When I was a firefighter Chapter 5 part 6 of 10

When I was a firefighter
Chapter 5 part 6 of 10

He began to scan through my ideas and seemed to be thinking the matter through before he said, “I’m afraid it just isn’t in the budget to build this. The cost is…”

I cut him off and said, “The cost, sir? Does it cost more than the life of a seven-year-old girl—and her mother? What about the costs of all those before them? Exactly how many people have to be hurt or killed here before ‘cost’ is not an issue? I’m sorry: I don’t mean to sound like I’m questioning you. As I said, I don’t know politics. But if you look closer at my proposal, you will see that there is an option for adding a toll booth. With the volume of traffic that goes through there, I’m sure that even a small toll would not only pay for the construction but would be a source of income for the city.”

He replied, “Yes, I see that. You can’t just simply put up a toll anywhere you feel like it because there’s a bad intersection.”

I said, “I agree, sir. But this isn’t just a bad intersection. It’s an interstate transitioning into local roads and it is the
State’s most dangerous. Just look at the report of serious to fatal accidents here compared to all other similar accidents in the rest of the State. For the last five years in a row, there were twice as many here as there were in the next dangerous intersection. I believe if we build even half of what I’m proposing, this intersection will come off the list by next year! And I’m sure the voters will notice that.”

He seemed to recognize that last line for exactly what it was but let it go. He assured me that he would push the issue forward until some resolution was reached. I wondered for a moment if he was just pacifying me, but then he asked if he could have copies of everything I had presented sent to his office. I told him the copy he had was his to keep and he ended the meeting by thanking ME for MY time.

Leaving the meeting in high spirits, I looked at the time and it was almost time to leave to watch Cherry’s practice. I was beside myself with anticipation; I had not been with her since the Friday before! I went home, changed, and headed for Middletown.

There were still some students leaving the parking lot when I arrived at Cherry’s school. It was about 20 minutes after I parked that she and the other girls gathered in what I assumed was their usual practice spot. Cherry ran up to me and jumped into my arms to give me a big hug. Olivia did not approve. She called Cherry back to the group and whispered something to her under her breath. Cherry just rolled her eyes behind Olivia’s back and waved to me with a wide grin before getting in line to start practice.

Watching her was just as amazing as ever! It was difficult to believe how much spirit poured out of her. The other girls seemed to be trying to just keep up with her energy, and they had a lot, too. Olivia on the other hand clearly had something on her mind and I was sure I knew what it was. She barely smiled at all and periodically shot me dagger eyes.

Around 45 minutes into the practice, Cherry excused herself to run inside and I assumed she needed a ‘bathroom break’. She motioned to me, using her fingers and thumbs to make a heart over her chest, and then pointed at me. She mouthed the words ‘be right back; stay here’ and ran inside. Before Cherry was out of sight, Olivia had the others doing strength-building exercises and she gave me a look that seemed to come from Satan himself. It was obvious to me that I would not be seeing her application for membership to my fan club any time soon. Again, I thought I knew why, but I would soon find out that I was not entirely correct about that assumption.

Soon enough, Cherry was back and the girls continued their practice. Olivia seemed to keep them all longer than any of them wanted to stay and it felt like it was purely to keep Cherry away from me. Eventually, she had to let the group go and the practice ended. Olivia turned to walk back to the gym and never looked in our direction.

I said, “Wow: Olivia is pretty pissed at me.”

Cherry said, “No, not really. Why do you think that?”

I asked, “Are you kidding me? Did you see the way she’s been looking at me?! If she had actual daggers for eyes, I’d be a bloody murder victim right now! That girl hates me…”

She said, “She doesn’t ‘hate’ you. She’s not happy about me not knowing for a moment if I was pregnant, but she doesn’t ‘hate you’ because of it.”

I asked, “Then what would you call it? What’s her problem with me?”

Cherry explained, “Oh, she’s just jealous. But she’ll get over it; don’t worry.”

I said, “She has nothing to be jealous about: she’s a very pretty girl; captain of the cheerleading squad—I’ll bet she could date just about any guy she wanted at this school.”

She gave a half-laugh and said, “Yeah! That’s not going to happen!”

I was surprised by Cherry’s reaction and said, “Why not? She’s pretty; in nice shape; seems like a loyal friend…is something wrong with her?”

Cherry said, “No; there’s nothing ‘wrong’ with her—she’s just not likely to ever have a boyfriend, that’s all.”

I asked, “Why would you say that?”

Cherry shook her head and sighed before saying, “Because she’s…well…let me put it this way: you know how a person acts when they are jealous of someone else?

To be continued