Date: Thu, 5 Jan 2012 15:58:40 -0500
From: Alan A. <eastcoastasulax@gmail.com>
Subject: Jake Grimke Chapter 32

NOTE: Â This is the fictional coming of age story of Jake Grimke as he
matures through high school, into college and eventually into
adulthood in the Baltimore, Maryland region. Â It contains and embraces
accurate representations of life in Baltimore and its suburbs;
Maryland's traditional sport of lacrosse and the career path a
firefighter might follow in his profession. Â All of the characters in
this story are fictional and resemblance to any one person whether
dead or alive is purely coincidental. Â If you liked this installment,
please send me some feed back; I got a rough idea where this is headed
but I am always open to some suggestions. Needless to say, if you are
offended by handsome athletic young men growing up gay and the
obstacles they will encounter as well their personal triumphs, you
should use the BACK button on your browser forthwith.

After backing into Steadman station, the crew from Rescue 1 doubled
checked the chain sets and other tools they used on the extrication.
Firefighter Marc Shapiro pulled the heavy chain from its metal storage
tray and laid it out on the floor to be inspected as the others
finished checking the power tools they had used while Captain Grimke
made an entry in the log book about their calls and completed the
necessary reports on the department's intranet system with Jake
standing over his shoulder.

"Getting the itch?" Captan Grimke asked his son.

"Kind of, it was cool watching you guys work together; I understand it
better now compared to when I was younger," Jake replied.

John craned his head around the alarm room making sure there were no
other eyes or ears in the room and waited for the door to close after
being propped open like it usually was.  "What did Whitelaw say to
you?" Jake's father asked.

"That if I want to follow in your footsteps I shouldn't work in
Baltimore, that he could open doors for me," Jake said recalling the
conversation less than an hour ago.

"He's right you know; the tax base is shrinking here, just like it did
in Richmond when your grandfather was on the job there," John said
comparatively, "what else did he say?"

"Stay in school, get my degree," Jake said.

"Sounds like the same words my father said to me," John added, "and
honestly, all I said was you were coming for dinner."

"Would you be mad if I became a fireman?" Jake asked his firefighting father.

"Only if you were to sign up for this outfit, then I'd kick your ass
like never before," John said with all the seriousness he could
muster.

"What would Mom say?" Jake probed further.

"Well, she knows you and a journalism degree are just a front for
going to college; she can't picture you being any sort of writer,"
John said with a smile before adding, "she knows you couldn't be tied
down to a desk or anything like that.  It wouldn't end her world if
you were to become a fireman."

With a tone of confession, Jake said, "you know all those times you
hauled me to a firehouse when Mom couldn't get a babysitter for me
while you were giving the basic class and I was supposed to be in the
back doing my homework?"

"I remember those nights and weekends," John replied with a warm smile.

"I became much more fascinated with where to put the first hoseline or
how to conduct a primary search rather than y = mx + b in Alegbra 1,"
Jake said proudly.

"Finish school Jake, finish school, then we can talk about this again,
okay?" the senior Grimke implored.

"Copy Dad, finish school," Jake said as the in-station public address
system opened up followed by a bell ringing and a voice announcing
that dinner was ready

"C'mon, let's go see what the engine probie made, I heard he can cook
pretty good," Jake's dad said as they headed down the hall to the big
eat-in kitchen.

"What do we have tonight Boot?" Captain Grimke asked the probie as
they lined up with their plates.

"Jambalaya sir," answered Probationary Firefighter Matt Whate.

Everybody from the battalion chief and his aide quartered at Steadman
down to the crews on the engine and rescue companies and medic unit
staffing the station commented on how great the meal smelled
throughout the firehouse.  The dozen or so firefighters along with
Jake sat down at the huge communal table and dug into the delicious
meal.  After everybody had shoveled a few fork fulls of the entree
into their mouths, Firefighter Deavers asked what all was in the
jambalaya.

Probie Whate began listing the ingredients, "shrimp, chicken,
andouille sausage, rice, jalapeno peppers..."

