The cold pulled him out
of his slumber well before the sum came up. He had to untangle the
blankets wrapped around him in order to get out of bed. When this
was done he stripped off the sweat clothes he slept in. He sprinted
into the kitchen and turned on the coffee pot. The cold tile in the
kitchen felt like ice beneath his feet, but it was only a few quick
steps back to the relative warmth of the carpet in the main room.
His next stop was the bathroom. There he turned on the hot water
valve in the shower. Then he stood in front of the toilet. The
water coming out of the shower was hot by the time he finished
peeing. The hot water spraying his body in the shower felt like
heaven. He was tempted to linger there, but he thought about the
water bill and kept his shower short.
“Christ, you could
store meat in here,” he thought as he entered the main room. He
turned up the gas wall heater and stood in front of it as he dressed.
He put on his long underwear, both the top and the bottom. The next
item he put on was his plaid, flannel shirt, followed by a pair of
jeans. He topped off this clothing with a water resistant pair of
bib overalls. He glanced over at his boots as he opened the sock
drawer of his beat up dresser. The boots were made of rubber or
synthetic rubber, he did not know which. They were still water proof
but the lining on the inside was badly worn. He took a pair of socks
from the drawer. He thought about wearing two pairs of socks, but
decided against it. His boots were sock eaters that sucked his socks
down to the toes of the boots as he walked or shoveled snow. It was
very uncomfortable walking on one pair of socks wadded up under his
toes and the balls of his feet. Adding another pair would only
increase the wad of material under his feet. After pulling on his
socks and his boots he turned down his wall heater and walked into
his kitchen. He placed two pieces of stale bread into his toaster
and poured a cup of coffee. When the toast popped up he spread
peanut butter on it. That was not much of a breakfast for a grown
man. At eleven-thirty, however, he would buy two of the egg and
muffin sandwiches at a fast food joint. That would tide him over
until supper. He only drank one cup of coffee with the toast. He
poured the rest of the coffee into a thermos bottle. He would save
the coffee in the thermos to have with his egg and muffin sandwiches.
He put on his jacket,
his hat and his gloves and walked out to his truck. He climbed into
the cab of the truck, placed his key in the ignition, and gave the
key a twist. The engine of the truck quickly started. There was a
broom with a shortened handle behind the seats. He used that broom
to sweep the snow off of the roof of the truck, then off its
windshield and its hood. The heater was still blowing out cold air
when he climbed back into the cab of the truck. It seemed to take
forever for the defroster to heat up enough to melt the thin layer of
ice on the windshield. His truck ran well, but the heater either
baked his cookies or froze them; there was no in between. He took
off his jacket. Then he raised and lowered the plow that was mounted
to the front of the truck. The plow was working properly, and he
smiled. He turned on the headlights and set about plowing the
parking lot. This task was made more difficult by the cars parked
there. He was careful not to erect any berms that would make it
difficult for the drivers of those cars.
Most people complained
about the snow, but for Jack it was a blessing. The snow and his
truck provided him with his income in the winter. He had bought the
truck with the plow to clear the long driveway of his house. This
was back in better times. Jack was working as a foreman for a
company assembling televisions back then. He was good at repairing
electronic devices and he had a talent for organizing the production.
The company he worked for thought highly of him and paid him well.
Unfortunately that company was taken over by a larger corporation
that moved its production out of the country. Jack was devastated
because he could not find any comparable work. The winter was
bitterly cold and wet that year. Some of his neighbors offered to
pay him for clearing the snow from their driveways. That was the
beginning of his snow clearing business, and it provided him with
enough income to keep him from dipping into his savings.
The next year was
really rough. When the snow stopped falling his revenue stream dried
up. Furthermore, he was denied unemployment benefits because his
snow clearing operations were considered a business. In desperation,
he took the money out of his savings account and started an appliance
repair business. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but the
people who try to get appliances repaired rather than buying new ones
could not pay him enough to make his business profitable. After his
business failed he tried selling insurance and then real estate. He
was not very good at selling and he hated doing it. He became
depressed and irritable. The combination of their financial
situation and Jack’s bad mood were too much for his wife to bear.
She kicked him out of the house and told him not to return until he
got it together.
It was now another
winter, another time of relative prosperity. He was giving his wife
most of what he earned. He did not know how he was going to get by
next summer. He tried to put that thought out of his mind. He had
to concentrate on the task at hand. He had a lot of shovel work to
do in addition to the plowing. It seemed as though his cell phone
was constantly ringing as people became concerned about the weight of
the snow piling up on their roofs and decks. He did not mind
shoveling off the decks that much. The roofs were a different
matter. The ones he cleared had a gradual pitch, but it was still a
pitch. There were a few times when he had fallen on his ass and slid
off the roofs. The soft snow had cushioned his fall, but he could
never be sure about what might be under that snow. It was a
dangerous job. He did the plowing first, and saved the shovel work
for the afternoon. Doing this allowed people to get out of their
houses and go to work. The down side to saving the shovel work for
the end of the day was that he could not use the plowing as way to
get a respite from the shoveling. He had thought about hiring a
young man to help him shovel, but decided against doing that. He
really needed to maximize his profit. He worked until six o’clock
that night. He looked up at the sky and smiled. If it kept snowing
at its current rate, there would still be plow work but little shovel
work. His aching muscles told him the decrease in shovel work would
be a good thing at this point.
