Thank you all for letting me know about the crazy formatting. I'm trying it again and please let me know if it's not showing up right again. Thank you all!
When the crew returned to station, David started on his sauce. He liked to let it simmer with some meat bones the the had kept in the freezer for this very moment. When he was working on mincing garlic for the garlic bread, Jennifer appeared from her talk with the captain.
"Everything okay?," he asked.
"It's fine," she glanced at the men relaxing in lounge area, all focused on a gameshow on the television.
"How are you doing?"
"I'm fine. What can I do to help with your spaghetti?" David knew instantly that she was not fine, but she wasn't going to going into any details about how she was really doing and what was going on. She was an expert on changing the subject and ignoring problems.
As she was given the task to stir the spaghetti sauce, it was as if she was transfixed on it. She kept stirring, with her mind replaying all of the events that had happened from the start of the day of finding the pictures to the dead girl. The distraction to Jennifer gave David an opportunity to put something in her locker, unlike the playboys and lingerie she had previously gotten. He took the pen and pepper from the radio stand and brought it into the bathroom. He placed the paper on her locker and began to write:
"I know today was rough, but I'm here for you. You are an amazing woman who is doing great things. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
He sat in front of her locker staring at the note, trying to decide on a salutation. He wanted to write "love David" but didn't know how she would take it. He signed "-David". He folded it and placed her name on the front and stuck it at on top of her duffle bag. He then returned to kitchen to find Jenny still staring into the abyss of spaghetti sauce.
"Hey, I think it's pretty well stirred," he chuckled.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Jen turned away and began to set the table while David went toward on boiling the spaghetti.
Just as plates were heaped with food and men were beginning to eat, the klaxons sounded. Everyone quickly bolted for their respective vehicles. As Jennifer was ready to hop in the squad, Randy blocked her and looked at his watch. "You're shift is over." It was 5:15 pm. With her shadow shifts, her day technically ended at 5:00 pm. She looked at Captain Gage for a reprieve.
He hated to admit it, but Randy was right. "If you get hurt off the clock, the department doesn't have to cover it. Sorry, you have to sit this one out," Johnny explained.
She watched as the men pulled out with the lights on and sirens wailing. She went back to the kitchen to clean the cooking vessels and put away the left overs. She slid the last few bites of food from her plate into the trash. Her appetite was lost.
She decided not to wait around for the men to return and that she was going to go home. A quiet chuckled escaped her lips as she thought about drinking a few of the beers at home. There was usually a few beers in the house for when there was a baseball or football game on.
She trudge along to her locker and saw a white piece of paper with her name on it. "What more can they do to me," she mumbled. She was tempted to ball it up without reading it, but it was the familiar handwriting that stopped her.
As she read the note, she could feel the tears sting her eye, but she refused to let them fall. She took several deep breaths. He had no clue how much this had meant to her and it was just what she needed.
When the men returned an hour and half later, they came back to a kitchen that was all straightened up. Chet started to bring out the spaghetti leftovers to heat up as the rest of the men cleaned up. When the crew sat down to eat, Chet confirmed that the spaghetti was a close second to Stocker's spaghetti.
During the meal, John cleared his throat. He had never had to have a discussion that he was about to start up. While still chewing on spaghetti and moving the garlic bread around in the air, Captain Gage began his speech. "We need to have a discussion on how we treat the women in the department, particularly this station." Chet was ready to make a quip about bringing flowers and candy as a suggestions on ways to treat a lady right, but one look at the seriousness on Captain's face and he knew not to speak a word. All attention was on the captain.
"There were pictures of naked women placed in Jennifer's locker. As a member of the fire cadre at the academy, I have seen how capable and competent these women and how deserving they are to be in the academy." Randy knew that the stress on the word competent was meant for him. "Any man who thinks that this is appropriate behavior for my station, should look for another station because I won't tolerate it. Consider this a warning." He got four out of five head nods.
Randy leaned back with his arms crossed. He was the lone dissenter, which did not go unnoticed by the others. "Do you have a problem with this?" Captain Gage asked.
