We All Have History

Darren wiped at the blood on his uniform shirt with a towel for the hundredth time since they had pulled out of the loading bay of the ER. His partner tried and failed to hide a smirk at his finicky actions. The shirt was a lost cause, at least until they got back to the station and put it back in the washer, but Darren was a rookie and would have to learn the hard way that occasionally cleaning the blood off his shiny silver badge was part of the job.

“Wow!” the boy said, giving up on the bloody uniform for the moment. “That was some party! Do you think they will be able to reattach that guy’s leg?”

Erika thought about it for a moment. Ten years older than the EMT in the passenger seat (not his usual spot, but after his first major trauma, she wasn’t entirely sure he should be driving that keyed up). “Probably. A boat propeller cuts pretty clean. He’s not going to be a track star, but he should be taking those big shepherd dogs for a jog on the beach within eighteen months.” 

Barely older than the drunk college kid they had brought in, Darren shook his head. “That was the craziest party I’ve ever seen! You?”

Erika pretended to consider. “It’s up there.”

He shook his head. Ten years, I guess you’ve seen about everything.”

Forcing a laugh, she replied “Yeah, pretty much.” She was the senior paramedic at their station, the shift supervisor, the one whose shirt never came untucked and her boots were always shined. There was no need for her junior partner to know that the craziest party she had ever seen had not been as a paramedic, but as a thirteen-year-old girl who was excited not to be sent to her grandmother’s for her mom’s thirtieth birthday party like her little brothers. 

Even though she managed to maintain her half of the basic small talk as she parked the ambulance in its designated spot, her mind was nowhere near the station. She left Darren to restock and went to her bunk. The big bay doors were open and the salty ocean breeze filled the station. No matter if she lived here until she was a hundred and fifty, the smell of the Florida air would never get old. It was so much different than the mold and coal dust that had permeated every aspect of her hometown. 

The fifteen years she had lived here had felt like a lifetime, but the eighteen years before were still just below the surface. Her hair was blond now, she was tanned and still had a belly button ring she wasn’t too old to show off at the beach, but she hadn’t always called herself a beach babe. A million years ago, she had been a West Virginia redneck girl. There were reasons she hadn’t ever told anyone here about it. She wasn’t ashamed of where she grew up. Her hometown was a beautiful place, full of strong, brave, good people. Her parents just weren’t to be counted among them.

The wildest party she had ever seen had started around dusk on a hot July evening. She was wearing cutoff overalls sweat soaked her dark brown braids. The small farming community were all close (and looking back now, she knew they were mostly functional alcoholics) and her mom’s thirtieth birthday party was the big event of the summer. Two farms over had a small pond with a dock that was stocked with fish and it wasn’t a watering hole for cattle, so it was where the local kids went to swim. Tonight, several grills had been brought up and set up on the shore. Two dozen coolers held hamburgers, hot dogs, beer and seasoning for any fresh catfish that swallowed someone’s worm. A huge stack of clear liquid in jelly jars was over near the grills, and even one as young as Erika knew they didn’t hold water. Having over forty jars of pure grain alcohol over by the source of flame manned by people of questionable sobriety didn’t seem like the best idea to her, but nobody was going to listen to her about it.

People began filing in, tired and sweaty from jobs and fields, mines and mending fences, but ready for Friday night. Erika was beside herself with excitement. She knew this was what her mom and dad did every weekend while she stay with her grandparents, or more recently, home with her three younger brothers as she was finally old enough to babysit. She loved the boys and was super proud that she could be trusted to put them to bed and keep them safe until their parents came home, usually long after she had gone to sleep as well, but now she actually got to go with them. Her mom had argued against it, saying she was too young, but her dad had won that one and here she was. 

The grills sizzled with fresh meat as the bonfire grew tall and bright, and the stack of moonshine jars shrunk quickly. She wondered how much trouble she would get in if she snatched a near-empty one and tried it. If caught, she could always claim it was empty and she filled it from the pond. Just as she was about to try, she heard a voice behind her. “Hey, kiddo, what are you doing here?!” 

A broad smile crossed her face as she spun to face her Aunt Kayla. Aunt Kayla was much younger than her mom, and didn’t usually go out and party like her parents, and usually spent the night at her own mom and dad’s on weekends when Erika and the boys were there. Lately, though, her boyfriend had been convincing her to go out to places like this. She looked around, and spotted her sort-of uncle Mike over getting a burger. “It’s mom’s birthday! Dad said I could come tonight if I stayed out of the way and didn’t cause any trouble.”

