James Vic showed up on time to sign the contract. As soon as the contract had been signed and Dan had handed him the first check, he pulled out his cell phone. He paced around the room as he made a number of calls. Dan could hear him making the arrangements for different subcontractors to show up on the job site.
After the last call was completed, he said, "I'll be by tomorrow afternoon to make sure that the dumpster has been delivered. My crew will start the day after tomorrow at eight sharp. I send the crew home at five. You're welcome to come by while we're here, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't come in when we're not here. A construction site isn't a safe place. If you do come by, wear clothes that you don't mind getting dirty."
"I'll do that," Dan said.
James rubbed his hands together and said, "I always enjoy this moment. I see what is here and imagine what it is going to look like when it is done. Of course, I enjoy the end of the job even more. I see what is there and remember what it looked like now."
"I can see where that would be real rewarding," Dan said.
Dan walked into the city recreation building and looked around. He had never been in the building before. There were signs to the gymnasium and he could hear the sounds of people playing basketball in the direction the signs pointed. There was a message board with announcements of classes covering a dozen different subjects including sewing, pottery, and aerobics. He wondered if he hadn't had Dyslexia if he would have spent any time in the building as a teenager. Afternoon activities had been denied him because of the time required to study the material.
He stepped back from the message board and noticed a handwritten sign with an arrow on it. The arrow was pointing down the hall identifying where the CERT training was being held. He headed in the indicated direction. He looked through the window of a room along the way and saw a bunch of women learning self defense. Quite a number of them looked a little angry. A shiver went down his spine at the thought of being the only man in that room.
At the end of the hallway, there were four policemen standing around beside a door. They were talking to each other. Each man had a cup of coffee in one hand and a cookie or four in the other. He headed towards them to find out where the meeting was taking place. When he arrived, one of the policemen asked, "Are you here for the CERT kickoff meeting?"
"Yes," Dan answered.
"Go on in this room. There's coffee and cookies inside. Help yourself," the officer said gesturing towards the door with his head.
"Thanks," Dan said. He wondered what police were doing at this thing.
Eric spotted Dan when he entered the room and headed over to intercept him. As he walked up, he said, "Hey, Dan. It's good to see you again."
"How are you doing?" Dan asked. There were about sixteen people seated in the rows of chairs facing the front of the room. There were a lot more chairs than people.
"I'm doing better. School is out and I've got a job again," Eric said.
"You're going to school?" Dan asked. He didn't know much about Eric.
"Yes. I'm going to the community college while I try to figure out what I want to do with my life," Eric said. He hadn't declared a major yet and had no idea what he wanted to study. Tuition was cheap enough to take different courses until he found something that interested him.
"I've taken a couple of courses up there," Dan said. He decided that he'd give Eric a copy of the articles.
"It's a good school," Eric said. He pointed to the table that had the coffee and cookies. He said, "Let's load up on munchies and take a seat."
As Dan poured a cup of coffee into one of the Styrofoam cups, he asked, "So you found a job?"
"Yes. That tornado tore up the video store where I used to work. I lost my job there. That was a shame because I kind of liked it," Eric said. He would be the first to admit that he was drifting through life. He grabbed a couple of cookies and put them on a napkin. They were chocolate chip cookies and looked delicious. The chocolate chips were huge.
"So what are you doing now?" Dan asked while grabbing two cookies.
"I'm working at the music store in the mall selling CDs. It's a job," Eric said.
"Sounds interesting," Dan said.
"Oh, you know the guy in the car that the sign fell on?" Eric asked looking over at Dan.
"Yes," Dan answered remembering the car. He had called the real estate company after the tornado and found that the realtor hadn't been the guy in the car. He'd been running late and hadn't even been in the area.
Juggling the napkin with cookies, Eric poured a cup of coffee. He said, "He was busted up pretty good, but he wasn't killed."
"I'm glad to hear that he wasn't killed," Dan said.
"Yeah. I've been looking forward to joining this CERT thing. I never felt so stupid in my whole life and I've done some pretty dumb things," Eric said. He had learned a lot about himself that afternoon. The lesson hadn't been pretty. Until that day he had always imagined himself as able to handle any situation that might arise. That day, he had discovered that he was clueless when it came to an emergency.
"I felt pretty bad that day," Dan said earning an odd look from Eric. He looked around and saw the policemen enter the room. He said, "It looks like they are about to start. Let's get a seat."
