Up in Smoke (10 page)

Cole went silent again and just gave me a nod as he directed his sights onward.

Walking up to the first house on the block, Cole gave it a firm knock and held out his clipboard in front of him.

The door cracked open and a young woman with a baby on her hip looked at us. “What?” she asked, keeping the door partially closed.

Cole said, “We’re from fire station 9 and we are out collecting signatures.”

She opened the door more. “For what?”

Clearing my throat, I said, “The city is trying to cut our funding and it’s going to hurt the station. We want to show the Mayor that the citizens are more interested in fire and safety than they are for say . . . the study of bacteria in the Spokane River.”

She nodded. “We need you guys. You do amazing work. I’ll sign it.” She set her baby down in a baby swing inside her living room and signed the petition.

“Thank you,” I said as she signed.

Cole nodded. “We appreciate the support.”

“No problem,” she replied, handing the clipboard back to Cole.

“Here’s a flyer, we’re having a rally down at the Mayor’s office at the end of September,” Cole said, handing her a flyer.

She said, “Okay,” as she looked at it. “So in a month. I’ll try to show up. Why so long until the rally?”

“We need to canvas a good chunk of the city,” I said.

“Okay. Can you guys call and remind me or something?” she asked.

“We have your email, so we can shoot you an email,” Cole said.

“Do you want more than one flyer?” I asked, grabbing a couple more from my own stack. “You can give them to your friends and family.”

“That’s okay,” she replied. “One is fine. I’ll let everyone know though. Like I said before, we need you guys!” The baby began to get fussy in the swing behind her and she said, “Thanks for coming by. I’ll see you guys later!”

“Thank you, Ma’am,” Cole said. “We’ll also post updates on the social media page, so find us there.”

She nodded.

Turning around as the door shut, we both nodded to each other. “This is going to work out great,” Cole said.

“If we find more people like that, I agree,” I replied as he got back onto the sidewalk.

After we wrapped up with canvassing for the day, our stomachs were growling with hunger.

“Let’s go to that diner you like,” Cole said as we got into his car.

Thinking of Heidi’s diner, I worried that the kid might show up. I didn’t want to risk a run-in with him. I spotted a gas station on the corner opposite of the street we were parked on. I could go call on my cellphone to Heidi’s and see if the kid was there. “Sure, let me take a leak.” I shot a finger at the corner. “Just stop at that gas station.”

“Okay,” Cole replied.

“Thanks.”

Walking into the restroom and into a stall, I called the diner. Penny answered.

“Heidi’s diner, Penny speaking.”

“Hey, it’s me, Rick. Remember that kid that was talking to me the other day?” I asked.

“Yeah. What about him?” she asked.

“Has he been around there anymore since then? Like today or something?”

“No. Why? What kind of trouble did you get into, Ricky?” she asked, able to see right through my words and hear the concern in my voice.

I sighed with relief. “No trouble. Thanks, Penny.”

Coming out of the bathroom, I saw that Cole was in the gas station picking out some gum. Walking down the aisle to him, I said, “Let’s go.”

“I’m excited. The way you rave about their food, I figure I’m overdue to have a meal there.”

“It’s delicious. I’ve tried to get you to go a few times,” I replied. “Been going there for a long, long time.”

Cole nodded and headed up to the counter to buy his gum.

We arrived at Heidi’s and took a booth over against the west side of the restaurant. Mirrors lined the entire diner with various vintage attire hung above them. Albums, old lunch boxes and random license plates from various states were just a few of the items that filled the walls.

“Pretty neat décor in here,” Cole said as he looked around.

“They put that stuff there so you don’t get bored while you wait for your food,” I replied.

“Hey, now. We aren’t that slow at service, ya jerk!” Penny said with a smile as she came up to our table.

I laughed. “It’s okay to be slow when you deliver deliciousness.”

She smiled again. “What can I get you boys started with?”

“Water,” Cole said.

“I’ll take a Cola with a squirt of cherry,” I said.

“Alrighty,” she said, leaving our table.

Cole leaned across the table. “Man, I was not looking forward to canvassing, but I really enjoyed it.”

“I did too. So many people support us—it’s nice to know that. Well, the ones who answered their doors seemed to support us.”

Cole replied, “Yeah. We don’t usually get a lot of thanks in this line of work . . . kind of nice to hear it while hitting the streets.”

“Yes it is.” Picking up the menu, I searched for the two options I knew I’d not be able to decide on until the last second.

The chicken Parmesan or the broccoli cheddar soup. Those were my favorite dishes at Heidi’s, but I could never decide on which one to go for until the last moment. Bringing our drinks over to the table, Penny set them down and pulled out her notepad. “What’ll it be?”

