WOW! Thanks for all the positive feedback on the last few chapters of Jake Grimke; it's inspiring me to write a few more before I take a short vacation. This continues to be 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. 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. All of the characters in this story are fictional and resemblance to any one person whether dead or alive is purely coincidental. 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.
While Lt. Grimke worked one of his last shifts at Truck 19, Emma and Jake traveled to her parent's place back in Baltimore for an evening Christmas Day feast. And just like John's parents questioned Jake about school and lacrosse and his future at UVa, so did Emma's. In fact, it was almost like a broken record for Jake and he got fidgety when he heard his maternal grandfather think it was a waste of money to fix up the Saab for Jake for a Christmas present. And while the Episcopal church as a whole is very accepting of gay people, Randall Matthews was a bit more conservative in his thoughts than the teachings of his church and clearly asserted his position now that he was under his own roof and not one of the church's. Emma, sensing Jake's discomfort, carefully kept the conversation away from any talk of who Jake might be dating or similar personal revelations while she devised an exit strategy from her childhood home.
John Grimke made the call to Chief Whitelaw on Christmas Day telling the Special Operations commander that he would, in fact, be willing to take the posting to Rescue 1 in downtown Baltimore at the Steadman Station. He had talked it over with Emma and Jake before coming to work, reasoning that with Jake getting close to graduation from Severn, maybe it was time for him to start a new chapter in his life too. Emma and John agreed that with Jake leaving for Charlottesville in less than a year that John wouldn't miss too much of Jake's last year at home as he took on the added responsibilities of being the company commander of Rescue 1. Chief Whitelaw informed John that the next round of promotions would be just after January 1st at the beginning of the first pay period in the new year.
The last few New Year's eves at the Grimke house usually consisted of the Grimkes with Evan and Annie Harmes over to watch the ball drop in Times Square on the television in the family room. Jake wanted a bigger event this year, knowing it would probably be the last new year's eve they would all spend together. "Hey Mom," he asked as he double-clutched and downshifted the gearbox on the rebuilt Saab, "can I have a New Year's Eve party this year?"
"May you," emphasized Emma correcting his grammar.
"Yes you may if your father is okay with it which he might as well be since he is working," Emma guesstimated counting off the combination of day and night shifts between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve on her fingers like she always did when the platoon schedule isn't in front of her in black and white.
"He's working the day side Mom, the thirty-first and first," Jake corrected her.
"Well, we'll ask him tomorrow when he gets home. Who all were you going to invite?" Emma asked.
"Evan and Jackie, Aaron and Shelia, Erik, maybe he can bring Anna, the foreign exchange student, Will and I can't forget Annie," Jake said as he roll called the names, "and of course you two; that's 11."
"And what are you planning to have, chips, dip all that stuff, sodas?" Emma probed, continuing to engage Jake's planning process.
"Nah," Jake smiled, "I'd like something more formal like a sit-down dinner, the dining room table seats a dozen. We all get dressed up, have some champagne at midnight."
"And who, young man, is going to cater this event?" Emma demanded to know.
Pulling up the driveway and putting the Saab's shift lever in reverse before pulling up the parking brake, Jake said, "me, with a little help from you."
"Jake, honey, are you sure?" Emma asked perplexed but knowing that whatever Jake puts his mind to, he accomplishes with usually outstanding results.
"Confidence is high," Jake boasted, much like he might when questioned on his abilities about anything by Evan or anyone else, "I'm just going to need a wing-mom."
"Well, I guess I get that position by default," Emma said with a chuckle as they entered the house.
The next morning, Jake was awake early, pouring through his mother's library of cookbooks trying to decide on a menu for his guests; looking for something elegant yet simple to make. With both of his parents being accomplished cooks, Jake already had a number of successes in the kitchen or on the grill and was always ready to help and learn from them when he was in the Grimke kitchen. Thumbing through the spines on the shelf, he stopped at James Beard's "Menus for Entertaining" and leafed through the pages a few at a time while Emma poured a cup of coffee for each of them and offered a suggestion of "a salad, steak or seafood and some sort of potato. I will make a cheesecake for the dessert."
All of those ideas were agreeable to the jock-chef as he sipped the black coffee at the breakfast bar in the kitchen. "How about surf and turf?" he asked.
