Saved By The Cops.

Chapter Three. Cal.

Chapter Three. Cal.

As I walk into the pup, I head for the stairs that will take me upstairs to the function room. The place is decorated with pictures of Twinkle through the years. Thanks to Josie, the fire investigator, who was once on the engine with Ben and Davey. A huge cake with Happy Retirement written on it sits pride of place in the centre of the table. Another thing we can thank Josie for. The rest of the buffet was made by Joanne, with some bits from Lucy, and Kathleen. Maybe I should have offered to make something, but to be honest, I didn’t give it much thought.

I head straight to the bar, grabbing myself a pint of lager, before heading to the table where my sister and Ben sit, alongside Davey and Kathline. Josie and her husband, and my sister's boss Anders sit beside them, with plenty of other seats for the rest of the Red Watch Team. Although I believe yellow watches are here as well, however, blue watch are on shift. Sucks to be them, I suppose. The next table is filled with cops from the station next door, Jason, one of the PC’s waves his hand to me.

“Alright Cal?” he grins at me.

“Yeah, good thanks, Jason. How are you?” I ask.

“Canny for a lad. Glad to be finished today, been a long one.” the copper tells me.

“We need more cops man,” Jason adds with a sigh.

“We are getting another one on day shift, and one week per five on nights. She starts in a couple of weeks,” Smithy, the sergeant tells him.

“Aye but is she any good?” Jessie Symons the guy from CID asks.

Smithy shrugs, as their inspector walks across from the bar with a tray full of drinks for his team.

“She comes with very good references. Was online to be in CID at the Met, when she had some family s**t to sort,” Inspector Burns tells them but doesn’t divulge any further information about whatever the ‘s**t’ was.

“f**k. Is she a cockney, southern t**t?” Jason asks with a chuckle, as Smithy pins him with a glare.

“Not bothered if she is, as long as she can walk the beat, build a good repour with the locals, and catch the scumbags, she will do for me,” the sergeant says. However, I know Smithy, and if Inspector Burns wasn’t here, he would be joining in the banter about the PC being from the south, just as much as the rest of them. I don’t get it personally. Don’t tell my fellow Mackem’s but I kind of find the cockney accent sexy, and couple that with a police uniform, well, that is my ultimate fantasy. s**t. Maybe Kirstie is right. I need to find myself a woman!

I leave the cops to it and head over to our table, greeting my sister Lucy with a kiss. Her hazel eyes, a shade lighter than my own are twinkling under the lights. Her long brown hair, again a shade lighter than my short buzz-cut hair, is half up and half down. Damn, she looks like she is glowing. I am not sure if it is from happiness, or the fact that she is a half’er when it comes to drinking since having my niece. Ben gives me what can only be described as a bear hug, he is damned well huge, and when he sits back down, the whole long seat shakes under the weight of his huge muscles.

“Where is Joanne and Whip-Me?” I ask, looking around the bar.

“The Mother went back to change after setting up the food. They are picking Headache up on the way back,” Ben informs me.

No sooner than the words our out of his mouth, the double doors open, and in walks Joanne and Whip-me with Micky (Headache) Smith, behind them, his face twisted like he is in pain.

Joanne is standing in a bright red skintight dress that shows off her ample curves, Whip-me is in a pair of black slacks and a white shirt, the cuffs rolled up to his elbow, the white of the shirt in stark contrast to his dark chocolate skin. Headache is in a pair of jeans, and an un-ironed polo shirt like he couldn’t be arsed to get changed.

“For f**k sake. How long do you think it will take that hypochondriac to tell us he has a pain somewhere?” Davy asks. The whole table titters with amusement, because we know it will not take long.

“I have a pain every time I talk to the fucker. Right in my arse!” Davy adds with a grumble.

Ben chuckles, shaking his head slightly, as Lucy giggles.

“It’s okay, I have a bag full of paracetamol and ibuprofen, just in case,” Kathleen, Davy’s solicitor wife giggles.

Joanne and Whip-me stop at the cop’s table, having a quick chat, as Headache makes a beeline straight for us.

“My f*****g ribs are killing me, that hose was damned heavy today,” he says as he sits down.

