JOHNNY BE GOOD
by ardavenport
- - - Part 7
Johnny arrived at the station house in plenty of time to get changed for the next shift. He greeted everyone in the usual cheerful way. Slowly lacing his boots, Roy suspiciously watched him as he changed his shirt (the artwork on his back was gone, scrubbed off ) and then buttoned his blue uniform shirt. But Johnny maddeningly did nothing unusual.
"Well, how did it go?"
"Hmm?" Gage looked up from pinning his badge on. "How did what go?"
Roy seriously wondered if Johnny wasn't just trying to annoy him by playing innocent. "Jean? Your New Year's date? Laverne's friend?"
"Oh. Jeeeeeaaannn."
Now Roy was sure that Johnny was just playing innocent.
"It went fine." He turned to toss his mustard yellow shirt back in his locker.
"Fine? Is that all? Fine? Fine? I mean, did you actually go out on another date with her?"
Johnny closed his locker. "Well, not exactly."
"Not exactly? Not exactly?" Roy turned as Johnny walked past him out of the locker room. "It was fine, but not exactly?" He closed his own locker as he pursued his partner. "What happened?"
"Well, it turns out that Jean is moving into my apartment building. The empty one down the hall. She and her roommate, Sheila. That was one of the reasons why she was at the party. She'd been moving some stuff in earlier."
"She's going to be your neighbor? Jean?"
"Yeah. I helped her move her couch the other day."
Gage casually walked into the dayroom and greeted the other A-shift men with his stunned partner following. What had happened to the outrage? The humiliation? The embarrassment?
"Who's couch did you move?" Chet leaned on the counter next to the coffee pot as they approached.
"Jean's."
"Who?"
"Jean. My New Year's date."
DeSoto was grateful to see the surprised look on Kelly's face. He wasn't the only who found Johnny's calm freakish.
"You actually went out on a date with her?"
"Not a date, Chet. But we talked." He poured himself a cup of coffee. "And we had a very constructive conversation." He leaned on the counter and took a sip.
The mention of Jean attracted the attention of the other firefighters in the room and they wandered over.
Lopez grinned. "Did she write it down anywhere?"
"No, she didn't Marco."
"Well, what happened then?" Roy grabbed the coffee pot. "From the beginning."
"Well, the next morning I went and talked to Laverne. And I admit that I was a little thrown when I found out that Jean was going to be living just down the hall. But I recovered nicely and we went down the hall and Laverne introduced us, again, and Jean and I went out for a cup of coffee and we had a long talk."
"So, you bought her a cup of coffee? You really know how to splurge on a second date, Gage."
"It wasn't a date, Chet. And she wouldn't let me pay for hers. Which is okay. A lot of women do that these days. And it wasn't a date anyway."
"So, what did you talk about?" Roy said over his cup.
"Well. . . . there was a lot about appearances. Now she - - very rightfully - - pointed out that I didn't exactly make a good impression at Laverne's party the other night. I have to admit that I wasn't too keen on going in the first place. And I'd just been hanging around my place all day. I didn't do anything special to get ready. And then when I got there, I was a little - - y'know - - dismissive about the way she looked."
"Falling asleep on the couch probably didn't make a good impression, either, pal."
Gage nodded, accepting the captain's comment. "Well, anyway, she had a valid point. Why should she spend two hours primping and getting ready when I'm just going to slouch across the hallway in a pair of jeans?"
"I don't know why any woman should spend two hours getting ready if they were just going to get stuck with you, Gage."
He sneered at Chet before continuing. "Well, she apologized for getting a little drunk and going sort of crazy drawing on my back. She said that a little baby oil might help take it off."
"Did she help with that?"
Chet got another sneer.
"Anyway, we mutually agreed that neither one of were on our A-game, so just to clear things between us, we should try it again, except properly this time. So, tomorrow night, we're both going to dress properly - - nothing too fancy, just nice - - and she's going to take me out to dinner. To apologize to for - - y'know - - writing on my back."
"You're letting her buy you dinner. For a date?"
"It's not a date, Chet. Now we went over it and agreed. She's not my type and I'm not hers. Which is fine. I'm fine with that," he put his hand on his chest, "she's fine with it." Gage looked at all the incredulous faces around him. "Hey, I can be a very enlightened guy here."