“Just a second,” Cole said as he kept looking at his menu. Penny looked over at me.

“I’ll take the broccoli cheddar,” I said, handing her the menu.

“Oh, hey,” Penny said, pointing her pen toward me. “Ron said the kid you were with earlier this week came by this morning, but he just looked in and then left. Wondered if you knew anything about that.”

Cole shot an eyebrow up. “What?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head in a series of short little bursts. My anxiety began to rise at the thought of Robert looking for me.

“Did you find something you want?” she asked Cole, trying to shift the conversation as she realized I was trying to keep the kid off the radar with Cole.

“Umm . . .” he said, looking back at the menu. “I’ll go with the turkey club.” He handed her the menu.

“I’ll get that right out to you guys,” she said, leaving the table again.

“What
kid
is she talking about?” Cole asked, leaning across the table.

“A kid I played poker with. No biggie.”

Cole sat back in his seat as he kept his eyes locked on me. “Why’d she bring it up?”

Shrugging, I picked up my cola and took a drink. “I don’t know, man. How’s preschool at the church going for Bradley?” I asked.

He looked concerned but could tell I wasn’t going to talk about it. “It’s good. He’s having a lot of fun. Megan’s been going in and volunteering in the class some too. She seems to be really enjoying all that time around a bunch of kids.”

“Well, that’s neat,” I replied. “We had Beth in preschool at our church from K3 all the way until first grade. She enjoyed it.”

“It’s nice to get that Christian influence on them through school,” Cole said.

“It sure is. How is Megan’s mom doing since her husband passed? I always mean to ask, but I don’t want to draw attention at the fire house about it.”

“Good. She started teaching a crochet class down at Spokane Community College. She does that a couple of times a week. Seems to be keeping herself busy.”

Shaking my head, I said, “That’s amazing. I always wonder about her when I think about Sherwood.”

“She’s been through a lot, but she’s been piecing her new life together since it happened. Seems like it was just yesterday when the topic comes up . . . a lot of pain still there.” Cole hung his head.

“Yeah. Can’t believe it’s been two years now,” I said.

“I still think about that day,” Cole said. “Maybe I could have saved him if I did something different—moved a little quicker, been a little more healed up . . . maybe I could have pulled that beam up.”

“Don’t go there, man,” I said. “You did everything you could.”

“Yeah,” Cole said with a nod. “I can’t help but wonder, though.”

After our dinner, I went to grab my wallet from the back of my pants and realized I had pulled it out and put it in Cole’s glove box.

“I’ll be right back, need to grab my wallet.”

“I got you,” Cole said.

“No, that’s okay,” I insisted. Standing up, he handed me the keys and I headed out to the car.

Climbing into the driver seat, I leaned over the console between the seats, opened the glove box, and grabbed my wallet. As I climbed backward out of the seat, I was startled.

“Rick!” a man’s voice shouted from behind me.

Jumping, I bumped my head against the doorframe. “Ouch!” I shouted as I turned to see that it was Kane. Pushing him in the shoulder, I said, “What are you doing here, McCormick? Why’d you call me Rick, were you trying to freak me out?”

Laughing, he replied, “Cole said you guys were eating here and I decided to stop by and try to catch you two before you left. Man, you were so scared!” He began laughing harder, grabbing his stomach as he threw his head back.

“Funny,” I replied with a grunt. Kane was innocent. He had no idea how paranoid I was that day. “Let’s go back in,” I said, locking Cole’s car up and shutting the door. We went back inside the diner to join Cole.

F
our weeks came and went without a peep from Robert or that shady Lincoln character. It was nearing the end of September and I was beginning to think that summer night of poker was just a bad nightmare. I kept my promise to Susan and hadn’t played any poker since then, and I even began building my savings back up by selling off some of my baseball cards and various items from the guest house that I knew Susan had forgotten about. Everything seemed to be going okay until the day of the rally out in the park in front of City Hall. I had set out that morning to stop by the bank and fill up the tank before going to meet with the rest of the guys at the station to head over to the rally.

“Good morning, Mr. Alderman,” the teller said from behind the counter at the bank. I stopped in to make another deposit into the savings account before heading over to the station to meet up with the guys for the rally.

“Morning, Sally,” I replied as I laid the cash out on the counter. I sold my 1988 Best Platinum San Bernardino Spirit Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie card, which went for nine hundred dollars at auction last weekend.

She took the cash and ran it through the little machine she had sitting next to the computer.

“You going to be at the rally today?” I asked.

