Chapter 6
1712 Words
6
"Well, you don't look like you hit your head," Una pronounced as she leaned away from Lilly.
The pair were seated side-by-side on the stoop while their neighbors gawked at the rubble that was once their fire escape.
"I know what I saw, and I saw a big wolf thing," Lilly insisted.
Una set a hand on her friend's shoulder and nodded down the block. "Well, just in case we'd probably better get a second opinion."
An ambulance followed two police cars as they drew up to the building. A fire truck arrived only moments later. The cops stepped out and scurried over to the wreckage. People were sifting through the metal and picking up bits and pieces.
"Stand back, everyone!" one of the officers shouted as he and his fellow cops shooed the curious away. "Stand back so you won't get hurt!"
One of the tenants of the apartment, an elderly man with spirit in his eyes, pointed the end of his cane at the rubble. "We almost did! I could've been on that fire escape."
"But you weren't, Mr. Harold, now stop making a fuss over yourself," a woman snapped.
He whipped his head to the middle-aged speaker and glared at her. "I'm going to raise a fuss if it's worth raising, woman, and that-" he jabbed his cane at the wreckage, "-is worth raising a fuss over. How am I supposed to get down if there's a fire?"
The officer pushed Mr. Harold's cane closer to the ground and grasped the old man's upper arm. "I'm sure everything will be worked out with your apartment owner, now please step back."
"Was anyone hurt?" one of the ambulance drivers shouted.
Another tenant, the neighbor directly above the apartment of Lilly and Una, pointed at the pair. "I think one of them was on the fire escape when it fell away."
The ambulance driver and his fellow EMT hurried over to where they sat. "Are both of you okay?"
"I think my friend might be in shock," Una suggested.
Lilly shook her head. "I'm fine. I wasn't even on it when it crashed."
"We're still required to check everyone out who was involved in the incident," the EMT told her.
Lilly pursed her lips but stood. "All right."
They were escorting her to the ambulance when two more vehicles drove up. One was a large white van with the words 'Channel 9' marked in big, bold red letters on the side. A small satellite sat on its roofs and the rear doors opened to reveal broadcast equipment. The person who opened the doors was a middle-aged woman with bouncy brown hair and a smile that was so tight it crinkled the edges of her eyes. In one hand was a mic, and in the other was a small slip of paper.
The other car was an unmarked old sedan with a red light on the roof and a slight oil leak that left a trail behind it. A young woman of about twenty stepped out. She wore a flashy red business suit and had her cell phone out and held in a position like the other woman held her mic. The passenger seat was occupied by a man of the same age with short black hair. In his lap was an open laptop on which his entire focus lay as he tapped away at the keyboard.
Una followed Lilly and the EMTs to the back of the ambulance and stood beside the open doors. The EMTs made Lilly comfortable on the floor with her legs hanging out and began their examination.
A man with a camera on his shoulder stepped out of the van after the older woman. She turned around so her back faced the open rear doors of the ambulance and smiled for the camera. Her eyes fell on a dark light atop the camera. "Are we live yet?" she snapped.
The red light turned on. "We're live," the cameraman told her.
She reapplied her smile and drew the mic up to her face. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. This is Marie Bolles. I'm here in the historic-"
Una snorted. "More like decrepit."
"-downtown apartment district where a call came in only a few minutes ago describing a horrific scene. One of the ancient fire escapes had torn itself from a tenant building and crashed into the neighboring empty lot. Let's see if I can find an officer to give us some updates. Officer!" She waved her arm at the men in blue who were still handling crowd control. "Officer!" None of them came at her beckoning.
The younger woman, untethered by a clumsy mic and the cameraman, scurried through the crowds and over to the men. She shoved the top of her phone into the face of the highest-ranking officer. "My name is Taylor Pippin, of the news blog Persistent Pippin. What can you tell me about what happened here?"
The officer nodded at Marie. "Ask her."
The young woman smirked. "It wouldn't look good quoting my competition, so what can you tell me?" The officer sighed but began repeating the tale of fire escape woe.
Marie's face almost dropped into a scowl before she caught herself and caught sight of Lilly. The EMTs had placed a blanket over her shoulders and one of them was checking her eyes. Marie hurried over to them and shoved her mic into Lilly's face. Lilly started back and the EMT glared at her.
