Mending, furniture, family ties and bridges.

Marco's injured shoulder was really hurting as he worked to clean up the mess made by his brothers and so called friends. This is what he had expected to come home to every time if he had allowed his brothers to move in with him. Neither had a job to help out with expenses; their lives were, for the most part, one party after another. He was sure last night was a 'we'll provide the place and all the guests provided the refreshments' type of arrangement.

While they were at home, Mama made them get up every morning and help out around the house but he knew he wouldn't be able to do that while he was at the station and he himself slept during the day after a busy night on shift.

As he hauled a large garbage bag of empty bottles to his dumpster with his good arm, Marco became aware of the mess that had been left in the yard as well as the smell of urine in the bushes.

After going to the police station to file charges for breaking and entering, Marco stopped short of filing charges for vandalizing. He was late getting home and with everything that was going on had completely forgotten to call the Captain to let him know he made it home without any problems.

Now his thoughts were on his family. His parents had arrived at the police station while he was still there; they were clearly very unhappy with him for filing charges. "How can you do this to family?" they had asked, speaking in Spanish. Marco was sure they thought the police around them didn't know what they were saying but Marco knew some of them well enough to know they understood every word just as well as he did.

Since Marco hadn't called to say he had gotten home alright and he hadn't answered the phone when Cap called, Johnny had been asked to check on him. He arrived just as Marco was hauling the forth garbage bag full of debris out and setting it down next to the now filled garbage can. It looked like it was going to take a couple of weeks to get the trash hauled away. Johnny just stood in front of his friend and looked around at the carnage that had been left.

"My brothers invited themselves and a few of their friends to a party at my place last night," Marco offered as an explanation.

Johnny could tell that Marco was hurting and went into paramedic mode; Marco was placed back in his arm sling and given his medication. Johnny then quickly changed the sheets on his bed and got it ready for him to get into before he started a load of laundry and helped mop up the floors. Marco finished picking up outside, one handed, and hosed down the bushes after adding some sweet smelling soap to the plants and grass in the area.

As he sprayed the area down he noticed some of the neighbors looking at him over the fence. It was clear they weren't happy about what happened and he couldn't blame them.

Once John was done, he managed to push Marco into his bedroom and into bed. He then called Cap and told him what little he knew and about the mess that was left behind. He then took measurements for the broken window and, after checking on Marco and believing him to be asleep, Johnny slipped out to the hardware store to purchase some new glass.

-0-

Marco had heard Johnny talking to someone on the phone and from the tone of his voice he was pretty sure it was Cap. He heard the phone being hung up and then the footsteps coming in his direction. Marco really didn't want to talk right now so he just closed his eyes and focused on keeping his breathing slow and shallow. He heard the door to his room open, he felt his friend's eyes evaluating him from a distance, and then he heard the door close softly once again.

Once the door to his room was closed Marco gave a count of ten and then sat up. Listening closely he could hear the front door open and close and then John's loose muffler as he drove away. After a moment of solemn thought Marco put on a resolve not to let his family get him down and since he really didn't feel like sleeping he decided to see if there was any hope of salvaging the broken lamps.

On the work bench along one wall of the garage Marco sorted out the broken pieces. Two of the three broken lamps were actually in a countable number of pieces. Shrugging out of his arm sling Marco found a tube of epoxy and started gluing the pieces back together.

Marco was holding two pieces of one broken lamp together until the glue dried enough to continue to hold after he let go, when he heard something going on next door. Since what he was doing was busy work and not very mind challenging Marco found himself listening to a couple of boys talking amongst themselves.

Between going over in his mind what he wanted to say to his brothers after he cooled down a little more, Marco became aware that two or three boys were experimenting with cigarettes in the shed next door. His thoughts quickly shifted to what he should do with his new found knowledge. As much as he felt the parents should know so that they could properly intervene in the young boys lives he questioned if they'd believe him and wondered how best to let them know. He had just heard one boy tell another to drop his used cigarette into an empty gas can when he sprang into action.

Marco was actually flying over the fence when he heard the "whoosh" of fire taking off just a breath ahead of one of the boys screaming.

Marco yanked the shed door open to see stunned faces on two boys and the third one's coat sleeve on fire.

"Get out of here!" Marco shouted at the first two boys as he tackled the third to the ground and used his body to smother the flames on his coat.