"Wait, is this kosher?" Firefighter Shapiro asked out loud with a hint
of a forced Hebrew accent to his voice, his fork midway between the
plate and his lips while staring right at young firefighter Whate.

Probationary Firefighter Whate froze, unsure of what to do or say
while the rest of his co-workers waited in silence for a response
before the probie could eek out a barely audible, "no sir."

"It's cool probie," Shapiro said with a relaxing sigh and big smile as
the whole table erupted in laughter, "I haven't darkened the doorway
of a synagogue in over 20 years.  This is some damn fine grub
tonight."

Just like the probie, Jake ate silently as his Dad leaned over and
asked, "sure you want to put up with this kind of shit?"

"I can hang Dad, you know that," Jake replied.

As the meal ended, Jake helped Matt clear the table and put the dishes
in the dishwasher.  Even though Matt was a probie, he got a pass on
doing the pots and pans used to prepare the dinner while the rest of
the firefighters at the table played poker to see who got stuck with
washing the remaining pots.  Once a winner, or loser got stuck with
busting suds, the rest of the firemen scooped out bowls of ice cream
to cool down their digestive tracts from the spicy dinner.

"Come back any time Jake, we could use a little more of your luck
around here," Deavers called out as John walked Jake out to his car in
the now locked parking lot.

Jake waved back and promised he would as John asked, "how are you and
Jose doing?"

"I think we're officially an item," Jake said to his father.

"Oh?" John replied.

"I think we made it official in New York," Jake said.

"Does he know?" John asked.

"He took me to the student health clinic at Hopkins to get tested," Jake added.

John nodded, "well, you're mother and I like him but both of you are
young and dumb and full of ...."

"I know Dad," Jake interrupted, "but, we're just enjoying ourselves; I love
him."

"Jake, son, I know a lot about rescuing people," Captain Grimke said
as they got to Jake's car in the lot, "but nothing about fixing broken
hearts.  Just be careful son; be very careful."

"You be careful too Dad, I'll see you in the morning," Jake said,
hugging his father, "love you Dad, thanks for the dinner.  Thank the
guys for me too please."

Once on the Baltimore Washington Parkway back to Severn, Jake called
home to let Emma know he was on his way.  Then he called Will just to
let him know that he had been to the clinic at Hopkins and was HIV- in
case there was any worry on his part.  The last call as he turned off
from the B-W onto Route 100 was to Jackie Pence just to ask how she
was doing since both were missing Evan Harmes, wingman and boyfriend.

"Well, you cleaned up a 1000% since I last saw you," Annie Harmes remarked.

"Thanks Annie," Jake replied before getting the look of evil from his mother.

"It's okay Emma, I know you and John raised him to be polite and
respectful but he's a young man now and I would prefer Jake to call me
Annie rather than Mrs. Harmes; kind of makes me feel a little hold if
you catch what I am saying," Annie prattled on before turning to Jake
again, "Your mother says you are going to be giving a little concert
in a couple of weeks."

"More of a demonstration, try to drum up some interest among young
musicians who might not ever give any thought to her program at
Peabody," Jake said.

"Well, if I am looking at the calendar right on the refrigerator
there, it's the same Sunday as Evan's first call home and I want you
to be there, 3:30 sharp is when he is supposed to call," Annie said
firmly.

Jake turned to his mother, "Mom!"

"It's okay honey, you'll be home in time from St. Michael's to talk to
Evan," Jake's mom said with reassurance.

"Are you sure?" Jake asked nervously.

"11:00 AM service is usually over by 12:30 at the latest, you do your
concert for an hour and out of there long before 2:00 PM, home here
before 3:00 PM then you can go over to Annie's and wait for Evan to
call, okay?"

"Okay, but I am keeping you to that schedule," Jake said, trying to
impose his will.

"Jake, you made a deal with your mother," Annie said, "you got to
stick to it and then I'm expecting you at our house when Evan calls,
with Jackie."

Jake took a deep breath and collected himself.  The timetable was
reasonable and he knew Annie obviously would be there to talk to her
own son but he wasn't expecting to have to share his Evan time with
Jackie also.   Annie began gathering up her things as she left Jake
and Emma, "Jake I'll be at your concert too, I wouldn't miss it."