"Enlightened. . . . light-headed is more like it." Chet sauntered back to the kitchen table to sit down. The others followed him except for Roy, leaning against the counter next to Johnny and wondering why he didn't believe what he had just heard.
"Well, she's going to be my neighbor, Roy. There's no reason why we be civil about things."
Roy shook his head. It so calm and rational - - two words that rarely applied to Johnny Gage's personal life. He shrugged. "Well, okay. I guess you want to be a good neighbor." He even managed an uncertain smile. This was too simple. Too easy. There had to be something about to go wrong somewhere. There was something he was missing. But. . . . . it just wasn't his place to object. It was Johnny's life, not his. They went to sit with the others at the kitchen table. The C-shift had left some day-old donuts. Stale, but still edible.
Most of the morning was taken up with equipment checks and fire code inspections outside the station. They didn't get a run until halfway through lunch.
Man on a ledge.
It was actually a construction site for a ten story office building. There were two police cars and a lot of sour-looking construction workers standing around. When they got there and scanned the skyline there were two figures on the girders of the half-built roof against the cloudless blue sky. As they stopped, a sheriff's deputy and a man in work clothes and a yellow hard hat ran up to the engine.
Captain Stanley climbed down from the cab. "What've you got here?"
"One of my men went crazy! Started attacking people. Had to send two of them to the hospital with busted noses. Then he climbs up there and threatens to jump. Shut down the whole job!"
Stanley squinted skyward. "Which one?" Gage and DeSoto joined them and looked upward as well.
"Guy on the left. Name's Sam Granger, but we just call him Tex. He's been working for me for about six months. Never had any trouble with him until now."
"What about the one on the right?" DeSoto pointed.
"That's Ray Cloud. He's been trying to talk Tex down. Crazy Indian." The foreman scowled. "Tex threatened to take anyone else over the side if they didn't get out or tried to stop him. But Ray just stayed up there with him. But there aren't any heights that bother that guy. He worked on the World Trade Center. There isn't a building we'd put up around here that would ruffle his feathers."
"Vince, have any of you tried to talk him down?"
Officer Howard shook his head. "Not up there. We don't carry climbing gear."
"Gage, DeSoto, break out the lines and life belts."
"Right away, Cap."
They collected their equipment from the squad. DeSoto and Gage clipped on their safety belts as they went up with Stanley and Kelly in the bare metal construction elevator. It rattled to a stop at the top floor. Bright blue sky stretched out over the unfinished roof. They made their way over cables and toolboxes and loose plates and beams, past open sections to the floors below. At one edge was a ladder up to the steel girder that would support the roof. They tied a rope to Gage's belt.
The four firefighters looked up at the two men. The one called Tex was tall and broad-shouldered in a white work shirt. A light breeze tousled his longish dirty blond hair as he looked over his shoulder and squinted down at them. Johnny froze on the ladder under his stare, but he couldn't read anything from that brief hard look. Tex was at most thirty with a heavy, drooping mustache.
He continued climbing; Roy steadied the ladder while Chet and the Captain minded his line. There was a sturdy steel upright, a thin safety line tied to it and running the length of the girder. The smoggy horizon of low L.A. buildings and pale gray concrete seemed far away and far below them.
"They're coming for you, Tex. Looks like you're going to have to decide." Gage stood behind Tex on the wide girder while Ray Cloud faced him, out of arm's reach. Cloud was also broad-shouldered, but shorter than Tex. His long black hair tied back, he looked anywhere between twenty-five and forty-five. And his dark eyes never left Tex. Both men wore safety belts but they weren't attached to anything.
"Now, nobody's coming after anyone. We just came up here to talk." He inched a little closer. Tex was maybe twenty feet away from him.
"You just don't give up, Chief.
"I keep telling you, Tex. I ain't no chief."
Hand on the thin safety line, Gage inched a little closer. Falling to the right was ten stories down to the pavement. Falling to the left was less than ten feet with Stanley and Kelly there to catch them. But falling at all was still only a dangerous last resort.
Gage inched closer.
Tex took a quick glance behind him. His arm shot up.