Kayla snorted and took a drink of her Mountain Dew. “As long as YOU don’t cause trouble? There’s trouble walking around here like it owns the place! The last thing I would worry about is a squirt like you causing trouble!”

She stuck her tongue out at her aunt. “I’m no squirt! I’m a teenager now. I’m big enough to have fun with mom and dad!”

Kayla’s joking tone faded. “Kid, listen to me for a minute here, okay? This isn’t the kind of fun you need, even when you’re older, okay? This is the kind of thing that got your mom in trouble, and you can do so much better!”

Despite her best effort, her lip trembled and she bit it hard. “Don’t say it like that! I’m not trouble!”

Her aunt winced. “Okay, I could have phrased it a lot better. But you know she was way too young when you came along. Your life and hers could have been a lot better if she hadn’t had you so young.”

Her aunt did have a point. She had seen the pictures of her mom’s high school graduation, holding her diploma in one hand and Erika in the other. And she knew that when teenage girls got pregnant, it was referred to as “in trouble”. So she quickly changed the subject. “Why are you drinking pop? You’re twenty-one now, they’ll give you a beer.”

Kayla nodded, not telling her niece that her brother-in-law had been offering her beer since she was Erika’s age. “I could, but I don’t want to. I don’t like it much.”

“Why n-“ Erika’s question was cut off by a shout over near the bonfire.

“I said she’s coming home with me!” a male voice snarled.

“Who’s that?” Kayla asked, both their attention turning towards the scene as a man grabbed Erika’s other aunt by the arm. She watched as her dad and their brother rushed over to her aid.

“That’s Carrie, Dad’s sister, and her ex, Lee. They broke up last week. Again. Dad doesn’t like him much. Him and Uncle Carl will get him to leave and it will be fine.”

The words were not out of the girl’s mouth before her naïve prediction was proven wrong and Lee threw a punch. Her dad stumbled backwards and three more men jumped into the fray. To Kayla’s dismay, Mike was one of them. “Come on,” she exclaimed, grabbing her niece but the back of her overalls and pulling her back. “This can’t go anywhere good…”

Stumbling a little as her aunt tugged her along, Erika protested. “It’s just about over. Uncle Carl is about to stop it.”

“How?” Kayla demanded, still pulling her towards the vehicles. 

“He’s loading his pistol.”

“WHAT?!” 

Further explanation was cut off by a shot, screams, and a muffled thump before a massive explosion rocked the field. Erika screamed and dropped to the ground with her aunt close behind. “What was that?” Erika whimpered, suddenly no longer so sure she was old enough for this.

Kayla looked back at the chaos. “Well, I guess-“ A second explosion went off, then a third, as a complete fireball engulfed the dock and the area as the bonfire was swallowed by three propane tanks and the shattered remains of the glass jars. People were screaming, fighting, and running around. Another gunshot went off. “Never mind, just run!” Now was not the time to explain to the kid that bullets and gas grills were not friends.

They made it to Kayla’s car, and she cursed as she jammed her hands in her jeans pockets. “Mike has the key!”

“Want me to go get them from him?”

Kayla had to remind herself that her niece was just a child and cursed her brother-in-law for having her anywhere near this mess. She wasn’t even sure Mike was alright in that mess. “No way! You are not getting anywhere near that mess. Looks like we’re on foot.”

Erika was shaking. Bullets and explosions were outside her idea how to cope. She wanted nothing more than to be in her grandma’s living room with her brothers eating popcorn and watching old scary movies. Was this what her parents did on the weekends? Why??? No wonder her aunt didn’t drink alcohol. “I want to go home,” she whimpered.

Kayla nodded. “Me too, kiddo.” 

It was dark as a dungeon as they slowed to a jog to catch their breath on the gravel road as they had fled the mess back at the pond. It was over a mile back now and they were winded. The red glow was no longer visible behind them, and Erika’s tears were starting to dry. This had not been what she had expected. Why do people do things like that? Were her parents insane? Why would anyone do stuff like that? She had a long way to think on it; it was another two miles back to her house.

The rest of her shift was uneventful, and they even got a little sleep before the alarm on her phone went off to warn her of only half an hour left in her shift. She and Darren cleaned, fueled, and restocked their truck before passing it off to the next shift. “So what’s your plans for the next two days?” he asked her.

Erika thought for a few minutes. “I’ve got an aunt who lives up near Atlanta. Haven’t talked to her in a while. Might drive up and see her. It’ been too long.”