The next day was
Christmas Eve. Jack was up before the sun, and he was hard at work.
By noon it had stopped snowing. He completed his last job by four
o’clock that evening. This gave him time to Christmas shop. He
really enjoyed shopping for his boys. Most of the toys that were
advertised were too expensive for him to buy, but there were still
fun things that were in his price range. The parking lot at the
department store was full. He saw a lady wheel a full cart up to her
car as he pulled into that lane. He stopped and waited for her
parking space. She opened the trunk of her car and set about
rearranging the things in there. She then took a few packages out of
the cart and placed them in the trunk. She rearranged everything in
the trunk again before moving the remainder of the packages from the
cart to the trunk of her car. She was inconsiderate enough to leave
her cart behind the car next to hers. God only knows what she was
doing once she finally got in her car. The only thing certain is
that she was in no hurry. The driver of the car behind Jack had
reached the limit of his patience. He honked his horn. Jack rolled
down the window, stuck his out and looked at the impatient driver.
It was Santa.
“Move it, dumb ass!”
Santa yelled.
“And a Ho, fucking Ho
to you!” Jack had obviously reached the limits of his patience as
well.
Santa gave him the
finger. The women finally pulled out of the parking space and Jack
pulled into it. Santa was so busy glaring at Jack that he almost
crashed into the back of the woman’s car. He honked at her and
gave her the finger. Jack hoped no kids saw Santa do that. He had
the brief thought that it would serve the guy dressed as Santa right
of some kid peed in his lap or gave him a nasty virus. It was a
funny thought, but it was not something he would wish on the poor
bastard. You have to be pretty desperate to work for the low wages
department stores pay their seasonal help. The man playing Santa was
probably late for his shift and pissed off at the entire world. Jack
knew how he felt. He believed that he and Santa should be giving
each other a hand rather than the finger.
Jack bought his older
son, Ron, a safety dartboard that came with blunt darts. He bought
his younger son, Don, a battery powered helicopter that flew at the
end of the wire carrying current from the battery to the motor.
Those gifts alone would make this a meager Christmas, but he knew
that his wife, Mary, would buy his sons at least a few of the gifts
they had requested. He walked from the toy department to the women’s
department to look for some small gift for Mary. He saw a beautiful
scarf there. It was the sort of thing she occasionally wore as an
accessory so he bought it. By this time his boots had pulled his
socks down to his toes. He sat in one of the chairs in the shoe
department and took off his boots. The people walking by smiled as
he pulled his socks up. Sock eating boots were all too common. He
stopped at a candy store on his way home. There he bought a small
box of assorted chocolates and a brightly decorated paper sack, in
which he put the box of candy and the scarf.
Back at his apartment
he heated up a can chili and opened a beer. When he woke up on
Christmas morning he looked out the window. The snow had stopped and
he knew he would not have to work that day. He celebrated by frying
some eggs for breakfast. After breakfast he wrapped the toys. He
went to visit his family at nine o’clock. Mary greeted him at the
door. She gave him a little peck of a kiss and told him to come in.
The boys yelled “Daddy,” and ran up to him. He hugged each of
them and gave them the presents he brought for them.
“I have something for
you too,” he said handing Mary the sack containing the candy and
the scarf.
“I thought we agreed
not to buy by gifts for each other.”
“It’s just a little
token to say I still love you.”
“All I bought you was
this card. I’ll show you how much I love you after dinner if you
can stay.”
He grinned. It was a
good night. The next morning he looked over at her. She was awake
and looking at him.
“God, I miss you,”
he said.
“I miss you too.
How’s business?”
He knew she was really
asking about his prospects for full time employment. Since he had
not found anything promising yet he chose to ignore her real
question.
“Not bad, and another
storm is supposed to push in tonight or early tomorrow.”
“Good.”
This was an awkward
moment. He knew she would go to her parents house or they would
visit her today. They would ask him about his job search if they saw
him. Since he was too embarrassed about still being unemployed he
excused himself and went home. On the way home he stopped at the
grocery store. There was a dog sitting at the door of the store. He
looked like a beagle but was slightly taller. He was also very thin.
The automatic doors opened and the dog followed him in. A box boy
chased the dog outside again.
“He’s a damned
nuisance,” the box boy said. “But I can’t blame the poor
thing; he's hungry.”
“Someone must have
abandoned him,” the checker added.
Abandoned dogs were
becoming a problem. Too many people were leaving their pets behind
when they moved out of the houses the banks were repossessing. The
dog followed Jack to his truck. Jack put the bag of groceries behind
the seat. This was not an easy task because he had to keep pushing
the dog away to keep it from jumping into the truck. The dog
whimpered as Jack got in the truck.
“Sorry buster, but I
don’t need a dog.”
