Kim had been thinking that Monique was right, Ron was drifting away, so she made up her mind that Tuesday she'd get a hold of Ron and talk to him no matter what. Their first two hours went pretty much the same as the previous day, except that Ron appeared to be more relaxed. He would get the occasional rude remark or note passed to him but it didn't seem to bother him today. Kim was also happy; he talked to her a little bit before first hour, "Maybe he's coming out of it?" She thought to herself.
She stopped by his locker after second hour, Ron was there getting stuff together for the next class, "Ron you got time to talk…you know about last week, and all." Kim said looking at the floor, not sure about how Ron would react.
Ron shrugged his shoulders, "Ummmmmm…Yea, I been thinking KP, you were right, your always right…um…You know…uh…I don't blame you…I just didn't measure up…I guess…too bad…I…I thought I would have been a good boyfriend….but you know." Ron stammered very quietly, he stared directly into his locker.
Kim looked stunned, "Your Ok…then?" she asked sadly.
Ron nodded his head and chuckled, "Yea KP, I'm ok…uh…I just have to make some changes in my life and ...you know…I hope you'll at least still be my friend…and all…well I gotta run…I'll see ya KP." Ron said closing up his locker and heading off for the restroom.
Kim's lower lip quivered, "What did he mean? Didn't measure up? Going to make changes in his life? Ohhhhhhh Ron what are you doing?" She thought to herself sadly. Kim was getting a sick feeling in her stomach that Ron was drifting away and there was nothing she could do about it.
Ron went through the day in good shape; he had talked to Kim and waved to her in their classes together. Now for detention and then some well needed R&R before he begins his big work day tomorrow. After School he would run by Smarty Mart and check to see if he was up on the schedule board, then he and Rufus would head to Bueno Nacho for some snakage and then home. This seemed a good plan to Ron.
Ron began to focus on getting his homework out of the way, detention wasn't so bad, Ron noticed his grades had came up a little with the extra work he was putting in. Mr. Barkin broke Ron's concentration, "Stoppable, I gave your question some serious thought yesterday." He told Ron.
Ron had forgotten what the question was. Ron nodded, "That's great…great…and?" Ron asked expectantly.
Mr. Barkin began his well practiced monolog, "Well Stoppable, you are small and weak, so most of the manly sports are out for you." He said with confidence.
Ron gave a squeamish smile and listened. Mr. Barkin scratched his head, "So I figured, what could a boy, who is always being rescued by a girl do? What could he possibly excel at?"
Ron did not like the direction this was going.
Barkin continued, "Cross Country, Stoppable, all you have to do is run 3,000 or 5,000 meters as quick as you can." Barkin finished and was looking at Ron.
Ron blinked, "I can run…how far is 3,000 or 5,000 meters?" He asked Mr. Barkin.
Barkin put his hands on his desk and got within two inches of Ron's nose, "Not far Stoppable, not far at all, 5,000 meters is just over 3 miles. Think you can run that far?" He asked expecting a "No" answer from Ron.
Ron blinked, "I've ran before, but I never really did know how far?" He said absently.
Ron would give this some thought, this did appear to be a sport he could do.
Finally the big day had arrived, Ron's first day on the job at Smarty Mart. Ron was shown how to use his time card, and met his supervisor Mr. Dotson. He was introduced to a batch of college guys that were going to be working on the dock and stocking the shelves.
Ron figured he would probably be working with these guys once his cast was off. Mr. Dotson took Ron out front, "Since your hand is in a cast, we'll start you out in front in electronics. Keep the shelves fronted and help people if they need it. Think you can handle that Ron? Mr. Dotson asked Ron.
Ron nodded, and then Mr. Dotson continued, "Since your only here for four hours a night, you won't get a lunch but you do get a 15 minuet break. Try to take it around eight or so, just let me know before you leave the floor."
Ron was eager to start; he could already see himself driving that car.
Ron had to fight the urge to shop; he knew if he started walking around this place with any kind of money he'd always be broke. Ron fronted shelves, helped customers, and just kept busy. He made it through his first night, and was ready for more. He was disappointed he could only get 20 hours a week until school was out, but Ron was happy to be on the schedule for the rest of the week. Ron's first day at work had given him a new sense of contentment, "No more freak fighting." He thought to himself.
The Smarty Mart loading dock is a vast and mysterious place, trucks came and went at all times of the day and night. This particular store that Ron was working in was like a large city, it was a super store that sold everything from groceries to naked mole rats, it was a one stop shopping place where you could get your car serviced while you received a hair cut.
Ron arrived early on his second day so he could meet some of the other guys that he was going to be working with. They were all older than Ron, college guys that were home for summer break. He remembered one of the guys from the neighborhood he was a few years ahead of him in high school.
His name was David Willis, Ron introduced himself. David remembered him from the neighborhood, "I remember you, you used to run around with that little red headed girl from the bottom of the hill."
