“She will yap on about high cholesterol and how I should do it for the kids.”
Andrew leveled a stare at him. “Grow a pair of balls, dude.”
“I don’t have balls. My wife stole them.”
Barking out a laugh, I slapped my palm over my mouth. “Sorry.”
Andrew looked at us and shook his head as if we were two pesky teenagers. “I can’t deal right now.” Yanking open the fridge, he scanned the continents. “Is there anything I can eat on the go?”
I assumed he was talking to me. “Yeah, there is quinoa salad in a plastic container near the juice.”
“Awesome.”
He shut the door with his foot while balancing an apple, the quinoa salad, and a bottle of water. He slid a look at Matthew. “Go home. I don’t want your wife to steal my balls too.” Andrew pressed a kiss against my hair as he walked past. “I’ll you see later, ok?”
“Ok.”
I watched him disappear back into his cave with stars in my eyes. The man had an ability to soften my heart like nobody else.
Matthew’s chin snapped back and forth between us, quizzically. “When did you two become domesticated? Let alone a couple. Do you like live here now or something?”
I lifted myself out of the dining room chair. “None of your beeswax. I’ll see you later.”
“Andrew tends to fall in love fast and furious. Just take things slow like super slow. Slower than molasses. It will be better for both of you in the long run. Alright?”
Matthew’s concern for his friend was touching, but he had nothing to worry about.
I touched the crook of his elbow. “We are going at a glacier speed, much to my annoyance.”
He grinned. “My wife and I waited two months before we hit home base.”
“Was it worth it?”
The expression that flashed over his face said it all. “We will be married ten years tomorrow. Through the highs, the lows, and the mundane moments, I have had my best friend by my side. I would have waited a year if I had to. My family is everything.” Mathew leaned in and spoke to the quiet murmurs of doubt that fluttered in my heart. “Camilla wasn’t right, but you—you’re right.”
My cell phone blared underneath my pillow. I pried open my eyes, surprised to see darkness. It wasn’t time to get up for work so why was my alarm singing? It stopped ringing then picked up again. I blindly reached for my cell phone as panic rung in my ears. Like my mother always said, nothing good happens after 2:00 a.m.
A blocked number flashed on the call screen. “Hello,” I answered groggily.
“Is this Haven McClain? Apartment number 201?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry to report there was a fire….”
I bolted upright in bed. The stranger on the phone line droned on, his words blending together.
“There was a fire?”
Annoyance crept into his tone. “Yes, there was a fire. I would suggest you come by and….”
I hung up and tossed my cell phone aside. My feet hit the floor in a mad rush to change into clothes that wouldn’t cause frostbite. Tugging on a sweatshirt, I grabbed my keys and wallet off the dresser. Without a car, I had no other option than to wake up Andrew. I took the stairs two at a time and barged into his room.
“There was a fire at my apartment building. Will you drive me?” I asked frantically.
Andrew immediately sprung into action. He rolled out of bed, slipped into jeans and a t-shirt within a five second time frame. If I weren’t overrun with panic, it would have been impressive. We were out the door moments later.
Andrew sprinted ahead of me. “Did the management company say how bad it was?”
“No. I hung up before he got to that part but I’m guessing it’s not good.”
“True.”
We climbed into his car and roared off into the early morning dawn. My body felt like a coiled spring, ready to snap at a moment’s notice. I glanced at the speedometer, which straddled the line between seventy-five and eighty miles per hour. Andrew white knuckled the steering wheel.
“Why does the universe hate me?” I said more to myself than to him. “I got good grades in high school, helped old ladies cross the street, and am an overall a kind person.”
“The universe doesn’t hate you,” Andrew soothed. “Shit happens.”
“I’m sick of shit happening. I was subjected to a childhood of neglect, found my mother dead, my only other family member stole from me, a drug dealer wants my head on a platter and now everything I own might be in a pile of ashes.” Anger bubbled to the surface and I smacked my palm against the dashboard. The same palm still wrapped in three layers of gauze. A hot white pain snacked up my arm. “FUCK!”
Andrew didn’t flinch. He acted as always the calm in the middle of a hurricane and smartly chose to remain silent. Reaching across the gearshift, he showed me his support by resting his hand on top of my thigh. Somehow, the tranquil energy he exuded seeped into my pores. Until I saw the plume of smoke rising high in the sky.
“Please tell me that is a figment of my imagination,” I said.
His voice was grave as he spoke. “I’m afraid it’s not.”
Trepidation churned in my stomach, as we got closer to the scene of the fire. Once the car turned the corner on Rose Avenue, chaos spilled from the sidewalks. People lined up behind a police barrier, gross fascination written on their faces. Fire trucks were parked haphazardly in the street; their hoses lay limp and used. Men dressed in forty-five pounds of gear helped occupants of my apartment building to ambulances, while some were already laid out on stretchers, oxygen masks strapped to their mouths. I yanked open the door before the car came to a resting stop. I heard Andrew scream my name but my legs kept running. Ducking underneath the police barrier, smoke curled into my lungs. The building that stood for the independence I’d sought for and won was a shell of itself. Broken windows, charred black brick and a singed awning was all that was left.
“Excuse me,” I waved my arms to catch the attention of a fireman.
He glanced over at me with soot smudged over his left eyebrow.
“When can I go back inside my apartment?”
He barked out a harsh laugh. “Honey, the building is about to fall down any minute. Nobody is allowed in there unless they have a death wish.”
“But everything I own is in there….”
“Yeah? Join the club.”
Tears pressed against my eyelids. Growing up, I had very little but what I did have was cherished like the ratty teddy bear my mom had given me for my third birthday, the deck of cards Monica had stolen from the corner liquor store, the stack of magazines in my closet, and the ruby ring from Sumiko’s dad the day I became his stepdaughter. Heart wrenching didn’t describe how I felt about never seeing any of it again.
The fireman’s radio crackled. He listened and then beckoned me to step back. “I need you to go behind the barrier.”
“Wait!” My cracked voice mirrored how my insides were. “What happened? How did this fire start?”
“There will be a investigation, but until then I can’t tell you anything.”
An investigation meant foul play. Would Big Ted be crazy enough to set an apartment building on fire and risk hundreds of lives just to hammer his message home further? The answer to that question terrified me.
The fireman nudged my feet toward the barrier. “Please Ma’am, I really need you to clear this area.”
I resisted, my head spinning. “But….”
“Come on Haven….” Andrew materialized behind me and clasped his hands around my upper arms. “Let’s go.”
I struggled against his hold. This couldn’t be real. My eyes fluttered closed and then re-opened. The nightmare remained and hysteria clawed its way up my throat. I needed to get my stuff out of my apartment. It was illogical and plain crazy but that was the sole thought running through my head. Big Ted had taken away my mother, my sister, and now the home I had built for myself. I couldn’t let him win. A burst of adrenaline freed me of my restraints. The fireman yelled and rushed toward me, as the building grew closer. Hot air burned my eyes as the sour smell of gasoline wafted underneath my nose. I dodged a citizen in a hero’s disguise. I was so close I could touch the stairs leading to the front door. The ground reached up—falling—falling. My head smacked against the cement. Stars burst in front of my eyes. Blood coated my tongue and I spit out the metallic taste. Ruby red stained the ground. The fight left my body as Andrew scooped me into his arms and carried me to safety.