Chapter 36

Thursday was Christmas day. Of course we did not work at all that day. I for one rode the tricycle almost all day. I found a restaurant open in the plaza. It was a cafeteria, so I went there for lunch. I even had turkey. It wasn't great, but at least I felt like it was traditional. No one anywhere was open in the evening, so I made myself a grilled cheese sandwich then went to the net to find other people like me.

On Friday morning when I arrived at the church site the only thing standing were the rocks of the dry stack foundation. Those were common to old buildings like barns and houses in the area. Sort of flat stones were piled on top of each other to create piers. They comprise the support for the buildings. Something about how they were stacked and the distribution of the weight of the building made them very stable.

Usually, some of them at least, went down to what the old men in the area call the living stone of the mountain. We had a dozen dry stacks. Some were larger than others because they supported more weight from the roof.

Carlos, Juan, Jose, and I all worked on the stacks. We carefully removed the stones and stacked them in a spot at the rear of the parking lot. We were all through with the demolition in exactly six working days. The cost to me was almost $1,600 in labor. I had another hundred in plastic sheets to cover the lumber and about thirty for a hammer and pry bar. You might as well figure just a little under seven grand in all. On the up side we were ready to build.

Some of that research I did on the web had been on 'little house' plans. They billed themselves as adaptable to anything. My plan was to adapt the plan to a cabin in the woods. It was also my plan to build a cabin I could live in. I figured if I could live in it, other people would find it appealing. Men could get off on the rough shit, and women would appreciate my girlie additions, like a shower. Men might buy a cabin that had no way to fight off their body odor for a week or so, but women? I didn't think so.

The floor plan I stole from the net did not have a structural plan. For that I was relying on Carlos and Juan to wing it. The building was sixteen feet wide and twenty four feet long with no real interior walls. When I showed it to Carlos he looked at me and then at the piles of lumber. Juan rattled off enough Spanish to be a speech. He took a pen from me, Then drew a very rough drawing of the end wall.

"The Roof," Carlos said. "Must support a lot of snow without falling through. It must also allow snow to slide off when it melts."

"Yes I understand that," I said.

"Juan thinks because the house is narrow the way to do it is to make one wall sixteen feet high and one eight feet high. That would give you enough slope to drain the roof, but it would be a bitch to work on. I think a shorter rear wall with heavier construction materials would be better, so you must decide."

"So what would I have to buy with the different roofs?" I asked.

"With Juan's roof nothing. We have all the material here. With my design some 6x6 posts and some large beams. Maybe $500 dollars in all," Carlos said.

"I don't want to buy any more new lumber unless there is no other way, so let's build it with Juan's roof plan. That is, if it's safe," I said.

"Oh it is safe, just a bitch to work on," Carlos said still hoping to change my mind.

"Do it then," I said. "What can we do the rest of this afternoon."

"We can layout the foundation lines and maybe arrange for the digging," Carlos said to me.

Carlos had a friend who owned a trencher. Once the stakes and strings were in the ground his friend would come and dig the frozen ground with his trencher. We could never dig it by hand, I was assured.

"Lay the lines for two cabins. One up near the road and one to the right and farther back," I said.

"Why," Carlos asked.

"I have no idea, it just seems like the thing to do," I said.

The one back the most would occupy a part of the old church space. The one nearer the road would occupy the space the church used for picnics on the grounds. Carlos was on the cell phone most of the time, while he and Juan laid out the foundation. Around 2 PM he finished the strings.

"I got hold of my friend, he will try to trench it tomorrow. He says the ground can only be trenched in the afternoon, so he will be here then. If it were summer we could never get him on this short of a notice," Carlos explained.

"How long will it take, and how much will it cost?" I asked.

"The complete afternoon at least and he wants $500 dollars," he said.

Carlos should never play poker, I thought. "Carlos tell him I have $300 budgeted and that all I have," I said.

Carlos spoke into the phone and then said, "$350 cash and he will try to finish tomorrow by five."

"Done," I said. It was a dance I was learning to do well, since I started to deal with Carlos and his friends.

"You are going to need the concrete blocks for the foundation. Juan and I could lay the piers but we can not lay the blocks and get them straight that is a skill we have no desire to learn. However we do have a friend, who works for a company that does foundations. Juan said he is not working for them this time of year. We think he will do the work for you more reasonably than the company," Carlos said.

"How much and how long," I asked.

"I am guess three days for both foundations. He would work for $100 dollars a day, I am sure," Carlos said. "Only if you furnish everything."