It was the slam of a broomstick across his injured shoulder that first alerted Marco of the mother in his presence. The second contact was to the back of his head, but before she was able to make contact again Marco was able to take hold of the broomstick in his strong good hand and look at the mother. "I need that garden hose turned on quickly!"

The woman stood frozen in terror. It wasn't until Marco was able to grab the broom from her hands and throw it away that she saw the fire in the shed. It took her another moment before she noticed the burning coat of one of her son's playmates.

"Ma'am I need the hose over there, quickly!" Marco repeated as he tried to pull the still smoldering coat from the boy's body to prevent further burning.

It took the mother two painfully long breaths before she was able to respond but she hurried to the hose and brought it back with the water running from it. Marco reached for it at the soonest possible instant and immediately started soaking down the young boys arm. When he was sure the coat was well saturated he was able to get it off the burned arm, grateful that none of the boy's skin seemed to come with the coat. Unfortunately the coat lining was made of a nylon material and some of it had melted to the boy's skin. Marco knew enough to just keep the water on the area and cool it down as much as possible.

The fire continued to rage in the shed. "Ma'am, I need you to go inside and call the fire department, tell them to send a squad and an ambulance," Marco instructed as he pulled one of the other two boys over and instructed him how to hold the hose on his friend's arm.

"Ma'am," Marco repeated, his voice was urgent but still gentle, "I need you to go inside and call the fire department, can you do that for me?"

The woman gave a hesitant nod of her head, her eyes were still wide with shock and locked on the boy on the ground. "Tell them to bring an ambulance and a, what was that other thing you said you needed?"

"A squad, please hurry." Marco repeated his instructions. "You just keep running this water on your friend's arm," Marco told one of the boys before he motioned the other toward him.

Marco's hands and the side of his chest were burned from smothering the flames on the injured boy but he still had a fire to get out. He took the third boy in his good arm and lifted him over the fence. "Go get my hose over there, turn it on and bring it back to me!"

The boy looked at Marco in fear for just a second then did as he was told. "Should I take this nozzle off?" He asked as he brought the hose to the man giving instructions.

"NO," Marco reached for the hose when it was still a full arms length away. "Go back and turn the water on as far as it will go."

Marco felt the water pressure increase as he turned the simple gardening nozzle to a fog and started to knock down the flames that had now worked their way through a couple of boxes and were starting to eat into the structure of the shed. As he worked his skill to get the fire out, he kept talking to the boy with the other hose and instructing him to keep the water running on his friend's arm.

The first siren Marco heard was to the police car that responded. The squad was just a block behind him and the engine right behind them. Marco breathlessly directed first the police officer and then the paramedics to the boy on the ground before turning to the responding Captain. "I think a reel hose should finish the fire off."

Marco was being pulled toward the paramedics a few short moments later. The man with the white stripe on his helmet had seen the burns on Marco's hands and the shirt burnt away from a red welt on his chest.

Marco was just waving one of the paramedics away saying he could wait when John came running up his driveway and then flying over the fence.

All of the paramedics recognized John Gage as one of their own, and he was soon in charge of evaluating Marco. Marco was seated in a nearby lawn chair where his hands and side were bandaged. Both were second degree burns. While checking him out John found the bruises made by the broom handle and questioned Marco how he'd gotten them. Marco wouldn't say.

The police officer came over and started asking Marco what had happened. John was able to pull Marco's identification out of his pants pocket for the officer to see since Marco's hands were bandaged. Marco then told the story of how he had overheard the boys talking while he was trying to fix a lamp in his garage. .

It wasn't missed on Marco that the police officer actually looked in the garage in question to see the lamps in progress of being repaired.

When all was cleaned up and the police had the information they needed for their report, John took Marco to Rampart in his Rover. Once they were there he gave Cap call. He then called Marco's parents.

John had spent some time in the Lopez home while recovering from one of his many injuries. He just hoped that the friendship he had developed with Marco's mother at that time would allow him to get away with some of the things he wanted to say.

