For Want of a Roof
Marco only worked two more shifts of overtime before the injured lineman was back on duty. He was relieved to have a little more time to work on the house but he was also relieved that his overtime pay went a long way when it came to paying for the work to be done on the house. It also meant there were a few extra nights a week that he was looking for someplace to sleep. Marco's plan of staying at his parent's place wasn't to be. One of his other brothers started having trouble with his wife and moved home for a while. At least Marco hoped it was just for a while but in any case the sofa he had planned to sleep on was no longer available.
Now that the heavy work was done, the three homeowners were finishing up the rest of the work on their own. Chet was now living with his sister, his furniture and stuff being stored in the second living quarters of his duplex until his side was fully renovated. His sister's apartment had a second bedroom and she worked all day so Chet was more willing to take a nap after work before starting on his house.
Johnny was moving as fast as he could on his house. He really had no desire to move into it, just to fix it up in a way that someone else would like and then sell it. That was why he chose the house that he felt had the least amount of work required to make it livable. The horse ranch was still the prize he wanted most and he felt pressure to hurry before someone else bought it.
They had all worked with Matt from C shift and his uncle. Since he was contracted to perform repairs at three different apartment buildings he was able to buy a few extra kitchen appliances on a mass order deal he worked out and that saved the three new home buyers a lot of money. It saved enough money to encourage each man to add an automatic dishwasher to their kitchens and to set up a laundry room in each house with washer and dryer hook ups.
Matt and his Uncle also gave Chet and Johnny a good deal on laying linoleum and carpeting. Marco was thrilled with the wooden floors that were found when the old carpeting was pulled up. He would be sanding that down and refinishing it. He had spent some time right out of high school laying tile and that's how he planned to finish the kitchen and bathrooms. He managed to save money by buying short stock supplies. The tile was perfectly good, but there wasn't enough quantity of any one color in the store to do any kind of a job. Marco took several colors and mixed them together in a random color design. He found he liked it and so did Johnny when he saw it after he stopped by one night. He knew Marco was sleeping in his truck and needed a softer bed and a hot shower. He had offered to let Marco stay with him until his house was ready but he had turned him down. Still, when he was tired at the end of a hard day's work and in need of a shower, Johnny was usually able to convince him to come home with him for the night. Since his house was just a block away from Marco's he made it a point to stop by on his way home every night. Sometimes Marco was in the middle of doing something, like laying tile and needing to get it done before the grout dried. Johnny helped when he could but there was a limit to tools and there was only room for one person at a time to work in the two bathrooms.
It was the snarl on the face of his apartment manager one night when he brought Marco home that explained Marco's reluctance to take him up on his offer. For Johnny's part, since he was hoping to sell his place again as soon as he had it ready to move into, he hadn't given his notice yet but he was expecting his manager to announce that he wouldn't renew his lease when it was up in four months.
The next time he stopped by to pick Marco up he ended up painting the walls of the kitchen with primer while he waited for Marco to finish placing tiles on the walls in the master bathroom. He noticed that all of the doors to the cupboards had been sanded down and wanted to ask Marco what he planned to do there. Stacked in the living room was the tile for the kitchen floor, gallons and gallons of paint, a few rolls of insulation that were yet to be installed and other construction supplies.
After their next shift Johnny planned to help Marco place the toilets and the place would almost be ready for Marco to move in. At least he would be able to take a shower at the house once the tile grout was dry. Well as soon as he put all the knobs and shower head on that is.
The next time A-Shift was on Hank got an interesting report from Captain Hookraider. As his men started filing into the locker room Hank took a break from his paperwork and wandered out to the parking lot. Carefully looking at the clouds that threatened to make for a very wet shift, Hank followed his information and walked over to his lineman's truck and carefully looked inside. In the bed of the pickup was a tarp and poles that had clearly been used to erect a tent over the bed. In the passenger section of the truck was a rolled up foam pad, a sleeping bag and a very full and slightly over flowing laundry bag. That morning was the first he had heard the rumors that Marco was living out of his truck and he was a little miffed that it had come from someone other than the men on his shift. The rumor did include details of how John was dragging his homeless crewmate home with him on occasion. Still, what Hank was seeing was that the man needed just a little more help. It would mean looking like he was playing favorites but neither Chet nor Johnny was showing the need that Marco was.