Dan sat down on the last row. Eric looked at him and then at the front row. He really wanted to sit on the front row, but he took a seat next to Dan. He was so excited that he could barely sit still. He nudged Dan and said, "It's about to start."
One of the policemen walked to the front of the room and said, "I'm Captain Dawson. I assume that everyone is here to learn about what it means to be a member of a Community Emergency Response Team or as we call it, CERT."
When everyone nodded their heads, he said, "I'd like to start off by having everyone introduce themselves and say why they are interested in joining."
Dan listened to everyone introduce themselves and give their reasons for joining. Almost all of them had the same basic reason. They wanted to contribute to the community. When it was Dan's turn, he stood and said, "I'm Dan Parker. Like everyone else here, I want to make a positive contribution to my community."
Dan sat down and Eric popped out of his chair like he was a jack in the box. Speaking fast and waving his hands around excitedly, he said, "I'm Eric Williams. I was in that tornado back in November. I'd be dead if it wasn't for this guy sitting next to me. I mean, he came into the store shouting that a tornado was coming. I was standing there like idiot and he's taking charge of the situation. He's dragging a woman and a kid into the cooler of the convenience store. I follow him in there just before the tornado hits.
"The store gets busted up real bad, but we're safe because that room is really built solid. Afterwards, we go out and the kid's mother is hurt. I mean, she's just lying there bleeding and all. Whoa... it is like really intense. Mother and kid reunited... It just tugged at my heart to see them back together again.
"Anyway, Dan, he takes care of her. I'm standing there watching. We find the clerk and he's got a busted arm. Dan takes care of him. After that, we go out and find a whole bunch of other people who are hurt. I have no idea what to do, so I'm just following him around.
"He's going up to cars and finding people who are hurt. There are people with broken bones. There's this guy with a broken neck sitting there. His head is sitting at this crazy angle. Another woman says she can't feel legs and is trapped in car. Dan over here is a real hero," Eric said getting very excited. He was pointing at Dan with both hands.
Calming down a little, he said, "I've never felt so stupid in my life. Here are all these injured people and I don't know what to do. I'm seeing other people who know what to do. They're wearing green vests and green hardhats. I say to myself that I should be the one taking care of the injured because I was there first. I couldn't because I didn't know what to do. So that's why I'm here. I'm here to learn what to do in an emergency."
Eric sat down and faced the front staring at Captain Dawson. Dan was blinking at the rapid fire delivery of the story. Everyone had turned around to stare at him. Captain Dawson said, "Okay. That's a real good introduction to what CERT is all about. It is about members of the community coming together during an emergency to help others."
Listening to Captain Dawson explain the role of CERT, Dan felt that it was a good way to contribute something to the community. His interest only grew when they described the training he would get. The idea that he could learn about first aid, fire fighting, and search and rescue was exciting. This training looked like it could fill some significant gaps in his knowledge. It was going to be tough to balance his business with the training, but he wanted to pursue it.
When the meeting came to an end, Eric said, "This is so exciting."
"It is a good chance to learn some valuable skills," Dan said.
"It is more than that," Eric said. He waved his hands trying to come up with the words to describe what he felt. Finally, he said, "It is my chance to learn how to become a hero."
"Okay," Dan said.
"Look, we're just regular guys. We're not Superman, Batman, or Robin. We're regular guys, but we had a chance to be heroes that day. You were, I wasn't," Eric said.
Dan said, "I wasn't a hero that day."
Eric frowned and said, "You saved that little boy and that woman. The boy could have been seriously hurt, but you protected him. That woman could have ended up with scars. She didn't because you saved her. You did something and I just followed. I want more than that."
Dan really remembered that day very differently. He said, "You were there with me the whole time. It wasn't me alone."
"You're just being too kind," Eric said.
Shaking his head, Dan said, "Come to my car with me. I have something to give to you."
"What?" Eric asked.
"There is something that you really need to read," Dan said.
"How was your meeting?" Sally asked Dan when he entered the apartment.
"It was interesting," Dan said. He was still trying to make up his mind about Eric Williams. He couldn't tell if the guy was just overly exuberant or crazy.
She walked over to him and greeted him with a kiss. It was a long passionate kiss. Smiling at him, she asked, "Just how interesting was it?"
"Uh, not as interesting as that kiss," Dan answered.
"Good," Sally said.
Ann and Alison came out of the bedroom. Alison said, "That's amazing. I've never seen anything like that."
"Thanks."
