Chapter Fifteen
Clint
The high I was on from finally getting my hands on Jessie lasted only until my phone rang Sunday night.
I recognized the number as my father. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk to him.
It just didn’t seem like we had anything in common anymore.
He wasn’t the man I thought he was if even half the crimes he was accused of were true.
And my life didn’t resemble the life I’d had before he was arrested.
Still, I accepted the charges and answered. “Hey, Dad. How are you?”
“Clint. Good. Listen. They weren’t able to make the charges stick against Cecil.” He paused as if I was supposed to know what that meant.
Cecil was the head of the Finance department at Kingston Financial Group. How the hell he had avoided charges, I had no idea.
“How did–”
“This whole thing was blown out of proportion, but that isn’t the point. Listen.” He always had a way of making my spine straighten. “All he had to do was threaten to sue for wrongful dismissal and libel and Kingston Financial Group rehired him.”
I didn’t reply. This wasn’t adding up.
“Call him. He’ll rehire you. You can quit that job you’ve been doing and pay my lawyers to get me out of this place.”
My heart started to pound. If I had gotten this call after my first day on the construction site, I would have been all over it. Now? When I had gotten used to what it was like to make my own decisions, even with very few options, going back to the way things were was a hard pill to swallow.
The logical thing to do was call Cecil immediately and do exactly as my father said.
Simple.
After a paycheck or two I’d be on my way back to my old life.
No more clipping coupons or buying off-brand groceries.
No more counting every dime and sleeping on scratchy sheets.
There’d be no more heavy equipment, no more joking with the equipment operators on their breaks.
No more Larry bringing me fresh vegetables or parties at Greg’s.
There’d be no more Jessie.
“Oh, and when you get back on at Kingston, hire Mark.”
This pulled me out of my head. “What? Why would I do that?”
He breathed out like I was wasting his time. “Mark hired you when you needed it and now you hire him at a better salary than that dirt pit where you work . He scratched your back, you scratch his. One hand washes the other.”
“No.” I was surprised to hear the words leave my own mouth.
“What do you mean no?”
“I mean no. I don’t even know if I want to go back to Kingston, and if I did, I wouldn’t hire Mark. He hired me for a job that was already filled. Did you know that? And besides, he hasn’t been around since I started. He didn’t train me. He isn’t the kind of employee you want working for you.”
He laughed. Not a little giggle but a long, loud laugh. “Oh, son, you are so naive. You get it from your mother. Of course, you’ll go back to Kingston and hire Mark. I don’t care if the job was already filled. You do what you have to do in business. Now, call Cecil.”
He hung up without further preamble. How much of what happened in my life was orchestrated behind my back?
The conversation was still on my mind when Jessie picked me up for work Monday morning. We took my car since her truck was waiting on parts. When we entered the office, I was surprised to see Mark sitting behind the desk.
“Mark, any news on the vandalism situation?” I asked.
He blinked at me like he’d forgotten. “Oh, no. Insurance paperwork has been filed. The rest is up to the cops to figure out.”
“Well, machines have all been checked over and we are basically back to business as usual,” Jessie said.
“Good. Good. How’s the ankle?” he asked, gesturing towards my cast with his chin. His tone was thick with fake sympathy.
“It’s healing.”
He nodded. “Can I talk to you alone Clint?” He gave Jessie a meaningful look and she nodded before grabbing her hard hat and heading back out the door.
“You talk to your father?”
I nodded, my stomach in knots. I was the vulnerable one here. I was the one with less in my bank account than it took to fill my tank with gas. I hated having to pick between my integrity and the roof over my head.
I’d also thought about how supportive everyone here had been since I arrived.
I’d grown up around millionaires and billionaires who would hide money to avoid paying taxes or only help a charity if it got their name in the paper.
Then I came here and met people who, if they only had a sandwich to their name, would give you half.
They knew what it was like to suffer and so they helped ease it in those around them. This may be the stupidest decision I ever made but it was my decision to make. “I did, and I am not going to do what he wants.”
Mark furrowed his brow.
I ran a hand through my hair. “Look, I didn’t know that this was a tit for tat situation when you hired me, okay? If you want to call Cecil yourself and get a job with Kingston, then all the power to you, but I can’t be involved in this anymore. Not after working here.”
Mark laughed. “Oh, come on, Clint. You knew what this was. Why would I hire someone who knew nothing if not as a favor?”
“A favor, sure, but not a transaction. I’m sure you can still get on at Kingston if that’s what you want. My father will back it and Cecil will make it happen. I’m staying here. I can’t go back to being under his thumb.”
He studied me for a second then walked over to the door and called Jessie back in.
“Have a seat you two.” His face was a mask of friendliness that I now saw through. “As you both know, we only need one supervisor on this site and the decision has been made. Jessie, congratulations. You’ve got the job.” He turned to look at her and so did I.
I should know by now never to think I know what Jessie is thinking. I was expecting her to be excited, or at least, happy. Instead, she pursed her lips. “So, he doesn’t get proper training, gets injured and is penalized for it?”
Mark’s eyebrows dropped. “Well, the training he should have gotten was supposed to be done by you, so I don’t know why you would want to pull at that particular string. Furthermore, his loss is your gain. So again, what’s your point?”
She squared her shoulders. “I’m thankful to finally have the job that I was promised, but Clint is a hard worker.
Since you haven’t been around, I would never have gotten through the office part of the job without his help.
” Her hand landed on my knee but she pulled it back quickly.
“I just don’t want to see him tossed out in the cold when he’s done so much for the company. ”
“I admire your loyalty,” Mark said in a tone that suggested the exact opposite.
“And Clint, this is an unusual situation. Typically, our managers and supervisors have a background in heavy equipment operation or a Red Seal, so we can find them a job in another area of the company. Since you don’t have that, there are less options. ”
So that was it then.
If I stood by my morals, I’d be unemployed.
No doubt if I pulled Mark aside and agreed to do what he and my father wanted, a position would suddenly be found for me.
I was on the other side of a system that had always worked in my favor.
If I really disagreed with a rigged system, I’d have to prove it .