Posted by Dusty on December 22, 1999 at 20:40:36:
(continued from Part 1)
"Trying to make the post straight up and down."
I'll help you," he said, and kicked in some dirt before I was ready.
It was after coffee break, the morning shade from the house gone now,
and the cool dark soil I'd shoveled earlier was already dry and cracked
and flaking under my boots. My headband was saturated, the sweat
beginning to burn my eyes, and this trench was taking longer than I'd
estimated; I was beginning to fear I'd given too low a price for the
work. At home there was a whole new cycle of bills coming in and I
still didn't have another job lined up after this one and I felt sure
our new baby would come any minute. I wanted to get this fence done
as quickly as I could; I actually wanted this kid to go play somewhere
else.
I asked him not to kick in any dirt until I said to. He stood quickly,
looked over the job site, then picked up the spade shovel, its handle
longer than he was.
"Now?"
I found myself nodding and he squatted and scraped a small mound of dirt
into the hole, the shovel knocking against the post. I pushed in more
and tamped it with my boot. He dropped the shovel and began to stomp
around the base of the four-by-four, his thin leg fitting all the way
into the hole, his sandal leaving nothing more than light prints in the
soil.
But we got into a rhythm. We set that post, then another, and I knew
the job wasn't going any faster with him, but not slower, either, and
as we worked I asked his name (Adam) and told him mine. Upclose I
noticed a rivulet of very fine downy hairs along the nape of his
neck, pointing downward and disappearing under his tank top. I asked
if he lived in one of the houses nearby, and did his parents know
where he was.
"My mom think I'm at my friend's. I don't have a father, just a
stepfather. Well, he's not really my stepfather, just my mother's
boyfriend. They're gonna get married when they save enough money."
A jug of spring water sat near my tool bag and Adam walked over,
uncapped it, and drank. The jug was half empty, but he had to hold
it with two hands and he spilled some onto his tank top. He put
the cap back on, then left it leaning against the tools and hurried
back to the new post hole. He looked up at me with big eager
hazel eyes. "I was thirsty."
End of Part 2