I jolted out of my sleep, coughing, when I heard the smoke alarm beeping loudly. A pungent, acrid smell filled the air in my smoke-filled room. It was hard to see because of my eyes tearing and burning. Even though visibility was nonexistent, I got out of the bed to try and escape my room. I continued coughing with my eyes partially closed as I walked to the door. As soon as my hand touched the doorknob, I dropped it because it was too hot.
Panic began to set in as I coughed even harder. My eyes watered and my chest burned.
“Oh, God. I don’t know what to do.” I felt myself getting weaker the more I coughed. In my panicked state, I didn’t think to call for help. My head hurt and I got dizzy. The next thing I knew, everything went black.
Same dayon the other side of town
“Are you going to be good for Grandpa and Mee-maw?” I asked my six-year-old daughter, Turquoise.
“Yes, sir.” Her barrettes clanked as she nodded.
I think she just liked to shake her head so she could hear the barrettes move.
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I hugged her and kissed her cheek.
When I released her, she ran off to play with one of her toys.
My father’s shoulders shook as he laughed. “That child ain’t worried about you, Son.”
“Oh, I know. All she’s worried about is that new toy she got. And I’m sure she wants me to leave so she can have all that sugar y’all be giving her.” I looked at my dad and stepmom with squinted eyes.
I didn’t give my baby candy that often, and definitely not after certain hours, because it took a long time for the sugar to wear off. The child would be bouncing off the walls for hours.
“My baby can have whatever she wants when she’s here, as long as she’s a good girl,” my stepmom added as she got up from her spot on the couch.
More than likely, she was going to the kitchen to get some food for me.
I just shook my head and laughed. “Y’all have to deal with that, not me.”
“And we do just fine,” my dad jested.
My father, Jasper, raised me by himself from the time I was ten, after my mother died from a glioblastoma, until I was sixteen. When I was sixteen, he met my stepmom, Sharon, and they got married a year later. She had been an important person in my and Turquoise’s lives. Turquoise’s mom, Bria, died during childbirth, so Sharon was the only mother figure in my baby’s life.
Our family was small since I was an only child, and Sharon hadn’t had any kids when she and my father met, and she was okay with just me. People looked at her funny because she never wanted kids, but she didn’t care. At the time, I was getting into shit, so she said dealing with me was enough.
“Here you go.” Sharon reentered the living room and handed me a lunch bag. “I know some of them people down at that firehouse don’t know how to cook, and we don’t need you starving to death. Can’t be saving lives if you’re hungry.”
I placed a kiss on her cheek, and she smiled. “Thank you. I’m sure I’ll love whatever is in here.” I checked the time on my watch. “I’m going to get out of here. I’ll see y’all tomorrow.”
We all said our goodbyes, and I left. I pressed my key fob to unlock the doors of my Durango and put the lunch bag on the passenger seat.
It was in the low sixties, but the sun was bright in the sky. I prayed that today would be a good day. When I got inside, I cranked up the car, and Nipsey flowed through the speakers. I cracked my window and bobbed my head as I drove to the firehouse.
Firehouse 23 had been my second home for the last six years, and while I loved my job, I hated some of the things that came with it. Running into burning buildings was a gamble that I took every day that I worked. There was always the possibility of not making it home, but I made sure to do as much as I could to get back to my baby. I couldn’t have her out here without both parents.
Turquoise was in the first grade, and she had been doing really well. The older she got, the more she reminded me of her mother. She looked like her, but she had my dark chocolate eyes. She got her smart mouth from her mother, and her brain smarts were a combination of both of us. After Bria died, I didn’t bother with dating again, because my focus was on raising Turquoise. I had a chick I fucked with occasionally, but she was married. I wasn’t proud of my actions, but I continued to fuck with her because she didn’t require anything from me but dick. When we were both free, we would meet at a hotel, then go our separate ways. I learned to control my urges, so I didn’t fuck with her often. I wasn’t trying to bring just anybody around my daughter, especially while she was so impressionable.
When I wasn’t at work, I was with my family, or just my daughter, because I didn’t fuck with people. Some of mycoworkers would ask me to meet them at the bar, and I did, but it wasn’t often. I just didn’t want to be around people like that. Growing up as an only child made me an introvert who was okay with being alone. In high school, I had friends, but once we graduated, I kinda went back into my shell.
I was naturally a protective person, and that was what encouraged me to become a firefighter. The job was rewarding when we saved someone, but sad when we lost lives.
I pulled up to the firehouse and parked. I grabbed my bag and made sure I had everything else I needed for the day.
Pressing the button to lock the door, I put my keys in my bookbag and entered the firehouse.
The firehouse was buzzing with people, with it being a shift change.
“You ready for tonight?” my coworker Darren asked.
