In the fan

I leaned on the rehab drinking a Gatorade when Smith's fire marshal vehicle pulled up. He came to investigate the the fire. I walked over to him, ready to show him around the scene.

"Randy Smith, long time no see," I smiled, "You here for the bon fire?"

"Of course, I'd never miss a family gathering. You guys put the bonfire out already. I'm impressed."

"Well you know, we can't spend all day here."

"Yeah, don't worry this investigation shouldn't take too long. You guys just keep cleaning up. I can take care of it. We already had another fire in town that We had to hurry and cover." He said looking down at his notepad.

"Oh, I didn't hear it tone out. Was it a big one?" I asked a little jealous that another crew got a structure fire.

"Nah not to big just some kids screwing around and set a dumpster of fire at there school. They put brylcream and a chlorine tablet in an envelope. I'm sure you can figure out what happened. Those damn kids had the nerve to tell me they just found the envelope."

"What a headache. At least the investigation was quick. How did they even find out about that combination?"

" There isn't much you can't find on the internet. Though they probably didn't think it would actually catch fire. When it started to get hot they must have panicked. They'll have to do community service I'm sure."

"That's true."

"I'm gonna get my investigation going, you wanna walk the perimeter and see if you find anything?"

"Yeah. This will be good practice for my test coming up," I say as we part ways. The fire seemed to have started near the house and spread out so I began walking to the abandoned structure. Most likely this was cause by the sun beating down on a something reflective. While I walked I carefully watched the ground. Smith had sent several people to search through the scene because it was such a large distance. I looked up when I reached the steps to see Smith, not far from my position, holding a corona light bottle. The likely culprit.

"Turns out it, we just missed the party," he shouts,

"This is probably what did it cause closed." I smiled at him and held up a thumbs up. Some homeless person must have been here not too long ago and left that. It's not uncommon to see squatters out here. I turned and gave the porch one las look. Something caught my eye and out of curiosity I moved to pick it up. It was a small cylinder jar of brylcream. What a coincidence I thought. I opened it to find it empty. Randy had made his way to me and stood at the bottom of the steps now.

"Whatcha got there, kid?" His face looks a bit serious.

"Just an empty hair gel container. Nothing of interest but check the brand," I said tossing it to him. He caught it and gave it a look over.

"Would you look at that. You know it's not easy to find these either. This was big in the 90's."

"I know I was just thinking that too." I smiled warmly at him. He sighed, put the container in his pocket and turned away, headed to the car.

"Let's get outa here kid, your boss is waiting for ya," he called back. I followed him obediently, returning back to the engine where the crew waited.

"Rory, lets go home. I'm tired. Make me lunch so I can't take a nap," Danny said in a baby voice putting both hands to his cheeks.

"Danny, you're not cute," Captain retorts.

"This is harassment!," Danny complains.

"First of all, I'm not your mother! Danny so help me if you don't stop being cheeky I'll put in a complaint about your sexist attitude and then I'll beat the shit out of you. Let's go Cap."

"Let me be your baby, I will be a good boy. I'll do your chores." He dances around Adonis and I. I raised my hand as if to slap him and he ran to the drivers seat. Laughing Adonis and I hop in along with the rest of our crew.

Once back to the station we break to hit the showers. Being the only woman on shift I don't have to wait in line. I got my own bathroom and shower. If there were more women, I'd have to share. Happily I started the shower, set my towel out and began undressing. Humming softly to myself I placed my pants and shirt in plastic bag when I heard a low clicking noise. From the corner of my eye I saw someone standing, watching me. Jumping quickly I grabbed my shirt and held it over my body.

"Don't cover yourself sweetie, I told you I wanted to be your baby, why don't you take me seriously?" The voice was low but menacing. It belonged to Danny but no more was the gentle and lighthearted man I knew.

"What the fuck Danny," I jerked, holding my body tighter, "You could lose your job for this shit! I'm gonna make sure you do. Get the fuck away from me." I was trapped. He had me cornered. He moved so swiftly and grabbed my face with one large hand. He covered my mouth and nose. I couldn't breath, and began to claw at him while he rubbed his body against mine.

"If you ruin our fun again, I'll have to hurt you, I don't wanna do that. One bitch already ruined my life. I'm not gonna let you make it any worse. I lost my kids because of her." His grip tightened against my face. I had to think quickly. The tight grip made it impossible for me to open my mouth instead I decided I need to kick him. He had one foot on my left food. Instead with one free hand I pushed against his nose until he loosened slightly. I bit down on his hand the second I had the chance.

" Ahhhh! You bitch," he screamed. He sent his hands flying forward, they hit my body and ricocheted me into the wall. Instant dizziness sent me tumbling to the ground. He leaned down surveying my body.

"Don't Danny, I'm not your wife." I croaked. I reached for him grabbing his foot. He then stood and kicked me once in the chest. I coughed, gasping for air.

"It doesn't matter who you are. Women are all the same. You're weak, you shouldn't fucking be here. You're a shit firefighter. You're a piece of shit!" His screams pierced my ears. He lifted his foot again to kick me. I began to brace for the blow.