It was his first day, his first day of cleaning at the firehouse. After school he had taken his time walking to the station but now he was standing outside it, staring up at it like he did any other day. But today, today he didn't have a choice, he had to go in and face them all. Except it wouldn't be the heartwarming reunion he had always imagined.
•••
"You're late." A middle aged Asian man stood before him with his arms on his hips and a scowl on his face.
"So- sorry, sir."
"Nuh uh. You don't call me sir, or anyone here." Taylor flinched at the hard tone and nodded,
"My names Tai and I'm going to be your supervisor for the next few weeks. Now go get the cleaning supplies from the closet and get to work." Tai pointed across the garage at a door and followed close behind when Taylor headed over. Tai pointed out the supplies he would need and then left to the loft. Taylor watched him go, a sudden loneliness creeping up his spine. With a sigh he turned towards the colorful wall and started to work.
•••
It had been two hours since the boy had arrived and he hadn't stopped once for a break. It was around 5 O'clock, the same time as dinner, and he was required to stay until 6. Cody observed the way he moved, clearly in pain, his knees would buckle every now and then and there were multiple times he had rubbed his shoulder. At one point the boy had turned his back to the loft and bent over with his hands cupping his mouth, and for a moment Cody wondered if it was a vape. When the table was set and dinner was being set out Cody couldn't help but ask,
"Hey Cap, do you think we could give the kid a break for some food. He hasn't stopped working since he got here." The other turned expectant gazes towards their captain, all thinking the same. Bruce looked towards where the boy stood, and honestly Cody should really learn his name, his lips pursed in thought.
"That's fine, but he won't be sitting at the table." Cody couldn't help the smile that spread along his face.
"HEY KID!" The smile immediately fell at the harsh flinch that shuddered over the kid's body. Slowly he turned and looked up at Bruce, fingers playing nervously with the ends of the brush he held.
"Get up here, we have dinner for you!" Bryce's voice was significantly quieter the second call. The boy nodded quickly, setting his brush aside and hurrying up the stairs. Slowly he walked over to where they sat and frantically looked for where he would be sitting,
"Over there." Bruce pointed to a bar stool sat at the kitchen counter and offered the kid a plate. His face fell slightly and with quiet thank you he took the plate and practically ran to the chair. Bryce watched with a disapproving frown but continued dishing up the rest of the plates.
Dinner was awkwardly quiet, Kiara being the one to break the silence.
"So kid, what's your name?" The boy's head whipped up so fast he should have gotten whiplash and by the way his hand flew to his neck Cody could assume he did.
"Tay- Taylor," Kiara nodded, stirring her fork through her food. Taylor furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, looking between the other firefighters.
"My name's Kiara," Kiara gave him a warm smile and pointed down the table saying names one by one.
"Tai, Mia, Alec, Bruce and-"
"Cody." The breathy exhale of his name had all heads turning to the boy. The sudden attention startled him, almost making him fall off his chair.
"How do you know that?" Tai demanded, his eyes glaring at the boy. Taylor shifted, Wes immediately beginning to search the room, landing on each doorway and staircase. Cody recognized the trigger and motioned for Tai to sit back.
"Are you the one who painted my name on the wall?" Taylor's eyes stopped moving around the room and focused on Cody, his eyebrows linking again in confusion. When Taylor glanced down at the wall he had been cleaning Cody came to the conclusion that Taylor had no idea what he was talking about. The large purple letters were no longer there, cleaned by Tai the day before.
Taylor reached up and traced one of the scars along his cheek, throat bobbing with a gulp.
"It- I didn't- I- I just heard one of you say it earlier." Tai leaned forward, studying the kid with stern eyes. Cody's eyes traveled down to the scars, they were burn marks for sure and it wouldn't be a coincidence if the kid was someone he had saved at one point. Cody reached up and touched the faded scar on his neck, he had several.
"So Taylor, how old are you?" Kiara kept talking, easing up the tension in the room. She continued to ask questions about what he liked to do and school and eventually family.
"Who are you living with? Mom, Dad, Aunt?" Taylor froze, his fork stuck in his mouth. With a hard swallow he refused to meet her eyes when he answered,
"I don't have any family left. I live at Mini Miracles." Kiara nodded slowly, catching Cody's eye and giving him a look he couldn't decipher. Kiara and him continued to talk, Mia and Alec butting in from time to time, Taylor seemed to relax a lot more as time went by and Cody was happy to see it. When dinner was over Taylor was the first up and rushed his plate to the sink. Turning the water in he ran it under and began reaching for the dish soap. Bruce gently pushed him back and grabbed the plate from him,
"We got a dishwasher kid, no need for that." Taylor looked down, his cheeks flushing in embarrassment.
"R-right, sorry."
"No need to apologize," Taylor looked up at him with wide eyes but nodded anyway.
•••
What was going on? Why was everyone being nice to him, well except for Tai, but still! Kiara, the redhead and her dopey boyfriend had talked to him almost the whole time. It was weirding him out. He expected them to be angry, seeing as they were accusing him of vandalizing their garage. The only one he hadn't spoken to was Cody, except for when he had said his name. Yeah, that had been dumb.
Dumb Taylor. Why do you have to be so stupid?
"Stupid, stupid, stupid" Taylor hadn't realized he was mumbling until Cody was standing before him.
"What's stupid?" Taylor jumped, the brush he had been using flying out of his hand. He immediately regretted the movement when his shoulder and back screamed at him in pain. He winced, reaching a hand up to massage his sore shoulders. They had been killing him all day but that's what happens after a night in the closet. Cody looked concerned for a moment, but the look was fine in an instant,
"It's almost 6, you can start outing stuff away and then im driving you home." Taylor jerked his head up and stared at the man with a gaping mouth,
"What? No! You don't have to, I'm fine with walking." Cody's eyes narrowed,
"I'm not letting a 15 year old kid walk home in the dark." Spinning in his heel, Cody marched back up the stairs to the loft. Taylor stared, was he really going to drive him home? What if he left before Cody came back? Yeah, maybe he would do that.
Working quickly Taylor had the cleaning supplies back in the closet. With his backpack over his shoulder and hood up he walked out of the garage only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"My car's this way, bud," Cody waved his hand towards a dark red truck. Taylor wondered for a moment if he could out run a firefighter but thought better of it and hoped into the passenger seat. The ride was short, Mini Miracles only a few minutes away. When Taylor went to climb out Cody stopped him,
"You know none of us are mad at you. We just don't want you to be in detention for something like this. And you can always come to any of us for anything, we may seem big and scary but everyone at the station is nice and wants to see you succeed." Too stunned to speak, Taylor could only manage a nod. After Cody had driven away Taylor stood outside for another minute,
What a cheesy lecture from an old man.
YOU ARE READING
I Survived
General FictionTwelve year old Taylor has lived through so much. His mom died, his dad remarried and he's moved across the U.S. just for his step mom. But there's more, Taylors home catches fire killing his step mom and almost killing him, his dad however disappea...