“For what?” she replied, perplexed.

“The firefighters. You haven’t heard about it?”

“Oh, yeah . . . My mom was telling me about that the other day. She said it’s at like one this afternoon, right?” she replied as she typed something into the computer.

“Yeah. And we’re trying to get the mayor to change her mind about slashing the budget of the fire stations in Spokane.”

She shook her head. “That’s not cool. We need you guys.”

“That’s how the majority of people feel, it seems like. I think we’ll send the message loud and clear today,” I replied.

A receipt printed out and she tore it off. Handing it to me, she asked, “Anything else I can do for you?”

“Not today,” I replied, taking the receipt from her. “Hope to see you there.”

Leaving the bank, I walked down the front steps and went over to my car. As I got in, I heard someone from across the parking lot. “Blaze,” the voice said loudly. It was a male voice.

Turning as I stood up at my open car door, I saw that it was the kid. I flashed him a nod and got into my car. My heart began pounding so loudly that I could feel it in my ears. I turned the key over. As I was backing out of the parking spot, he jogged up to my car and knocked on my driver’s side window. I made eye contact with him for a split second, then put the car in drive and sped out of the parking lot.

I wasn’t very far down the street when my gas light came on. Pulling over into a gas station parking lot, I glanced over my shoulder at least a half dozen times. I was worried that the kid was tailing me.

Pulling up to the gas pump, I got out and slid my card through the card reader, checking over my shoulder several more times. The pump beeped and I started fueling up. Nervously, I kept my eyes down the road toward the bank. My pulse started soaring as I thought about all that had happened that night four weeks ago. I thought I was in the clear, but I wasn’t.

The kid had found me.

“Now, that’s no way to treat a friend,” the kid said from behind me, in the other direction. I jumped as I turned to him.

“I don’t want any trouble,” I said, shifting my footing to a defensive stance.

He brought his hands out to each side and said, “You told me to take care of that debt. So I did some things. I’m not exactly proud of these
things
. But . . . I took care of it.”

The gas pump clicked as it finished, startling me.

“Calm down, Blaze . . . or whatever it is you go by these days. Don’t ever see you on the tables up at the casino anymore.”

I took my receipt from the gas pump and headed for the driver’s side door. The kid hastened his steps over to the car and pushed the door shut.

“What do you want?” I asked, looking at him.

“I took care of your debt, and this how you repay me?” he asked sharply.

My eyes fell to his waist as I spotted a gun. “I appreciate what you did, But I got to get going.”

“You said to take care of it, and I did.” He spat on the ground. “Now it’s time for you to repay. You’ve had plenty of time.”

“I don’t have that kind of money. That’s the whole reason I didn’t pay to begin with. That and the fact I didn’t know it was that high of a buy-in.”

“How much you got?” he asked, tipping his chin.

Shaking my head, I said, “Not much.”

The kid stepped closer to me and put a hand on my shoulder. He looked behind him for a moment and then shifted his step even closer. He drove his fist into my stomach, catching me off guard. Pain ripped through my torso.

“Wrong answer,” he said, shaking his fist. “Ouch . . . I didn’t know that’d hurt.”

I wasn’t able to stand. He grabbed my shoulder and yanked me upwards, pushing me up against the car.

“How much do you want?” I pushed out as I caught my breath.

“You made me mad, Blaze. I was going to give you a break, but now I want all of it.”

“Okay. Let’s go back to the bank and I’ll get it out.”

Shaking his head, he said, “No. Cameras and security guards. I’d rather not go back to prison. How about you drop it off at this address?” He slipped a card in my coat pocket. “Drop it off by noon.” He patted my shoulder and said, “Don’t try anything cute.”

“Okay,” I squeezed out as I still hurt. Turning, I grabbed for my door and crawled into the driver seat. I sighed and started to regain my composure. My door was still open.

“Oh, and hey, Rick,” the kid said suddenly, leaning down into my driver’s side door.

I looked over and up at him.

“I’d hate to see that firefighter rally get
ugly
. . . so really, don’t try anything.”

He vanished away from my car door and I put my hand on my chest to help myself cool down from the anger. “Ugh!” I moaned as I reached out and smacked the steering wheel.

I drove back to the bank and went inside. Upset and distraught, I returned to the same teller and requested to withdraw all the money from the account.

“Are you okay?” she asked, looking at my head, which was doused in sweat.

There wasn’t a farther place I could be from
okay
in that moment, which she could obviously see in my face, but I couldn’t say anything. She’d be suspicious. “I’m fine.”