The dog looked up at
him with big sorrowful eyes.
“Oh, shit!” Jack
got out of the truck and walked back into the store. The dog was
beside him, and he had to chase it out of the store. He bought three
cans of dog food. The dog jumped into the truck when Jack opened the
door. It took several forceful no’s accompanied by some shoves
before the dog stopped trying to get at the food.
Back at the apartment
Jack fed the dog a half a can of dog food. The dog begged for more.
It was better not to feed the dog too much at first if it was
starving. Jack took the toaster out from under the bench and set
about repairing it. The dog placed its front paws on the arm of the
chair and whined. Jack patted its head.
“I know you’re
still hungry, Buster. I’ll give you the rest of the can before we
go to bed, and a whole can for breakfast. Okay?”
He took Buster out for
a walk several times before it was time to go to bed. He did not
need a leash. If the dog ran off it would simply solve the problem
of what to do with him. He did not run off. He had to make Buster
get off the bed in order to retire. The wind was howling and the
temperature in the apartment was dropping as Jack dozed off. Buster
jumped onto the bed and pressed against Jack seeking the warmth of
his body. Jack pushed Buster away. All right, it was cold. Jack
turned up the wall heater. He was thinking that would keep Buster
off the bed. The next morning Buster was on the bed again, curled up
at Jack’s feet. He fed Buster the other can of food, and made
himself breakfast. It was now snowing. “Tomorrow morning,” he
thought. “People won’t need to have their driveways or parking
lots plowed until tomorrow morning.”
He looked over at
Buster. He thought about taking him to the pound. He could not do
it. The thought of someone killing the hound if he was not adopted
within a certain number of days was too appalling. He looked through
the phone book for a shelter. The closest one was forty miles away.
At least for now, he was stuck with the dog. He bought a big bag of
dried dog food and some canned dog food to mix with it. Since he
could not leave Buster alone in the apartment he took the hound to
work with him the next day. He soon learned the sound the hound made
when he had to relieve himself, which was not often. During the day
Jack showed how lonely how was by talking to Buster. It was going to
be difficult when he had to get rid of the dog. So far it had not
barked at the neighbors, but that was probably because it did not
consider the apartment its territory yet. On New Years Eve Mary
called Jack.
“I’m not doing
anything tonight. Do you want to come over?”
“I’d love to come
over. What time.”
“I’ll be home at
six. We can have dinner and ring in the new-year.”
“I’ll be there.”
He hung up the phone
and looked over at Buster. Oh, shit! He had forgotten about Buster.
He should have said something to Mary about him. He did not know
how she was going to feel about him bringing a dog with him.
Mary hugged Jack when
she answered the door. Then she looked down at Buster.
“What’s this?”
“It’s Buster.”
“I didn’t think
dogs were allowed at your apartment.”
“They’re not, but
he followed me and he was so hungry I couldn’t resist.”
“I know I’m going
to be sorry for this, but come in.”
Ron and Don were
thrilled with Buster and he shared their joy. They played tug of war
with him and chased him around the house. The next morning Mary
rolled over and hugged Jack.
“You know, you don’t
have to make as much as you did before. You just have to make enough
to pay our basic bills, and it has to be a job that won’t destroy
that wonderful spirit of yours.”
“I guess a got pretty
bad.”
“Yes you did, but I
still love you.”
“I love you too.”
They spent the day
watching the parades and football games. It was like old times. The
kids were out in the yard playing with Buster most of the day. Jack
spent that night with Mary as well.
“So what are you
going to do with the dog?”
“I can’t keep him.
I ‘m really going to miss him, but I guess I’ll have to find a
shelter that will accept him.”
“After our kids have
fallen in love with him?”
“Are you saying they
can have him?”
“Yes. I’m a bit
jealous though.”
“Why?”
“They will consider
him the best gift of all.”
The next morning Jack
was up and plowing early. It snowed like hell over the next few
days. He had to plow some places in the morning and again in the
evening. He worked late into the night. Then he received a phone
call from JC of JC Excavating.
“I hear you do a good
job plowing,” JC said.
“I like to think I
do.”
“Can you operate
heavy equipment?”
“I’ve operated some
heavy farm equipment.”
“I need someone to
plow out the high school parking lot if you can squeeze it into your
schedule. You can pick up the equipment here.”
“How much are you
paying?”
“Minimum for a heavy
equipment operator because I only need someone for that job. By the
time you finish it I’ll be free to do the other work.
“Oh.” Jacks voice
indicated his disappointment.
“There is an upside.
If you do a good job for me, I’ll hire you full time this summer.”
“You mean for the
summer?”
“Yeah, the federal
funds have come through for some municipal contracts. I'm pretty
sure I can keep you year 'round after that.”
“Mister, you have a
new employee!”
This was the miracle
Jack had been praying for. Someone must have recommended him. He
would have to find out who it was and thank that person. This job
was not in the electronics field, but it was something he could feel
good about doing. Heavy equipment operators also made pretty good
money.
First published in macsbackporch.fictionforall.com on Dec 30, 2011
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