As he grabbed another piece of paper, he glanced down at the words he’d written on it.
“Firefighter McClunis unnecessarily exposed herself to danger and failed to obey direct orders,” he read out loud.
Then again, he was unaware of any standard operation procedure in the Cleveland Fire handbook in which you faced a bear potentially eating a large group of kindergartners.
He picked up a different piece of paper, “Firefighter McClunis is the greatest firefighter that has ever lived, and I have no problem whatsoever that she has a vagina, and we should elevate her to fire chief immediately.”
Another brilliant piece of writing for the trashcan.
“Leslie McClunis is brave, cute, and almost certainly dynamite in bed. We don’t want her at our firehouse because the same qualities that make a great firefighter make her far too attractive. Men will question her her whole career, and she’ll face barriers each and every step of the way. I would never recommend my niece become a firefighter because the job is hard enough without all of this bullshit.”
The last peeled everything away distilled into it, revealing the unvarnished, painful underbelly.
And so very little of it had anything to do with Leslie McClunis’s performance and everything to do with his own biases.
Isadora was right. The problem wasn’t McClunis. It was everyone and no one. Until people fundamentally accepted women could be firefighters, nothing would ever change. She’d face more than the murmurs he was forced to tolerate about his worthiness as a Spic or Carl did as their only Black member in 15.
Mateo wanted to be better than that. He’d endured those snide marks and fought hard to earn his place and the respect that went with it. Hector had moved up. Why not Mateo?
All it would take was one report, and he’d be captain of the busiest and most prestigious firehouse in Cleveland. He’d have made it. His mother would be proud. His community would be proud.
One of their own, the beacon of truth and righteousness, the American dream.
Then he pictured Isadora’s face. She was better than him. Far better and more honorable, which was a damn good thing, on account of her being the law. She’d never flinched to make the right choices and sacrifices, even though her hill had been far more uphill than his.
Would he be able to look her in the eye?
Would he be able to look at his own reflection?
So he found his pen, got a blank sheet of paper, and made the only choice he could live with.
Chapter 7
Ittookaweek,but Cordova called him into the Captain’s office right after morning line up.
“I read the report about the bear. I have a few questions.”
“Yes.”
“The incident sounded insane. What kind of idiot raises a grizzly bear and her cub in his house in downtown Cleveland?”
“And paid with his life.” The sidewalk fatality had been the owner. According to his wife who had recently separated from him over the animals, the mother bear had been increasingly explosive and territorial since the cub was born. “The man must have done something the bear didn’t like near the cub. No matter how well trained a bear is, once it decides it will not obey… well, you end up with your arm missing, bleeding to death on the sidewalk outside your house.”
“The cub looked pretty cute on the news. Like growing your own Teddy Ruxpin,” Cordova referred to the talking bear toy that had come back in style again recently.
“Yes, sir. You wanted to discuss my report?” Mateo wanted to get this over with. Ever since he filed the report, he’d been waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Yes, the report. First, there’s the tone. From what I can see here, Firefighter disobeyed an order to bring you epinephrine. And the patient died.” Cordova pointed to a line on his copy.
“Firefighting McClunis had determined the scene was unsafe for emergency personnel.” Mateo recited from his report, which had to have been his fortieth draft.
“Did she ever bring you the epinephrine?”
“I countermanded my own order. I told her to retreat.” Mateo would not back down.
“And then she promptly disobeyed your orders by running at the bear after having heard how dangerous it was.”
“What choice did she have? Let it have some kindergartener jerky?”
