31st
I should update you; My heart has a splinter
After working as a carpenter’s apprentice for several days I had suffered the foreman’s incessant verbal attacks enough. I let him know.
“If you must have a man with miles of expertise why not take your grip off of another three dollars an hour and hire someone knowledgeable. I’ve had enough, thank you.”
He seemed extremely upset. Not mad. Upset.
Of course I had informed him that I would be a man of my word. I would finish out the day.
“It’s no use,” he said, “This is the fifth time this has happened to me.”
We packed the tools away for the day early. He didn’t wish to work any more with disappointment in his blood. Fine with me.
We were going extremely fast. The work van’s tail end was wagging back and forth around stiff curves through the hill country.
“Will you come to my house,” he asked.
“Okay, but I should be paid today,” I returned, ” That way we have no business left to tend to.”
We walk in to his home. It’s a cinder block beach house built in 1950. What was once possibly a nice modern structure had been bitten and weathered. Twice a year the water rises above ground level and the foreman must relocate until the water resides from the interior. The tile floor was old and crusty. It was lifting up in places. The exposed wood plank ceiling had water marks sprouting from the nail heads. There was no furniture save for a bench which was obviously created in haste. I saw a bed peeking out from the bedroom. The back wall was swallowed by operable windows opening up to Lake Travis.
I stood there confused as to why he might have invited me to his home. What would we do? He produced a cheap classical guitar from his bedroom.
“Do you mind if I play you a piece I have been working on this week?”
My hospitable nature pushed the words “yes” from my mouth.
He began playing his little classical guitar. He began playing a classical piece. He obtained a level of talent, but in a ham-fisted, half-witted sort of way. Two songs were performed and both were between seven and eight and a half minutes in length.
After the completion I stood up and asked for my earnings. He pulled some folded bills from his pocket and extended his hand.
“Thank you. Have a nice weekend (and a nice life).”
