Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 134830 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134830 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Going outside, I find Wayne and pull him aside. “She’s a real piece of work,” I tell him in a low voice. He raises an eyebrow, and I reply, “Not sure I solved anything, but at least today is smoothed over. Dirt stays in the back yard and she’ll stay off the site.” I shrug, knowing it’s not enough.
He grunts, not liking the sound of that, but there’s nothing else to be done about it today.
Moving on, I look over the job site. Zeus is on the trailer-loaded excavator, with Frogger directing him so he doesn’t fall into the hole he’s making. We’re still in the shallow end, so things are relatively simple right now.
“How’s it going?” I ask Wayne, watching Z pull another bucketful of soil out of the ground. “Think this will be enough to handle it, or do we need to bring in the big boy?”
Wayne considers, thinking about the excavators that I have available. “I think we’ll be able to handle it, but maybe have the 306 on standby on Friday,” Wayne says, referencing another piece of equipment. “I won’t be upset if it has to come in, to be honest.”
I chuckle, nodding. The faster we can get this basic prep work done, the better. “I understand. Just promise me, no swinging upside down from the bucket. You’d give her a heart attack.” I cut my eyes toward Kathy’s house, only half-opposed to giving her the little pearl-clutching shock of her life of seeing one of the guys hanging from his feet in the straps over the bucket while Wayne spins them around. Wayne nods but looks a bit disappointed too. “Friday, huh? Good speed.”
“Yup, unless Frog fucks Zeus over,” Wayne says.
Frogger’s been on my crew for a while now. He earned his name for two reasons. One, he’s a jack of all trades and can hop from task to task like a fucking frog, usually doing pretty well on all of them. Two, he does the same in his personal life, going through girlfriends like most men do napkins. And considering the majesty of his permed, golden blonde mullet that makes him look like either a pro wrestler from the eighties or a country music star from the nineties, it takes a hell of a lot of hopping for him to not simply be called Mullet.
On the other hand, Zeus is the youngest, skinniest, and tallest guy on my crew. He looks like he might be underage, but his documents all put him solidly at twenty-one. I actually had my brother do a background check on him, just to be sure. And his name’s not actually Zeus, though who knows with weird baby names these days. But his given name is Preston.
His parents must’ve been hoping he’d end up in a corner office, wearing a suit and tie every day. Instead, he’s the best machinery operator I’ve ever seen, and believe me, I’ve seen a lot over the last few years.
But someone always has to keep an eye on Zeus. He’s too much like his namesake Greek deity, Zero Effort Unless Supervised. He’ll kick ass and take names if Wayne or me is onsite and paying attention. If not, he’ll do nothing but listen to music on the radio and swing his boom around like it’s a giant schlong. So I keep an eye out so he does work, like now.
It’s a lot of appearing to be supervising, though, because as much as I’m watching Zeus on the excavator, my attention is mostly next door. Dani’s already working hard, her back door opening and closing every few minutes as she stirs food on the grill and places it into boxes or wraps something up in foil. From the smell of things, she’s making some sort of brisket today, or at least something beef based. My mouth waters… at the thought of the food, which smells delicious, and mostly at the thought of the cook who prepares it. Dani Becerra.
Selfishly, I want to go over and talk to her, maybe tell her that I tried to get Kathy to see reason. But she’s busy, as always, and I value my life too much to interrupt her work. Thankfully, Joshua seems to have listened to my lunch privilege revocation and stayed away today. Though there’s a tiny little sliver of my imagination that wishes he would show up, because it’d give me a chance to see Dani handle things, and then I’d also have an excuse to go talk to her afterward. I’m a quick learner and would let her do things her way like she said… unless it wasn’t going well. Then, I’d be forced to step in.
But that doesn’t happen, so I focus on the pool, pitching in and working side-by-side with the guys. The work is tiring and hard, and by mid-afternoon, we’re all sweaty and exhausted. Not thinking, I pull my T-shirt over my head, tucking a bit of it into my back pocket and letting it hang down the back of my leg the way I have a hundred times before. The thin cotton will dry quickly if I’m not actively sweating on it.