My first job was at construction company. A drywall company more specifically. I was a youngster so I didn’t really do any “constructing”. I was on the clean-up detail, which consisted of driving an old wheat truck with a hydraulic bed to all the job sites to clean up all the crap the real construction workers made. My tools consisted of a large steal coal shovel, a ragged push-broom and the aforementioned wheat truck.
On my first day, I met my partner. He was considerably older than I was at the time (I was 15). I immediately noticed that he had lost an index finger. And he looked at me like I was going to be his comic relief once we left civilization, which is what I called the office. You know, where all the ten-fingered people worked. We jumped in the wheat truck and started bouncing to our first job site. We hadn’t even driven two blocks when Billy Nines starts rummaging through his lunch sack. Figured he had a danish or bagel or something he wanted to gnaw on during our short ride. But instead, he pulled out his mood stabilizer which was a loosely-wrapped baggy of herb. He already had a jay good to go so he pulled it out, and surprisingly, was OK with sharing. It was my first day, so I respectfully declined. But, of course, I acted like I was a burner like him, even though I hadn’t been that close to a bag in my life. I told him, “Nah, I just had breakfast.” He laughed at me and fired it up.
We hauled a bunch of crap before lunch. It was hot. I mean, hot. We jumped into the truck and started off for some place for me to eat my lunch and Billy Nines to finish his bag. We ended up in the parking lot of a neighborhood liquor store. Billy Nines got himself a 40. And in keeping fashion with his generosity, asked me if I wanted anything while he was in there. Geez! I’m already like Brian Johnson when Bender stuffed his wad down his pants in the hallway. Straight-laced, man. So, I ate my “PB&J with the crust cut off” and watched him guzzle 120 oz. of Budweiser and burn the rest of his bud left in his bag.
At the end of the day, we weaved and bounced our way back to civilization. Billy Nines didn’t spend much time in the yard. He fell out of the truck and stumbled into his 1974 Monte. Day one—down.
