One
Isaac Grant
I drove past thecity limits sign toward the rice dryer just out of town. I’d been called to interview for a “prospective position” which I hoped meant they’d hire me. My last job at the farm supply had ended when I’d yelled at one of the assholesthat would go in there every fucking day just to make our lives miserable. Living in a small town wasn’t what everyone thought it was. Not every person who lived there was a sweet little old lady that liked to bake and never had a bad thing to say. Truth be told I wasn’t always the nice guy either.
My phone buzzed with a text from Jack asking where I was. I dialed his number and waited for him to answer. “What do you mean? I’m headed to an interview.”
“Well shit, I was hoping you could come and help me out today. We’re getting a big order and Hudson is busy with something else.” I’d known Jack Hulbert nearly my whole life. We’d grown up together in Foggy Basin and until he met Hudson, we’d fucked whenever the urge hit. But now he was in love, and I couldn’t be all that mad he’d found someone who made him happier than I’d ever seen him.
“I can stop by later today,” I offered. “Not like I have any pressing appointments or anything.”
“Are you sure? I’d love the help, but I don’t want to bother you if you have plans,” he said, and I forced myself not to laugh. He knew exactly how many “plans” I didn’t have.
“I’ll stop by on the way home, and you can buy me something to eat.” He laughed then and I had to admit it was nice to hear him laugh more.
“Deal, and no complaining about how much we ordered,” he said and hung up before I had a chance to say more.
“Fucker,” I grumbled under my breath as I pulled into the parking lot and turned off my truck. I sat for a moment and looked up at the massive silos that made up most of the dryer and hoped this job didn’t suck as much as I thought it was going to. Not like there were a lot of choices around here. Most jobs were either something to do with agriculture or at a restaurant. There were many small businesses, like the hardware store Jackworked at, but most were family owned, and they liked to keep it that way.
“Hey, why are you just sitting there?” Jeff Snyder asked. He was about ten years older than Jack and me, but he’d been someone I thought would go to college and get the hell out of Foggy Basin. Instead, he came back with a degree and now was one of the higher ups at this facility.
“Hey, Jeff,” I said as I finally got out of my truck. “Just wondering what the fuck I’m doing here.”
“Come on. I’ll show you around and you can decide if it’s for you or not.” Jeff had always acted like a grown ass man even when he was a kid. It was strange then, but now he was full of confidence as he waited for me on the other side of my truck.
“What exactly is the job?”
“When I saw you’d applied I thought you could be a general laborer. But then I remembered that you were always good at fixing shit. So, I thought you’d be a good fit as a maintenance technician. Plus, Roger Crane is going to retire next year, and we need someone he can train. He has a few guys under him but none of them are any good without him overseeing their work.”
I stood frozen while he took a few steps before turning back to me. “You think I’m capable of maintaining the equipment? I don’t know the first thing about any of it.”
“That’s why Roger is going to train you. You have the ability to learn it, and you’ll end up with a career out of it. If you want. So, what do you say?” He crossed his arms and waited for me to speak, but this was something I’d never considered.
“How can I decide if I haven’t done the job yet?”
He thought about it a moment before speaking. “You’re right. Why don’t we give you a two-week trial and you can see if you’re interested and Roger can decide if you’re worth training or not,” he said, showing his usual unfiltered way of speaking.
Now it was my turn to consider his offer, and after deciding I had nothing to lose I held my hand out. “How much does it pay?” I asked as he held his hand away from mine.
“We’ll start you at twenty-five and go from there,” he offered. I gripped his hand and shook it while he grinned. “Great, now let’s go talk to Roger.”
I followed him into the building that housed a lot of equipment that had to be where the rice and other grains were dried. “Are you sure about this?”
“If I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t have given you a chance. We need to start training new people to take the jobs that will be open soon, and if we don’t do it now, we’ll be screwed when the people in those positions retire. Like I said, if I didn’t think you could do it, I wouldn’t have asked you to come in today,” Jeff said.
“Okay, show me what you’ve got.” He led me down the row of giant fans and heaters and explained how it all worked but admitted he didn’t knowexactlyhow the machines worked from a technical level.
“Everything is connected to a control panel that does everything for us. But we need to keep the machines maintained, and that’s where you’ll come in.” He led me into a large shop where an older man was hard at work with a grinder. “Roger,” Jeff shouted as we walked closer. He looked up and turned it off before greeting us both.
“Didn’t you used to work at the farm supply?” he asked me.
“Yes, until recently.”
“I heard you to told Mrs. Beatty to fuck off. She’s needed that for years,” Roger said with a grin. “We’ll be fine, Jeff.”
“Okay, I’ll leave you to it then,” Jeff said and hurried out of the room.
“So, I suppose Jeff didn’t tell you anything about the job?” Roger asked and leaned against the workbench right behind him.
