Joe

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2The slow-moving front had passed through, and the oak outside Joe’s back windows had young, pale green leaves that seemed to glow in the early sunlight. A fat squirrel was helping itself to seed from Mrs. Brill’s bird feeder.

It had been a short night. Roger had left about one o’clock and Joe was up at 6:30 to shave, shower, and dress. His ass was a bit tender when he sat to eat breakfast, but it was a good kind of sore. His thoughts were a muddle. Why, after years of being deep in the closet, had he allowed himself to be pulled out?

He still felt warm, contented from the s*x with Roger. Thinking about it made his c**k twitch.

He wiggled a little, feeling empty.

It had been great with Roger. He realized how much he’d been missing. He wished he and Roger had talked about what it was like to be out. It would probably be different being gay on campus. But what about in his own life? Well, that consisted mainly of going to work every day and then coming back to his apartment to watch television. He made occasional solitary trips to Gridley’s. That was the routine he’d stuck to for over three years. But why had he done that? And why did he now feel like changing the routine?

Everybody at work knew the boss and Brody Cox were living together as lovers. Joe, like most of his co-workers, had been surprised when, not too long after his divorce, Dave had paired up with Cox. A couple of guys had quit after that, claiming they wouldn’t work for a “fuckin’ queer,” but most of the others had merely shrugged and carried on as usual.

He clenched his fists. Whose f*****g business was it if a guy liked other men?

Maybe he and Roger could do it again? There had been an awkward moment when Roger was ready to leave. Joe had thanked him. Roger had grinned and said, “No, Superman, thank you!” Then with a “See ya,” he’d left. Joe didn’t even know where Roger lived or how to get in touch with him. But then he probably wouldn’t do that even if he could. It wasn’t his way.

He looked at the clock. Christ! If he didn’t hurry, he was going to be late for his meeting with Cromer.

* * * *

“Ow! Damn!” Every spring the county road crews were faced with a new batch of potholes to fill, and they hadn’t gotten to the section of two-lane highway between Higgins and Colby. Joe and the rest of the lawn crews worked out of the equipment building in Higgins, but the company’s main office was on the outskirts of Colby.

At that hour of the morning there was lots of traffic headed toward the larger city, and Joe couldn’t swerve to avoid the potholes. The suspension on his old truck did little to cushion the shock, so Joe’s tender bunghole complained every time he hit one.

* * * *

“Morning, Joe. Thanks for coming in.”

“No problem, boss.”

“Have a seat. Would you like some coffee?”

“No thanks, I’m good.”

Dave Cromer wasn’t as big in the chest and shoulders as Joe, he was nevertheless well built. It was well known among the crews that the boss would still go out and work alongside the men from time to time, and that he wasn’t afraid of getting dirty.

This morning, however, he was wearing crisp chinos, a blue oxford button-down shirt, and a navy tie with green and white stripes. Joe figured his boss was in his mid- to late twenties. A good looking dude. Brody Cox was lucky. But then Cox was s*x on wheels, Joe thought. He imagined the two of them in bed and he felt his c**k twitch.

After crossing his legs and shifting his weight to the other buttock, he was trying to think of some way to make conversation when Dave sat down at his desk.

“Joe, you look tense. Relax. Take a deep breath. I promise this won’t hurt.”

“You’re not gonna chew me out for something?”

“No way!” Dave took a sip of his coffee, grimaced at the mug, and set it down. “You’ve been working here for about three years, right?”

“Yeah. A little over, actually.”

“In that time, you’ve done all kinds of jobs for us, haven’t you?”

“Well, I don’t do any design work. That’s your department. But there’s not much about the grunt work I don’t know.”

“Exactly.”

Exactly…what? Joe wondered. He waited for Dave to go on.

“You’re just the man I want to replace Ed Johnson.”

“What’s happening to Ed?” Ed had been his supervisor from day one. He was kind of stiff, but he was fair, and Joe had always respected him.

“Ed’s mother has moved into a nursing home in Florida, and he’s moving down there to be near her. He’s got a job as supervisor of the landscapers at a big golf course and resort near Fort Meyers.”

“Oh.” And then it sank in. “And you want me to…?”

Dave grinned. There were nice crinkles around his eyes. “Yep. I can’t think of anyone better qualified.”

“But, boss, I don’t know. I mean, yeah, I know how to do all the jobs the crews are asked to do, but Ed takes care of paper work, and I don’t know how I’d do with that.”

“You know that hours and payrolls and that sort of thing are handled by the bookkeeper, don’t you?”

“Um, yeah.”

“So the most important paperwork would be filling out requisitions for equipment and supplies and scheduling the work of the various crews. Most of that can be done on the computer, and Ed will show you how.”

Joe’s mouth went dry. He didn’t know what to say. He’d been moving along in his rut, not thinking much about the future or getting ahead or anything like that. Still, it would be nice to have a little money left over at the end of the month. And it felt really great that Dave had so much confidence in him.

“Joe?

“Sir?” Sir? Where did that come from? Dave was only a few years older than he was, and he wasn’t in the habit of calling anyone sir. Still, since Dave’s dad retired, Dave was the head of Cromer Landscaping, the big boss. So sir seemed appropriate.

Dave chuckled. “Since when did you start calling me sir? Nobody calls me that, not even Brody, and since he got out of the Marines he sirs everybody.”

