Chapter 5

Wednesday morning Dad made us a late breakfast. Pancakes had always been his special morning meal. He even microwaved some bacon.

“Nice pancakes. How’s work been going?”

“Good. I’ve got the routine down, lots of paperwork keeping track of the chemicals used to clean the boilers, and I’ve got an inspection routine I have to complete every four hours.”

“Are you working with anyone else?” I asked him.

“Not really, I check in with the boss, and then swap out with one of the other three guys on the crew. One is out sick right now, one is out on paternity leave, so I’m working lots of doubles.”

“I noticed,” I said with a grin.

“Well you are doing good getting everything set up. Loved getting that picture of the dining room. Looks really good.”

“Are you ok with the vent fan?”

“Yeah I ordered it already.”

“Wow! All by yourself?” I teased.

“I know how to do that,” he said with a slight blush.

I neglected to mention ‘The Late Christmas’, a legendary family story. He had decided to order everyone’s present online, but somehow never completed the order. My Mom finally intervened two days before Christmas. Needless to say, everything arrived, but not till January.

“Forward me the email confirmation so I can track the order,” I told him.

He fumbled with his phone, and the email arrived, confirming he bought the correct kitchen vent fan, and providing a tracking number.

“Looks good. What’s the plan for today?”

“Next rooms to paint are the downstairs hallway, then the laundry room, the utility closet, and finally the downstairs bathroom. The backyard also needs mowing.”

I looked at the weather app on my phone. “Cloudy and under 90 on Friday, can the backyard wait until then?”

“Yeah, but the front yard will need it by then as well, so plan on mowing, not painting, that day.”

“I’m going to start getting low on paint by then as well,” I told him.

He looked at his work schedule, a paper print out he kept folded in his leather phone case. “I’m only doing a single shift on Friday, starting early, so after mowing and work let’s plan on making a run to Summerville for dinner and a visit to Sherwin Williams.”

“Good, I’ll make a list for more brushes and rollers that we might need then too.”

“Sounds like a plan. Do you mind cleaning up breakfast, I need to hit the bank this morning before my shift starts.”

“You know you can deposit your check with your phone right?” I kidded.

“No, I need a $20 to add to the card for Charlie. He’s the one on paternity leave. We are all contributing for a couple months of diaper service.”

I pulled out my wallet and handed him a $20 bill. “If that gets me out of dishes, then it’s totally worth it.”

“Since when do you carry cash?” he asked.

“I got a library card, and they require a deposit towards future late books. Last time I went grocery shopping I got cash back just in case they only took checks or cash.”

He snatched up the 20, “So this is my money that you’re giving me to do dishes?”

“Worth every penny,” I told him with a wide smile.

He just chuckled while I put my dishes in the sink. A little while later as I was putting down the drop cloth in the hallway he hollered a goodbye. It took the rest of the morning to get the wall plates off, the trim cut in, and the wall sconces taped off. After lunch I rolled out the hallway, which didn’t take very long.

With the day’s work complete I headed out into the heat. I pulled up the garage door, and started looking thru the tools and equipment we had stored there. Eventually I found what I was looking for, a seven foot long steel pry bar. It had a sharp chisel edge on one end, and an inch thick steel rod on the other. It weighed a good forty pounds or more.

I lugged it up the stairs, and carefully carried it down the ladder. At the bottom of the ladder I carefully adjusted the pry bar, a small block of wood, and a wooden stir stick. I knew I couldn’t lift the block, but I could use leverage to lift it.

The pry bar slid into the tiny gap under the blocks edge, and I laid it down over the wooden block, using it as the fulcrum. Using the wall on either side to balance myself, I stepped onto the pry bar, letting my weight increase in force until the block started to lift.

Using my free leg, I kicked the paint stir stick under the block. It wedged in just enough that I could now step off the pry bar. I pulled a pair of tweezers out of my pocket, and carefully pulled out two pages of paper.

The first had ‘entry 4’ written across the top. Success!