“Fine, let’s go play in the bedroom.” Isadora agreed.
Chapter 3
Afewweekslater,after morning lineup, Mateo decided it was time to have a word with his captain. He entered the office at the back of 15.
Cordova, being Cordova, made him stand at attention for five minutes while he finished a morning phone call to his wife. “Is there something you need to speak to me about, lieutenant?”
“I want to speak to you about our assignments.”
“You have a problem with how I’ve made up the assignments?” Cordova asked neutrally, one of his preferred tactics.
“Until a month ago I was the one who did the assignments since, as lieutenant, I managed the shift.”
“I’m trying something new.”
“On A-shift alone? I talked to B and C-shifts, and you’re not writing their assignments.” If he didn’t make a stand, Cordova would dance around the topic.
“Oh, is that an issue?”
Mateo willed himself not to bristle. “Why am I assigned Medic again with McClunis?”
“I thought you’d be happy to be giving our newest female recruit the most personal attention.”
“I’m supposed to be commanding one of the fire apparatuses and leading our men into burning buildings.” Mateo typically commanded the boots on the ground, as Cordova often was the incident commander of fire scenes.
“I’m giving other members of our staff leadership opportunities.”
“At the expense of safety?” If Mateo was on the ambulance, who was in charge of the men?
“Read the writing on the wall, Soto. The battalion chief of five is retiring in the next six months. Of the thirty-five firehouses, only ten captains are eligible to apply. The exiting captain’s recommendation for promotions of his home station will carry a lot of weight. If I’m lucky enough to get picked, I’ll have to choose a replacement lieutenant.”
“I appreciate your consideration.” Mateo did not point out that if Mateo were captain, the next lieutenant to be promoted should be his selection, or a transfer from another station, not Cordova’s pick.
“While I make my decision, I want you to deal with the McClunis issue.” Cordova cracked his knuckles. “You know why they put McClunis with us? To get rid of her. Chief Layne bowed to the political will which said women can become firefighters. They’re not strong enough. They’re not fast enough—not brave enough, but the powers that be decided we’re giving them a chance.”
“She completed fire academy, and she had a glowing recommendation from Hector Mondragon.”
“Of course she did. But what was Hector going to say, Pedro? They want her to do well and she was terrible? The waitlist to get into our firehouse is usually three years. Who did they pass over to give her this plum assignment after a year on the job?”
“I cannot believe Hector would exaggerate.” Mateo controlled his desire to bristle at the insinuations.
“I believe Hector is smart enough to not put his neck on the line for some pussy. He passed off the problem on to us just like the brass wanted. Put her in the busiest fire station and watch her break.”
If Cordova was right, then the higher up chiefs had no interest in allowing the female firefighting experiment to succeed. However, if that was the plan, then Cordova was going about it wrong. “I doubt keeping her on Medic will do any such thing. It’s busy, but not physically demanding like on the line.”
“Contrary to the brass’s opinion, I’m not interested in risking the lives of our other guys for their little trial. It’s safer to keep her there, and with you she’s always supervised by an officer who is qualified to identify any of her training deficiencies and other psychological problems. If she had training deficiencies, I’d be forced to act on them. If she’s unstable, we don’t want her to spend too much time with the rest of the team.”
Mateo understood his meaning perfectly. The captain wanted him to grade Leslie McClunis as harshly as possible, and thus crushing her firefighting career. As long as she stayed on the Medic, she’d never bond with the team, and if they never let her fight fires, she’d never advance.
His conversations with Isadora on his mind, Mateo said, “You think we’ll bore her to death.”
“The brass would prefer she quit on her own.”
Clearly, Cordova had not consulted the actual Leslie McClunis on this or else he’d have understood that woman would never quit anything.
The radio buzzed, and the voice of dispatch went off overhead. “Medic 15, injury, Achmere and Oak Park.”
“Have a good time on Medic,” Cordova said.
