CHAPTER 3
It was another shit day for Dusty. Seven years with a stair manufacturing company that purposely kept his earnings a dollar more than an entry level fast food job position so that he would never leave. Today he would earn his $8.50 an hour and then some. The "then some" he would never see but he had a pretty good idea where it would end up. His boss's daughters college tuition. A special stipend just for the preppy girls. The same kind of girls he remembered from high school that treated him as if he was nothing more than a demented shadow that crawled along the walls and stalked everybody. He still had images buried deep inside of his mind of the field hockey girls rolling their eyes at him when the teacher called on him for a question.
Old Milwalkee and delivering stair cases. That's exactly what Dusty would forever be known for. He couldn't possibly keep up with his boss that went home every night to an icy cold glass of scotch on the rocks but at least he wasn't at the very bottom of low life's that resorted to a six pack of 4.99 Natural Ice trying to get their money's worth because it was cheap and had a 5.9% alcohol content. Dusty was just Dusty. Old Milwalkee and stairs. And oh...purported rumors that because of his looks and reclusiveness he could be the next Columbine shoot em up kid. He had no criminal record so employment was never a problem for him but several weeks when the latest shoot em up hit the news he did over hear one of his mouthy coworkers state..."Hey ya never know...Dusty could be the next one"
The comment bothered him and later he had spent the entire night drinking it off but his relationship with his mother was close and that's what kept him going. Despite his low wages, despite his monthly rent to his parents, Dusty still managed to drive and keep up a descent looking vehicle. A cherry red Jeep Cherokee as a matter of fact.
The winds kicked up in Lakewood NJ which was common for a town right next to a beach. The foreboding clouds grew darker but Dusty never felt threatened by even the darkest of clouds. As a lumper of an old school run stair company Dusty had endured working in some mighty inclement weather and it appeared that his driver didn't want to get his new pumas all muddy today. Why should he care? He wasn't getting paid $14.00 an hour. He was practically getting half that.
The box truck driver did his best to goad Dusty in a positive way to get the stairs delivered before the rainstorm that loomed in the distance. Dusty really hated this particular driver. He was new and screwed up almost every address. Dusty was also jealous of this particular driver's furtive little "trust fund" that his parents had left him that he didn't want the other coworkers knowing anything about.
Willy the company driver walked sideways a bit faster as the two of them carried a 15 rise oak combination stair along a job site towards a house under construction.
"Come on Dusty! We can go faster! The temp has dropped and were gonna get pissed on any minute from now....can't you see those dark clouds?"
Dusty's ego was no different from that mule Egore from the Berensteine Bears. Dusty was a true blue collar take no shit from nobody kind of guy. He made a special point of not looking towards the dark clouds heading their way.
"So....what do you want me to do about it? Got a hot date or something?"
Willy giggled. "Wouldn't tell ya if I did. You might try to steal her from me. Once she sees how proficient you are at handling those heavy stair cases she might leave me for you!"
It got no smile or response from Dusty. Buttering up never worked for him. He was no sucker. He has been a lumper for 7 years now and very much savvy to all the tricks the drivers utilize to get him to work harder and faster. By the time his curiosity took over him to look up it was too late. Heavy rain drops pelted his greasy back as if a pile of golf balls were falling from the sky. The rains were falling so hard that the both of them were losing visibility it was just that bad.
Willy and Dusty finally moved faster to deliver the stairs so they could head back to the nice warm truck. It was just Dusty's luck that he tripped onto some swishy mud and made a nice prat fall to the ground ruining his Wrangler Kmart special blue jeans. Willy the driver knew better than to giggle at his adversity but before he could proffer a hand to help his lumper get up a man in a dark suit intervened and handed Dusty a business card. It was as if the man had literally popped out of nowhere.Dusty took hold of the business card and flipped it around to glance at the business it might be advertising already convinced that he needed a better job. A quizzical look shook his face as he read what was on the card.
DIRTY BIRD IS ON THE LOOSE
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