Tattletale: The Aftermath

Two weeks later the real estate agent called Pete and said, "Mr. Dalrymple, I'm shocked. The owner decided to accept your offer on the land. He said it was too low but he really needed to close out the estate. Since you made the only offer, he will grudgingly accept it if you can close on the deal within thirty days."

It was tight but Pete had enough money in his bank accounts to pay for the new property. Thirty days after the phone call he owned the old house and land it was on. If he had an emergency and needed money before he replenished his accounts he could always dip into his small 401K from his past employment. Now, instead of brooding about his past pain, he could fill his free time clearing up the yard and begin his renovation of the old house.

Pete started off slow on his restoration project. He spent one full weekend just walking around the house and two out buildings cataloging what he felt needed repair or rebuilding. He wasn't gentle about his inspection either. He found weak spots and tore into walls and floors to determine the damage. He made sure the buildings were restorable before he even began the project.

To Pete's surprise he found the house sat on a very solid foundation of rock set in mortar. The floor joists were true eight by ten inch beams on 16 inch centers. There was some damage on a few of the mud sills and studs, but all were repairable. He decided all the windows would be replaced with new energy efficient panes. All cabinetry, floor coverings, and walls would be torn out for replacement as would the wiring and plumbing. Insulation would be installed during the work. He even went into the attic and onto the roof to inspect it. New roofing was in order, also.

After listing the damage, Pete spent several evenings planning his renovation and listing, as well as he could, the materials that would be needed. He was lucky in owning the business because he had a tax number and could purchase his materials through the business at wholesale. That would save him substantial amounts on the renovation. He also owned many of the tools he would need for the renovation because his business, in addition to mowing and landscaping, built and installed decks and gazebos.

Pete spent most of the summer evenings and weekends tearing out the damaged parts in the old house. His first step would be to make the house dry, in other words, to make it weather tight. It wouldn't be very productive to do work inside if rain or hail could come in and soak everything. He planned to completely gut the building inside before he began rebuilding it.

August rolled around. Pete was working 14-16 hour days splitting his time between the business and his new project; the old house. He was so busy he no longer thought of his divorce. He was happy once again. On the last Friday in August, just as Pete was locking his business door, an old rattletrap car drove into his lot, pulling up right in front of him. The muffler was shot and it was smoking so badly he almost choked when the wind blew the exhaust into his face.

Pete stood and watched a young couple exit the car, a young man from the driver's side and a young woman from the passenger side. He felt somewhat threatened and prepared himself for an attack. They were threadbare and rough looking. The car was worse. The eyes of the woman were blank and dull looking as was her hair and complexion. She moved slowly, hesitantly, toward Pete. He watched her from the corner of his eye as the young man approached from the other side. Pete hoped they weren't dangerous because he was boxed in between the two people and his building.

The woman stopped about five feet from Pete and glanced at the man approaching. When he was about five feet from Pete the young man said, "Sir, I can see you are preparing to leave. Could we please have a few minutes of your time before you go? I'm Todd Sheppard and this is my sister Gail. Sir, we're looking for work. We'll work hard and we don't much care what we have to do as long as it's legal and pays enough for us to live. I can see you have a lawn care business and we can both do that. I mowed lawns when I was growing up and did other lawn and gardening chores. We've both worked on a farm while we were growing up, also."

Pete relaxed somewhat and watched the young couple. He couldn't tell how old they were for sure but they looked maybe early 20's. Almost before the man stopped talking Pete was shaking his head. He saw the hope die in their faces. They both assumed a more slumped defeated demeanor. He said, "I'm sorry. I have all the help I need. In fact, during the winter I usually have to lay off some of my more junior people. It wouldn't make sense to hire you now, and then lay you off in a couple months even if I did have a spot for you."

Pete heard the woman's stomach growl and glanced at her. She seemed embarrassed and stepped back a couple paces. The young man looked at Pete a moment longer and dejectedly began to turn away. If possible he looked even more defeated and hang dog than when they drove up. The young woman looked at her brother then back to Pete. She spoke for the first time, "Please, Sir? Anything? We're broke, totally. When our parent's died we tried to keep the farm going, but we couldn't. Their debt was too high and the bank took it. Please. We're hard workers." She glanced at her brother once again and continued, "Anything at all you need, I'll do. Just, please, can you give us a job of some sort?"