“Here, Kathline has some painkillers with your name on them,” Davy says, shaking his head in dismay, before turning to the rest of us.

“One second. One f*****g second,” he mouths so that Headache cannot hear him. I remember the days when he would have just said it out loud and called Headache out for his various illnesses. However, it has been a few years since he was able to do that, being the station officer and all.

“Do we have a new guy coming onto our watch, to replace Twinkle?” I ask Davy changing the subject, inspired by the cops at the other table's earlier conversation.

“Not yet. No budget apparently. I will not spoil with your intelligence with my thoughts on that,” Davy shakes his head.

“So, you will be a man down?” Lucy asks, glancing at me, her face creasing with concern.

“Yes and no. I will hop on the engine again. It will be good to get back to fighting fires. We also have a new shift pattern for two of the guys. One from blue and one from Yellow, which means we will have a couple of floating firefighters who will jump onto Red Watch in rotation,” Davy shrugs, but I can tell the thought of us being a man down is irking him. Hell, it annoys us all. However, I do not comment, I just class myself lucky that I have the job that I love.

Twinkle arrives with his partner Anne, who was the mother of a firefighter who was once a part of Red Watch. He does the rounds, talking to each of the tables, as Joanne and Whip-me, walk over after finishing their conversation with the cop’s table.

“Hey, the boys and girls in blue have a new starter,” Joanne states as she sits down, Whip-me chuckling at his wife, before offering everyone a round of drinks. He no longer has alcohol, due to his health kick after his heart attack, but he always buys everyone who he used to lead at least one drink on a night out.

“I heard,” I nod my head.

It doesn’t surprise me that Joanne got the latest gossip, she has a knack of making everyone around her chatty Kathy’s.

“Yeah, a 24-year-old woman. Old Burnsy said she is a bit of a looker. Apparently, she has bought a house at Hastings Hill, moving from London. From what Inspector Burns said, I think she is on the same street as you Cal, just further down, closer to the shops,” Joanne tells me, then gives me a mischievous grin.

“A nice-looking 24-year-old may need someone to show her around Sunderland. I bet those handcuffs could come in handy Cal. You should go introduce yourself to her,” the middle-aged woman wiggles her eyebrows at me.

I swear it is a good job I love her. She is incorrigible. Always coming out with something inappropriate. This is tame. Believe me. I cannot help but wonder if she is the one putting all these, ‘Daddy needs a girlfriend’ thoughts into Kirstie’s head.

However, a good-looking woman with a southern accent, in a police uniform. Yeah, those handcuffs would complete my little fantasy.

Shit. I really need to get laid. It has been months… actually, scrap that, years, since I got myself some loving.

“I like your dress, Joanne,” Lucy rescues me from her mother-in-law.

“Thanks. Honestly, it took me a tub of talc and Whip-me, helping me pull up my spanks, to fit into it. I really need to join Fatty Club again,” Joanne sighs.

“Didn’t you go for two years and end up five pounds heavier, mam?” Ben asks, chuckling at his mother who shrugs, then nods her head.

“Yeah. I kind of gave up just before my two and half stone award, put it all back on and more to boot. What can I say, I have no restraint when it comes to chocolate,” Joanne shrugs a shoulder.

“All the more for me to grab hold of,” Whip-me grins down at her.

“Really?” Ben groans.

“Awe, baby Ben is not happy with mammy and daddy doing the nasty,” Davy mocks my brother-in-law.

Whip-me is not Ben’s actual father. Although Davy loves to take the piss out of him, for his mother marrying our old station officer.

The music begins and we all head out onto the dance floor, the drinks are flowing, and I am feeling the buzz from the alcohol. Despite being the only single firefighter, other than Headache, on our table, I am having the best night. I am glad I came. However, as the music slows, I end up sitting down, with only Headache for company. I notice that the cop's table has a few singletons on it as well. As I watch my sister and Ben slow dancing and smooching like they were teenagers something twinges inside me. The truth is, I would love that. But. Life is not a romance film, and I must put the kids first. A woman is not really on my agenda, no matter what my daughter might think, or my sister’s Mother-in-law either.