By the time Cap arrived at the hospital to check on his lineman, Marco had told Dr. Morton in confidence about being hit with the broom stick. He made it clear that the woman was just protecting her children and that he didn't want any charges brought or any other mention of it outside that treatment room. The doctor wanted a new set of x-rays on the shoulder and while he was at it he had a skull series done. The burns were only second degree but they were painful and with the combination of injuries Dr. Morton chose to error on the side of caution and asked that Marco hang around the hospital to be observed for at least an hour before he was allowed to go home. And then he was only allowed to go home after John agreed to stay with him because Marco was going to need a lot of help for a few days since both of his hands were heavily bandaged.

As Marco rode home from the hospital in Johnny's rover he started thinking, "John, I'll just sleep on the sofa, you can have my bed tonight."

"No, you need your bed so you can get the rest you need. Besides it's going to be too hard to support your shoulder with the extra pillows if you're on the couch. If it's alright with you I'll just pull the mattress out of the back here and set it on the floor in one of your other bedrooms."

"I guess that works." Marco wasn't really feeling that great but at least the pain meds were keeping his numerous aches and pains to a dull roar. "I guess maybe we better stop someplace and pick up some extra pillows. I don't really have that sort of thing around my house."

It just so happened that there was a department store on the next block so they picked up several more pillows and pillowcases as well as some extra blankets. When Johnny reached Marco's drive way there were several extra cars parked on the street.

"Oh great, the neighbors are going to think I'm throwing another loud, all night party."

"Yeah, but they'll figure out otherwise pretty soon."

Marco looked at all the cars and recognized Chet's and Mike's, along with Captain Stanley's car and Captain Stanley's wife's car. He also recognized his parents' car.

John noticed Marco starting to tense up as he pulled into the driveway and saw Cap and Marco's father talking in the area of the garbage bags piled in excess around the garbage can. His mother and Mrs. Stanley were standing near the front door each holding something that looked to be food related. Mike and Chet were each holding something that looked to be food also.

"Is all that garbage from your brothers' party last night?" Papa Lopez approached his son before he was helped from the car.

"Yes, Papa."

"Well, if my sons can buy that much booze they can start paying rent." The man spoke disgustedly as he walked by his son's side.

"Are they still in Jail?" Marco questioned feeling both guilt and justified.

"No," Momma Lopez answered quickly, "We called Uncle Ernesto, he arranged for their bail."

Marco's eyes opened wide with understanding as it was quickly explained that Uncle Ernesto owned farm land and the boys, both Marco's brothers and several of his cousins, were bailed out but they would be expected to work off their bail at wages less than their uncle usually paid his workers. They would also be given work to earn whatever money they would need to pay any fines they were given. All of it hard back breaking labor. Papa Lopez, it was discovered, was making a list of damages and collecting receipts for the damages done to Marco's home. He was including a healthy sum for cleaning expenses to the deal.

"I see you remember your summer working for Uncle Ernesto, the year you ran your motorcycle into his car." Marco's father picked up on the look on his son's face. "Perhaps we should have sent your brothers to him before now."

Since Marco's hands were bandaged Johnny retrieved his keys and opened his door. Marco stood back waiting for everyone to enter and as they did his eyes were on the neighbor's house

Once everyone was inside Marco turned to his Captain, "There's something I need to do, make yourselves at home and I'll be back in just a minute or two."

Marco took a couple of steps off the front porch and toward his neighbor's house.

"Here, let me come with you," Johnny offered.

"NO, it will be better if I do this alone."

Alone, Marco walked to the neighbor's front door, he had both hands bandaged and his right arm in a sling tied to his chest, with each step he took he was preparing himself for the pain of knocking with his burned hands but he was determined. When he arrived on the front step he was happy to see a doorbell that he could easily ring with his bandaged hands.

Once he rang he waited for what he thought was an extraordant amount of time. He did see the drapes pulled back for someone to look out to see who was there. Marco chose to wait patiently without ringing again. When the door opened the husband was standing there with his wife hiding behind him.

"Look, I'm sorry that my wife hit you but she thought-"

"That I was hurting her children," Marco finished the man's sentence in a tone that showed he held no ill feelings toward the woman. "I have no doubt that was how things looked to her; I completely understand and I don't want you to worry about it anymore, ma'am."

The couple was stunned by his words.

"The reason I'm here is to let you know that the loud party at my place last night was thrown by my brothers in my absence. I wanted to let you know that they did not have my permission to be there and that things are being done to deter them from doing that again.

