On the Seventh Day, He Rested – A Homer Smith Story
By Dirk Wickenden
On 24th May 1844, Samuel Morse sent the first long-distance telegraph message, 'What hath God wrought?' from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore.
-1-
Homer Smith entered El Paso. Despite his unintended, extended stay in Arizona with the nuns and orphans just before Christmas, the work was still there. His camper van arrived at the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, situated at 500 Texas Avenue, North Campbell Street. Homer switched the engine off, climbed out from under the steering wheel and walked across the dusty parking lot, to the main building. His remit was to erect a long stretch of wooden poles alongside the highway, for the linesmen to then connect up. He opened the door and went inside.
'Howdy' he said to the young woman behind the desk, cracking a typical Homer Smith smile.
'Doreen! Quick! It's that guy from that TV movie with James Caan, Billy Dee Williams!' she shouted to a colleague in another office, who came running out.
'Mr. Williams! We loved you in 'Brian's Song'!' Doreen enthused, whilst Jennifer felt faint.
'I think you're mistaking me for someone else, ma'am' Homer said. Being on the road, he rarely saw a TV or cinema screen. 'I'm Homer Smith – got some work lined up for the company'.
'That's right – I'm sorry, Mr. Smith. Why Mr. Williams would be down here, I don't know' said Jennifer, blushing. She buzzed the manager, Gregory Fitzwallace. He came out of his office to see Homer.
'Hello, Mr. Smith. Glad to have you onboard. Where are you staying?' Fitzwallace asked.
'Oh, I got me a bed in the back of my van' Homer responded, greeted with a raised eyebrow.
'We're paying top dollar, it's long hard work, Mr, Smith' explained Fitzwallace.
'I'm used to that - I'm at my best when I'm busy'.
'Well, let's get the paperwork settled, then I'll take you to see the foreman overseeing the project' Fitzwallace said. 'Say – you look a bit like that actor, Sidney Poitier, anyone ever tell you that?'
'Doreen and I thought more like Billy Dee Williams, Greg' Jennifer piped up.
-2-
'Bill, this is Homer Smith – Homer, this is the foreman, Bill Jenkins. He'll show you what to do' Fitzwallace said.
'Howdy, Mr. Jenkins' Homer greeted. Jenkins grunted a response, as Fitzwallace took his leave.
'Right boy, we're digging holes along the side of the road, then mounting posts in them. Our job is to situate the poles in the holes, whilst Sam here pours in the tarmac' Jenkins said in a perfunctory manner. Calling Homer 'boy' told Homer all he needed to know about the man. The work was not difficult but hauling the huge wooden poles aloft was hard and Homer was grateful when it was the lunchbreak. Towards the end of the break, before Jenkins had returned, a lineman asked Homer if he wanted to see how they tested the line. He climbed up the pole as shown and the lineman connected two crocodile or alligator clips to the wires and bid Homer have a listen on the earpiece. He thought he could hear someone talking.
'That's just wind in the wires. Often mistaken for chatter. Interesting, yeah?' the lineman, Ralph Nelson, said and Homer climbed back down to the ground, ready to continue the hard graft. Homer knuckled down and it was soon the end of the working day. He caught a ride back to where he'd parked his car at Southwestern and drove to a nearby Mexican restaurant, Alexandro's on East Overland Avenue. He settled for some chicken molé, a sweet and spicy South American stew with chillies, nuts, seeds, spices, dried fruit and chocolate, washed down with a beer and he topped his dinner off with an arroz con leche dessert – a Mexican rice pudding and chased down with a couple of cups of strong black coffee. He then parked up his camper van near the foot of the Franklin Mountains and bedded down for the night.
-3-
The next morning, Homer found some breakfast at a diner of ham and eggs, washed down with fresh orange juice and a cup of coffee. He then went to work. The men had a bit of a bet going on, who could get the most telephone poles in place by the end of the day and then overall at the end of the week. Beginners luck, he had won the first day, day two he was lagging behind, as he took his break with Nelson, the lineman.
'How's it going hooking things up?' Homer asked, pouring a coffee from his flask.
'Going well, we'll have the whole stretch completed by the end of the week, with great workers like you, Homer. Having a bet on the outcome helps the others!' Nelson commented.
'It's back breaking work but it's a change' Homer said. Then foreman Jenkins signalled the end of the break and it was back to work. Come day five, Homer was in the lead. The winner got the winning pot, which stood at $100.
-4-
On the sixth day of Homer's work for Southwestern, a truck arrived with more telephone poles. The truck stopped and out jumped Jenkins from the passenger seat, walking round to the rear. Homer glanced up and saw the stack of poles start to roll off the back of the flatbed. 'Look out!' he shouted at Jenkins. Homer rushed and pushed Jenkins out of the way, taking the brunt of the impact himself. He lay half under the stack of poles. The foreman stood up, shaken up and ran to haul the poles off of Homer.
'Call an ambulance!' someone shouted and a while later one arrived, sirens sounding and lights blazing. Homer was out of it, knocked senseless. Jenkins rode in the ambulance with him. At Southwestern General Hospital situated on the corner of Cotton Avenue, they wheeled Homer straight in.