Ron nodded his head, "Yep that was me." He told David.
David sized Ron up, "So once you get that cast off your going to be a new dock rat, huh?" Ron nodded that he was.
Dave had a grin as he informed Ron of his nickname, "Well, around him I'm known as "Super Dave", all us dock rats have nicknames." He told Ron.
Super Dave took Ron around and introduced him to the others, "This is Angry Bob, he is in dire need of anger management." Ron shook his hand.
Bob winked at Ron, "I only get mad at The Man, never the pawns." He told Ron.
Super Dave continued the introductions, "This is Evil Ray, don't trust your women around Evil Ray or you'll find her in the back seat of his car." Ron nodded.
Ray was a good looking guy, he could see Kim crushing on him, "That would teach Princess a lesson." He thought wickedly to himself.
Super Dave went on, "Then we come to this freak of nature, 6 ft. 6 inches, 335 pounds of division 1 major college football muscle, left guard for the Penn State Nittany Lions…KONG".
Ron looked up and thought, "Wow, where was he when we were fighting Drakken?"
Kong was a monster of a man; he had long uncombed hair, body hair that if you shaved it could easily make a good carpet, and was nothing but muscle, he didn't even have a neck, the big man came up and shook Ron's small unbroken hand, "Brian Konigy" he introduced himself to Ron.
Ron was awe,"Uh…Ron…Ron Stoppable." Ron said meekly.
Kong noticed movement in Ron's pocket, "What little man have in his pocket?" He asked pointing at Ron's pants.
Ron jumped back realizing he'd seen Rufus, Ron took Rufus out of his pocket, "It's a naked mole rat…his name is Rufus." Ron said not being sure on what to expect next.
Kong bent down looked at Rufus closely; Rufus took one look at the big man and fainted in Ron's hand.
Kong nodded his head, "Kong like naked mole rat, can Kong hold him?" the giant asked Ron.
Ron was uneasy, "You're not going…to like…eat…him are you?" Ron gulped wondering if he should have even of asked.
Kong threw his massive head back and started to laugh, "No little Ron man, Kong is a vegan." Ron let the big man see Rufus, even though Rufus was unconscious.
The big man looked Rufus over, "Kong like Ron Man and Naked Mole Rat." He bellowed happily.
Super Dave slapped Ron on the back, "You got your new name, you are now Ron Man." Dave told him.
Ron smiled; he could live with that name. Super Dave still wasn't done with Kong, "Hey Kong, tell Ron Man what your majoring in at Penn State." Super Dave was smiling obviously knowing the answer.
Kong got wild eyed, "I'm majoring in FOOTBALL," then the tone of his voice changed, "and Particle Physics." He said looking more normal.
He winked at Ron, "It's more fun if people think a big guy like me is insane."
Ron nodded and laughed, "aha, ha, ha, I gotcha." Ron said happily.
Super Dave continued his brutally honest description of Kong, "One other interesting feature of Kong is he doesn't like to wear shirts, always wears shorts and never wears underwear." Super Dave informed Ron.
Kong gave a big smile, "I go commando, so nothing gets in between the ladies and me except these thin little shorts." He told everyone proudly.
Super Dave nodded, "We just hope he wipes good." Super Dave said wincing at the thought.
Ron nodded his head, "Too much information." He thought to himself.
Super Dave looked at the clock, "What time you start work Ron Man?" he asked.
Ron looked at the clock, "In about ten minuets." He told his new friend. Super Dave nodded, "Go to the time clock, and I'll catch ya later." He told Ron.
Ron spun around and walked right into a line of brand new filing cabinets, they fell like dominos. Ron winced as he heard the cabinets hitting the floor, "Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam" Ron was jumping around obviously panicked, "My bad…Sorry…My bad."
Ron was scared he had just done something to get himself fired. Super Dave just shrugged, "Don't worry Ron Man this happens all the time here, nature of the business."
Super Dave looked at Kong and yelled, "Scratch and Dent" Kong came over and they started setting the cabinets up right on the floor. S
uper Dave was sorting the damage, "This one, this one, that one's ok, I always wanted a four drawer filing cabinet in that color." He said while looking around to see if the coast was clear, then he leaned back and kicked a big dent in the side.
Ron looked at him like he was nuts. Super Dave filled him in, "Look Ron we get these ten percent discount cards, we also get to shop for damaged merchandise which gets another twenty percent knocked off the top, plus the ten percent discount card.
Ron figured it out, "So the ten percent discount becomes a thirty percent discount." Ron said appreciatively.
Super Dave nodded, "Yep, now go clock in." he told Ron.
Ron was going to like this job, there were cool guys to work with, wanton property destruction and you get paid for it too. Ron hit the clock, then went and found Mr. Dotson. Ron's assignment was exactly the same as yesterday. Hit the floor work in Electronics, front shelves, and help people. Ron smiled, "This job is spankin'" he said out loud as he went out onto the floor.