Repercussions of a Dare by Purry "Oh God! How could I have done that? How? I'm gonna lose my best friend because I, I..." Earlier... The A-Shift crew of Station 51 sat around the dayroom in a state of boredom. Normally, Saturdays were laden with a multitude of calls, but on this rare occasion the tones had been unusually quiet. The engine crew hadn't been called to respond to any emergencies nor had Roy DeSoto and John Gage, the shifts' paramedics; they were experiencing more downtime than they could ever remember having in one shift. As the day wore on and all the delegated assignments were completed nothing was left to do but relax. Scattered around the dayroom, Roy sat on the couch with Henry's head in his lap as he read the new thriller, Jaws. Mike Stoker, the engineer, sat at the table with the newspaper engrossed in what his shift mates assumed were the hard news topics of the day, when in actuality he was reading Beatle Bailey. The rest of the guys sat around one end of the table engaged in a 'friendly' game of poker. Time ticked off, and before they knew it dinner was being served. After having their fill, everything was cleaned and put away. With nothing left to do, the men of 51 were once again bored. "Man, I'm so bored," Chet Kelly sighed. "Shhh, Chet, you'll jinx us," Marco Lopez hissed at his friend. "So?!" Johnny offered. "Yeah!" Chet responded. "Ok guys, maybe we can think of some kind of game we could play to help pass time until lights out," Hank suggested. A deep sigh escaped through the still air. Deep and long, for five men contributed to the sound. "Cap, I can't. I just can't play one more hand of poker. I'm pokered out," Johnny whined. "Me neither," was the response from each of the other men. Silence rang loud as the thickness of deep thought seeped around the quiet room. All at once Mike's voice broke through everyone's revere. "Hey, how about we play a game of 'Truth or Dare'?" "Oh come on, Mike, that's a kids game," Johnny half-heartedly quipped. When in reality he was thrilled with the idea, but didn't want to act like a big kid about it. The other guys seemed to ponder the suggestion and decided that maybe, just maybe, it may be a good idea to be a kid again, if only for a little while. The game started with Mike asking Captain Stanley, "Truth or Dare?" "Hmmm, I'm gonna pick truth," Hank responded. "Truth hmm, let me see," Mike pondered out loud. After a few minutes of deliberation, Stoker finally directed his question to Cap. "What was the worse food you've every eaten?" "Oh, that's an easy one. I'd have to say, Amy's trout," he replied with a knowing smile. All around readily agreed that was a pretty bad dinner. "Ok, Cap, now it's your turn," Mike said. "Let me see...ok, how about you, Lopez, 'Truth of Dare'?" Marco didn't take any time in saying, "Truth." "Man, you guys are such wimps," Chet said with exasperation. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew he was gonna be seeing the inside of the latrine for a long time. "I mean sorry, Cap. I just thought someone would say dare." "Watch what you wish for, Chet," Roy voiced. "Now where was I, oh ya, Marco, what was your most embarrassing experience?" Red-faced Marco sputtered, "Aw, Cap, do I hafta?" "Yep, it's the rules, Pal." "Geez. Well, it was my first day working as a fireman. I was getting dressed for morning roll call when the alarm sounded. I was in the process of zipping up my uniform pants when tones rang out and in my hurry, I got my ummm, you know my ummm, suck in the zipper. Man, it cut a hole in my Fruit of the Loom's and a knick off my di.." "Uh, I think we get the picture. Damn, that had to hurt." Cap shuddered at the thought. "It did. Oh believe me, it did." After all the men gave Marco their condolences the game continued. "Hmmm, Johnny, 'Truth or Dare'?" Marco asked. "I'm gonna say truth." "Chicken, Gage?" Chet piped in. "Shut-up, Chet. I just wanna question this time around," Johnny replied. With a knowing look, Chet sat back and the Phantom began to plot Johnny's downfall. "Johnny, have you ever done anything illegal?" "Well, ummm," Johnny stammered. "Johnny?" Roy questioned. With a patented Gage crooked smile, Johnny said, "No, of course not. I was just messin' with ya." A look of relief passed over all his friends' faces, for they just knew the answer would be no. But the hesitation was enough to cause doubt. "Ok, my turn. Chester, 'Truth of Dare?" Everyone was waiting for Chet to say dare when the word truth squeaked out. The laughter was deafening and Chet's face turned turnip red. "Well, since everyone else is doing the truth bit this time I thought I'd follow along," Kelly reasoned. "Sure, Pal, whatever you say," Johnny smirked. "How old were you when you did the 'deed' for the first time?" "Deed? What deed?" "You know, the 'DEED'!" "Ohhhh, that DEED. That's none of your business," Chet snapped. "Ut ut ut, you picked truth and now's the time to tell it," Johnny was relentless. "Man, Cap?!" "Sorry, Kelly, that's the rules. You're not gonna WIMP out, are ya?" Cap arched his brow at the challenge. After a big gulp, Chet responded, "Uh, no. No." "Well?" Johnny prodded. "I was uh, twenty," Chet blushed and rushed on. "My turn. Roy, 'Truth of Dare'?" Deciding to live on the wild side for a change, Roy responded, "Dare." All eyes turned to look at Roy, whose face was now red as a beet at having all the attention focused upon him. Chet saw his opportunity to get Gage back for asking him such a personal question. He put on a good show of contemplating the dare that he was going to pose to Roy. "Well let me see....ok, ok I've go it. Roy, I dare you to kiss Gage. On the lips." The first time DeSoto decided to loosen up, live on the wild side, well, as wild as a game of 'truth or dare' could get, something like this happens. "I should have known not to trust Kelly with a dare. What am I gonna do? I can't kiss Johnny. I can't!" Roy's mind reeled. Roy looked as if he were going to faint. Johnny glared at his nemesis before turning wide eyes to his partner. With his mind made up, Roy leaned in and placed a quick kiss on Johnny's slightly parted lips; startling not only his friend, but also the rest of the A-Shift crew. Stunned silence once again engulfed the station as all awaited any repercussions in the aftermath of Roy's decision. Back to the present.... Johnny stared at his partner, shocked by his actions. He knew Roy had been dared. He knew that it was a game. He knew that he had to reassure his best friend that all was ok between them. The scared look that was pasted on Roy's face was more than enough to shake Johnny from his reserve. "Uh, well I guess that means it's Roy's turn to ask Mike, 'Truth or Dare'' Johnny stated with a smile, trying to shift the focus off what had just happened and also to let Roy know that it was ok. No harm done. Roy couldn't believe Johnny wasn't mad. He couldn't believe he took the stupid dare in the first place. Smiling at his partner for understanding, Roy asked Mike the question, but he was looking at Chet Kelly. Chet squirmed at the steely glare Roy directed toward him, knowing what Roy was thinking - that revenge was gonna be sweet. The End Feedback for Purry |