Jack, wearing a mask, gloves, goggles, and coverall, tore another bit of the wall down and stuffed the piece into a plastic bag. The interior of the damaged wall had been completely covered with the black mold. They were going through trash bags at an incredible rate. After he filled one, he handed it out the window to Dave who was wearing a similar outfit. Dave would throw the bag into the back of the pickup truck.
Although the worst area had been the central wall, Jack had ripped every piece of sheetrock out of the house where there had been any chance of water damage. There were a couple of smaller patches of mold in other areas. With the removal of the last bit of sheetrock, he stepped back and examined the interior of the house. It had taken half a week, but they had reduced most of the house to a shell.
Jack closed up the bag and handed it out the window to Dave. According to the articles that they had gotten out of the library, they now had to wash the interior of the house with a dilute solution of bleach. He looked up at the roof that was now visible through the ceiling and shook his head. There was a lot of water damage up there. It probably would have been cheaper to tear the house down and rebuild it.
Jack stepped outside and removed his mask. Dave walked over and removed his mask. After removing his goggles, Jack said, "That's the last of the sheetrock."
"Good," Dave said looking at the back of the truck. He looked over at the house and asked, "How bad is the damage inside?"
"Pretty bad," Jack answered.
"I can mix up a bucket of bleach," Dave said coughing. The sooner they killed off the mold, the sooner they would be able to work without wearing all of the gear.
"Give me a minute to catch my breath. It is hot miserable work while wearing all of this gear," Jack said.
"Do you want me to do it?" Dave asked. He covered his mouth and coughed. He was getting better, but that initial blast of mold spores had triggered an allergic reaction.
Shaking his head, Jack answered, "I'll do it."
"You'll be scrubbing in there for hours," Dave said feeling bad that Jack had to do all of the work inside the house.
Jack said, "We have to pull the carpet. All of that bleach will destroy it."
"We probably ought to do that anyway. Who knows how many spores are in it now," Dave said. This little job was getting bigger every time they turned around.
Jack was thoughtful for a second and then asked, "What if we were to use a sprayer like you use for spraying trees? Do you think we could fill that up with bleach and spray the interior?"
"You'd end up with a lot of water in the house," Dave said pointing out the obvious flaw in Jack's plan.
"How about if we used a wet-dry vacuum to suck up the water? That would also help get rid of any loose spores floating around," Jack said.
Dave shrugged his shoulders and said, "We could try it. A toilet brush could be used to scrub the surfaces."
"Let's do it that way," Jack said. He couldn't imagine trying to wash every surface inside the house with a little bucket of bleach water and a scrub brush.
"Will we need to bag the carpet?" Dave asked thinking that would be a major job.
"I don't think that will be necessary," Jack answered confident that the carpet was safe.
Relieved to hear that, Dave said, "The truck bed is half full of plastic bags. We probably ought to make another run to the landfill to dump it off."
"Let me get out of this coverall," Jack said. It didn't take long for the two men to get out of their work clothes. Jack said, "Put them over there on the porch. I'll take them to the Laundromat to wash tonight."
"You can wash them in our washer," Dave said. He covered his mouth and coughed again.
"I don't want to spread the pores through your house. Your cough is bad enough," Jack replied.
"I'm getting better," Dave said starting to cough again.
"Let's get out of here," Jack said after waiting for Dave to stop coughing.
The two men got into the truck and headed off to the landfill. Dave asked, "How are we doing on budget?"
"We've spent about three hundred dollars so far," Jack answered. Most of it was for the clothes they were wearing and the plastic bags. He said, "Of course, the house is going to require a lot more work than we expected."
"I'm afraid that we won't be able to fix it in time for the cold weather," Dave said with a sigh.
Jack said, "Once we get the mold out of there we can start using the house even without fixing the roof. I figure that we can really cut some corners in terms of fixing up the interior. We'll replace the carpet with linoleum. Considering what we'll be using it for, that would probably be best anyway."
"Are you talking about those little tiles with the adhesive backs?" Dave asked. He hated linoleum tiles since they normally curled up along the edges and looked horrible after a couple of years.
"No. We'll get the large rolls and just lay it over the whole floor," Jack answered. He had a little experience with laying linoleum and knew where they could pick up some stuff that had gone out of style for a cheap price. He said, "I've done it before. I might be able to borrow some tools."
"Is it hard to install?" Dave asked.
"On a scale of one to five, it is a five," Jack answered.