Todd rapidly turned toward Gail and angrily screamed, "NO. No, Gail, you won't do anything. I won't let you do that."

Pete frowned a moment then he understood. How desperate must they be for Gail to offer herself like that? She didn't look the part. Even now she was looking at the ground guiltily. Pete shook his head and started to leave once again. He said, "I'm sorry, I just don't need you." He stopped again and reached into his pocket. He opened his wallet and pulled a $20.00 bill out. He held it out toward the young woman and continued, "Here. It's not much but take this twenty. At least you can buy something to eat tonight."

The young woman pressed her lips together and hesitated then her stomach growled once again. She reached out and took the money. She gave Pete a sickly smile and said, "Thank you for this, at least, Sir."

All three once again turned and headed toward their respective vehicles. Just before the two siblings got into their car Pete turned from his truck and yelled, "Hey, wait a minute. I might have something for you after all. It's not much and the job won't last long but I can give you a little work. I have been doing the work part time and was going to save the heavier work for my crews later this year, but what the heck. The job is several miles out of town but it is honest work. I'm gutting an old farmhouse to renovate. It is hard, dirty, dusty, work but if you're interested I'll pay minimum wage for the tear down and clean up. There's a yard to clean up, the old house, and two smaller out buildings. Are you interested?"

Todd looked at Gail and raised his eyebrows. Gail nodded her head yes. Todd turned to Pete and said, "Yes, Sir. We're interested. How far out of town are we talking about? We're almost out of gas for the car and we really need to get something to eat. We haven't eaten today and haven't had much the last week."

"It's about 17 miles out of town to the east. That would make it about thirty miles from here though." Pete thought a moment and continued, "Tell ya what. Pull your car up beside the gas pump over there. I'll put a little gas into it so you can get there. That way you can use the cash I gave Gail for food. I'll give you directions to the place and you can meet me there tomorrow morning. I usually work on it weekends and evenings if that's ok with you. This way you can go back where ever you are staying and get a good night's sleep before you come out tomorrow."

Pete drew a map and gave written directions to his place, then left. Todd and Gail jumped into their car and took off, too. Instead of going to a fast food joint or restaurant for supper they went to a grocery store and bought food with their $20.00 that they could prepare, providing more and healthier food. They bought cheap but wholesome items. They bought dry beans, rice, dry potatoes, cheap cans of green beans, and some cheap hamburger. They were starving for meat. They knew it wouldn't keep long without ice but intended to eat it that night.

Neither of the siblings had told Pete they were living out of their car. Instead of spending another night in the dangerous city they took off for Pete's place as soon as they purchased their groceries. Pete's directions were good. They had little trouble finding the old house. They pulled into the yard and found a place to park away from the buildings. They pitched what passed for their tent. Todd carefully made a fire pit and built a fire from fallen tree limbs. Gail cooked their evening meal and they went to bed full for once.

The next morning Gail fried each of them two eggs and the rest of the hamburger for breakfast. After breakfast was finished, Todd and Gail looked around and decided to start work. They weren't sure what Pete would want them to do that day but they could see what needed doing so they began. They had been carrying wall board and trash from the house for almost an hour when Pete came driving up on his tractor.

After Pete stopped the tractor and climbed off Todd and Gail came to meet him. Todd said, "Good morning, Mr. Dalrymple. I hope you don't mind us starting without you. We could see some of the work that needed to be done so we got started. I didn't know what you wanted to do with the trash from the house so we piled it beside the driveway for now."

"Good morning, Todd. Good morning, Gail. I didn't expect you until nine or so. You must have left town early to get here and have this much done already this morning."

Gail looked guilty for a moment then said, "Uh, well, we didn't exactly leave town this morning. We camped here in the yard last night. I hope you didn't mind but we don't have the money for a place to stay and it was safer to just come out here. Was that ok?"

