Caught In Flames

by Natalia Banks

  But Sarina’s focus wasn’t on the paper, but on Ty. He had an incredible build, leaning forward just a bit, his strong legs splayed to support his powerful frame. His handsome face was fixed in pitched focus, a blond lock hanging over his forehead .

  Pap, pap, pap .

  Jesse was looking up at Ty too, her smile gleaming with childhood admiration. He was everything to her, Sarina could see that, and she knew why. And it was right that their relationship should be strong, that they’d have turned to each other for strength and support. No wonder he admired my relationship with Gram, Sarina knew. He’s got a very similar relationship with Jesse .

  Love.

  Pap, pap, pap . The piece of paper finally fell from the nub, the black star completely untouched. The skinny teenager manning the booth bent down and picked up the paper, handing it to Ty. “Sorry, sir,” he said, his voice cracking, “but you didn’t hit the star at all .”

  “I’ll take the big bear, the pink one .”

  The kid looked at Ty, head tilted just a bit. He held up the paper. “You were supposed to shoot the star off the paper .”

  “But I did,” Ty said. “Because this isn’t the piece of paper in question.” He pointed to the metal clip with the little nub of paper wedged into it. “That’s the piece of paper because it’s the piece in the metal clip. And as you can see, there’s no trace of the star anywhere on it .”

  Sarina’s smile stretched out across her face, though she didn’t want to gloat .

  The kid looked up at Ty, knowing he’d been outsmarted. “The pink one ?”

  “Please,” Ty said. Sarina looked at Ty, simply amazed by each new turn of his amazing persona. What a mind, what skills, what experience, what…attributes! My God, those attributes …

  The kid handed the bear to Sarina, who turned and handed it to Jesse. Jesse took it with a wide smile, burying her face in its pink fur .

  They came up to the High Striker, the tall test of strength driven by the strike of a sledgehammer and topped out with the ringing of a bell. Ty stepped up and the comparatively tiny carnies stepped back. They glanced at each other from behind meth-addled skin, one of them handing him the sledgehammer and the other already getting ready to pull down a prize from the upper row .

  Sarina and Jesse stepped back to watch Ty get a good grip on that sledge handle, fingers wrapping tight. His expansive chest throbbed with his increasing breath as he gathered his strength. His brow was furrowed as he spread those incredible legs even wider than he did at the firing booth, to support the hammer, the weight of the hammer, and the momentum of the swing. Sarina was tingling just to watch him prepare to strike, knowing from personal experience how much power he could wield. To watch it then in full public display, tension ratcheting up as he lifted that massive hammer above his head, was almost more than Sarina could disguise, much less control. But she was in the company of a young girl, and this brought Sarina back to the family-minded perspective she’d intended to maintain and not the lusty desire she was struggling more and more to suppress .

  But one glance at Jesse told Sarina that she wasn’t the only one who was proud of Ty or impressed by him, and she was glad that was something they could share .

  Ty lifted the hammer high up above his head and even tipped it back a bit farther, behind his head. Ty’s legs stood strong, his flawless physique bending back just a bit more, until the sledgehammer head stopped drawing back and paused, ready for its master’s command .

  Sarina was almost breathless waiting for that powerful strike, her body tense and overheated. She almost felt as if she was going to feel that powerful strike, every muscle locked up in anticipation .

  Ty bent forward in a swift motion and swung the hammer down hard, his triceps bulging with sheer power. The thing seemed to move in slow motion at first, but the lower the hammer sank, the faster it moved. Sarina’s eyes traced every inch, her hands squeezing Jesse’s arms as they both looked on .

  Thwack!

  The hammer bounced off the pad and the metal marker shot up the rod, straight to the top of the High Striker .

  Ding!

  The bell rang clear and loud, the crowd around them clapping and cheering, women muttering to one another as they looked over Ty’s sexy features and magnificent physique. Sarina pointed out a stuffed four-foot white unicorn, and this time Jesse insisted that she keep it. Sarina walked away with the toy, the girl, the man, and the envy of every other woman there .

