Daring to Reach
Johnny and Chet had talked with Marco into the early hours of the morning. Then Johnny was convinced to crash on the sofa until it was time to go to the station for their shift.
When Morning came rather than try to take turns through Chet's shower they pushed Marco into the Johnny's Rover and headed for the station to shower there before climbing into their uniforms. As was prearranged Johnny slipped Chet some money before he left and Chet stopped to get take out breakfasts for the three of them on his way to the station. While he waited for his turn in the shower Chet inhaled his breakfast and placed John and Marco's in the oven to stay warm. Once Marco and John were dressed in their uniform they retrieved their breakfast and so they wouldn't be eating in front of anyone else they slipped out back and sat on a bench there to eat.
Chet wasn't sure why Johnny wanted to some private time with Marco but he consented to let him have it. Once he was showered and dressed he headed for the day room and just kept his eye on the door.
"Marco," Johnny spoke with his mouth full of the food he was trying to eat before anyone else joined them. "I've been in the same place you are before, trust me I understand how you're feeling. Before I moved to California there were times I couldn't get a place either. See where I come from being half Native American isn't cool. Neither side wants to have anything to do with you. I was either too white or too Native American. The summer before I moved to LA I had to live in the back of my truck and had to shower in truck stops or bathe in a stream. That's why I bought that old camper when I decided to move out here because I expected it to be the same everywhere."
"So what are you trying to tell me," Marco wasn't ready to have this conversation and was starting to take his frustration out on the only person that was there to let it out on. "Are you suggesting that I should pack up and move to another state leave my family and friends and never look back?" Marco's voice was rising and as much as he was trying to hide it his voice was also displaying his hopelessness.
John just sat quietly waiting for Marco to settle down and as he knew he would, because he had worked with Marco for several years now, Marco did calm down and turned to John, "I'm sorry I shouldn't be yelling at you."
"You need to yell at someone and if you feel better after yelling at me, then yell, I can take it."
Slowly Marco sat down and locked his hands in his lap. When he didn't say a word Johnny spoke softly, "the thing of it is Marco, when I told you about living in the back of my truck and having to bathe in a stream. All my life I got that kind of treatment from the people around me, my teachers, the town folks, everyone I ever came in contact with, but my parents were quick to tell me that I was better than those people that kept putting me down and that whatever I did in my life I needed to make sure I never let myself become the person the others said I was. Dad and Mom both made it clear that the most important thing I could ever do was bathe, however and wherever I could but on a regular basis."
Marco smiled at his friend, somehow he knew what he was trying to say and that he wasn't suggesting that he go take another shower but he couldn't resist his next comment. "Are you suggesting I go take another shower? I'm not sure I'd make it to roll call if I did that."
John didn't respond he knew he didn't need to. The two men cleaned up the remains of their breakfast and were found standing in line for roll call as the rest of the crew filed out of the day room.
Hank was still sorting through all his fellow captain had said to him and as he looked over each of his men he noticed Marco seemed to be rather contemplative as well.
Once roll call was completed and the men were going about their cleaning chores of the morning, Hank called Marco into the office for a little chat.
"How's it going in the apartment hunting department?" Hank started right in.
"Not having a whole lot of success yet." Marco hung his head, "there was one I could have moved into last night but it wasn't really a place I wanted to live." Marco gave his captain the piece of information he knew would be the only explanation he needed to understand, Marco told him the address.
"I'm sure glad you didn't move in there," Hank like Johnny the night before recognized the address well, "you'd have to work endless overtime just to get a break from that place."
There was more that Hank wanted to say to his lineman but the tones interrupted their conversation as they were called out to a structure fire. The address given was to a place that they already knew to be in a rather rundown neighborhood in their response area.
When they arrived the back porch area of the house was fully involved and two men were off in a corner of the yard pampering burns to their hands and one had burns to his face. John and Roy were quickly at their side evaluating their injuries and medical needs as Marco and Chet jumped into action. Marco pulling the reel line and running in to make the first attack on the fire while Chet ran a hose back to the hydrant and Mike made quick work of hooking the line to the engine and then signaling for Chet to turn the water on. Captain Stanley was directing the next two trucks into the area one coming from the opposite direction was dropping their hose as Marco opened up the reel line and started making progress on the flames that were licking at the side of the house. The cause of the fire was clearly a raging charcoal barbeque set up on the back patio and the first things that were suspected were way too much starter fluid and the barbeque being set up too close to the house.
From his point of view Marco could see the broken tequila bottles in the top of the grill and was sure the cooks of the day were less than totally sober.