"You got a thing for her or what? I mean we all know you and DeSoto go back," Randy insinuated.
Everyone's eyes widen with horror at the lack of thinking on Randy's part. It wasn't until Randy saw the Captain stand and stop eating.
"I won't tolerate that behavior in my station," Gage snarled.
"So, you're okay with putting your crew in harm's way. You think that she's going to be able to carry me or Jerry or anyone else out. The only place she belongs at her in the station, is the kitchen. She did a fantastic job cleaning up."
"I've seen how well she did in the academy."
"I don't care if she could do a million push ups or sprint a mile in five minutes. I can't trust a woman with my life and I can't believe a captain is that stupid to think a woman can do a man's work."
Jerry who sat next to Randy whispered for Randy to "just cool it."
"Well, you have two options, accept it or find another station."
"Get me a transfer form," Randy snapped. Without wasting any time, Captain Gage stormed to the office and returned with the bright yellow transfer request form. He slammed it down on the table in front of him.
"Think you put up with a stupid captain for the next twelve hours or do you want me to find you a replacement now?" Gage questioned.
Randy picked up the form and grabbed a pen from the pen cup on the counter. "I'll fill it out, while you make your calls."
Chet, Jesus, and David remained in the kitchen to clean up, while the Captain went to his office to try to find a replacement on a Friday night. Jerry follows Randy, his partner of two years, to the dorm room to try to talk some sense into him.
"What the hell kind of stunt did you just pull out there?" Jerry questioned.
"You can't be okay with bringing in a woman on the squad. How would you like it if she were your partner, huh? She was a fucking emotional wreck today on scene. What if you and her go in and you needed to be carried out? Huh, what then?" Jerry spewed.
The last part got a chuckle out of Jerry. Randy only had three inches on Jennifer, who stood at 5'4". "Sometimes I wondered if you could lift me out of there." Jerry tried to joke. Jerry was a retired linebacker for the Los Angeles Chargers. He played three years before a knee injury sidelined him. But at 6'4" and a solid 240 pounds, he was still bigger than Jerry by many inches and pounds.
Randy rolled his eyes. "So, you're taking the Captains side, huh? Maybe you should see about getting a transfer, cause he's going to get you killed if he's believing in this women's lib shit."
"Listen, we don't have any openings coming up, so it's just our crew. You're really serious about leaving the crew? You willing to take a chance that there's not a woman whoever you'll be shipped off to?"
"I'm as serious as a heart attack. And that's a risk I'm willing to take. I just can't work for a delusional captain."
"No changing your mind?"
"No changing my mind." He filled out the reason for the transfer as poor leadership from the captain and signed his name on the bottom. He would drop it off at headquarters on Monday. Randy left the dorm room and Jerry followed behind. The two returned to the living area and turned on the television as Chet, Jesus, and David continued to cleaning the kitchen. All were at a loss of words.
Meanwhile, Johnny tried calling the other paramedics on both A and C shifts. Three he couldn't reach and one he knew was on vacation. He thought long and hard about the next name on his mental list. He dialed the number he knew off by heart.
"DeSotos," the voice answered.
"Hey, Pally. You got any plans for, uh, let's say the next twelve hours." Roy who was laying in his recliner, pulled the handle to sit up right. He could tell that something was wrong.
"Everyone on you're crew okay?"
"Randy's just sick." Sick of his captain, Gage thought. "Can you cover the rest of shift for him?"
He knew that something was up, but he wasn't go to let down a friend. "Be there in about 30 minutes."
"Thanks, Pally."
"Welcome, Junior."
Roy quickly gathered his items, changed, and said his good bye to Chris and Joanne before he left for the station.
After changing into his uniform, Roy entered the living area. Most greeted him cordially, while Randy had to make one last statement before he left. "How did I get so lucky to see both DeSotos here today?" He went to his locker to grab his items for what he hoped would be the last time at this station.
"What's his problem?" Roy asked Chet.
Chet only shook his head. "You don't want to know." Without warning, the klaxons signaled the need for both the squad and engine to respond to a car crash. Roy would find out his answer, just not right now.