Chapter Thirty-Nine
Joesph made his way into the diner’s kitchen.
He was surprised to see that the crew that had been here deconstructing the wall where the beam was going had cleaned up after themselves.
He was able to get to the drink station unimpeded by debris on the floor.
There was a sheet of clear plastic covering the area, keeping the dust at bay.
He slipped in behind it and started the coffee machine.
He paused a moment. “I’m sure Mike will want coffee and probably the construction crew,” he said to himself. “I’ll just make a whole pot.” Setting about getting a mug. There was dust in it, but not much. He wiped a few mugs out and replaced all but one.
“Morning.” Mike was standing in the middle of the kitchen, Joesph having not heard him come in. “Looks like their doing a good job.” Mike inspected the jacks that had been placed to hold up the ceiling.
“Coffee?” Joesph asked from behind the plastic curtain.
“Yes, please.”
Mike took his coffee, blowing on it before taking a sip. “You ready for today?”
“Yes. So, they’ll first put in steel supports, horizontally, and then the support beam across?” Joesph walked to the furthest outside wall.
“That’s right.” Mike stood beside the smaller, slender man. “It’s all pretty straightforward from here. The hardest part is the engineering side of it. Getting the weight calculated and the loads correct.”
Joesph looked at Mike. “Thank you for teaching me all that yesterday. I feel much better about this project now.”
Mike smiled and nodded. “If all goes well today, and I don’t see why it wouldn’t, the only thing left is the finishing.”
“I can’t believe it’s happening so quickly.” Joesph laughed. “I’m going to have to light a fire under that cabinet maker.”
* * * * *
The sun was outlining Salzy’s profile as he demolished a second breakfast biscuit. “I don’t know how you can eat so much and not be as fat as a pig,” Jamie said, shaking his head. “I’m still full from last night.”
“I got a high metabolism.” Salzy smiled, looking at Jamie as he drove south.
Jamie pulled his phone from his jeans pocket. “I’m going to call Flo.”
“Why, hello sweetheart,” Florence answered on the first ring. “I was just about to call you. How’re you doin’?”
“I’m fine. Sorry, I couldn’t be there to see y’all off.”
“Don’t you give it a second thought. Hold on, I’m gonna put you on FaceTime so you can see and talk to everyone. We just got on the shuttle.” Florence appeared a second later. “Oh, honey, you look tired.” A concerned look on her face. “Please be kind to yourself.”
“I’m trying.” Jamie felt his smile was forced. “Everyone excited?”
There was a loud chorus of yes’s and a cheer from the back of the van. There were faces crowded around Florence, and everyone had big smiles. “We don’t know how to thank you, Jamie.” Hazel said, almost shouting. “This is the most exciting thing I’ve ever done!”
“M-me-me, too,” Timmy echoed. Jamie noticed he’d had a decent haircut. He looked handsome.
“We drove by the diner but couldn’t see in,” Walter stated. “The windows were covered over.”
“The old sign isn’t there either,” Dexter said. “It sure looks different.”
Florence had a smirk on her face. “I saw Mike’s big ol’ truck there.” She winked at Jamie.
“Yeah, he’s helping Joesph out with the new support beam.” Jamie wiped his face with his other hand.
“You’re on your way back then?” Hazel asked.
“Yep.” Jamie aimed the phone at Salzy. “Salzy and I emptied out my old apartment.”
“He’d been broken into,” Salzy said, and waved at the phone.
“Oh no!” Florence exclaimed, looking concerned. “Was it bad?”
Jamie shrugged. “It’s nothing that can’t be replaced. Just the TV and a few other things. Nothing all that important.”
“Not even bringing a whole load back,” Salzy added, leaning closer to the phone. The truck windows were down and between the wind and other traffic, it was noisy.
“We’ll prob’ly pass you on the way to the airport,” Hazel said, still almost shouting. “If ya see us, give us a wave.”
Jamie laughed. “We just passed the airport. I’ll keep an eye out for y’all.”