"I was hoping for a one," Dave said. "You must really know just about every construction job there is."
Jack shrugged his shoulders and said, "My dad used to say that if you knew how to work with your hands that you'd never starve. I've made sure that I can do just about any job on a construction site that is necessary."
"Smart," Dave said. He looked out the window and said, "Once I got my plumbing license, I never really had to worry about work. There's always a toilet somewhere that needs repair. People won't live with a serious plumbing problem."
"That's true," Jack said.
Dave said, "I made a pretty good living. With the economic problems I thought about returning to work. I could probably work a few hours a week without killing my retirement benefits."
"Why didn't you?" Jack asked looking over at Dave.
"I came pretty close, but the commune came up and I decided that this was a better option than going back to work," Dave answered.
"In what way?" Jack asked.
Dave said, "I've come to appreciate the community that we've built. I knew that something was missing in my life and I didn't know what it was. When we were younger, all of us used to meet and talk at school events. Sometimes we would get together for New Years Eve or a backyard barbecue. When the kids grew up and the school activities stopped, we all kind of drifted apart.
"Sometimes I would run into one of the neighbors at a store or something. We'd talk a bit, but that was about it. Nothing would come of it and we'd go our separate ways. I never stopped to think about what we had lost."
"I guess that is part of growing old," Jack said.
Dave shook his head and said, "No. It was the change in times. Television became more important than people. Jobs seemed to take more time out of the day. We were all rushing to save money for retirement without thinking what it would mean to retire without friends."
"I didn't think of it like that," Jack said.
"When Gail's husband died, I remember thinking that it was a tragedy that a woman was a widow so young. After the funeral, I went home and never gave it another thought. She was left over at that house all alone and trying to deal with her grief. None of us even thought of going over to visit," Dave said shaking his head.
"That's a shame," Jack said thinking it was so easy to get isolated.
Dave said, "The other women lost their husbands one at a time. I went to all of the funerals, but that was about it. I feel pretty bad about that."
"I can imagine," Jack said. He realized that he hadn't really thought that much about what the women had gone through in becoming widowed. He said, "It must have been rough for them."
"I don't know what I'd do if I lost Laura," Dave said. Just the idea of it made him sick to his stomach.
"I'm sure it would be rough," Jack said pulling up to the entry of the landfill. He pulled out the ten dollar bill that would let them drop off their load and rolled down his window.
The guy at the entrance of the landfill looked in the back and said, "You paid ten dollars for the last load. With a little effort you could have included this one with that one. Go ahead and drop this one off."
"Thanks," Jack said pleased to have saved ten dollars.
"Next one will be ten dollars," the man said with a smile.
"We'll be dropping off carpet tomorrow," Jack said.
"You must be gutting a whole house," the man said shaking his head.
"That's about right," Jack replied.
The man said, "I guess it is cheaper to remodel a house than to sell one and buy a new one."
"You can say that again," Jack said with a laugh.
"Take it easy," the man said moving to press the button that opened the gate.
Jack drove over to the edge of the landfill and parked the truck. Winking at him, Dave asked, "Why don't you lower the tailgate, drive backwards for a bit and then slam on the brakes?"
Jack laughed. Every time they came here, Dave had asked the same question. He said, "We'll do that one of these times."
Jack climbed into the back of the truck and tossed out the bags. He hadn't realized how many of them there were until after he had tossed ten of them out. Pausing to wipe the sweat from his eyes, he said, "It would have been a whole lot easier to get a waste bin, but a lot more expensive."
Dave sat in the front seat watching Jack work. He felt guilty that Jack was doing all of the hard work while he was mostly watching. He coughed and thought about that blast of black mold he had gotten when he had pulled open the wall. He muttered, "At least my cough is getting better."
Jack emptied the truck bed of contaminated sheetrock and climbed out. He paused to think about what the man had said at the gate. He went inside the cab and said, "You know, we could remodel the interior of the house. Not all of the walls are load bearing."
"What are you saying?" Dave asked.
"Well, no one is going to be living in it. We could open up the kitchen so that it is adjacent to the living room. We could open the wall between two of the bedrooms to make a very large living room. That would leave us with one bedroom to use as an office," Jack said.
Although the idea sounded good, there was a problem with it. Dave said, "She'd never be able to sell the house if we did that."
"That's true," Jack said. He realized that while doing the work on repairing the house he had started to think of it as a community center rather than as a home. It was a pretty easy trap to fall into and he was going to have to watch himself in the future.
