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“Sure thing,” I said. It was only a bit after noon, but a beer sounded like it might hit the spot and help us to break the ice. Nancy grabbed us both a bottle of Budweiser and poured a few cups of coffee for her and Julie. I could tell by the look Julie gave me that she would have preferred a beer as well.
“So, Julie tells me you are a fireman,” Steve said.
“Yeah, I am. And you are a retired construction foreman?” I asked.
“Yep, did the construction game for almost twenty-five years. That is a long time,” Steve said.
“I imagined working out in the cold winters had to get difficult.”
“Yeah. When you work that line you always have weather issues. Either you got the winters that are cold and bitter or you got the summers that are crazy hot and humid. Of course, I don’t have to tell you about hot. What’s it like being in the fire?”
“It’s pretty scary, actually, but your mind is usually so focused on making sure that other people are out of the fire safely, that you don’t worry too much about it. You don’t have time to think. You just rely on instinct.”
“Yeah, I can see that. But that sort of job… you got to think that sooner or later your number is going to be up. I mean, the stats on that have to be pretty high that one of these days you aren’t going to make it out of that fire. Am I right?”
I swallowed hard. I didn’t like the tone of his voice right then, and I could tell where he was going with his questioning. Still, I glanced at Julie and smiled back at Steve to keep things as light as I could.
“Yeah,” I said. “But most of us don’t perish in fires.”
“How many of you do this job more than a few years though? I got to imagine that most guys are smart enough to get out before they get to that point, right?”
“I don’t see it that way. A lot of people get tired of the tragedy and you don’t get to some people. So, unfortunately there are victims that you can’t help. That can be tough to take, so I believe that is the driving factor. But I just focus on the people that I do help, and that far outweighs the unfortunate ones.”
Steve sighed and took a big swig of his beer. I was dodging his questions and insinuations pretty well. I could tell he had a problem with me right from the start. I wanted to believe that it was just his general demeanor, but I could tell he thought I was no good for his little girl.
“So, how long have you two been seeing each other?” Nancy asked, changing the subject.
“About a month and a half now,” Julie answered.
“Oh, so you are just getting to know each other,” Nancy replied. “But when Julie said she wanted us to meet you, we were both a bit surprised. She has only brought one person home to meet us over all these years and that was a man she’d dated almost a year at that point.”
“So, I guess you are telling us that things between you two are getting pretty serious,” Steve cut in. He wanted to get to the point.
Julie looked at me as if she was afraid to answer, or whatever answer she gave might be shut down without mercy. I could sense the rift between Julie and her father and seeing how sweet her mother was, I could also see how she might have taken back this type of man. I wondered how much of a choice he really gave her. I didn’t like Steve. He struck me as a bully, and I hate bullies. I’ve dealt with them all my life in various forms and the only thing they understand is taking the fight right to them. Bullies typically don’t want to fight; they want to hurt somebody through fear, intimidation, and pain. If someone gives that right back to them, it is no longer worth the effort for them. They move onto an easier target.
If Steve thought he was going to intimidate me one bit, the man had another thing coming to him.
“That’s right,” I said. “They are. I care very deeply about your daughter and she cares about me just as much.”
“How can you care about someone after knowing them a month and a half? It’s silly. And more importantly, how can you take advantage of your employee that way. Isn’t that against some kind of law?”
I laughed, which really pissed Steve off. “I don’t care if you understand it or not. It was important to Julie since things between us are getting very serious, for us to meet. So, that’s what you need to understand.”
“How old are you?” Steve asked.
“I’m thirty-four,” I replied. “How old are you?”
“I’m fifty-three,” Steve replied. “And I’m not going out with a girl who is still considered college age. You can’t find anyone your own age, pal?”
Steve was really laying it on thick. He wanted me to get mad. He wanted me to become emotional in some sense. But I kept myself calm. “College age isn’t really a thing anymore. Hell, people forty years old start going to college nowadays. Does that make them college age, bub?”
I decided to throw the use of the word “bub” in there just to rile him up, an answer to his use of the word “pal”. And it worked.
“I’m not your bub, dickface,” Steve said.
“Dad! What the hell?” Julie yelled.
“Steve, watch your temper,” Nancy chimed in.
