After The First Alarm

by

John O'Connor

Before she could do more than push the key in the lock, she heard Tori's voice.

"Jade! Did you hear? Jade?!"

Stepping into the Vega house, Jade yelled back, "What, Vega?! Jeez..."

"There's a big fire in San Francisco. An apartment building. They just announced it during a...whatever you call it promoting the 6 O'Clock News."

Jade dropped her bag and then herself on the sofa. "What? An apartment building? In Frisco...?"

"Jade, don't freak out. It's a big city and..."

"Screw that! My aunt lives there! Where's my phone? Where's my fucking phone?!" Jade thrashed around on the couch, finally getting up and patting her back pockets. Then she remembered it was still plugged into the dashboard cigarette lighter with the car charger. "Shit! It's in the car!"

Tori was standing, holding her phone out. "Jade...here, use mine. Just hit redial."

Following her girlfriend's instructions, Jade listened then left a hurried message. "Aunt Michelle, it's Jade! Call me as soon as you get this. Call my cell, Tori's cell, Mom's cell, the Vega house... Uh... Whatever. Call me! I need to know you're okay!"

She cut the call and said, needlessly, "I got her voice mail."

"Same for me."

Jade looked at Tori, "You tried to call her?"

"Jade, I love you. I love her too. I..."

Jade gripped Tori's face and kissed her hard. Less passion than nervous need but still welcomed by the future singer.

Releasing Tori, Jade suddenly turned towards the TV. Family Guy was on the air as usual before the evening news on KTLA. "Where's the remote?"

"Here," Tori said, trying to force calm in her voice as she handed it to Jade.

CNN came up and Jade sighed. Wolf Blitzer was just finishing an update on the Malaysia Airlines' lost jet in Indonesia. "Jeez... C'mon..."

Jade was practically begging as the segment ended and the new report came up. Another snow storm in the upper Midwest. "Goddammit! I don't care about another goddamn snowstorm in Chicago!"

"You would, if you lived there," Tori tried lightening the mood.

"Tori! This is serious! What if that's Aunt Michelle's building?"

Tori pulled Jade into her arms from behind, whispering, "It'll be okay. Panicking won't do anything except make you nuts."

Jade too a huge breath, held it then exhaled. She slowly turned in Tori's arms. Rather than accept the hug, she stared Tori in the eyes and said, "What if this was San Diego and you couldn't get your Aunt Sophie on the phone?"

"I would let my girl calm me down after I had my panic attack."

Somehow that got through to Jade and she snorted a laugh. "Okay, so calm me down. Tell me again that Aunt Michelle is okay."

"Jade, I'm sure she is. Now that I think of it, the shot they had from the air showed water beyond the fire. It was really quick and I didn't see much but I'm sure it was a stream or a channel or..."

Jade pressed her face into Tori's shoulder as Tori held her and supported her. The Latina's heart was breaking for Jade and her anguish. She closed her eyes and kissed the top of Jade's bowed head then glanced at the screen. "Jade! It's on! The fire!"

A series of shots came on as Blitzer droned on. Jade ignored the words as her eyes absorbed into the pictures on the TV. The first shot was a dark cloud over a neighborhood then another from downtown. Finally, an aerial shot showed a mass of flames and smoke.

"There! See? A channel or something, Jade!" Tori yelled as she pointed at the screen.

Jade stared, her dread finally disappearing. Then a map came up showing the fire's location. It was in the south part of the Mission Bay District. Some new apartments were under construction there and one was the blazing wreck they saw, Jade finally gleaned from the ignored background chatter on the show.

Lowering Jade to the sofa, Tori grabbed her phone and searched a map app. "Jade, the fire is in the Mission Bay District. The building was a new one being built near China Basin. It's like two miles or more from Bernal Heights and your aunt's place."

Jade stared at the images on TV even as a commercial for incontinence came up. When she didn't make some smart-ass comment, Tori started to get worried about her. The silence wasn't long at all but Tori was concerned since Jade didn't acknowledge anything Tori had said.

"Jade? It's okay. The fire..."

"Why didn't she answer her phone?" Jade finally said.

"Maybe it's charging. Maybe she left it in her car. Or she's in the bathroom. Or she may even have forgotten it."

"Yeah," Jade spat. "Or she's…"

At that moment, Tori's phone begins to ring. It was a generic ring so it wasn't someone Tori spoke to, or at least not often enough to be programmed. She picked it up and caller ID showed Michelle West.

"Jade! It's your aunt!"

Jade grabbed the phone and yelled, "AUNT MICHELLE! Where are you? Are you alright? I saw the fire and... Oh, you're not? Well, Tori looked it up and the fire is in Mission Bay. Yeah, miles away, I know. Didn't you see the smoke? Not from...where? Kauai? You're in Hawaii?"

"Hawaii? Isn't your mother there too?" Tori asked. Jade waved her off even as the brunette added, "What a cool coincidence."

"No, that's just Tori. Butting in as usual. Why didn't you answer your phone? Were you...? What? You...ummm... You're not alone, are you? So you were… No, I think it's great. But…it's like… Afternoon delight? Oh my god, that's what that old song means?! Oh, Jesus… Well, I'll... Yeah, the rugrat is okay. Beck and Trina took him to Dave and Buster's. Hey! How'd you know Mom wasn't home? Well, she's in Hawaii too. I... HEY! Is that Mom?"

Jade fell onto the couch, yelling, "OH MY GAAAWWD! I called you when you and Mom... No! No details! God, please no details! I... Look, I gotta go..."

Tori grabbed the phone from Jade's hand and said, "Michelle? This is Tori." She chuckled and said, "Yeah, she is kinda paler than normal. So you and Judy are...? Well, you know... I'll tell her. We're both sooo happy for you two!"

"Tell me? Tell me what? No! I don't want to know!"

"Well, you two have fun and..."

"God Vega! Don't tell them to have fun! That's just wrong!"

"Oh she's coping. Sort of. Yeah, it is a bitch!" Tori laughed then replied into the phone, "Okay, Michelle. We love you. And Judy. See you soon. Bye." Tori held the phone towards Jade and said, "Say goodbye Jade."

Without thinking, Jade said, "Goodbye Jade."

Tori clicked the phone off as Jade yelled, "Wait! You got me to do a Gracie Allen bit?"

Ignoring the tirade, Tori said, "Isn't it great that your mom and your aunt..."

"Eew god! Vega, that's disgusting."

"And not the good kind?" Tori mocked.

"NO!"

"Well, Jade, I think it's great they got back together."

"Yeah, well, I do too but..."

"The sex?"

"God! Will you just shut up about that?"

"Michelle was right."

"Huh?"

"She knew if you figured out your mom and her were...well, you know...when we tried to call, it would be good payback."

"Payback? For what?"

"For making her lose sleep when we were there last summer and we couldn't stop..."

"Just shaddup, Vega!" Jade, her face already pink, flushed a deep, deep red. "Oh...my...god... I'll never be able to look Mom or Aunt Michelle in the face again..."