"Miss, can you tell our viewers what happened here?" Marie questioned her.
Una pushed the mic out of Lilly's face and into Marie's chest. "Shove off, lady. We're working here."
A laugh came from the side of the ambulance, and all eyes fell on the young Miss Pippin. She leaned against the corner of the ambulance and folded her arms over her chest. "Having trouble getting a scoop, grandma?"
Marie's eyes flickered to her cameraman, and she cut her hand across her throat. The light shut off and he lowered the machine. Marie returned her attention to her younger competition. "What the f**k do you want, you stupid brat?"
Pippin shrugged. "Just to watch how the dinosaurs do it. It would make a good anthro course in journalism school."
Marie snorted. "I doubt you darkened the halls of a community college, much less a journalism school."
Pippin frowned. "Who needs college anyway when all you need is a computer-" she nodded at her companion who remained in the car, "-and a phone. Just watch." She shoved the phone into Una's face. "Mind giving me a quote for my news blog?"
Una repeated the favor she'd done for Marie. "We're not taking any questions from a blogger or a dinosaur. Now if you don't mind-" she pulled Lilly off the back of the ambulance and walked through the reporters, "-we have some sleep to catch up on."
A crowd surrounded the stoop and Lilly sensed a thick tension in the air. Una was oblivious to the angry murmurs and shoved her way past. They were nearly to the stoop when an officer stepped in front of them and held up his hand. "Not in here, miss."
Una stabbed a finger at the third floor. "But we live there!"
He shook his head. "This building's been condemned until further notice."
Una's mouth dropped open. "By who's authority?"
He nodded at the wreckage. "By the authority of God, now please move along."
Una opened her mouth to tell him what she thought of that, but Lilly tugged on Una's arm. "Let's just go." Una pursed her lips but let Lilly tug her away from trouble.
Trouble remained at the site as the unhappy reporters squared off in front of the ambulance crew.
Marie stabbed a finger at her two prospective interviewees as Lilly and Una made a hasty getaway. "You stupid b***h! Look what you've done!"
Pippin scoffed. "Look what I've done? You're the one making an ass of yourself trying to act like you matter anymore." She held up her phone. "This is the future of journalism, hag, and I intend to be at the forefront."
Marie stretched to her full height and smirked at the younger, shorter woman. "You think you're hot with your toys and good looks. You just wait and see if you even climb the first floor of this town. Me-" she jerked a thumb at herself, "-I'm at the top. I was here before you, little girl, and I'll be here long after you. Now go play reporter and f**k off." Marie marched past the stunned Pippin and her cameraman and slipped into the passenger seat at the front of the van.
Pippin balled her shaking hands into fists at her side and glared at the closed door. "I'm going to be the top dog in this town! You'll see!" Her only reply was a derisive laugh from inside the cab.
The cameraman rolled his eyes and followed Marie into the van. They drove off, leaving the young woman trembling with rage.
Pippin marched off to her own vehicle. She dropped into the driver's seat and grasped the wheel so tight her knuckles turned white. "What a b***h!"
"Who?" the man asked without looking up from the laptop.
She nodded at the white van. "That asshole dinosaur reporter. She thinks she's everything just because she's been around for a while."
"You have your phone?" he inquired as he held out his hand toward, again without raising his eyes from the screen.
She rolled her eyes but plopped the cell phone into his open palm. "Does anything ever bother you?"
"Dead spots," he commented as he plugged the phone into a cord that ran out of the laptop.
She snorted and started the car. "Typical. I hope you have a fun time sleeping on the couch tonight."
That made him look at her. "Couch? Why?"
"Because, Pete, your girlfriend was just personally insulted by a dinosaur and you're worried about dead spots in your wi-fi," she told him.
He glanced over at the white van and shrugged. "I wouldn't let it bother you. Like you always say, people like her are on their way out."
"And we should be on our way out of here," Pippin added as she started the car. She glanced over the hood at the crowd of people forced to be homeless and wrinkled her nose. "Glad I don't have to live in this place. Even the smell makes me sick."
Pippin backed out of the area and hurried them on their way, leaving behind a scoop that was in the making.
- Writer