Within seconds Chet was at Marco's side with the two and a half inch hose charging as two other firefighters were coming around the opposite side of the house with another two and a half inch hose charging. Since the two and a half inch hoses had definitely superior fire fighting power, once Chet's line was charged Marco shut his reel line off and moved over to help Chet manhandle the power in his hose.
Just as Marco shut off the reel line he heard the sound of a crying child coming from the open window above the flames, he quickly and without a second thought slapped Chet on the shoulder and drew his attention to the sound before announcing, "There's someone in there." He held for just a second as Chet leaned into the hose so as to be able to manhandle it on his own and then Marco was gone, through the back door and up the stairs.
"There's people inside," Chet called to John and Roy who were leading three men toward the squad for treatment.
Roy took over with the men and Johnny broke away entering the house just seconds behind Marco as Roy hurried his charges around the house so that he could inform Cap of the need for more manpower inside.
When Johnny got inside and found the steps to the upstairs rooms he was able to follow Marco's voice to the room where he was needed. He had no idea what was being said because Marco was speaking in Spanish but he could tell that there was an air of panic, and that Marco was trying to calm someone down enough to do as he was telling them to do. There was also some coughing; the smoke was starting to get to them.
Once in the room Johnny found two cribs and in them were four small children under the age of three, there was also a woman he guessed to be in her fifties and another girl around eight.
Johnny quickly scooped up two of the small children from one crib while turning to Marco, "is there anyone else in here?"
Marco shook his head no as he scooped up the two toddlers from the other crib and instructed for the young girl to go with Johnny. He then turned to the woman and continued to speak in Spanish, Johnny knew just enough to know his bilingual friend was asking the woman to hold onto his arm and follow him down the stairs.
Since the firemen arrived early and the fire was being quickly contained the passage down the stairs was clear except for the smoke, because Marco was doing a lot of talking to keep the woman at his side moving he was also breathing in a lot of that smoke. Johnny's charge was moving much faster than Marco's so he easily reached the front door while Marco was still only half way down the stairs. Opening the door he was greeted by four other firemen all in full gear and air masks in place. The young girl he had, up till then, been hurrying to keep up with took one look at the firemen in the gear and got frightened, she turned and started to head back into the house put one of the firemen hurried past Johnny and grabbed her hauling her out the door as she screamed and kicked at her rescuer. The next firefighter took hold of Johnny's elbow and helped him along with the other two small children in his arms as they moved toward the squads parked side by side with three yellow blankets spread out between them.
The next two geared up firemen hurried to Marco's side as he reached the bottom of the stairs. The woman at his side was scooped up into one fireman's arms as Marco assured her in her native language that she was safe around his coughing. He then felt the next fireman place his arms around Marco to give him support as he fought to keep from coughing, and helped him and the children he held out the door and over to the squads.
As soon as they reached the yellow blankets the children were taken from Marco's arms as he tried to cough up all of the smoke he had taken in and replace it with the air he was in need of. Four paramedics were busy evaluating all of the victims he and Johnny had gotten out as well as the three men who were found in the back yard when they arrived. Placing nasal cannula in their noses to help them with the oxygen they needed as they tried to calm the frightened children. They didn't seem as frightened now that the firemen around them were removing their face masks and looked a little less like creatures from outer space. One of the firemen removed his mask and quickly placed it over Marco's face.
"Take a deep breath and get some air in those lungs pall, you must have taken in a hell of a lot of smoke in there." The fireman at his side said as he held the mask in place.
Hank quickly arrived with Marco's tank and mask so the firemen at his side could get back to getting the fire out. With so many patients the oxygen set ups from all three engines and both squads were in use so Marco made due with his mask. Still he had to pull it away from his face frequently to translate between the patients and the paramedics and to help calm the patients. Captain Stanley noticed that Marco's bilingual skills were needed so he made his place at the paramedics' sides official before returning to orchestrate the rest of the fire suppression. With nine patients, four of which claiming to speak no English, Marco was pretty busy translating and didn't get as much of the cleaner air from his tank as he really needed.
Marco managed to convey to all of the victims what the paramedics were doing to them and why as the four men worked. Three times Johnny stopped to free one hand to push the mask up to Marco's face. Finally the ambulances started arriving and the patients were being loaded. Two of the ambulance attendants were also bilingual so it was not necessary for Marco to ride in with any of the patients. When the last of the patients were being loaded Roy looked over at Johnny before turning his head to Marco who was now sitting on the running board of the squad still coughing.
"I'll take care of him." Johnny announced then returned to Marco's side. Now that some of the patients had been hooked up to the oxygen in the ambulance Johnny was able to retrieve one tank to take to Marco's side. Pulling open the proper compartment Johnny retrieved a fresh mask set up and quickly replaced Marco's air tank with the pure oxygen he really needed.