Pete stood in shock. He knew there were homeless people all over but somehow he never thought that Todd and Gail would probably be homeless. He looked over beside the house and saw the car, fire pit and the small tent they made from an old plastic tarp. "No, that's fine. I just assumed you had a place in town. I'm sorry I didn't say something last night. You're welcome to camp here or even better, you can sleep in the house or one of the other buildings if you want.

"Let me explain what I have in mind here then we can get back to work. I have a hole dug on the back of the place where I'm taking the trash to burn. After it's burned I will cover it with the dirt to get rid of the nails and so forth. Put the trash in the trailer behind the tractor. After it's full I'll show you where to take it. You said you grew up on a farm so I assume you can drive the tractor?"

Both Todd and Gail smiled and said, "Yes."

"OK, fine. My house is just over there through the trees about a quarter mile. I'll walk back and get my truck and a list of things we have to do, then I'll be back."

When Pete returned he had a cooler full of ice and some lunch for the three. He also had his list of jobs that needed doing. He explained what was to be done to the siblings. He gave them the list and said, "I want the work done in the order it is listed on this paper. I'll work with you this weekend but you'll be on your own during the week. I'll be out here from time to time to help when I can get away from the business. All I expect from you is an eight hour day but I expect you to get a reasonable amount done in those eight hours. If I think you are sloughing off I'll let you know. If it continues, I'll let you go. Do we understand each other?"

Both Todd and Gail once again said, "Yes."

Gail asked, "What if we get to a place where we don't know what to do? We wouldn't charge you if we weren't working but what about that?"

"Just call me if you have a question or problem, Gail. Let me give you my phone number."

Gail looked uncomfortable then said, "Uh, we can't call, sir. There's no phone out here that I've seen and we don't have a cell."

"Crap. I'm sorry. I didn't think. OK, I'll try to leave you enough work to at least fill one day. If you run out and can't figure out what to do next just wait for me to get home and we'll take it from there."

The rest of the weekend went well. As expected, three people got much more work accomplished than Pete would have alone. On Sunday, they began replacing the damaged wall studs and framing in the new window openings. They also cut and framed out larger holes for the doors Pete was going to install throughout the house. Just before dusk Pete stepped back and said, "OK, that's enough for today. We've worked much longer than I usually do. I apologize for keeping you over the eight hours I told you we'd work."

Pete reached into his truck and pulled his wallet from the center console. He stood a moment then referred to a paper on the dash. He made some calculations then peeled bills from his wallet. Pete walked back to Todd and Gail where he handed each of them a small stack.

Gail counted the money then turned to Pete and said, "Pete this doesn't add up. We only worked 19 hours this weekend. You've paid us way too much."

"I worked you more than 8 hours a day so some of your time is paid at time and a half. I also pay my help a differential for working on Sunday. You also received a small bonus for doing good work. Oh, before I forget it, I need you to complete some paperwork for my accountant. We'll need your social security numbers and an address and so forth so we can get you into the system. We'll worry about the withholding for this weekend next week when this pay will show up on your normal check. I wanted to pay you tonight though so you could buy some food and other things you might need. Is that ok?"

A smiling, sniffling Gail rushed to Pete and gave him a quick hug. She stepped back and said, "Thank you. Thank you so much for this."

"No problem. Now I need to get home and do a little paperwork. I'll see you late tomorrow probably."

Every day the next week when he arrived at the old house Pete was surprised. Todd and Gail constantly accomplished more than Pete expected. By the end of the week all the windows and doors were reframed and ready for the installation of his new windows and doors. Many of the studs and other damaged frame boards were replaced as well. On Friday evening Pete walked around the old house with his employees and said, "I am constantly surprised and impressed with your work. I know you told me your grandfather was a carpenter but you didn't tell me you were as well. This is some of the best work I have ever seen on a renovation. You should seriously consider working in construction, Todd."

Todd smiled and said, "That is what I wanted to do but I never got the chance. When my father got sick I was in college learning the building trades and had to drop out to run the farm. After he died I kept working the place, but we got farther and farther behind in the payments. Then mother got sick and died. Her final expenses did us in, totally. You know the rest."

