Chapter 8

A New Start

Danny sure had a lot to think about that night when he went to bed. Here he was, unemployed in a town with no jobs, no prospects, no one on his side, and going to court in a few days against three of the richest men in the whole county. Even the high sheriff-- who had been life-long friends with his mother-- was powerless to help him.

Danny thought about Regina too. She was the finest thing he had seen in his entire life, and she sure seemed like she might be interested. "Don't kid yourself," he said as he lay in his bed. "There's no way a chic like that is going to go for a guy like me. No way."

Then, there was that problem called, Connie. There was no telling what she might do. She might force him to sell the house, or pay alimony. How am I going to afford a divorce without a job? he thought. "You need help, Dude," he said to himself, "But who's going to help me? I don't have money for a lawyer, or time to get the money, and I doubt I'll ever find a job around here. Man, I need a miracle."

**********

Danny awoke early the next morning to the sound of someone knocking at his door. "Be there in a minute," he yelled as he pulled on his jeans.

"You Danny Johnson?" asked the old black man standing on his porch.

"Yeah, that's me," he answered as he wondered what this was all about.

"My name's Jim Melvin, and I'm sorry if I woke you, but I run a concrete business here in town, and I had a guy get throwed in jail last night, and I needs somebody to replace him right now 'cause I got a big job over at the old mill today, an' I heard you was lookin' for a job."

"Yes sir," Danny replied, "I could sure use some work."

"Can you be at the mill before nine o'clock 'cause that's when the first load of cement gets there?"

"Yeah, no problem," Danny said looking at his watch.

"Good, then I'll see you there," Mr. Melvin said as he walked down the steps toward his pickup truck.

Danny put on some work clothes, ate a quick breakfast, and walked out to get on his hog.

"You're up early," he heard Mrs. Wilson say. She was watering the flowers in her front yard.

"Yeah, I got a job." Danny replied.

"Well that's good," she replied. "We're having boiled cabbage with corn beef, lima beans, and cornbread for supper. You can tell me all about it then."

"Yes Ma'am, I will," Danny said as he fired up his hog. "See you for supper. Bye."

When Danny arrived at the old mill at about eight forty-five, Mr. Melvin was already waiting," You did make it. Thanks, Danny."

"Oh, you're welcome," Danny replied. "I been needing to work bad."

"You didn't even ask what the job pays," Mr. Melvin said.

"I figured anything was more than I'm making now. My unemployment ran out last week, and in this town it don't look like I can be too particular."

"Well, the job pays twelve dollars an hour, and we work five days a week, and for the next three months we'll be workin' rain or shine 'cause it's all inside the mill. After that, I can't say what we'll be doing.

"You mean you ain't just hiring me until your regular man gets out of jail?" Danny asked.

"My regular man ain't gettin' out of jail no time soon. Seems he was in prison for killin' a man in Detroit, an' he busted out an' killed a guard doin' it. They gonna send him back to Michigan with another life sentence."

"Well I ain't never done no construction work before," Danny said. "I hope I can do as good a job as he did."

"I hope you can do better," Mr. Melvin replied. "That was the laziest one SOB. I ever worked. I'm glad they caught him. Man like that belongs in jail even if he ain't killed nobody. Oughta lock him up just for being so lazy."