Fire In The Hole (Part 5)

The Fire

After Hazel kept trying to justify things that had gone on the past month. Things were good, they watched a movie after dinner and had a nice night of laughing and joking, cuddles and snuggles. Hazel gazed out the window down on the street to watch it snow in April. It was beautiful, a fresh blanket of unadulterated snow covers the cars and street with the glow of the street lights bouncing off it and making the new flakes glitter as they fell to the ground. They snuggled into bed after letting the door on the fire escape be propped open just a crack for the fresh slightly chilled air waft into the apartment. They both drifted off to sleep.

The next thing they knew there was a lot of banging on the fire escape door and it flung open. It was the neighbor screaming the building was on fire and they needed to get out. Getting up and dressed in a hurry. So, fast you didn’t think it was humanly possible. Hazel went to go put on the closest thing to the bed. She put her foot through the first pair of pajama pants. Quickly found the second pair and put them on while running for the door. The fire escape being covered in ice was not an option. Coming to the door they both flung it open and the smoke rushed in. Covering their face with their shirts, the lessons you got when you were a kid and the fireman come to visit your school, all rushed back they got down on the floor and went to the neighbor and banged on the door and yelled fire. They opened the door and said we are going out the back. Headed for the stairs on the hands and knees as the snoke kept getting worse stopped at the other neighbors house and banged on her door and kept banging there was no response. The smoke was so thick you couldn’t stand up and breath to go down the stairs so you did a seal crawl head first down the stairs still yelling fire. Trying to get the neighbor that hadn’t opened her door to wake up and come out. Still no response. As Hazel got to the front door of the building Oliver and the other 2 neighbors were there to help her up and said we called the fire department. She kept hoping that it was just going to be smoke damage as everything she owned was up there. She got out with some polar fleece pajamas a spring jacket and her phone. Everyone checked to make sure none of the 4 neighbors that lived up there and made it out so far were ok. The blast of the fire engines and police sirens came up and they had asked if everyone was out. All the worried neighbors in pajamas said all but one. They told them which apartment door was hers and they went in to check for her. They couldn’t get in her door. As Hazel and Oliver stood there watching the windows to their apartment be broken so the fire department could do their thing and try to get the fire out. More neighboring counties volunteer fire departments were called in because the buildings in this sleepy little town were all connected to each other. The fire departments were continuing to fight it as best they could until there was a blast on the siren. They asked the fire chief what that meant. He said we have had four firemen injured due to the heat and flames and he deemed it no longer safe for them to be in building. They will continue to fight it but from the outside of the building. Hazel took a moment from the chaos to call Maria at work and told her what was going on and that she wouldn’t be in to work today. She said everything would be taken care of and that she would let the boss know. She also called her family and told them what was going on and that everything she had was gone. She sat down on the snow-covered bench and watched the water from the fire stream past her in the gutter and just thought to herself. What am I going to do?

The fire department was doing all they could while the building was taken over by flames. They had brought a backhoe in to take out the adjoining walls so the fire had not spread to the neighboring buildings. While Oliver and Hazel just looked up at the fire and no clue what to do, it was discovered the neighbor that no one could get awake was a block away at the gas station drinking coffee. She had told the clerk she did something and was waiting for a ride.

The salvation army had shown up and escorted all of the tenants over to the courthouse a block away. While they were standing in the lobby waiting to be taken to a quiet room a woman coming out of the jail had asked what the soot smell was and where it was coming from. She turned around and saw the four tenants standing there in their pajamas. Hazel pipped up and said, “It’s us.” Feeling sad and upset she followed the others to the meeting room that was set up for them. After the salvation army met with them. They were given $250.00 for clothes and toiletries and a voucher for some where to stay for 2 nights. Hazel looked and started to cry. She knew this money wouldn’t go far. She called her job and asked if they could use their voucher there. Her boss is the one that had answered the phone as she was covering Hazel’s shift. She had let Hazel know that she had spoken with the owner and they could use the voucher there and stay as long as her and Oliver had needed till they found something. Hazel looked at Oliver and said I need to get some air. As their meeting was done they could leave. So Hazel and Oliver made their way outside and she told the other tenants where they could use their vouchers.

She was still trying to get herself together when she sat down. Oliver looked at her and said “ I don’t know what we are going to do but I will fix this.” Hazel took a deep breath and gathered everything she could because they had been woken up at 4am and it was now afternoon. She said “ I think the first thing we need to do is get some clothes and toiletries. Oliver looked at her all tired and worn out. He nodded and said OK let’s do it. They made their way to the car that thankfully Hazel had parked farther away from the building that night because all the close parking spots had been taken. They went into the store and she took a deep breath knowing she is a plus size girl she will only be able to get maybe 2 outfits and one needed to be work appropriate. She found what she needed and went to the toiletries and then went to find Oliver. He said, “if you don’t use all of your voucher can I use what’s left?” She looked down and had 3 outfits and underwear and the things she needed to get clean and look presentable because she knew with this happening she would need to go to work the next day so she would have money coming in. She said” we will figure it out, I don’t have anything extra at the moment my purse is still in the building, so we need to be careful.” She called the fire chief and asked if when the building was all clear if anything was left if they could locate her purse which was on the couch by the hall door in their apartment. They made their way to the check out and she had her 3 outfits and small group of toiletries, Oliver had an armful of things and said he needed all of it. She was worried. They checked out and her clothes and toiletries took up most of her allotment. Oliver got to the check out and his went over his allotment. He looked to Hazel and said I have $5.00 cash but not enough. Hazel looked in shock, “Did you not hear what I said I cannot do anything for more money. Until I get my purse or replacements, I cannot help you. You will have to put some back or come up with more money.”

He looked angry “I can’t believe you would do this to me.” he grumbled under his breath saying how she embarrassed him. They got to her car and she looked at him and said “ I talked to my boss we have a place to stay for now but we are going to have to figure something out.” She took them to the hotel where they both worked. I said sadly” Welcome to our temporary home.”

Upon walking in they were greeted by her boss. She expressed care and concern. She said “Oh my god! I am glade you are ok, if you need time off, I can make that so it can happen. Hazel was so grateful for everything her work was doing. She had told them she would take extra work because its going to take a lot of money to replace all her stuff. So her boss checked her and Oliver in. They got to their room and things were starting to hit her. She told Oliver the first thing she wanted was a hot shower and sleep. She got in the shower and it all hit her at once. She sat down in the bathtub and just cried so hard. She was already weak and tired from all that had happened that day. She started to process everything. She told herself she would give herself the rest of the day to process and then she would have to pull up her big girl panties and get back to the grind of making money and finding a new place to live. She got out of the shower put on her new pajamas and laid down. She fell asleep.