"You did that all in a day and a night?" Alison asked. The mural looked like it had taken months to do. The details in it were incredible.
"Basically," Ann answered. She went over to Dan and kissed him.
Alison waited and then greeted him with a kiss. She put everything she had into it. Smiling at the stunned expression on his face, she said, "It is good to have you home."
"Thanks," Dan said thinking that he'd love to come home to that kind of reception every night.
Sally and Ann exchanged a look. They had picked up on something that Alison had said. Sally said, "Interesting."
Dan said, "I hate to say this, but I'm kind of hungry. They only had coffee and cookies there."
Sally said, "We'll go in a minute. Why don't you wash up and then we'll leave?"
"That's not a bad idea," Dan said. He went into the rest room to wash his hands and face.
Once Dan had left the room, Ann asked, "What do you think of the painting, Alison?"
Alison went over to the painting that had been created by Sue. Every time she saw it, it took her breath away. If Ann or Sally hadn't been interested in Dan before seeing the painting, she knew they wouldn't have been able to resist him afterwards. She said, "This is incredible. I'm kind of sorry that I'm not in it."
Moving to rest a hand on Ann's shoulder, Sally said, "That's Ann's painting. I'm sure that a painting for Dan would have included you."
Ann looked speculatively at Alison and said, "I wonder who would be in a painting for you."
"Hmm," Sally said. She slowly moved around Alison looked at her as if examining an unusual biological specimen. After a few seconds she said, "That is an interesting question. I'm half tempted to ask Sue to make a painting for her."
Nodding her head, Ann said, "I think the results just might be surprising."
"Sue's a genius when it comes to capturing the true spirit and feelings of a person," Sally said looking over at Ann.
"What are you getting at?" Alison asked looking first at Sally and then at Ann.
Having washed up and changed his clothes, Dan asked, "Who's hungry?"
Sally leaned over and whispered, "Give us a minute with Alison."
"Okay," Dan said. He edged over towards the kitchen thinking that it might be a good place to lay low.
Alison turned to the other two women and asked, "What are you getting at?"
"We are just wondering who your true love is," Ann said with a smile.
"Or maybe you have multiple loves," Sally said giving Alison a look.
Licking her lips nervously, Alison decided that she didn't want to know what they were hinting at. She said, "Dan is hungry. Let's go eat."
"Sure, change the subject the minute the discussion gets interesting," Sally said with a smile. She moved to one side of Alison as Ann moved to the other.
Ann stroked her arm and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Nothing is the matter. Dan said he was hungry," Alison said. She wondered why they had surrounded her.
"I think she does not know her own mind," Sally said.
Stamping her foot on the floor, Alison said, "Dan said he was hungry."
"Okay, don't get your panties in a bind," Ann said with a grin.
"We'll go out to eat," Sally said. She grinned over at Ann and then added, "We will talk more about this when we get home."
Ann stuck her head in the kitchen and said, "Dan, we're ready to go to dinner."
"Good. I'm really hungry," he said hoping that the three women had worked out their issues. There were times when he was really worried that the tensions between the women were going to tear the relationships with him apart.
It was a few minutes after eight in the morning when Dan drove up to the store. As he pulled into a parking space, he could see that the crew was already hard at work. Having worked on construction sites, he knew that getting to work at eight meant that the first real work happened at eight fifteen. It seemed to him that no one had informed this crew of that fact. They were tearing the insides out of the building at a fast pace.
Dan got out of his car and noticed another car parked not too far away. He went over and leaned down to the window. When the person inside rolled down the window, he said, "Fancy meeting you here."
"He started at eight on the money," Mr. Foreman answered. He had arrived at seven thirty and had found James was already on the site drinking a cup of coffee. It was easy to see that James was planning out the day's work.
"Is that a good sign?" Dan asked.
"Yes," Mr. Foreman answered. When the work crew had arrived, James had handed out work assignments without any hesitation. Each job had been assigned with an expected end time.
"Are you going to sit out here all day?" Dan asked.
"No. I've got a large retail store we're working on and I need to get over there," Mr. Foreman said.
"I guess I had better get in there and see how it is going," Dan said.
Mr. Foreman looked at Dan's clothes and said, "You do know that you're not supposed to do any work in there. You're the customer. The idea is that you're paying them to work."
Dan laughed at the comment and said, "He warned me that I should wear clothes that I wouldn't mind getting dirty."
Mr. Foreman laughed and said, "You said that he was going to leave at five?"