“Okay, sugar.” Florence pulled the phone closer to her face. “Please take care of yourself. Get some rest. I’ll call you when we get to Seattle.”
“That’ll be great. Have a safe trip, everyone.”
“Bye,” Salzy said and waved.
“Buh-bye,” Florence said, smiling.
Jamie let out a long breath.
Salzy glanced at Jamie. “You okay?”
Suddenly, without warning, Jamie burst into long wracking sobs, covering his face with both hands.
* * * * *
“Jamie didn’t look so good,” Dexter pointed out, still leaning forward across Florence’s shoulder.
“No. No, he didn’t,” Walter agreed.
Florence sighed. “He’s overdoing it. He still hasn’t taken the time to grieve over Ms. Mattie.”
“Think we should call... well, Joesph? But I don’t have his number,” Hazel said as she started scrolling through her phone.
“We could call the diner,” Minnie said, her voice small. “He may answer the phone.”
“That’s a good idea.” Florence dialled the business phone of the diner. She let it ring ten times, but there was no answer. “I’ll try again later,” she said, looking at her phone.
* * * * *
Salzy was so alarmed by Jamie’s outburst that he pulled the old truck over to the shoulder of the interstate. “Come on, Jamie. Tell me what’s wrong?”
Jamie was shielding his face and shaking his head, still crying.
Salzy pulled a bunch of napkins from the bag that had held their breakfast. He pushed them towards Jamie. “Here. Take these.”
After a few moments, Jamie took the thin brown paper napkins and held them to his eyes and nose.
“Here’s some water.” Salzy held the bottle. “Glad you thought to get some.”
“Thanks,” Jamie said, still holding the napkins to his face with one hand and taking the water with the other. “I’m sorry.”
“Man, there’s nothing to be sorry about. Just tell me what’s going on?”
“It’s... just all so much. Mamaw dying right after Papaw. The diner, my old job, my dump of an apartment... the staff... I feel like I’m trying to do everything all at once.”
Salzy scooted across the bench seat and pulled Jamie into a sideways hug. “Yeah, you’ve been through a lot. It’s no wonder it’s catching up to you.”
Jamie only nodded, still covering his face.
“Drink some water.” Salzy pushed the hand holding the plastic bottle. “It’ll help.”
There was a long sigh from Jamie. He wiped his eyes and blew his nose. He unscrewed the cap and took a long drink of water. “I’m okay.”
Salzy tightened his hug for a moment before righting himself behind the steering wheel. “Okay, then. Let’s get you home.”
* * * * *
“Hello,” Joesph answered his phone, not looking at the caller ID.
“Hey, Joesph,” Salzy said, almost whispering. “We just made a stop at a rest area. We’re about an hour away.”
“Hi, Sal. Everything going okay?”
“No.” Salzy took a deep breath. “Jamie’s in the bathroom. He had a total meltdown a while ago. He’s not looking so good.”
“What happened?” Joesph walked out back and sat at one of the new tables, running his hand across the smooth surface.
“He’d just hung up from talking to Flo and everyone, and then he just broke down, and I do mean completely broke.”
“Well, shit.” Joesph closed his eyes. “Did he say what brought it on?”
“Yeah. I only got a second before he comes out, so if I hang up on you, that’s why.
” There was a loud screech from a big semi that came to a stop.
“He said it was about his grandparents, and his apartment, which was broken into, by the way, and then the diner. He feels like he’s been dumped on, which is true. ”
“Yes, very true.” Joesph looked around the back parking lot and saw Mike’s truck, and Jamie and Joesph’s car parked up close to the garage.
The front parking lot was full of various trucks of the crew who were inside, preparing for the steel to be delivered.
“Just bring him home. I’ll try and think of something. .. to do. Not sure what.”
“I think a couple of beers or booze, a good meal, and sleep would be the best thing right now. Bye.”
Salzy put his phone back in his pocket as Jamie approached. “Feel better?”
Jamie tried to smile as he nodded, but it didn’t look like much of one. His eyes were red. “Let’s go.” Jamie got into the truck and faced forward.