Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
E van made sure to head to work extra early today.
It was the first day for the new guy. The one who was Deaf.
It would be nice to have someone else who spoke fluent ASL.
A lot of the other guys had gotten used to his voice and speech and could understand him well enough when it came to the job.
Talking about other things, personal life, et cetera … That was much harder.
He thought about the most recent date he’d had with Mercedes.
It had been more traditional than the others, and he wasn’t sure why he’d put it in the pile of cards.
After playing games at an arcade, shopping at a farmer’s market, ax throwing, taking a pottery class, and visiting an animal shelter to play with and walk some of the dogs, on the last date, they’d gone to dinner and a movie.
The restaurant had been mid-priced with good food, but Mercedes had gotten upset when the waitress flirted with him. He hadn’t even realized it happened. To make her feel better, he’d showered her with compliments. She’d blushed.
“You better watch out. If you keep saying all these lovely things to me, I won’t want to ever get rid of you. You’ll be stuck with me forever.”
He’d stared at her intently and remained solemn. “I’m totally okay with that. But it means you’ll be stuck with me, too.”
“Sounds like a win-win situation for both of us.”
He’d definitely won with Mercedes. She’d even reserved a closed caption device so he could understand the movie better and remembered that he usually hated movies because it was hard to follow the plot if there was too much dialog.
They’d held hands throughout the movie, forgoing popcorn since they’d just eaten. Toward the end of the movie, when the hero and heroine narrowly escaped death, the main characters fell into a clinch, and soon a sexy romantic scene played before them.
She rubbed Evan’s hand, then signed, Are you getting any ideas?
Lots of ideas. Should I write them on a card, or do you think we’ll remember them?
She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek. If you forget, I’ll remind you.
He hadn’t needed any reminding, not with the beautiful woman at his side.
But he needed to get his head back in the present day.
He reported to the administrative trailer as soon as he got there. Vince was waiting inside with a young man, possibly Evan’s age.
“Thanks,” Vince signed, one of the few signs he knew. Then, he pulled out his phone and spoke into the screen. Evan’s phone vibrated.
—Thanks for coming in early. This is Jake.
I’ve got you both working on the cleanup near the new on-ramp.
You’ll be on the skid steer, and he’s got shovel duty as the newbie.
I’d like you to show him the procedures for each of the jobs we do and make sure he also knows all the safety protocols.
If he’s got any questions, answer them. That should get you through today. —
“You’ve got it,” Evan signed and voiced. His boss nodded and spoke into his phone.
—Check in at the end of the day. I’d like a status report on how he’s doing. If you run into any problems, let me know. You’ve been here long enough, I figure you can handle most of the issues we commonly deal with.—
Evan gave him a thumbs up, then said to Jake, Did you punch in, yet? When the man nodded, he said, Come on, let’s go.
The man followed him outside, and Evan headed toward the equipment shed. Where did you work before this?
Jake shrugged. I did custodial work at a factory in Boston. Kind of a crappy job. This paid more.
Evan grinned at the guy. This job is hardly neat and clean. We’re dealing with dirt and heavy equipment. You’ll be covered in grease and dust every day. I won’t even kiss my girlfriend before I hit the shower at night.
You live with your girlfriend? Is she hot? The man’s eyebrows went up with excitement.
Evan didn’t talk about Mercedes much at work, even though some of the guys had seen her when he got his stitches out.
It was simply too difficult to translate some of what he wanted to say about her, and he never wanted anyone to misunderstand him.
He wouldn’t have that issue with Jake, so he dug out his phone and scrolled through his pictures.
The one of them at Carli and Blake’s wedding was perfect.
Fancy get up. You always dress like that? the man joked.
My sister’s wedding a few weeks ago.
Your girlfriend is gorgeous. She Deaf, too? Jake asked.
No, but she roomed with my sister for years and my whole family is Deaf. Mercedes is fluent in ASL. Is your family around?
Frowning, Jake nodded. Yeah, but they’re all hearing and aren’t great at signing. You got a sister who isn’t married?
Evan laughed. I do, but don’t ask me to hook you up. Not until we work together for a lot longer and I know you’re good people.