"And who, pray tell, is financing this endeavor?" Emma asked.
"I'll pay for everything but the wine and champagne," Jake proclaimed, "since I am not allowed to buy beer or wine yet."
"It's your nickel," Emma warned him.
"The filet mignon, crab imperial, wedge of iceberg lettuce with blue cheese dressing, the roasted new potatoes and your cheesecake for dessert."
"Sounds perfect to me but are you sure you can do this?" Emma demanded to know.
"You taught me well," Jake replied, "but I will probably need a little help along the way."
"If your dad is okay with it, it's fine with me but you better start making some phone calls now, get a head count and then see what's on sale. And nobody drives home!" Emma said firmly.
Jake called Evan, Aaron, Will and Erik with the invitation for the New Year's Eve party. All had been guests before so there was an understanding between the parents of the male guests and the host's parents about drinking. Jake would have to get permission from the other parents for them to have a glass of wine with dinner and the champagne toast at midnight. John arrived home from his Christmas night shift while Jake was making the calls to the rest of the Mohawks and Will.
"That crook Riecer is finally out," John proclaimed to Emma after he hugged her while at the same time seeing the shocked look on Jake's face as he talked to Erik Syms.
"What are you talking about," Emma asked John.
"They said on the news on the way home that Governor Riecer is going to resign and accept a plea deal on some of the federal indictments against him rather than go to trial on all of them. Syms will be sworn in as governor tomorrow at noon," explained John.
Dr. William E. Syms, the former political science professor from the University of Maryland, had been a local legend in the politics of Anne Arundel County for most of the last 20 years. Dr. Syms enjoyed a particularly strong following in the Highland Heights community where he had been active in local political scene, first helping to organize voters for councilmen races and then immediate success in his first ever run for a seat in Maryland's House of Delegates. Now it was his second term as lieutenant governor and Dr. Syms had been considering a run for the upcoming Maryland senate seat a year after his term as lieutenant governor was up.
Jake nodded yes at his parents while he was on the phone with the governor-to-be's son to concur that what his father was saying was indeed fact. While Jake finished on the phone getting as many details as he could, he could see Emma explaining to John the plans for the formal New Year's Eve party and could tell by his father's body language that it was a go.
"Erik is staying at Severn," Jake said excitedly as he hung up, "he'll live in the Governor's Mansion while he finishes his senior year, and get this, he'll have a state police detail drive him to school everyday; same for his little brother. His mom and dad are still trying to figure this all out. And yes, he will bring Anna to the party."
"Who else is coming?" John asked after hugging Jake.
"All the usual suspects, Annie Harmes too," then a pause by Jake, "and Will."
"Will the State Police be here with Erik?" Emma asked half-kidding, half-serious.
John offered the idea, "the trooper can be the designated driver!"
Emma reminded Jake, "Don't forget, you and Evan volunteered for Children's today."
"11 am to 7 pm, I know Mom," Jake acknowledged, "I'm going to get showered and changed now and pick up Ev."
"Okay sweetie, what about dinner?" Emma followed up.
"We'll get something on the way home." Jake fired back as he headed upstairs to shower and change into his volunteering clothes.
Jake picked up Evan and piloted the Saab into Baltimore while Evan fiddled with Jake's IPhone to play some of their favorite songs through the new speakers. They also talked about the surprise news of the day involving their team mate and his new digs as Jake parked the car in one of the designated volunteer spaces near the main entrance. After signing in the volunteer log, they went first to find their favorite patient and saw his bed empty and room dark.
"Oh my God, where's Jon?" Evan almost shrieked seeing the empty space.
"He's home," Maria Valdez answered from behind, "he was discharged yesterday since he's been responding well on the new trial drug protocols."
"Phew," Evan let out a long but loud relaxed breath.
She hugged each of them and asked about their holidays. After hugging Maria, Jake dared to ask, "How's your son, Jose?"
Maria quickly replied, "he's on a ski trip now with his high school buddy Bryant before they go back to Hopkins for the spring term."
Now there were two blips on Jake's radar, two blips that possibly had a line connected between them. He asked himself how many guys could be named Bryant as he reflected back to lacrosse camp coupled with all the unspoken communication in less than an hour between Jose and himself, Jake began to think that Jose and Bryant might be an item. The only detail missing was how were they connected, if they were at all.