"Of course, we could ask her," Dave said. It never hurt to ask.
"I'll do that," Jack said starting the truck. He glanced down at the gas gauge and said, "I'm going to have to fill it up."
"Claire said to charge the project for your gas," Dave said knowing Jack wouldn't do it unless he insisted.
"I know," Jack replied. He put the truck into gear and drove out of the landfill.
Dave watched the scenery go by for five minutes while thinking about what Jack had suggested. He said, "That's not a bad idea."
"What?"
"That we remodel the interior of the house to be of better use as a community center than a home," Dave said.
"Why?"
Dave said, "She's not going to sell the house."
Jack felt that was a debatable supposition and said, "Her kids will inherit it when she dies. They'll want to sell it."
"Well, I don't think that will concern her too much. They haven't called her once this year," Dave said.
"Oh. Is there something going on?" Jack asked.
Dave shook his head and said, "No. They are just too busy living their lives to worry much about her."
"I guess that is pretty common," Jack said wondering how families had fallen apart over the recent past. He wished that he had a phone to call his parents more frequently, but that was one of the bills that he had eliminated. He borrowed Abby's cell phone about once a week to call them. It wasn't enough.
"Our kids call about once a month. I think my daughter-in-law has it marked on the calendar. She calls on the third of month, every month," Dave said with a short laugh. His daughter-in-law was a piece of work. She was some sort of project manager and her occupation tended to bleed over into her private life. She approached everything like a project.
"At least she calls," Jack said with a grin.
"She's a good one. She's probably too good for my son," Dave said.
"You don't mean that," Jack said glancing over at Dave.
Dave said, "He wasn't going anywhere until she came into his life. She got him sorted out and directed in no time at all. I figure that he'd still be in college if it was up to him."
"Your son went to college?" Jack asked.
Nodding his head, Dave said, "Both kids went. My daughter majored in education and now works as a corporate trainer after spending three years in the public school system. My son majored in about ten different things until he got out with a degree in communications. Now he does marketing research or something like that."
"I thought about going to college, but I didn't want to work in an office building. The fact is, I like construction. I like building things and there used to be good money in it. A man who puts in regular hours can do well," Jack said.
"Did you think of getting a general contractor's license?" Dave asked.
"I was working on it, but got caught up in fixing the house," Jack said. It wouldn't have been difficult except for the part of the exam dealing with law. He knew building codes inside and out. He knew half of the inspectors in the city and could have gotten a letter of recommendation from any of his past employers.
"It is a shame that you didn't get one," Dave said knowing that the contractor made the most money on any job.
Jack shrugged his shoulders and said, "I can take any residential project up to ten thousand dollars without one. Of course, that's more or less doing minor repairs. Anything substantive, like an addition, will cost more than that."
"That's true," Dave said. Remodeling a bathroom could cost that much depending on the fixtures purchased.
Jack said, "Of course, the work I'm doing now would require me to have a general contractor's license."
"You aren't charging labor, just materials. That drops the cost significantly," Dave said.
"Some asshole pencil pusher with an eraser for a dick would probably think otherwise," Jack said.
You're probably right," Dave said with a chuckle.
"The IRS would probably take my house for not declaring my labor as some sort of barter in exchange for housecleaning," Jack said.
Looking over at Jack, Dave said, "We're a little negative about the regulatory agencies of our government, are we?"
"I guess," Jack said shaking his head. "I just keep feeling like one day someone is going step in and say that what we are doing is illegal."
"Who would complain?" Dave asked skeptically.
Jack snorted and said, "The first asshole we turn down for membership because he doesn't believe in God."
"There is that," Dave said. He could see it happening too.
"The first kid who decides that their mother was being taken advantage of by a cult," Jack said.
"You might be right," Dave said knowing that was a real possibility.
Jack said, "To tell the truth, I'm even nervous about having any kind of paperwork detailing commune business. I'm afraid that the time we contribute to the commune will be viewed as an exchange of services. Can you imagine how much we'd have to pay in taxes if someone decided that it was worth fifteen dollars an hour?"
"I don't even want to think about it," Dave said feeling a chill run down his spine.
"Neither do I," Jack said, but that didn't stop him from thinking about it all of the time.
"Why are you so worried?" Dave asked.