Young Grimke continued his summer training ritual for the next couple
of weeks.  If Captain Grimke was working the day tour, he would go to
Baltimore after the morning rush hour, practice for an hour or two on
the great organ at St. Michael's and then meet Jose for lunch before
heading home to cut grass and train.  When Jake's dad was working the
night tour, Jake would train and cut grass in the morning, catch Jose
for lunch in Baltimore before practicing and then have dinner at the
firehouse with his father.

Being the youngest guy working at Steadman, Matt Whate was drawn to
Captain Grimke's son since he was closer to Jake's age than any of the
other guys he normally worked with and looked forward to talking with
him as he came in to visit his dad.  And Jake felt an attraction to
Firefighter Whate asking him questions about what got him interested
in the fire department and what the hiring and training process was
like.

Whate explained that the Fire Academy training was regimented but not
nearly as intense as what he experienced when he went through basic
training at Parris Island for the Marine Corps five years before going
on to complete several rotations through the Middle East during the
Iraq conflict.  The bad thing the probie further explained was that if
anymore companies get closed, he would probably be out of a job.

The two weeks flew by as Jake kept himself busy and focused on all
that he had to do.  On the Sunday of the concert, Jake waited in an
anteroom off the chancel wearing some well worn blue jeans, his
favorite Nikes and a polo shirt that clung to his defined chest so
that he would look more like an average teenager rather than a stuffy
organist cloaked in a robe.  After playing the postlude, Emma Grimke
invited anybody remaining in the nave up to the chancel for a
demonstration of the organ.  A group of about 20 or so teenagers who
had been registered through the Chesapeake Chapter of the AGO walked
up the steps and formed a semi-circle around the bench of the
magnificent organ  Behind them stood Annie Harmes, John Grimke and the
crew from Rescue 1, Jose and Matt Whate who was enjoying his rotating
or "kelly" day off.

After a brief introduction by his mother, Jake came out the side
entrance to the chancel and did a double take when he saw the size of
the crowd and then broke into his winning smile when he saw the
familiar faces standing in the back row.  At first, Jake was about to
freeze in front of this small group before he just remembered about
how he played with Evan and the rest of the Mohawks and the words
began to flow out of his mouth as he pointed out the features of the
organ before pointing up to the different groups of pipes.

Jake closed all the stops but one and played it, holding his left
index finger on middle C on the second manual, "doesn't sound like
much does it?" he asked those around him.

They all said no or shook their heads no as he released the key and
then pulled a few more stops and played it again.  "How about now?"
Jake asked them.

And the crowd smiled, hearing the embellished note played from many
pipes at once.  Jake continued, "I can program or register this manual
or this keyboard to play certain stops and make the manual below it
play a totally different set of stops."

Again, he demonstrated, playing scales on the second manual before
dropping down to the first manual before playing the same scale on
pedals.  Then he merged playing all three at once with the first line
of "O God Our Help In Ages Past"

Picking the familiar tune Sine Nomine from "For All The Saints", Jake
played the melody coupling the Choir and Principal divisions together
and harmonizing with the Pedal division then switched it all to play
the melody with the bigger pipes in the Pedal division and harmonizing
with the manuals just by pushing the thumb and toe pistons.

Jake paused to answer a few questions from the crowd of potential
future organists before he put it all together in a final
demonstration of what the mighty Moller could do and launched into
Jules Grison's Toccata in F which amazed all assembled.  In fact it
was something Emma had not played in a long time, considering it a
little over the top for the old school Episcopalians at St. Michael's.

As Jake finished the toccata he swung around from the bench and asked
if there were any last questions before catching Jose's eye and
smiling back at him.  Noticing a young man, about 14 or 15 years old
wearing a maroon Towson Lacrosse tee shirt, Jake invited him to the
bench as he pulled out the sheet music for the final movement from
Louis Vierne's Organ Symphony #1.

"What's your name?" Jake asked the young player.

