Love, Dad | Joe Cruz

Chapter 6: Career Week

"Do you get to bring it home today?"

"Yeah but I'm gonna wait till Friday so I don't have to carry it," Tatiana says as Joe comes in carrying two cups.

"I got some coffee and Orange juice."

"Thank you!"

---At School---

Tatiana sits in her classroom listening to her classmate, Lena talk about being an astronaut. She looks at all of the projects that sit on the desks lining the wall. Her project sat there showing off photos of fires, and photos from around the firehouse of 51 near rigs or in gear. Some featuring her with her dad or the rest of 51.

"Thank you Lena for sharing why you would like to be an astronaut. And thank you class for the interesting questions you gave Lena. And last but not least is Tatiana." Ms. Benson says as she picks up Lena's presentation. She grabs Tatiana's as Tatia gets up and goes to the front of the room. She adjusts the fake helmet before beginning.

"I chose to do firefighter cause my dad was a firefighter. Firefighting is a very important job they save people. My way to show the job is with photos of firehouse 51! This is the truck my dad rode on, Truck 81, This is the Engine, Engine 51, and that's squad 3. They each do a different job! Truck has all the ladders and engine they actually put out the fire but." She points at different photos featuring the rigs. "Squad gets the coolest calls, my uncle Joe is on squad. He has the coolest stories. "

"Which one is your dad on?" One of the kids, Jenny asks.

"He was on Truck 81! He was the engineer so he got to drive the truck and fix it. One day I'll be like him. Some firefighters get cool nicknames, my dad was Otis, and my uncle is Mouch. Man mixed with Couch. Most firefighters go by last names though." Tatia explains before looking back at the board, "this is Mouch. He teaches me the ins and out of firefighting! He's been on the job for like a billion years. So has Herrmann, this guy! He showed me how to work the hoses on engine."

"Very nice Tatiana, class do you have any questions for her?" Ms. Benson asks before the hands come up. "Jackson M."

"Are you gonna be on truck 81 your dad?"

"Probably but there's like a million houses so I might end up in one of those. My big dream is to be on squad like my Uncle Joe but it's like really hard!"

"Have you ever ridden in a firetruck?"

"Yeah."

"Very cool okay class it's about time to leave so please if you're bringing your projects home with you tonight make sure you grab them now."

Tatiana smiles at her and looks at the presentation. Looking through the photos she has taped up there her eyes land on one of her and her dad sitting on top of Truck 81. She misses it. She misses having someone to talk Russian to, she misses his hugs and everything about him. She never thought she'd lose him. She breaks from her thought as the bell rings. She gets out of the classroom and to her locker pulling her bag and her jacket out of it. She puts her jacket on and heads out of the school. She spots Joe's car immediately and hurries to it.

"How was your day Chiquita?"

"Good I was the last person to present and everyone loved it! Can I bring it to the firehouse on Sunday to show everyone?"

"Sure but why not tomorrow?" Joe asks pulling from the pick-up line and waving at the teachers.

"I don't to carry it. But you can grab it on Friday."