"Well, this is good work and I appreciate it. If you two are up to it I would like to get the openings closed in this weekend. I want you to take Monday and Tuesday off though. You can't keep working seven days a week. That's too much. You need time to relax. Also, I want to apologize. I suspect you have been bathing in the stream. That works fine but if you want I would be willing to let you use my shower to clean up. I know a nice hot shower sure feels good when you finish a hard day's work. I just never thought to offer before. I'm sorry."

Gail smiled and said, "Thank you for the offer. We've done OK using the stream but I would really, really enjoy a nice hot shower occasionally. Can we just come down in the evening or do we need to let you know before we come?"

"Any time is fine if I'm home. Just come on down and I'll show you where everything is and then get out of the way until you're done."

Todd said, "Thank you. We were good for another week or two but you're right. Everyone needs some downtime. And the shower sounds great to me also. If you don't mind on our days off I think we would like to just bum around here and maybe fish in the lake. It's not as if we know anyone around here or have wads of cash to spend on recreation."

"Not a problem. I keep meaning to do some fishing myself but have been too busy. Before I forget it I have something in the truck for you two. Can you come help me unload it?"

Pete led the couple to the truck. There was a tarp covering a lump in the bed. He got into the truck and started it. He stuck his head through the drivers open window and said, "I'll back up to the porch over there. I need help getting this into the house."

When Pete stopped once again he got out and pulled the tarp from the lump. It was a small refrigerator. He climbed into the bed and began pushing the refrigerator toward the tail gate. He and Todd manhandled the machine into the house. Pete plugged it into one of the extension cords and it began operating. He said, "When it gets cooled down you can keep your food inside. It will be cheaper than buying ice and you can stock more food in it than in the ice chest."

Once again Gail jumped at Pete and gave him a large hug for his efforts. Through her tears she said, "Oh, thank you. You have been so kind to us. It was a great day when we found you. Thank you so much, Pete."

After the windows and doors were installed the old wooden siding was patched then insulation board nailed to the outside of the house. They spent several days tearing off the old shingles, repairing the roof decking and roofing the house. After that new white vinyl siding was installed on the whole structure. It took two weeks to finish the siding but then the old house shone. It had regained its stately exterior appearance. The day they finished the siding the three builders stood back and looked at the old house with justifiable pride.

Pete moved to the chairs they used for their breaks and sat down. He opened the cooler, still used for drinks while they worked, and pulled a beer out for each of them. He said, "I hereby declare a holiday for this job. We aren't doing anything else today. I expect you both to be at my house as soon as you can. We're going to have a BBQ and relax for the rest of the evening. I have some beautiful steaks marinating and have all the fixin's for green salad and a 'tater salad. We're going to relax and pig out tonight."

When Todd and Gail arrived, Pete was clean and working on the meal. He had classical background music playing and was smiling. He quickly moved to the refrigerator and handed each of his guests another beer. He said, "I expect you are as hot as I was. If you want to use the shower before we finish the meal and eat feel free to do so."

Gail looked around and said, "We took time to use the stream. The cool water felt great in this heat. Now, what can I do to help, Pete?"

"Nothing, beautiful. I have everything under control. I have the salad made and in the fridge. I decided instead of 'tater salad we would have twice baked potatoes. They are baked and I am waiting on them to cool a little before I mix the ingredients together and put the potato back into the skin. When they are almost done I will put the meat on the grill and we'll be done."

Gail looked around the kitchen a moment, and then moved to the counter where she saw the potatoes. She saw there were bowls of grated cheese, diced onions, bacon crumbles, and chives. There was a section of real butter and a container of sour cream beside them also. She quickly began putting the twice baked potatoes together. When he saw her efficiency, Pete smiled and moved out to the grill with the meat. It made a pleasant sizzle when he threw it onto the pre heated grill. In a few short minutes Pete took the meat from the grill and placed it on the table. He walked into the house and began carrying the rest of the meal outside to the table the meat was on.