Cinders

~6~ Free Pass

I climb back in bed, feeling defeated. Not only is my ass throbbing, but I feel so guilty. I let mom down—I really never expected her to ever find out. I was an idiot for keeping evidence on my phone. Of course she would look through my phone; She's done it before when I've gotten in big trouble. This was a rookie mistake.

It takes me forever to fall asleep, but I finally do. Suddenly I'm woken up by the alarm.

DING
*Engine 20, Truck 80, Squad 10, Ambulance 20, structure fire at 108 Lake.

The noise scares the crap outta me. I must have been sleeping awhile, because most of the men are sleeping in their cots. As soon as the alarm goes off, I suddenly see a mob of dudes rushing out the door. I can see Lieutenant Preston get out of his bed and out the door quickly.

I say a silent prayer that my mom will stay safe. When I'm not here, it's easier to forget how dangerous of jobs she and dad both have. Both very different, but equally as dangerous.

I lay awake, listening to the sirens turn on and hearing the garage door shutting behind them. I suddenly feel very alone. It's creepy. I'm alone, waiting for mom to come back from a fire. I say an extra prayer again. Can't hurt, right?

I must've fallen back asleep, because I'm being shaken gently awake by mom.

"Hey bud. It's time to start getting up. We're going to be leaving in a little bit."

I open my eyes and stretch out a little. Bad idea. My butt is crazy sore and stiff this morning. My eyes focus on mom, and I give her a small smile. Her eyes are warm. They're a little tight around the edges, so I know she's still upset, but she isn't mad anymore.

"Morning love," says, her smile reaching her eyes.

"Morning," I reply, wanting to go back to sleep "What time did you get back last night?"

I must've been sleeping hard. I never heard them get back.

"We just got back a bit ago," she says, looking at the clock on the wall. "We're gonna have to get going soon. The next shift will be here in a bit."

As she's saying this, she gets off the bed and stretches out her back. She looks tired; I doubt she slept at all.

I get up and decide to start walking to the bathroom. Ugh. I'm so sore.

Once I freshen up a bit, I head out to the kitchen area to get a drink.

"Morning kid. Sleep good?" Keegan asks, clapping me on the shoulder.

"Yeah. The beds aren't as bad as they look," I say, taking a sip of water.

Keegan chuckles. "Yeah, you get used to 'em."

"How you feeling?" He asks, giving me a knowing smile.

Does he know? My cheeks immediately flush as I look down to the ground.

"Eh, don't be embarrassed. Remember what I said about tough single moms? You just keep trusting her, and I promise you're gonna turn out alright in the end," he says, taking a bite of his apple as he walks away.

Mom comes out a few minutes later and we head for our car. I see Preston get into his car, glancing in our direction as he does.

The ride home is awkward. Mom hasn't said a single word. Maybe she's pretty mad at me still after all. I keep my mouth shut; I'm not poking the bear. We finally get home and I just go to my room. I'm sure she's gonna send me there anyways, and I just have to get away from the deafening silence.