"Scott," he answered.

"Scott, what position you play?" Jake asked noting the shirt.

"Attack," Scott answered.

"I did too," Jake said offering a fist bump trying to put him at ease
at being in front of everybody, "think you can help me out?"

"Sure, what do you need?" Scott answered eagerly by bumping Jake's
fist now that the lacrosse bond had been formed.

"I need a wingman to turn the pages for me and then help me pull out
all the stops as we get to the end of this piece okay; think you can
do that if I tell you when and show you which ones?" Jake asked.

Scott nodded enthusiastically as Jake readied himself, showing the
young player where to stand and which stop knobs to pull when it came
time.  As Jake started, the notes flowed heavenward filling the great
chancel as Jake played one of Vierne's signature pieces, nodding when
Scott should turn the pages for him.  Jake's fingers and feet
practically danced across the keyboards and pedals as Father Lowery
strode up to the chancel to join the rest of the adults who had backed
away to let the younger people watch Jake play.

There was a brief pause near the end of the piece, less than a second,
for Jake to give Scott the signal to pull the necessary remaining
stops while Jake used his Nikes to press two of the three expression
pedals then the third pedal to open the swell boxes in the pipe loft
to let all the sound out at once.  Emma  Grimke knew for a long time
what the Moller could do after years of giving lessons on it but was
awed at what her son was doing and dabbed tears from her eyes as a
justifiably proud Captain Grimke held her until the final notes
reverberated off the carved stone within the church.

Young Scott stared at the organ console, amazed at hearing and being a
part of what just happened as Jake turned to him for a high five
before they both turned to the applauding group.  Jake spun himself
around and hopped off the bench and held up Scott's hand, like he was
the victor as everybody's applause continued and then gave him another
high five before he said, "couldn't have done it without you Scott,
thanks for being my wingman today."

"You got it bro," Scott said, offering another fist bump to Jake much
to everybody's amusement.

Jake stayed behind a few more minutes to answer more questions, the
more technical ones he deferred to his mother who had since recomposed
herself. Jose and John were talking with Matt in the back row as the
rest of the crew from Rescue 1 slipped out as quietly as they came in
except for the radio volume turned up a little louder on their
walkie-talkies.

Jake took a look at the dive watch on his left wrist, 1:47 PM and then
tapped it and looked at his mom and then Annie to make sure they kept
their other appointment for this Sunday.  After a quick hug good bye
to his Dad and Jose, he thanked Matt for taking time out of his day
off to come to the concert.  With the Saab's top down, Jake drove Emma
and Annie back to Severn, swinging by the Pence's to pick up Jackie
before pulling up to Evan's house.

Once inside, Annie set up the speaker phone that she rarely used while
Jackie and Jake talked, Jackie begging to know what Jose and Jake were
up to.  Jake told her and Annie about the trip to New York City and
showed them the pictures from the trip on his iPhone before the
landline rang precisely at 3:30.  Annie picked up the handset first
and talked to Evan privately before announcing she was putting the
phone on speaker because Jake and Jackie were here.

"Hey bro, how is it there, everything you thought it was going to be
Ev?" Jake asked.

"You'd love it here, it's game on 24-7 practically," Evan answered.

"You hanging in okay?  Got a new wingman yet?" Jake followed up.

"I'm okay, it's tough but I get through one day at a time, sometimes
one hour at a time," Evan continued, "just taking it like you told me
to, it's working bro.  I miss you guys, can you put Jackie on please,
and not on speaker please?"

"Miss you too Ev, here's Jackie," Jake said choking up a bit.

Jackie did her best "Well hello sailor" when she picked up the
telephone, Annie and Jake retreating to give the last few minutes of
their call together some privacy.

"I love you too Evan, I'll tell them...talk to you soon Ev," Jackie
said, tears filling her eyes.

Jake moved in to hug Jackie who just sobbed on his shoulder and tried
to comfort her.  "He told me to tell you he misses you Jake, wishes
you were there with him," she eeked out between sobs.

"I know Jackie, I know," Jake said after their brief reunion with Evan Harmes.