Roll call was taken care of and cleaning assignments were given out. Hank made a careful observation of his lineman during roll call. He looked tired but that was expected, he was sure the man was working himself as hard as he could and equally sure he wasn't sleeping well in the back of his truck. Hank was also troubled by the obvious sign that his belt was now two notches tighter.
As the men moved out to perform their duties, Hank entered his office and closed the door; he didn't want anyone to overhear the call he was about to make.
Two car accidents and a smoke alarm later, Roy and Mike were working together to get lunch on the table so Hank took advantage of the time and called Marco into the office.
"So how's the house coming?" Hank asked as he slid into his chair while pointing Marco to another.
"Good, Cap, real good. It shouldn't be long now before I can actually live there."
"I know you're getting your mail at the new place but where are you living in the mean time?" Hank watched as Marco had trouble answering. "I thought so. Hookraider commented that you came in early this morning and took a shower before going out to get something to eat, your truck looks like you're living in it."
"John's had me over to his place a couple of times. I don't think his manager approves though." Marco hung his head in embarrassment.
"Don't be ashamed, Marco, you really are doing yourself proud under circumstances that are beyond your control and due to the bigotry of others. Now tell me just how long before you'll have running water, a working bath and a bed to sleep on under your roof?"
"The game plan is to finish the bathroom's, get the painting done and the tile in the kitchen this break. And then Matt from C Shift and his Uncle are going to stain and varnish my wood floors. After that cures, providing I get everything done, I'm hoping to be able to move in by the next break." Marco took in a deep breath and let it out. "I was wondering if there was a chance of me working overtime for a few days between my next two shifts?"
"You've already pulled the maximum amount of overtime recommended this month. Is it the money you're needing or something else?"
"Well, sir, it's just that it will take a full week for the varnish on the wood floor to cure. I won't be able to walk on it and the fumes will be pretty strong for a few days."
Hank leaned back and took on a thoughtful pose. "In that case, request denied. I'd like you to consider yourself my house guest until your house is ready to move into. I've already talked it over with my wife and she's looking forward to having you. Before you go thanking me however, I might warn you that we have a room in the basement that is full of old furniture and my wife is not above asking you to help clear it out. You're more than welcome to anything you think you can use in your new house."
Marco's expression was both embarrassed and grateful. "Thank you sir."
"Other than Matt and his Uncle, are you getting any other help? I mean, I know Gage and Kelly are busy with their own projects right now but don't you have family to help you paint and such."
Marco hung his head again and blew out a deep breath, "Not really, Cap. My brothers and a couple of cousins offered but their help came with strings attached."
"What kind of strings?" Hank had a guess but he needed to know if he was right.
"If they help they want to be able to move in with me. They don't expect to pay rent or anything like that and they're all a little to frequent at the liquor store and throwing parties if you know what I mean."
"I understand completely. I also suspect they're trying to make you feel like a real heel for not welcoming them with open arms."
"Yeah, something like that." Marco's head was still hung low.
"Well in my opinion if they want to live in a house they need to get a good job and learn how to pay for it," Cap validated his lineman, he was actually glad he was stepping away from his family a little. But he also knew it was a painful prospect.
"One more thing before I let you out of here. Before you leave this station in the morning I want that laundry bag on the floor board of your truck in my truck. My wife has already agreed to wash them up and have them in the guest room for you. And that is an order. Do you have enough clean underwear for this shift?"
Hank had never noticed Marco blush before but he was positively red at the moment.
"Yes sir, I bought some new ones before shift this morning."
-0-
The shift was nearing the end the next morning and Hank hadn't noticed a laundry bag in his truck when he checked. "Lopez," he hollered across the bay. "Remember my order from yesterday. Before you leave today," he said sternly.