“Sorry. You were about to say…?”

“You don’t need to make up your mind right now. You can talk with Ed if you’d like. He knows I want you for this job, but he’ll be honest with you about what it’s like.”

“Thanks. I’m still just surprised that you’d pick me. But if you think I can do it, I’d like to.” He was thinking about being able to tell his mother about the promotion.

“We haven’t even talked about the nitty gritty yet. You’d be on salary instead of hours, you know, and we have pretty good fringes.”

“I haven’t had any experience managing people, you know.”

“You get along well with the guys. They all like you. And I know you’re good at teaching the new ones how to do things.”

Well, yeah, that was true. He liked making new guys on the crews feel at home, liked showing them how things worked at Cromer’s.

“Dave, I hope you’re not making a mistake. But I promise I’ll work my butt off for you.”

Dave grinned, leaned back, and clasped his hands behind his head. “Joe, you always have. So, that’s settled. Now, there’s another matter I want to talk with you about.”

“Oh?” He was still trying to process the idea of the new job. “Okay.”

“First of all, this has nothing to do with your new job. You can say no if you want, and I’ll understand.”

Joe’s brow wrinkled. What was this about?

“My spies tell me that you used to be a damn good center fielder.”

“How did you know that?”

“Oh, I have my sources,” Dave said, raising an eyebrow. “It’s true, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess I was okay.”

“You know about the summer amateur baseball league in Colby County, don’t you?”

“I’ve heard about it.”

“Been to any of the games?”

“Can’t say I have.”

“Well, look. Some of us have been playing for the Higgins Hardware team the last few years, the Hammers. But the owner is retiring, and his son isn’t interested in underwriting the team any more. So I’ve agreed to sponsor the team. We’ll still be the Hammers, though the name isn’t as appropriate for a landscaper as it was for the hardware store. The reason I’m mentioning this to you is that I was hoping you’d be willing to play for us. We could use a good outfielder, and I hear you can swing the bat, too.”

“I’m bound to be pretty rusty by now.”

“You’re obviously in good physical shape. And I’ll bet you’ll be as sharp as the rest of us after a couple of weeks. We start practicing soon and the season starts just after Memorial Day. Like I said, there’s no pressure for you to do this. But I’d like you to think about it. You know some of the guys on the team, and the others are good men.”

This seemed to Joe to be a momentous time in his life. He’d been given a fantastic promotion, he’d been invited to join the company-sponsored baseball team, and he’d had great s*x the night before.

He stood up and stuck his hand across the desk. “I don’t need to think about it. I’ll do it!”

“Great!” Dave exclaimed as they shook hands. “Ed’s leaving in two weeks. Until then, I don’t want you going out on any jobs unless there’s some kind of emergency. You’ll shadow him the whole time. You’ll be changed on the books to start drawing your new salary as of today. If you have any problems, let me know, okay?”

Still a bit overwhelmed, Joe said, “Right. And Dave, thanks. I don’t know what else to say. But, well, thanks!”

“Just show me I’m right about you. Now, you’d better get to work. Ed’s expecting you.”

As Joe stepped from Dave’s office into the outer office, he almost bumped into a hunky blue-eyed blond with a short haircut.

“Oh, hi, Joe!”

“Hey, Brody.” Joe felt a twitch in his pants. The former Marine was a stud.

“So how’d it go in there? I hope you took the job.”

“Yeah, I did. I’m still a bit stunned.”

“Don’t be. He thinks you’re just the man to take over from Ed.”

“Thanks for telling me. Now, I’ve got to get to work. Good to see you, Brody.”

“Good luck.”

They shook hands. Brody’s grip was firm and dry. Nice. Brody was only the second “out” gay man he’d ever shaken hands with, Dave being the first. So far as he knew.

After they shook hands, Joe turned to leave. Brody opened the door to Dave’s office.

“Hey, lover!”

“Hi, babe.”

Damn, Joe thought. That sounds nice.

* * * *

Joe was nervous about the new job. All that responsibility! Since he’d come to work for Dave Cromer he’d settled into a routine. He didn’t mind physical labor. In fact, he enjoyed using his body, keeping himself in good shape through honest work instead of spending time and money going to a gym. But could he do the record keeping and the other “paper work”? Dave had said it was mostly done on a computer, but he didn’t know whether that would be any easier. He didn’t have a computer. The old one he’d brought to college had crashed a year or so ago, and he couldn’t afford a new one.

It would have been easier to just stay in his rut, let Dave find somebody else to do the foreman’s job. But Dave had been good to him, and Dave thought he could handle it. Besides, his mother would be proud of him. And the raise was enough to help him overcome his reservations about accepting the job. Now if he could only carry it off!

* * * *

As it turned out, he picked up things more quickly than he’d expected. During his three plus years with the company he’d learned a lot about how the work crews were organized. Ed, though not given to small talk, was a patient teacher. They worked together checking the equipment, and Ed showed Joe how to requisition supplies via the computer. It helped that most of the high school and college guys weren’t around yet, so Joe got some experience working with the two crews that were currently on board.

Because of the late spring rains and mild weather, grass was growing luxuriantly, so Joe and even Ed occasionally had to take care of some lawns. But that would all change after school was out since the summer crews were made up mostly of high school and college guys.