The fire was now out but the men were pulling clapboards and siding away to make sure there was no smoldering insulation to start up again once they left. The damage though surprisingly minor was still significant, But once the smoke was blown out and a window replaced the place would be livable.
With the scene secured Hank came over to the squad to get a report and to check on his valued lineman. Hank had just come around the corner of the squad when the policeman in charge of the crowd control caught up with him with a question or two that he needed answered in order to complete his report. While Hank was so answering a woman who lived nearby stepped up and started talking.
"Officer I saw the whole thing, those stupid Mexicans were using booze as a fire started for their barbeque and I think they were trying to flavor their meet with it too. They were pouring the stuff on the open flames when the bottle one of them was holding just exploded in his hands."
The women talked nonstop for some time as Johnny was getting vitals on Marco and listening to his lungs. Every sentence started with, 'those stupid Mexicans', and continued to list something that she found offensive. The fact that they didn't speak English, the broken down cars around the property, the frequent and large parties, the empty beer cans and bottles left lying around.
Both Johnny and Captain Stanley knew each word she was saying was a personal slap to their friend behind the oxygen mask.
Hank managed to pull away from the upset neighbor talking to the police officer and go to Johnny's side. "How's he doing?"
"Better now that he's able to stop talking long enough to start breathing in the stuff his lungs need." Johnny assured both Cap and Marco. "I think it would be a good idea for me to take him on in to Rampart to be checked out by a doc though, he might need a breathing treatment."
"Can you take him in with you or should I call another ambulance?"
"I can just go in with Johnny," Marco quickly answered and hoped the other two would agree. Johnny gave a nod of his head and Captain Stanley took a hold of one of Marco's arms while Johnny took the other and helped him into the cab of the squad.
John quickly replaced the last of his equipment in the compartments of the squad and after sharing a knowing look with his captain hurried around to climb in behind the wheel.
The ride began in silence but Marco was very aware of Johnny watching his breathing and counting his coughs as much as he was watching the road.
They were half way to their destination with Johnny finally spoke. "You know you're not one of 'Those Mexicans' that that lady back there was complaining about." Johnny stopped for a yellow light when he could have easily gotten through, "you have learned to speak English, and you don't leave your beer cans lying around. You have a respectable job and you're a respectable person. It's really the behavior that people are upset about, that they automatically associate it with the color of a person's skin and their heritage is where they're wrong.
"In my case I have to admit that there are a lot of Indians on the reservation who drink a lot more than they should and when their drunk, do some unimaginable things. I'm sure that's what my folks meant when they told me to be sure I don't become the person other people say I am."
Marco sighed and then lit into a coughing spasm. John was just starting to pull the squad to the side of the road so that he could pull out the oxygen and get it back on his friend when Marco forced control on his breathing and waved Johnny on. If they'd been more than the three blocks away from the hospital Johnny would have still stopped but they were close enough that he just pulled back into traffic and then pushed the speed a little.
"I guess too much alcohol is a problem for every race," Marco started to talk. His voice was husky showing the effects of the smoke and he had to stop to clear his throat. "I don't know if you know this or not but my Dad is a bar tender."
"I heard that," Johnny commented.
"I have to admit that I've drunk my way through more than a few bad runs."
"After you're off duty of course," Johnny clarified.
"Yeah, I'd never drink on the job. Only after I get home, and then just enough to help get to sleep." Marco coughed again. "I had to have a talk with my dad about it and he agreed to stop me at two of his highballs. One of the things I've noticed since I moved out on my own is that I really don't need the booze. Oh I'll sometimes have a beer or two but I've found that I'm tired enough that I usually don't need something to help me sleep. Maybe I'm just getting numb to all the heartache we see in our business."
"No," Johnny spoke up in a thoughtful tone, "I don't think that's it at all. I've watched you Marco; you feel the pain of those we try to help as much as the rest of us. I think you just pull strength and reassurance from your religious beliefs to help you through, that and knowing that you've done something to help the people. Like the call we just had, you never once even thought about how those men did something stupid to get them and their families into trouble. You just did everything you could to help them. I've also noticed the Cap assigned you most of the dead bodies to deal with. I know, and I hope you know, that it's not because he doesn't like you and he's giving you the worst jobs he can. It's because you take care of those bodies with a reverence that the rest of us can barely understand. We all notice how gentle you are with the body and how when you cover them up, you bow your head and offer up a prayer to your and their maker on their behalf.
"I know I've never said anything before but I want you to know that it helps me to go about my business, it's nice to see that those we lose are taken care of too, at least I know it helps me to see you do that, and somehow I'm sure that's why Cap usually has you deal with those cases."