Hank kept things cryptic on purpose but he did intend to have that man's laundry when he got home.
When Marco left the station he found Cap standing in the doorway watching him. Sighing in submission, Marco walked around his truck and pulled the overstuffed laundry bag out and, after looking around in hopes that no one was watching him, he slipped it into the back of Captain Stanley's truck. It smelled strong enough that he didn't want to put it in the cab even if it was raining out.
Near lunch time a truck pulled up in front of Marco's house and running through the rain toward the back door were Hank Stanley and his two boys. Hank was carrying his wife's picnic basket and it was full. "We thought you could use some help," Hank said as he wiped his feet on the well worn welcome mat under the covered portion of the back porch. "I know you can use some lunch."
Marco had just finished sealing the grout in two of the three bathrooms and really did need some help lifting the toilets into place.
After eating a lunch of Bacon avocado sandwiches and two different salads, Hank helped Marco lift the heavy toilet and bathroom sinks into place and watched the practiced hands install them. Then there were the knobs and shower fixtures, all of which took just a little over an hour with Hank's help.
"Don't tell my wife I said this but that didn't look all that hard. I might be able to do that myself."
"I heard that," one of the boys called from the living room where the two of them were working together to tape old newspaper to the windows in preparation for painting.
"Oh yeah, well if you tell your mother, she'll think of some reason for me to try out my new found skills and you'll end up helping me so if you know what's good for you, you'll keep your mouth shut," Hank not so jokingly called back to his sons.
"Now I finally have a place to take a shower and get cleaned up." Marco sighed as he leaned back and took in his work.
"You're still staying at my place until all the fumes are cleared out around here." Hank pushed his command beyond the station. The two men made short work of the water they were drinking, and then Hank spoke again. "Okay, what's next?"
Marco smiled at his captain who was now a friend. "If all goes as planned, before I go back on shift I need to finish the indoor painting, lay the kitchen and laundry tile and get everything off of the wood floors."
Hank looked at Marco, the list did indeed seem short, but then he looked at the pile of supplies stacked on top of a tarp in the middle of the living room. "Well, I have no intentions of learning how to lay tile. My wife already has one of those projects that she'd love to think I know how to do for her. I have however, already mastered the art of painting. Come on boys I'm about to show you the art of working with a roller. Marco, I assume you can handle the tile detail."
Marco started to chuckle, "Spoken like a true captain." Marco had already painted the kitchen and laundry area walls in preparation of laying tile boarders over the top of the paint.
Marco took a minute to set out the paint colors in each room then started laying out the tile.
Hank's sons were mentioning that it was dinner time when Hank next took time to take stock of what they had accomplished for the day. The three bedrooms now had two coats of paint each and all that was left to paint were the two rooms that had been combined to create a great room/entry area. Hank was thinking that was a good job for tomorrow. He headed in to inform his lineman that it was time to call it a night when he noticed he was way too close to finishing up the kitchen floor to stop now. The three Stanley men each sat on a bucket of paint and waited for Marco to work the tile into the corners and around the base cupboards.
He was just about done when Maggie Stanley came by with her two girls, each one carrying something to eat. When the boys opened the door for her to walk in she entered calling out compliments.
"I must say, Marco, the new lawn looks so good, you're going to have to mow it before you know it. Do you have a lawn mower on your list of things to get for the new house?"
"Yes ma'am, Marco called out from where he had his head stuck in the space where the dishwasher was going to be placed. "There's one in the garage, it's not the newest of machines but it will do."
Since Marco had placed the last tile needed in the kitchen and the floor needed to dry for a while before he added the grout, and since Maggie Stanley wanted to see Johnny's house too while she was in the neighborhood, they packed up the food again and drove the short distance to Johnny's house to share the meal with him.
-0-
Johnny was working on his house, he had just managed to put up the last of the paint in the last room and before he left for the night he was installing the door knobs to the doors he had painted on his last off shift break. He had been pulled away by a knocking at the door and as he walked to answer it he was asking himself who on earth that could be?