The husband and wife remained stunned as the children, two boys and a girl, came to peak around their father. "I um, I'm glad to hear that. I mean I don't want to be an ogre but it was a school night and no one could sleep and we really had no way of knowing if whatever was going on over there was even legal."

"I understand," Marco continued to speak calmly, "I will do the best I can to see to it that is doesn't happen again. I do like to throw parties from time to time but I promise you that before I do I will let you know beforehand."

Marco then glanced toward his house to see Johnny and Captain Stanley still standing on his porch watching him. A new car took the next possible parking space down the street and Roy got out taking time to pull something that looked like food from the car before shutting the door. Marco then turned back to his neighbors. "I would like to invite you over to meet my parents and my friends from the fire station. They're the only ones I would want to be at my home for any reason when I'm not. I thought that if you met them you would know when to call the police, or if you would like I can give you the phone number to the station so you could call me there to report someone in my house."

The family was again surprised as was evident by the look on their faces. The Husband turned to look at his family which had ventured out from behind him a little.

"I would like you to know," the father began to speak humbly, "that we really appreciate what you did today. The doctors told the parents of the boy who was burned that things could have been a lot worse if you hadn't been there and done what you did. They said he could have easily needed his arm amputated if you hadn't gotten to him and got the fire out as fast as you did. I want you to know," the father glowered at his boys, "that things are being done here to assure you won't be needed in a similar situation in the future."

Marco smiled but remained on the porch; there was yet another question to be answered.

"Um, those people at your house now are they your parents and the friends that you would like us to meet?"

"Yes sir, if you have the time."

"Sure, it would be good to get to know your family, especially if we can prevent something like what happened last night." There was a pause as they weren't sure what to do next, "Should we just follow you over there?"

"That would be great," Marco smiled. "I don't know how you feel about Mexican food, but Momma's been cooking. . . if you'd rather not just let me know and I'll make sure she doesn't force feed you."

The mother stepped forward at that point, "I guess it would be alright as long as it's not too spicy."

"I'll be sure to warn you the dishes to stay away from." Marco smiled back in understanding and the family then fell in behind him as he lead the way back to his house. They were just at the end of the side walk when Marco turned to the family. "I'll take you in and introduce you around, and then I'd like to go next door and invite Mrs. Farnsworth over to meet everyone as well."

"I'll go get her," one of the boys offered. "She hasn't stopped talking about how you're a fireman and all or about how her roses are growing better than they have in years since you took care of them."

Before Marco could respond the boy was half way there so he just smiled and proceeded to lead his neighbors over to meet his friends and family.

Marco had just finished the first round of introductions when the second boy returned with holding Mrs. Farnsworth's arm. John was quick to notice the way her eyes ran over his muscles again and simply gave her a nervous smile when he was introduced. With so little furniture the station crew quickly excused themselves, but not before the Stanley boys taught the neighbor children the art of sliding across Marco's floors in their socks. Something that was even more fun after most of the guests left leaving more room to slide. Roy helped Johnny move the mattress from his rover to one of the other bedrooms so that Marco's mother and father could sleep on it. Momma Lopez was going to be watching over her son until the bandages came off of his hands.

-0-

In the weeks to come, Marco was able to lead all of the children from his new neighborhood on a tour of the fire station and they all thought he was really cool from then on. Marco no longer felt the eyes of the neighbors watching his every move and he more often found himself talking about the weather, the gardens and whatever else was the topic of the day with his neighbors. His next door neighbors went from Ma'am and Sir to Pam and Wes.

When he held an outdoor house warming party all of the neighbors were warned ahead of time and they were all invited to attend. Many of them did.

Two of his relatives each gave him cats for a house warming gift and Marco ended up paying one of his neighbors to come in and feed them when he was at the station. His new house was no longer just a house to him; he had finally found a home, not just a place to live. For the first time in his life he was no longer 'trapped' by his heritage, but he could still enjoy his family and their traditions now that ground rules had been set.

Chet finally finished up one side of his duplex and he and his sister moved in together. Living on site made it easier for him to get the rest of the place finished and both he and his sister were much happier once they had their own kitchen and bathroom.

Johnny actually got the horse ranch for little more than his original bid, but that turned out to be an involved deal with a few surprises. But that's a story all its own.