"Don't you get any closer!" Crouching, his other arm came up. "Get back, both of you!"
Cloud looked disappointed, but he took a step back. He moved casually, as if he were on solid ground, not the edge of a precipice.
"All right, all right." Gage held up his hands and cautiously backed up. "Looks like you two have been talking about some things here."
Cloud said nothing. The man in the middle kept looking from Gage to Cloud.
"We don't need you here fireman. This isn't any of your business."
Gage shrugged. "Well, you've got everyone down there watching, waiting for you to make a move. One way or another. I don't have anywhere else to go."
Tex glared at him. Gage knew then that he wasn't serious about jumping. But he could still get serious about falling.
"You don't actually have to tell me anything. It doesn't matter to me." Gage started to gesture and then hastily stopped after a careless glance over the side. He minimally pointed. "We could just go down there and discuss it. But you don't have to say anything if you don't want."
Tex smiled humorlessly. "Wanna know why I'm up here, fireman? I thought I'd save some of the guys the trouble. 'Cause there's no way in hell I'd let any of those rattlesnakes push me."
"The foreman told us that he sent a couple men to the hospital with broken noses."
Tex's smiled turned to satisfaction. "Good."
"So, why'd they want to push you, Tex?"
"For the same reason my own daddy would put a bullet in my head if I ever showed up on his doorstep again." He looked out toward the horizon, a hard concrete ground a hundred feet below. "Thought I'd get a fresh start in Southern California. . . . . never thought I'd ever take up with anybody . . . . " He narrowed his eyes at Gage. "I been sleeping with a man, fireman. You still all that eager for me to come over there?"
Gage narrowed his eyes back at him. "Actually, I'd rather you come down this ladder here. We can all talk about it down there."
Tex did not look like he believed him. "You sure about that? Why don't I just come over there and give you a big ol' hug? How 'bout a nice sloppy kiss?"
Keep him talking. Keep him talking. "Fine. If you want to come down there for it. Sure."
Obviously surprised, Tex did not reply. Behind him, Ray Cloud silently watched.
"What's his name?"
"What?"
"You said you were sleeping with a man. I guess it's somebody special to you. What's his name?"
"What do you care?"
Gage shrugged. "Well, if you fall, I guess . . . . somebody ought to tell him what happened."
"I'll do that if you want, Tex." They both looked at Cloud. "But. . . . it'll be hard for him. You told me those guys beat him up. But. . . . news like that, " he shook his head slowly, "really hurts."
Tex bit his lip under his heavy mustache.
"So, what's his name?"
He glared at Gage and made his decision. "You ain't gonna need his name, fireman."
Johnny backed up, just past the ladder to let Tex climb down first. And then he gestured to Cloud to go next. The older man looked a little amused as strolled forward and stepped down on the top rungs of the ladder. Sighing with relief, Gage went last, climbing down from the heights.
Now safely on the partially finished lower floor, they looked at each other. Four firemen. Two construction workers. What next?
"Guess I'll have talk to the cops." Tex didn't look at anyone as he mumbled. DeSoto helped Gage untie the line from his belt.
Stanley gestured toward the elevator. "This way, Sir."
"Would have been simpler, just quitting the job, Tex." The two construction workers walked in the middle of the group.
"Tsss." Tex scowled, but said nothing else. They descended in silence and when they reached the bottom the cops were waiting to talk to Tex.
"Hey." Cloud, who had started to walk away, turned to look at Gage. "That was a pretty brave thing you did, staying up there to talk to him."
"I've seen men fall. I don't like it."
Roy stepped forward. "Still, you probably saved his life. Do you know him?"
Cloud shrugged back. "Not really. Just enough to speak to on the job." Then he smiled at the paramedics' obvious surprise. "Beside, Tex was standing between me and the ladder." With a wave and a little smile, he moved off.
Johnny and Roy walked back to the squad. The other firemen were already climbing into the engine.
"Hey." Johnny pointed to where the foreman was yelling in the group of police with Tex. "Do you think he's going to be okay?"
"Well, he's probably going to get fired."
Johnny rolled his eyes. "I don't think he's going to miss that job."
"Nope."
They got into the squad and left the scene.
- - - End Part 7