-5-
'You were very lucky, Mr. Smith' Dr. Goldsmith said, looking at an X ray. No bones broken, just severe bruising. That's about the closest to a miracle I'll ever come'.
'Thanks, doc' Homer said, laying back in the bed, as Jenkins came into the room.
'Homer, I gotta say thanks for what you did. I spoke to Mr. Fitzwallace, he said not to worry, Southwestern's footing the hospital bill' Jenkins explained, with clearly a change of heart 'seems the driver didn't secure the poles down enough. Mr. Fitzwallace has fired the driver'.
'Thanks, man, could have been a lot worse, counting my blessings – no broken bones, that would have put me out of action for months' Homer said, 'but please would you ask Mr. Fitzwallace to consider reinstating the driver, maybe with just a warning – a man needs a wage'.
'Homer, that's a very graceful thing to say' a voice from the doorway said – Greg Fitzwallace had arrived. 'I'll call Perez soon as I'm done here. Homer, the work is completed, day six, on schedule – thanks for your help and sorry this happened' and he handed Homer his paypacket.
'Say, Mr. Jenkins – Bill - you know the bet the men had going, who won?' Homer asked.
'You were in the lead til the accident, Homer. Lopez won today – here' and Jenkins handed Homer another envelope, containing a hundred dollars. 'You'd have won the six days overall, if you hadn't been in here – the guys and I decided you deserved it'. Homer had a tear in his eye and said thanks. Jenkins and Fitzwallace said their farewells.
'One of the nurses wants to see you, Mr. Smith' Dr. Goldsmith related and in walked a petite black nurse.
'Homer it is you!' she said and Homer's jaw dropped.
'Oh boy – Hope!'
'Thirteen years ago, Homer. I left Elkhart a decade ago and trained as a nurse. You know I had decided to go with you but by the time I made the decision, you'd gone'.
'Almost a decade and a half – it doesn't seem that long to me. Oh Hope, I shouldn't have just upped and left, I waited for you outside but I had to get back on the road' it all came flooding back to Homer.
'I understand, I think. Where did you go after?'
'Went round, working. Ended up in Los Angeles last year, then back to the chapel I built back in '63'.
'I visited it when I was coming here last year – I missed you by months, it seems' Hope said.
'Let's leave Mr. Smith to his rest, now and you have rounds to do' the doctor said, looking kindly at Hope.
'I'll see you later' Homer said, holding her hand.
'You will – this time' Hope replied, a tear in her eye.
-6-
Homer was released from hospital the next morning and he returned to his camper van, climbed under the steering wheel gingerly and drove to Hope's apartment. They caught up over a meal and it was as if the thirteen years hadn't passed. Hope listened to Homer about his travels before and after Elkhart. He didn't usually talk about himself but with Hope, it was so different, he felt comfortable and they spent a couple of days together. Then Homer felt a familiar itch; he needed to find work, he didn't feel whole unless he was working. When Hope went to the hospital for her shift, he bought a local paper and looked for anyone needing a handyman or builder. He secured another week's work in Nogales, Mexico and promised Hope faithfully, he'd be back and he believed it himself. The week passed quickly, it was easy but rewarding work and he actually had a small team of men under his leadership. Homer led by example, doing more than his fare share of the work, lifting, building and repairing. He felt happy to be returning to El Paso at the end of the job and to see Hope at her apartment. But there was no sign of her. He went to the hospital but they said she had taken time off. Homer didn't know what to do. He got in his van and drove and for some reason, he ended up returning to Arizona and to the warm welcome of the nuns. They were surprised but pleased to see him, even Mother Maria cracked a smile in her usually stern countenance. Then the group of nuns parted and there was Hope. Although brought up a Baptist like Homer, she had wanted time in his chapel, to know for sure that her future with Homer was what the Lord wanted for her. Homer took Hope back to El Paso and that very future.
-7-
Homer had been lucky scoring a steady flow of top paying jobs that had started with Southwestern. He bought himself a plot of land and again worked for no pay – this time, to build a home of his own. Homer used, in part, some adobe bricks, just like in the chapel – his chapel - in Arizona and he carved a plaque for the front porch, with a cross on it. This was his home, his other chapel. He didn't really hold to attending a church building regularly; he had found God in his work, in his travels, in the landscape across America, in the people he encountered. Homer and Hope were married at the El Paso Baptist church and in time, they welcomed a baby girl, whom they named Lily, in honour of Mother Maria Marthe, who had taught him about the values of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, as related in the book of Matthew.
-8-
When Lily was a few months old, one evening Homer stepped out onto the porch, to watch the sun dipping below the horizon. The adobe walls appeared to shine gold in the glow of the sun and he traced his fingers over the carved cross. He breathed in the air and thought that he'd never sought out recognition, never stopped building or fixing up. He had done what he could, whenever and wherever. Now was the time to stay, not go, as he so often quietly had. Homer was a man of quiet faith, his body strengthened by outdoor work in all weathers and his mind full of grace. He looked at the edge of the porch and growing wild there – untamed, were flowers. They did not labour nor spin. Yet that not even Solomon in all his splendour, was dressed like one of these, as they sought the receding sunlight. The lilies of the field.
Amen