  All in all, Sarina had to admit to herself, a pretty great day .

  Ten minutes later, Jesse was just a few feet away in the public bathroom. Outside the door, Sarina held the unicorn and Ty was holding the big pink bear, looking adorably ridiculous with his massive strength and huge, silly toy .

  Sarina said, “Let’s hope nobody from your station sees you with Mr. Pink here. If you thought they were gonna laugh at John Keats !”

  Ty chuckled, but it was fleeting. “They’re good people .”

  “Y’know, a lot of them, they might be afraid too, of whatever it is in their lives. They have dangerous jobs. I’d sure be afraid. I imagine it’s a kind of survival instinct, right ?”

  Ty paused to consider before saying, “When I said that, I didn’t mean to say I was…personally afraid. Honestly, it’s a lot like being a sailor or a fisherman; they live their lives expecting one day to die at sea. They all know, going out, that there’s a good chance they won’t come back.” Sarina found herself lost in his eyes, hypnotized by his own trance-like stare. “Being a firefighter’s basically the same thing. We all figure that, one day, the beast is gonna get us .”

  Sarina wanted to contradict him, to reassure him that he would never be taken in the line of duty. But she couldn’t, and that frightened her more than anything else .

  “What scares me,” Ty said, “is what may happen to Jesse. She’s all that matters to me. If I’m lost, what’ll happen to her? How will she be able to cope with losing both parents at such an early age ?”

  Sarina had only one answer, though she hesitated to venture it. “What if…is there anything else you could do…for a living, I mean? Something less inherently dangerous ?”

  Ty smiled. “There are a lot other jobs that are more dangerous. Anyway, it’s not about the job, just…there are things you can’t control, you can’t prevent. You can put out a fire, but…well, there’s only so much any of us can do .”

  Sarina knew what he meant, that he was harking back to his late wife, the circumstances of her death still unknown to Sarina. But this wasn’t the time to ask. In fact, Sarina was eager to get things back on a positive footing .

  Her smartphone rang. Sarina pulled it out of her purse, a name and number she didn’t recognize on the screen. She swiped it and raised the phone to her cheek .

  “Hello?”

  After a brief pause and the sounds of a phone being handed from one person to another, a very familiar voice said, “Sarina ?”

  “Gram! What’s wrong ?”

  “I-I think I’m in trouble .”

  Chapter Eleven

  Sarina

  “W hat is it? What’s wrong?”

  “I- I don’t know …”

  After a quick silence, a new voice took the line from Billie’s end. “Hi, this is Melanie Davis. You don’t know me, but…your grandmother came to my door, looking for someone; she was sort of disoriented. I found this number in her purse .”

  “Oh, I see,” Sarina said, both grateful and regretting that Ty was there. “Well, thank you so much for taking her in, and I’m so sorry that happened — ”

  “It’s all right,” the woman said, her voice patient and kindly. “She’s really very charming. We just, we didn’t know what to do or who to call .”

  “No, no, you did the right thing; thank you so much for calling me first. Give me your address and we’ll come pick her up .”

  The woman shared the details and reassured her that Billie would be comfortable and safe until she could be picked up. By the
time she put the phone back into her purse, Ty had already deduced what she had to tell him. So instead of asking, he simply said, “Let’s go .”

  * * *

  J ack and Melanie Davis greeted Sarina, Ty, and Jesse with wide, calm smiles. Billie sat in the corner, not frightened but clearly uncomfortable despite her hosts’ best efforts. Sarina sank to her grandmother’s side and shared a warm, reassuring hug. In the corner of her eye, she could see Ty pulling little Jesse even closer to him, a loving smile shared between Jesse and Ty, clear evidence of how strong their father and daughter bond was .

  Pleasantries, introductions, and compliments were exchanged, , and new friendships formed between strangers, brought together by curious circumstance and a shared sense of generosity of spirit, of sympathy and empathy—of humanity .

