Same Scared Little Kid
Los Angeles 2020
Buck laid in bed staring at the ceiling, sleep was rare these days, ever since he filed that stupid lawsuit it’s been nothing but heartbreak. He felt like that same scared little kid who no one loved. He hasn’t felt like this in twenty three years, he knew Kelly, his father and Shay loved him, even Casey who refused to admit it loved him but they were thousands of miles away. They had tried to convince him to move home at the start but he was dead set on sticking it out and now he was seriously considering a change of scenery. A loud beeping noise brought him out of his thoughts, time to get up and face the day even though he knew how it was going to go.
When he walked into the firehouse, he was met with three people staring at him. He knew today was about to bring change into his life, he just wasn’t sure if it was good or bad. He tried to walk past them but Bobby stopped him.
“Buckley here.” Buck had looked down at what Bobby was handing him, it was a folder.
Buck had a suspicion at what it was, he knew last shift was the final straw. He had finally been let out on a call, it was huge apartment fire and they couldn’t afford being down a firefighter so Buck was allowed to tag along. He had notice Eddie was having a hard time moving and had tried to help only to be met with a glare which then turned into a full out argument. Of course Bobby had heard the whole thing but only yelled at him. It was like he was just waiting for a reason to get mad at him, which he had and it only got worse when they got back to the house. Of course it was only him getting yelled at once again proving how differently Bobby had always treated him. After getting yelled at some more Bobby sent him home for the rest of the shift and his next one.
This was his first shift back from what he now knew was a suspension, he was prepared to be put back on chore duty but what he was not prepared for were transfer papers. He was being sent to the 136 for what was described as a temporary placement. Only he knew that after this he was done with the LAFD for good. He now knew that these people were not his family, his family was waiting for him back in Chicago and that’s where he was going. “It’s effective next shift.” Bobby said without any type of emotion.
“Well alright then.” Buck didn’t have anything else to say. He just shoved the papers back in the envelope and turned and walked away heading towards his locker to get ready for his last shift ever for the LAFD.
When he finished changing he made a one phone call, he had to be sure before he made any final decisions. “Munchkin...” just that one word made him sob into the phone, “Evan, what’s wrong?”
“Kelly...is it still too late to come home?”
“Never.” After a few more words their conversation ended and Buck walked out of the locker room going straight to his chores, all the while not saying a single word to any of them. He was hurt but he knew in the end everything would be okay because Kelly was one person who always had his back. Ever since he was a scared five year old coming to live in a new setting he had never broken one promise he had made him and he knew Kelly wasn’t about to start now.