us working bulldozers to set up firebreaks.  As fire approaches homes, we go in and make sure there aren’t any stragglers inside.  Since you’ve got experi
ence in search and rescue that
might be one of your main jobs. You okay with that?”

Michael shook his head yes.  “As soon as you can get me out there to help will be good.”

“Our assignments change from day to day.  Today they had the Hays Department south of the fire on a road where the fire hadn’t hit. Told them to prepare to attack as it approached. We try to share duties and trade off. There are also airplanes that fly overhead and dump water down.”

“Yeah, I did some reading on it all.  I know it’s nothing like getting in and doing the real thing though.”

“You’ll be alright, McGinnis.  I’ve got young men out there doing it who had never been up close and personal with a fire in their lives until now.  Your instincts will click on.  I just want to go over some refreshers and get you out there.  I’m thinking tomorrow morning, bright and early is when we’ll have you go.”

Another man entered the station and walked to them, immediately extending his hand for them to shake.  “I’m Jack Lawton. You must be Michael McGinnis.”

“Yeah, that’s me.”  He shook the other man’s hand.  “I appreciate you offering me some of your gear.”

The other man was in paramedic pants and his firehouse shirt, and it was evident he had been out in the fires for a good chunk of the day.  The smell of smoke took over the air and he had soot, dirt, and sweat caked on his face.  “It’s no problem at all.  Least I can do for someone giving their time to stay and help us out.”  He grabbed a towel and wiped some of the black off of his face.  “You got a place to stay or anything?”

“I’m going to book a room at a hotel nearby.”

Jack held his hand up.  “Hell no you’re not.  You can stay at my place.  That’ll cost you way too much money.”

Michael was shocked at his generous offer.  “I don’t want to be an inconvenience.”

“You won’t be.” Jack flashed him a smile and Michael found it inspiring that even though he had been out in hell all day, he still had a positive demeanor about himself.  “I live alone.  We won’t be there much anyway.  No use in putting in all that dough on a hotel when you’ll be there long enough to shower and sleep anyway.”

“Well damn, thanks again.  Means a lot,” Michael replied, grateful at the wonderful hospitality he had already been shown.  It was nice having someone trust him right off the bat. He wasn’t used to that. 

“How about you take McGinnis to your house, show him where it is, and get your gear.  Bring him back here and we’ll give him a quick run down of what we do.”  He turned to Michael.  “Usually we put our men through extensive training and have them tag along side a veteran for several calls, kinda like what you do up in New York, but right now we just don’t have the time.  Like I said, your instincts will kick in and you’ll be okay.”

Nodding, Michael twirled the set of keys to the Tahoe.  “You want me to just ride with you, Lawton?  I’ve got a truck parked out front.”

“Yeah, we’ll go in mine.  We’ll be back in about an hour, Lieu.”  He patted Michael on the shoulder.  “I know it’s all moving fast.  You’ll catch on.  I’m parked out back.  You can park there too if you ride out to the fire on a truck.  A lot of us take our personal vehicles out on calls and just meet the engine there.  It just depends on where they are going to assign us.”

Michael climbed in the passenger side of the old Ford pickup, observing the wear and tear on it.  It was certain that it had seen better days, but despite the fact that it was worn out, it was still in good shape to serve what Lawton needed it for.  He had tools scattered in the back seat and there was a thin layer of dust on the radio and dashboard.  He could feel every bump as they drove down the road and when Lawton switched gears, there was an abrupt jolt as the truck responded.  Michael loved every second of it.  It was a whole new world and experience he had never truly seen with his own eyes.  If he ever got away from the big city, he could definitely live like this.

“I live right outside of Manor on a couple of acres.  It
’
s about thirty or so minutes from the main area of fires, and about five from the station, so not too bad of a commute.  There’s several back roads you can take to get to the Bastrop area.  If you have time, I suggest you get a map of Central Texas and study it over.  GPS really won’t do.  I know a lot of people are having a hard time acquiring a signal through all of the smoke.  Can’t ever go wrong with a map.”

Michael observed the farmland as Lawton turned down a long, gravel covered driveway that led up to a small clapboard house on the edge of a thick wooded area.  After being jarred around from the uneven land, Michael got out and followed Lawton inside.  It wasn’t overly dirty and had a lived in look.  There was a wood-burning stove against an east wall. It looked a lot like a hunting lodge.

“Nice place you got here.”  Michael didn’t want to be rude, but he walked through, exploring the roof he’d be living under for no telling how long. 

“It ain’t much. Enough for me, I guess.  You’ll probably have a hard time sleeping because it’s so quiet out here at night. Don’t have sirens blaring every fiv
e minutes.”  Lawton
let out a laugh.  “My old turnouts are out here in the shed.  Make yourself at home.  Bathroom is the third door on the right, and there’s a bedroom right across where you can put all your stuff and stay in.  I’ll be back with all the gear.” 

Michael walked down the hallway, pushing the bathroom door open far enough to see inside.  A toilet and a shower – all he would need. The bedroom was average sized with a twin bed in one corner and a dresser adjacent to it.  There were a few pictures on top of it.  He ran his hand down the side of one of the frames, studying the people in it.  It looked like Lawton along with a young boy, each of their smiles wide as they displayed several fish on a line.  Was that Lawton’s son?  He surely wouldn’t ask. 

He heard the screen door squeak open and shut, so he walked back to the living room to help Lawton.  “There’s a set of turnouts, a helmet and mask.  Try these boots on.  If they don’t fit, I think we have a few more pair back at the house.”

Michael slipped them on.  There were a few inches from his toe to the tip of the boot, but would work well enough.  “They fit okay.”

“Not too tight?  Last thing you want is to rub blisters all over your feet when we are out there in the middle of nowhere.”

“They’re good.”  He would just make sure to wear thick socks to help hinder the sliding. He gathered up the stuff and put them in the back of the pickup.  He was going to take them back to the station to keep in the Tahoe. “I really do appreciate you letting me borrow everything and letting me stay here.”

Lawton paused before he turned the key in the ignition. “Well, I’ve said this before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again, McGinnis.  The fact that you are giving your time to do this is better than anything we could offer for you.  So really, we should all be thanking you.”

They drove back to the fire department and after several hours of training, Michael felt exhausted.  For the most part, Lieutenant Harlan was right about things clicking.  Even though New York didn’t endure many wildfires, if any, some of the same concepts were gone over when he was in the academy.  They weren’t studied as extensively, and he hoped he knew enough of the basics to get by.

He stared down at several notes he had jotted down on a notepad.  His handwriting looked like chicken scratch and he had a hard time reading it.  He jotted down one last note about buying a central Texas map before going home for the night.  He was certain that he wouldn’t sleep much, and studying all of the roads would help get him through his insomnia.

“Go back to Lawton’s place and get some sleep, McGinnis.  They are calling all of our men off the fire for the night, so we’re all gonna meet back here at seven AM with orders and go from there.”

Michael looked down at his shoes, trying hard to mask how nervous he was.  It was a mixture of that and adrenaline, something he used to strive on with his job, hoping that in this situation it would be beneficial too. 

“Okay Lieutenant, I’ll see you back here bright and early.” He walked toward the Tahoe and the voice of his superior stopped him.

“McGinnis!  Tomorrow, it’ll be like you’ve been part of the Manor Fire Department for years. Trust me. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

***

Michael had left his cell phone in the Tahoe during his training and saw that he had a couple of missed calls from Eva.  He called her when he got back to Lawton’s house.  He lugged in his suitcase and pulled out all of his toiletries.  A shower sounded nice, but he dialed Eva’s number.  She picked up after a couple of rings, the tone in her voice hopeful.