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.