"See if you can get him for Monday. Also tell him to give you a list of what we need to buy for him," I demanded. "Tell him the crazy bitch you are working for will be checking up on him to be sure he works a full day. He might as well know that just because I am a woman I take no shit."

If all went well, we would be back on site and building by the middle of next week. Since it was 3 PM on Friday I paid the guys for a full day. "So do you want me to swing by Home Depot and buy the necessary blocks and mortar for your foundation man. If you want to work tomorrow you can pick the material or I can have them deliver it since there is time, either one would work for me," I said.

"I don't really like carrying that kind of load on my truck," Carlos said. "I would like to go with you to pick up the nails and roof straps we will need. We could also get the roofing material and have it all delivered at one time. Then I wouldn't have to carry that heavy load in the truck either."

"That makes good sense. If we need a few two by fours later, one of us can run out for them. At least the heavy stuff will be on site," I said.

I found that I needed nine squares of roofing at a cost of about four hundred dollars and about nine hundred dollars worth of blocks and mortar. By the time I bought roofing straps and nails and other stuff Carlos needed I had almost $1500 dollars on the bill. That bill I paid with my prepaid debit card.

The commercial account clerk assured me the material would be on site by the end of the next day. Just in case they missed their delivery date and time, they would make mine the first delivery Monday morning. Carlos left me to go home to his family. I headed to my empty house.

It was too early for dinner, but not for a long hot shower and a good scrubbing of my hair. I had done both on Christmas day, which was only the day before, but before I began work on the houses I washed my hair daily. So it wasn't unusual that I scrubbed it over and over to get all the grease out of it. When I finished, I sat by the fire with a cup of coffee and brushed it every ten minutes. It helped it dry, but it also gave my hair the illusion of even more body.

I knew for sure that I was going to be bored. Even more than a visit to the adult rooms could cure. I broke down and called Jeremy and Alice. I had a huge fruit basket delivered to their house for Christmas a few days earlier. They sent me a fancy fruitcake, but I didn't hold that against them.

"Hey Alice would you like to go clubbing with me tonight?" I asked.

"I can't but why don't you come to our place for drinks. We are having a few friends over," She suggested. "I think you might find it interesting."

"Do I have to wear fancy underwear?" I asked with a laugh.

"You know that is always optional in our house." She did laugh as she said it.

"You are just trying to keep me out of trouble, but sure. What time do I and my red see through panties show up?" I asked.

"You can come anytime, but most likely the fun won't start before nine," she said.

A quick glance at the large advertising clock told me I had at least three hours before I needed to leave. "Fair enough, can I bring anything?" I asked.

"No everything is taken care of," she said.

I checked building plans even though my shell was set in stone. I could still move the interior fixtures about. Since that was the case I kept right on checking on interior small house plans right up till time to dress for the party.

First I went back into the bathroom and carefully shaved my pubic hair. Then I did indeed slip into a pair of red lace panties. They were totally impractical, but they covered my most private parts while giving the illusion that they didn't cover anything. Then I pull up a pair of stockings and attached them to a garter belt that drove men wild. To cover my breasts I wore a shinny gold blouse whose first button was well below my breasts. To cover the red panties and garter belt I wore a skirt that was mid thigh length. Nothing showed when I stood but everything showed when I sat down if one were looking from the front. I had been told by the teenage store clerk that I shouldn't spread my legs in that skirt. I most likely would choose to ignore that piece of advice.

When I prepared to leave the house a few minutes after doing my hair and make up, I slipped on the longish camo military cut jacket from Walmart's sporting goods section. It made one hell of a contrast, I had to admit.

The three hundred yard drive up the mountain to Jeremy and Alice's was uneventful. Not so the drive into their place. There were cars everywhere. I found a place to park and hiked up to the house. There was a sign on the door. 'Welcome to Jeremy and Alice's After Christmas Orgy.' Well at least they were honest about it. I wondered why I hadn't been invited, till I invited myself. Sometime during the party I would ask someone that question, I decided.

"Well hello neighbor," Jeremy said. He seemed stone cold sober. I wondered if he were saving himself.

"Thanks," I said as he made way for me to enter. "You have no idea how lucky you men are. Nights like this in an outfit like this will give a girl pneumonia."

"Yeah but on you it would look so damn good," he said. It made no sense but I laughed anyway. "Come on in and get a drink."

The drink buffet had lots of wines and beer. There were bottles of liquor as well. I settled for a glass of red wine. "Are you finding everything," Alice asked.