He pulled the paper away from the window to see who was there. Standing at the door were a man and a woman that he had never seen before, but they looked harmless enough so he opened the door.
"Can I help you?"
"Well, um, actually," the man stammered and Johnny stepped back a little doing his best not to intimidate the man any further. "I'm sorry if we're disturbing you, but one of the neighbors said that they believed you were fixing up this place with plans to sell it again."
Johnny was surprised by this and paused for a second before answering.
"I'm sorry," the man continued to stammer, "I'm Paul Hastings. My mother lives across the street and, well, I've just retired and we wanted to move closer to my mother so we can help out and be here for her."
"Our children also live in this area now and, well, when we heard that you were planning to sell the house we, well, I hope we're not giving you the wrong idea, the woman added to the awkward conversation.
John let out a relieved sigh, "Well, actually I am planning to sell the place once I get it fixed up. Things aren't finished yet but if you'd like to come in and look around you're welcome." Johnny opened the door wider and gestured for them to come in. "I've just finished painting so be careful, the walls are still wet."
Johnny walked through the house with the couple pointing out the work he had done and giving details about what was yet to be done. The three of them talked over the asking price which Johnny had set a little high with a substantial increase over what he'd paid and put into it. He figured that they'd make a lower offer and he was willing to go a little lower. Johnny then let them look about on their own while he returned to his task of placing new door knobs on every door.
While the couple was looking around two trucks and a car pulled up in front of the house and a family of five gathered together on the side walk while another man stood off to the side.
"Oh, look at those flowers," Maggie Stanley exclaimed. "They're all in bloom and the lawn is so well established here. The house is the perfect color, and look at those shutters, this place looks like something right out of a magazine."
"I'm glad you like it, Mrs. Stanley," Hank teased his wife, "I guess we better go right in there and make an offer on the place before someone else comes along and buys it out from under us."
Of course Hank was joking; the Stanley home was bigger than the one John was fixing up and they had no intention of moving, but when the Hastings heard that chatter on the front walk they sought out Johnny immediately and made an offer above his asking price for the place and when Hank and his family and friend made their way inside they found Johnny telling the couple that they should pick out the carpeting that they liked best and he'd have it installed.
-0-
The prepared meal was shared with both Marco and Johnny as they ate out on the back deck that Johnny had built. Then Marco was taken back to the Stanley residence and shown to the guest room. Before he turned in for the night Marco looked at his captain and host. "Where's this tile job your wife wants done?"
"You don't need to worry about it, Marco, I figure we'll get it done with our income tax this year," Hank was feeling a little embarrassed, but Marco pushed so Hank led him to the basement where they had put in two bedrooms for the boys and had a bathroom roughed in. "As you can see we have the commode but we have to tile in the shower before we can use it."
Marco walked around and tapped on the four walls before asking the extent of the tile they wanted. He then offered, "If you'll pick out the tile you want I can get it laid while I'm waiting for the wood floors to cure at my place."
After taking some measurements and writing down the amount of tile that would be needed Marco talked with Hank and his wife. He made a few recommendations and suggested a few stores to check out and then accepted the offer of a shower and headed for his room.
The next time Marco was heard was when he emerged from the guest room early the next morning, dressed and ready to get back to work. He still had the tile in the laundry area to lay and then grout them all. Hank persuaded him to eat some breakfast before he left and promised that he and his sons would be there before noon to finish painting the living room.
Before they all left that night Hank and his boys helped move the last of the construction supplies up into the attic where they were to be used. The only problem was that due to the turn in the stairs and the low ceiling at one point all of the plywood and plasterboard had to be taken outside and up a ladder so that it could be brought in through a door that led to a balcony. Marco showed them around a place that was potentially a studio apartment before making it clear that he was in no hurry to finish the place up at this point because he wasn't in the mood for guests or renters just yet.
They all took one more walk through the house and Hank knew the next time Marco came here it would be to move in. He couldn't have been happier for his lineman; he would soon have a place to call his own.