  But even through the worry for her grandmother, the temporary chaos of a new person’s home, and the journey that brought them there, Sarina couldn’t help but be aware of little Jesse’s increasing quiet and discomfort. She’d had a great time at the amusement park; they all had. And before that, Jesse had enjoyed Billie’s song and her company more than she had enjoyed Sarina’s company. But as the tense minutes crept on in the new and unfamiliar Davis home, Jesse retracted more and more, peering out from behind her father’s tremendous frame of personal power personified .

  * * *

  A fter dropping Sarina and Billie at their home, Ty took Jesse home. Jesse was even more quiet than usual on the ride home, and Sarina knew she’d lost a lot, if not all of the progress she’d made with the child that day. She could only hope that Ty didn’t feel the way his daughter seemed to feel, that meeting the Dunnes at all might have been a huge mistake for the King family. But there were more pressing matters than the Dunnes, and that meant talking to Billie—once they got home—about what had inspired her journey, and what had derailed it .

  S arina fiddled for her house keys, Billie standing behind her impatiently. “I was going to visit that man who takes care of Jesse,” Billie explained .

  Sarina turned to face her grandmother. “Gram, I asked you to stay out of that !”

  “I know you did; I know it!” Billie’s voice cracked with a kind of strained tension that was evident more when she was on the receiving end of a lecture and not on the delivery end. “I was just trying to help !”

  Sarina knew that was a position she couldn’t contest. She let a long, sad sigh spill out of her nostrils as they entered the house and she dropped her purse down. “I’m not mad about that, Gram, I’m really not — ”

  “Yes, you are !”

  “No, Gram, and I want you to stop being so willful and stubborn and agitated. It’s not a good sign. Are you taking your pills?” Billie waved her granddaughter off, but Sarina said, “Gram, you have to take your meds or you’re only going to get worse !”

  “I forgot the way,” Billie said. “I thought I remembered from when we drove, but the bus stops all looked the same. It’s not my fault !”

  “No, it’s not your fault,” Sarina said, “but you have to start taking more responsibility for your actions, Gram; you have to start paying closer attention .”

  “But that’s what I was trying to do! I was paying closer attention to your life than you were !”

  “I know, and I love you for it.” Sarina wrapped her arms around Billie’s shoulders and pulled her tight, nuzzling her face against her grandmother’s eyes which were softly closing. “But you got so lost, Gram, winding up in some stranger’s house? Or in an alley full of thugs and thieves ?”

  Billie leaned back, extracting herself from Sarina’s arms. “What are you saying ?”

  “I’m saying, what I’m saying, Gram…you have to be more careful .”

  “Or what? Are you threatening me?” Billie’s voice became harsh, irritated, aggressive. Sarina knew right away that it was her sickness, twisting her mind, pushing away the true nature of her sweet disposition and replacing it with a new and twisted version of the same original piece. But Sarina knew it was a forgery, sketched out by the hand of sadness, drawn in blood but etched in stone .

  “You know I’m not threatening you, Gram; I love you! The only thing I want in the world is for you to be happy and comfortable, to take care of you .”

  Billie sat in the fading loom of the afternoon light, shadow enveloping the Dunne living room and the two women sitting in it. Billie’s anger passed over her eyes, fear replacing it, swelling into a kind of existential terror Sarina could not share but could certainly understand .

  “But you won’t,” Billie said softly, as if horrified of her own certainty. “You won’t .”

  “Of course I will, Gram .”

  “You won’t! You’ll put me away, you’ll lock me up in the hospital !”

  “No, Gram, I won’t !”

  But Billie seemed possessed by the power and tension of her own fear, building for months in her, perhaps years, finally spilling out of her mouth like bile. “You don’t know! You don’t know what it’s like!” Billie broke into tears, her wrinkled face contorting into a mask of desperate misery. “You don’t know…” Sobbing replaced her words, tears clouding her fading green eyes, creases folding deeper as she leaned against Sarina in utter despair, her gentle weight falling harder against Sarina’s shoulder. But it was a weight Sarina had born for five years, and she knew she had plenty of strength to lend to her only living relative, her only tie to her bygone family, and her only true friend .