"He said that he sends the crew home at five," Dan answered.
"Okay," Mr. Foreman said. He looked like he was going to say something else, but chose not to at that time.
Dan dug in his pocket and pulled out a key. He said, "Here's a spare key in case you want to check out his work."
"I was going to ask you for that once they got into something a little more substantial," Mr. Foreman said.
"I know," Dan said.
Mr. Foreman started his car and said, "You better get in there."
"Alright," Dan said. He stepped out of the way and watched Mr. Foreman drive off.
He entered the store hearing the sounds of people tearing the place apart. The old carpet was getting torn out. There was the sound of things being destroyed in the supply room as the walls were being removed for the expansion.
James came over and looked at the clothes Dan wore. He had work boots with a steel toe that looked like they had been through hell. The jeans had some splashes of paint on them. It seemed to him that Dan looked like he should be on the crew instead of paying them to do the work.
In a voice loud enough to be heard over the noise, James said, "They're doing the tear out. We'll be done with it by this afternoon. We'll start cutting the floor for the plumbing tomorrow morning."
"It looks like everyone is busy," Dan said.
James laughed and said, "This is the work for frustrated people. They get to take out their frustrations on inanimate objects and get paid for it."
"I know what you mean," Dan said. He watched one guy with the task of carrying things out to the dumpster that was parked in back of the store. He remembered being that guy.
"There's not much to see here," James said noticing the guy tearing up the carpet was headed in their direction. He was going to take Dan by the arm to move him out of the way but found that Dan was already moving. He looked again at Dan's clothes and frowned.
Dan said, "It looks like everything is going well here."
"When we get the walls down and everything exposed, we'll be able to see if there are any structural surprises," James said.
Dan nodded his head and watched the crew work. It was a whole lot easier to watch them work than to do the work. He said, "I hope you don't find anything."
"There shouldn't be any surprises," James said.
"I'll get out of your way," Dan said. He left the store pleased with what he had seen.
Dan handed Tom a root beer and said, "It has been great seeing you again."
"I've got to say that things are really coming together for you," Tom said. He raised his mug and tapped Dan's mug.
"The hard work starts now," Dan said. He took a sip of his root beer.
"I know," Tom said. He was amazed at how much Dan had accomplished since graduating high school.
"Hello," Diana said as she entered the room.
Tom looked over at Diana and frowned. Something was different about her, but he couldn't figure out what it was. She was wearing a very conservative outfit. Her hair was up in a bun. She was dressed so conservatively that it should have looked positively frigid, but it didn't. He mumbled, "She's hot."
"When did you start wearing glasses?" Dan asked staring at her.
Diana looked over at him. She removed the glasses and stuck an earpiece in her mouth sucking on it seductively. She asked, "Do you like them?"
Tom's mouth dropped when he realized what she was doing. Turning to Dan, he said, "Your little sister is dressed up like a sexy librarian!"
Grinning at the characterization of her clothes, Diana asked, "Do you think that my date will like this outfit?"
"Get out of that outfit right now," Dan said realizing Tom was right. This was worse than wearing a skirt that was too short and a top that showed too much. That kind of outfit was slutty, but this one screamed out that the guy could expect a firecracker in bed. Dan turned around and shouted, "Mom!"
There was a knock on the door. Diana said, "That must be Robert."
"Change your clothes," Dan said pointing in the direction of her room.
Diana replaced her glasses while she walked to the front door. She even had the walk down perfect. She said, "No."
Tom realized that Dan was making a mistake. He put a hand on Dan's shoulder and said, "Leave it alone. You're fighting against the facts of life and you can't win."
Dan looked at Tom and knew that he was right. It didn't change the fact that he was dismayed by what Diana was doing. He said, "You know what she's going to do."
"Yes, I do," Tom said. He said, "She's made a choice."
Diana opened the door and said, "Hello Robert."
Looking at his little sister, Dan said, "I'm not ready for her to grow up."
"I know, but she's being driven by biology just as we are. The only constant in life is change," Tom said.
After giving Robert a kiss that curled his toes, Diana turned back to look at Dan and Tom. She said, "Dan. Just for your information, tonight won't be my first time."
"I didn't need to know that," Dan said with a groan. He held his head in his hands as the door closed behind her.
"I'm sorry," Tom said patting Dan on the back. Wanting to cheer up his friend, he said, "Have some more root beer."
Lazlo Zalezac