Jack said, "I was reading the newspaper the other day and it mentioned that tax revenues are down. Two years ago, approximately forty-one percent of Americans didn't pay income tax. That has risen to an estimated fifty-eight percent as a result of the economic woes and massive retirements. The government runs on money and it needs more money. It is going to come after those of us who are still paying taxes to get it."
"So they are going to raise taxes?" Dave asked.
Jack nodded his head and said, "That and start auditing more people. They are specifically targeting businesses that deal in cash. At least, that is what the newspaper said."
"That's a real killer," Dave said.
"Tell me about it," Jack said frowning. He said, "I brought in about five hundred a month mowing lawns the first half of this summer. I'll have to pay taxes and penalties on that if the IRS learns about it."
"You'll lose your house," Dave said. Filing bankruptcy would save your house, but not from the IRS.
"That's right," Jack said. He sighed and said, "Forgive me if I seem a little pessimistic, but the past two years have been real rough for me. It seems to me that every time I get my head above water something happens and I'm back to drowning."
"This commune has been a pretty good deal. We're all eating better now," Dave said understanding why Jack felt the way he did.
Jack said, "Everything is getting regulated more and more. When Penny died, the cop was more concerned that Abby's driver's license didn't show the right address than the fact that an old woman had committed suicide."
"You're kidding," Dave said hoping that Jack was wrong.
"I'm exaggerating a little. He did comment on the address though. Abby had to get a new driver's license," Jack said shaking his head.
"Nero fiddled while Rome burned," Dave said shaking his head in disgust.
"You can say that again."
Jack pulled up in front of Dave's house and said, "I'll let you out here and then head home. We'll get to work on pulling the carpet tomorrow if I don't get a call about a job being available."
"Great," Dave said getting out of the truck. He thought about what Jack had said about the possibility that the government would step in and end the commune. That would be a disaster for everyone involved.
Jack drove off towards home thinking about everything that needed to be done yet. He pulled into the drive way and noticed that the usual crowd was present in the garage. Looking over at Emily's house, he wondered how much longer it would be until they had a community house. Of course, when they got it to a point where they could start using it was up to him.
Jack had just gotten out of his truck when Claire walked over and said, "The college called."
"What college?" Jack asked.
"The local college. They want you to come over tomorrow for an interview at one," Claire said delivering the message. She handed him a sheet of paper and said, "The details are on this paper."
"I put in an application more than a month ago," Jack said looking at the note. He had given up on ever getting a job there.
"I guess the college works a little different than most construction firms," Claire said shrugging her shoulders.
"What should I wear?" Jack asked. He had never really had a formal interview for a job before. Usually he knew someone who ran a crew and they hired him based on his reputation.
"I guess you should go there wearing something nice," Claire answered understanding why he might feel a little insecure about this interview.
"I have a sport coat, but it may be a little small," Jack said. He hadn't worn that since he had refinanced his mortgage.
Claire said, "It is better to wear nice clothes that fit than even nicer clothes that don't fit. You won't look like a hick."
"Good advice," Jack said. He had a nice pair of pants and a dress shirt. His black leather shoes looked okay, but probably could use a polish.
"How is it going at the house?" Claire asked.
"Slow. We'll take out the carpet tomorrow and then wash down the inside. After letting it dry for a few days, we'll see how much mold is left. We might have to wash it again," Jack said.
"You're putting in a lot of work for the commune, Jack. Maybe you might want to take a day or two off," Claire said. He was working seven days a week except when he had a paying job. He wouldn't take any money except what was necessary to fill his gas tank.
"No. I want to finish it so that we have a better place to meet. When it rained the other day everyone was miserable in the garage," Jack said. Getting dinner over to the garage often took two or three trips from the house where it had been prepared.
"Don't take it so personally," Claire said knowing that Jack felt bad about the delay in fixing up the house.
"I can't help it," Jack said with a laugh.
Claire said, "By the way, Mary is going to move in with me."
"That's great," Jack said. He knew that Claire had been getting a little desperate to get some additional money in the house. Her retirement account had been shrinking at an incredible rate over the past six months. Abby had mentioned that Claire spent hours looking over her statements trying to figure out how long it would last her.
"I'll let you head in the house. I'm sure that you are pretty tired after working all day," Claire said.
"I need a shower before dinner. I probably smell like a fish that has been out in the sun all day," Jack said.
Claire exaggerated taking a sniff and said, "I'd say it is closer to two days."
Jack laughed and said, "Thanks a lot."