  “You don’t know…” Finally Billie was too weak to say anything more, and Sarina knew there was little more she could say. Her gentle and loving touch would say everything—the power of their shared blood and loss, endurance and survival, enough to get them through that long and sad night. That small victory had seen them both through before, and it would be all they would have, at least until the possibilities of another new day .

  Chapter Twelve

  Sarina

  S arina sat down at her computer. The whimsical flow of notion and inspiration had already begun to stir, given birth by the tumult of recent events. She’d been empty of invention, straining in the late hours for some spark of genius that seemed just beyond her reach. Yet at that moment she felt a lightning bolt of inspiration hit, a natural flow of ideas from the universe. A eureka moment .

  She imagined a little girl and an old woman, her grandmother, who was succumbing to progressive dementia. Of course, she realized, it’s happening right before my eyes! A book about aging dementia for the young in their lives; it only makes perfect sense !

  The thrill of turning something negative into something positive made Sarina’s blood charge faster in her heart, her veins, her brain. She envisioned small figures on a printed page, rendered in colored pencil and black ink, a pair of wayward travelers, perhaps one chasing the other. The possibilities began colliding against one another in her fevered imagination, too many things to record at once .

  But before any drawing could be done, she had to stay at the computer. The word program gave her a blank page and the ability to control everything she put on it. And Sarina had never felt so in control of what she was doing, what she was creating. Her mind was alive and her fingers were responsive, hands dancing over the keyboard, fingers arching in perfect sync. The ideas came alive on the screen as the words chased the curser across the monitor. It was almost like playing piano, composing some strange symphony of words and images instead of music. But Sarina was guiding the invisible, unheard orchestra; she was God in a world only she could make. And it came to life in front of her as if it was another thing, apart from her, a child with its own life and its own desires and its own fears .

  Just like Jesse , Sarina had to admit to herself .

  But what a sweet inspiration, what a perfect meeting of truth and…even greater truth! Of course Ty brought this to me, he and his awesome daughter. This isn’t any coincidence—this is destiny, this is life itself !

  * * *

  S arina’s legs were slightly bent
, but her muscles were taut, pushing against the speed of the boat and the might of the sound beneath her feet. The water skis bounced on the chop, the tow line taut in front of her. The speedboat’s wake spread out on either side of her, but a long, slopping arc to the side cut Sarina out of the wake and far to the side before she came swinging back in the other direction. Water splashed over her naked legs, her face shiny with the cloud of mist that seemed to follow her .

  The energy of the motion and the water pounded through her, her body dropping down on onto the cop and absorbing the impact, her entire structure a spring, a tawny and flexible instrument .

  Haven’t done this in years, Sarina thought, a smile plastered across her face, not since the accident. I wish Gram had come along; she would love this .

  But the mere thought of Billie shattered Sarina’s joy—instant worry for her well-being and for her future .

  No, don’t worry, Sarina told herself, she’s with Mrs. Johnson down the street—no need to worry .

  At least not for today .

  Sarina had other concerns too, including the worried expressions of both Ty and Jesse in the boat in front of her. Little Jesse always seemed vaguely afraid of something, and that made sense to Sarina. She often felt the same way. But Ty was fearless, concerned only for the safety of others .

  And at that moment, she was the only other person whose safety was in question .

  One glance to her left told Sarina what was threatening her safety. The gray fin cut through the waves, behind Sarina and to the side, about thirty yards away. A cold bolt of fear shot through her; she knew instantly that it was a great white shark, an apex predator more than capable of delivering a death bite while intending no more than an investigatory nibble. The speed of the boat was the only thing keeping Sarina out of reach of those deadly jaws, and as the water leapt off the top of that speeding fin, coming closer and closer, Sarina knew that her advantage was slowly eroding .