It was late afternoon and the last of the second shipment was headed to the dock when 479 began releasing people for the day and sending then off to the dinning room for dinner.
"I must say, you did a lot better than I expected," he told Hotch. "Now, if you hurry, you will be one of the first men in the showers. And, yes, you will be eating with us in the dining room before returning to your room to sleep. Makes it easier for everyone."
"Where should I put this?" Hotch held up the clipboard he had been using.
"The weight master's office will do," 479 told him. "And, you can claim it there again tomorrow morning. Have a great evening, now." The man walked over to speak with some of the other workers.
Hotch left the clipboard in the office and then began walking towards the men's dorm.
"You did pretty good out there today, 751," one of his watchers fell in beside him. "Not at all what I expected."
"It seems you expected wrong," Hotch replied dryly. "I can keep up." While he had never bothered to develop the muscles that Morgan was so proud of, he had always worked to keep in shape.
"No question of that," the man replied. "Now, showers are in the room next to the washbasins – Towels are on the shelves just inside the door. And, afterwards, just pick up some clothes in the wardrobe room and then follow your nose to the dining hall. I strongly suspect Cook has organized quite a sizeable meal for us this evening."
"You aren't going to be trailing me?" Hotch questioned, surprised.
"No need," was the reply. "Now that everyone here knows what you look like, they'll all be keeping an eye on you."
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
After the day's exertions, Hotch quickly fell asleep and slept soundly throughout the night. Early the next morning, he was awakened by 415 unlocking the door to his cell.
"Clean clothes and breakfast," he cheerfully announced as he walked into the cell and placed the items on the foot of Hotch's cot. "It sounds like you got a good work-out yesterday." He bent down to unlock the manacle around Hotch's ankle.
"I did my share," Hotch replied shortly. "I assume I'm going back to work in the weighting shed again today?"
"You certainly are," 415 told him. "Four seventy nine asked for you specifically, so you'd better get ready. I'm sure someone will be here shortly to get you."
The day was a repeat of the previous one with Hotch helping to move the crates of mangos onto and off of the scales, while also recording the crate numbers and weights. However, when the end of the workday arrived, 479 had an additional assignment for him.
"Cook is asking for some help moving the supplies around," he explained. "It will only take a minute or two before you get cleaned up for dinner. Five thirty seven will also be helping."
"Just let me put this in the weigh master's office for the night," Hotch replied, holding up the clipboard. "I assume I'll need to go around to the back of the building?"
"That's right," was the confirmation. "Five thirty seven will meet you back there."
When Hotch got his first look at the pantry, he was immediately struck by one thing. "These shelves could really use some rebuilding," he told the woman who was supervising the two men.
"You're right," she agreed. "Three forty three keeps saying he is going to do it, but somehow he never seems to get around to it."
"I could do it," Hotch surprised himself by saying. "It wouldn't be hard."
"You can do carpentry?" the woman asked. Hotch was aware of the fact that she was trying to covertly check him out, but he tried his best to ignore it.
"A little," Hotch replied, thinking about the times he had been drafted to help Morgan work on one of his houses.
"Let me talk to Cook about that," the woman said thoughtfully. "It's really her decision, but I don't see why not."
Afterwards, as the two men walked towards the men's dorm, Hotch was aware of the fact that 537 was, for some reason, glaring at him. Idly he wondered about it.