Seems fair. Do you like working here?
Evan thought about that for a few moments.
I do. You don’t need a college degree, though you do need some common sense and a good work ethic.
Vince is decent to work for, and most of the guys leave you alone if that’s what you want.
It’s a physical job, so if you don’t like working up a sweat, I’d reconsider taking the position.
Jake shook him off. I don’t mind putting in an effort, but I can’t stand when my co-workers treat me like I’m stupid. At my last job, the others thought, because I was deaf, I also wasn’t very smart.
Evan understood that unfortunately. When you didn’t speak clearly or understand what others said, too often people thought your cognitive abilities were impaired as well as your hearing.
“Listen to my directions and make sure to follow all the procedures, especially the safety ones. One tiny mistake and you can end up in the hospital or worse, dead.” Evan rolled up his sleeve and showed him the scar from the drainpipe incident.
This is because one of the new guys didn’t listen to directions and wasn’t paying attention.
It came with a concussion as well and a few days out of work.
I’d prefer not to visit the emergency room again.
Jake nodded his head ferociously. What do I start with?
Evan grimaced. Unfortunately, when you’re new, you start at the bottom. That means either flag duty or clean up. Since you’re deaf and can’t use a walkie-talkie, you get cleanup. Hope you know your way around a shovel and broom.
Jake made a face. I thought I’d be driving a bulldozer or something.
All the newbies wanted to jump on the large work vehicles.
We all start at the bottom. If you do a good job and show you can be part of the team, you get to train on some of the equipment.
I’ll be on the skid steer today, which is the smallest of the machines.
It moves dirt around and levels the ground.
Today, we’re grading the area that we bulldozed over the last few weeks.
We have to make sure the dirt is level and packed tight.
So what do I do with a shovel?
Evan explained the job today and what the expected outcome was to be over the next week.
Jake listened and asked questions at times.
Hopefully, he was actually paying attention and not just giving lip service.
It was strange using sign so much at work.
Usually, he got his assignment and started.
Yet his job today was to mentor Jake and make sure he knew the rules and procedures.
When he showed Jake the best way to use the shovel for the situation, he saw the man tighten up. I know how to shovel.
I’m sure you do. However, I remember when I first started, my mentor thought I knew how to do everything and basically left me alone.
There were things that I wasn’t sure about, but I didn’t want to ask, because I thought it might make me look stupid.
I ended up looking that way anyhow because there were easier ways to accomplish the task.
Nobody bothered to tell me what they were, though.
Often, they just figured I couldn’t understand them.
Do they still do that? Jake’s expression showed anxiety.
No, I’ve been here for years and have earned the respect of my co-workers by doing the best I can and following directions. I work on quite a few pieces of equipment and have plans to take the next level test for more responsibility.
That seemed to get to the newbie, and Evan sighed.
The rest of the day went by with few incidents.
There were several times he had to correct him, but he tried to do it with patience and humor.
Evan smiled when quite a few of the men gave him approving looks or a thumbs up.
He’d never thought of himself as mentor material but kind of liked the responsibility.
His reading level didn’t affect his ability to impart directions and share his experiences.
He simply needed knowledge and common sense.
At the end of the day, Evan showed up at Vince’s office and checked in with him.
“I think Jake’s going to do okay. A few little glitches, but he paid attention.”
Vince gave him an encouraging smile. “You’re good at this. Thank you. Keep it up.”
Evan was able to read his lips, but then Vince took out his phone and spoke into it. —How’s the Level Two book coming along?—
His stomach clenched, but then he thought about how much he and Mercedes had done and everything he’d learned from it. “Almost done. Still studying.”
—If you have any questions or have a hard time with something, don’t be afraid to ask for help. I’m here for you if you need it. I really want to give you more responsibility, especially after seeing how good you were mentoring Jake today. We need people with your work ethic on the jobsite.—
Pride burst inside him, and he tried to keep a grin from taking over his face. “Thank you. I’ll keep working at it.”
After the praise he’d just received, he was determined to study harder than ever. He couldn’t wait to go home and share this news with Mercedes. After all, she was part of the reason he’d gotten this far, and it was only right to celebrate with her.