The three of us sat in Rollie’s backyard, waiting for Mike to show up. At 8:30, he walked in from the alley, grabbed a beer from the cooler, and sat down next to Augie.
“What’s up, Aug?”
“I don’t know, Mike.”
“Did we get laid off again?” Larry wanted to know.
“Well, I gotta tell you guys, you won’t be returning to the same buildings in two weeks,” I said, trying to keep a straight face.
“What’s that mean?” Mike wanted to know.
“The chief engineer at my building is going to a new and larger facility in two weeks, and guess who the new chief is?
“No s**t,” they all exclaimed almost in unison.
“Yeah, and I get to pick my three engineers.”
“That calls for another beer,” Mike said, standing up.
“So, what ya say?” I proclaimed, holding up my beer.
“Yeah,” we all shouted, tapping our b