“Okay . . .” She began counting out the hundreds in front of me and my heart pounded harder with each bill as she laid it down. Being forced to drain my bank account? What kind of idiot does he think I am? I wondered. He’s just a kid!

“You know what?” I said. “Stop. Forget this. Put it all back. I changed my mind.”

“Okay . . .” She began to reverse the process and put all the money back into the drawer.

“We done here?” I asked.

“Yeah. Unless you wanted to do something else. Sir, are you sure you’re okay?”

I patted the counter and shook my head. “We’re done.”

Leaving the bank, I immediately made my way down to Heidi’s diner to talk to Ron. He would know what to do to resolve this issue. Some twenty-something year old punk wasn’t going to dictate my life. Being pressured and bullied into doing something wasn’t something Ron ever tolerated. There was one time when I came into the diner in tears as a young school boy because of a bully I’d had a run in with at school. Ron sat me down on the stool and asked me what happened. When I told him, he shook his head, tossed the towel over his shoulder, and looked me square in the eye. He explained to me why people bully and how I could use my intelligence to battle against the bullies. At the ripe age of twelve, he taught me how to defend myself with words and intelligence, destroying my enemies with intellect.

Getting to the diner, I went straight for the kitchen. Pushing open the swinging kitchen doors, I looked Ron in the eyes and said, “Can we talk?”

He nodded.

Penny tapped my shoulder as she was standing right next to me, just outside the kitchen. “Ricky, you know you can’t be behind the counter,” she said.

“Sorry,” I replied, letting go of the doors. “I’ll be in that booth over there, waiting for Ron.”

“Want some coffee while you wait?” she asked.

“No thanks. It’ll be quick.”

Going over to the booth, I took a seat. My foot nervously shook as I waited for him to come out. My insides felt like they were boiling with frustration.

Ron came out from the kitchen, and I jumped up from the booth to greet him. He shook my hand and took a seat across the table.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“How do you know something is wrong?”

He shrugged. “I’ve known you for a long time, kid. You have never come into the back like that. What’s up?”

“I got myself in a sticky situation, and I need your help.”

“What kind of stickiness are we talkin’?”

“Really sticky.”

I explained to him everything that had happened with the poker night and today. He listened and waited until the very end to speak.

“Well . . . there’s only one solution, Rick.”

“And?” I leaned in closer. “What is it?”

He stood up from the booth and said, “I’ll be right back.” He took off through the kitchen and disappeared for a few minutes. I didn’t know what he was doing, but I was sure he had a masterful and clever plan.

Coming back over to the booth, he sat down and said quietly, “Under the table.”

“What?”

“Take it.”

Reaching under the table, I felt for what he was giving me, and when the cold metal touched against the palm of my hand, I knew exactly what it was. Taking it, I pulled it into my lap.

It was a gun.

“Really? What am I going to do with this?” I asked in a loud whisper as I leaned against the table.

“You shoot, ya dummy!”

“You taught me to use my words and intelligence when dealing with bullies.”

He laughed heartily. “That was school . . . this is real life. You are being threatened. You have to protect yourself!”

“I don’t know if I can shoot someone,” I said.

He looked over to see a woman glance over at us. “Keep your voice down,” he said in a whisper. “You probably won’t have to use it, but if you need to, you’ll be glad you have it. I would never recommend killing a person, but you have to keep yourself and those you care about protected.”

Looking down at the gun, I asked, “I haven’t shot a lot of guns—”

“That’s a 22—not a lot of kick, but it’ll get the job done. It has a loaded clip with good bullets, so you don’t have to do anything other than switch the safety off, cock it and then blast the fool away.”

“Okay.” I put the gun into my coat pocket and looked at him. “Man, I thought this was over. It had been weeks.”

Ron nodded. “I wonder what he meant about doing things he wasn’t proud of doing.”

Shrugging, I replied, “I don’t know. I’m worried about the rally.”

“Well, I’d tell the cops there about the threat,” Ron said.

“It’d get back around to the station, and I don’t want them finding out about all this.”

“Well, depending on how bad this guy is, it could be bad, Rick.”

Shaking my head, I said, “He’s a kid. I don’t think it’ll get too crazy.”

“True. The gun should scare him if he tries messin’ with you again.” Ron glanced over his shoulder back toward the kitchen. “Orders are lining up for me. I better get back at it.”

I stood up from the booth and shook his hand. “Thanks for everything, Ron.”

“No problem. You take care and let me know how everything turns out.”

“Thanks,” I replied.

Leaving the diner, it was about eleven o’clock in the morning. There wasn’t much time to get home, have lunch and shower before meeting up with the guys at the station at twelve thirty.