By Dwayne Phillips
Short Story 2008-50, 7 December 2008
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"Okay, 10 AM, let's go through the status," said Buddy Reece as he exhaled and set his feet upon the scratched, gray metal desk in front of him. He held the top of a clipboard with his left hand and pulled a pencil from behind his ear with his right hand.
"Got it," replied Keith Brown. "I just finished checking with everyone, well almost everyone, and we look pretty good."
"Fine," said Buddy. "One at a time, let's do one at a time.
Keith Brown sat opposite Buddy in an old wooden chair. He shuffled a pile of yellowed and curled papers on the same desk that supported Buddy's feet. This was their morning routine. Keith walked the job site from one end to the other starting at 7AM. Each crew chief would tell Keith where they were on their part of the work. Keith would then return to the trailer that served as the on-site office. He and Buddy would review the status and decide what if anything required a change in plan.
Today was no different. After an hour and a half, the two had almost finished their list of crews.
"Things are looking pretty good," remarked Buddy. "We are a little behind on the operations building, but we have enough work left to catch up. The housing building will be done early, and that will free up a crew."
"Right," added Keith. "I had the same thought on that one. We should be alright."
"What's left?" asked Buddy. "Oh yeah, the generator building."
"Oh yeah, the generator building," repeated Keith. "Remember how I said I had the status from almost everyone?"
Buddy pulled his feet from the top of the desk, placed them flat on the floor, and leaned forward. "Well, what is it?" he asked.
"I don't know," answered Keith.
"You don't know what?" asked Buddy.
"I don't know the status of the generator building."
"What do you mean, you don't know?" asked Buddy.
"Just that, I don't know."
"Well, you went over their this morning, right?"
"Yes, but..."
"But what Keith? What is happening?" pressed Buddy.
"Grant won't talk to me," answered Keith. "He won't talk to anyone, hasn't talked to anyone on site for the past two weeks."
Buddy tossed his clipboard onto the desk, rolled his eyes, shook his head, and huffed. "All right, what is it? Damn it, what is it?"
Keith shrunk into himself in his chair and moved back from the table a few inches. "Someone sat in Grant’s chair in the mess tent."
"What?" shouted Buddy.
Keith took a deep breath, and tried to explain, "You heard me, Buddy. Someone sat in his chair in the mess tent two weeks ago. Grant walked in, someone was in his chair, so he turned and walked out. It took him a week before he went back into the mess tent for lunch, but he still hasn't said a word to anyone. Everyone else has avoided him. He creeps them out."
"You have got to be kidding me!" shouted Buddy.
"Look Buddy. You know Grant as well as anyone here. He's old, he's set in his ways, he's a bit eccentric," pleaded Keith. "I wasn't sure about bringing him along on this job, but you insisted. So here we are."
"I know I insisted on bringing him on this job," said Buddy, still shouting. Then he rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. He slapped his hands onto his knees, and quieted his voice. "Grant is the best generator man I've ever worked with. He is the best generator man any of us have ever worked with. This is a tough job with a short time limit. We needed Grant."
"Yeah, he knows his stuff in the generator building," agreed Keith. "But now and then he falls into one of these moods of his and goes on and acts like a little kid."
Buddy stood and turned away from the desk. He walked to the dirty window next to the trailer's door and stared into the gray sky. "Why do we get into these fixes? Why don't I stay home and build three-bedroom ranch homes for old ladies? Why come out here in the middle of no where to build another military training center?"
"Because little old ladies and their three-bedroom ranch houses make you sick," answered Keith. "You can do those in your sleep. Sure, they pay well, but patting those old widows on the head while listening to their stories just isn't worth it."
Buddy turned back to the desk and stood next to it. He leaned forward and rested the palms of his hands on the desktop. "So what did Grant tell you this morning?"
"He didn't tell me anything, Buddy. I asked him about his status, but he turned away from me, grunted something, and walked out of the generator building. I walked after him and asked him again, but then he turned and walked right past me back into the building. Then all I heard were tools slamming onto the floor." Keith pulled himself back towards the desk, shuffled his papers into a neater pile, and finished with, "I just gave up. Same thing has happened everyday for the last two weeks. Grant is working, seems to be making progress, but I don't know where he is according to the plan. Just don't know the status."
Both men remained quietly in their positions for several moments. Buddy broke the tension by sitting down in his chair. He picked up his clipboard and tapped his forehead nervously with his fist.
At that moment, the trailer door swung open and a large man wearing a faded and stained blue jump suit bolted into the room. Buddy and Keith twitched their heads towards the man. "What is it, Rod?" asked Keith.
"You guys have to see this," answered Rod Davis.
"See what?" replied Buddy.
"In the mess tent. You have to see this. It's Grant. He is talking, laughing and talking," completed Rod.
"What?" exclaimed Keith Brown. "How? Why?"
Buddy stood slowly, squinted as if to clear something from his mind, and said, "Okay. Let's go Keith, but let's go slowly and quietly. If Grant is talking, let him finish his lunch. We'll both go to the generator building afterwards to find out the status. Let's not ruin any break we have."
The three men exited the trailer and walked the 50 yards to the dark green tent where meals were served on the job site. Buddy motioned for Rod to go back to work. Then Buddy sent Keith around to the enter from the side of the tent while Buddy quietly entered the from the front.
Keith was surprised the most by what they saw. Grant Caldwell was sitting next to a young man at a table for eight. No one else was at that same table. The rest of the men sat crowded around six other tables. Now and then a man would chance a quick glance over a shoulder to the almost-empty table. Buddy was relieved by the sight.
Keith started walking towards the table where Grant was sitting, eating, chatting, and laughing. Buddy stopped Keith with his eyes. The two backed out of the tent without being noticed. Keith walked around the tent and met Buddy outside.
"Miracles never cease, do they?" mumbled Keith.
"Maybe not," answered Buddy. "You hang out here for a while. Let Grant come out in his own time. I want to talk to that guy who is sitting and talking with Grant. You bring him to the trailer when he comes out. Got it?"
"Yeah, sure," replied Keith. "What do you have in mind?"
"Nothing. I just want to find out what happened here. And who is that kid in there? The one sitting with Grant?"
"Oh, that is Tim," answered Keith. "He is the new civil engineer. This is his first field site job. He was with us back at the staging area, but he just got to the site today. Arrived from the airport in time for lunch."
Buddy stood for a moment, rubbing his chin with his right hand. "Bring him to the trailer."
Buddy walked back to the trailer. Keith paced back and forth outside the mess tent for ten minutes. Finally, Grant Caldwell walked out the side of the tent and headed briskly back to the generator building. Tim followed Grant out of the tent, but stopped. He slowly turned in a circle to take in everything on the job site. It was all new to him, and Tim wanted to grasp it in his mind.
"Tim!" shouted Keith. "Come over here."
The call broke Tim's trance. He looked at Keith, recognized him from meetings months ago, and followed his gaze. Keith extended his right hand and grabbed Tim's firmly. "Keith Brown," he said. "Deputy GM here on this job. You’re Tim Mallen, right?"
"Yes sir," answered the young man with a grin. He had not expected to meet such a high-ranking person on his first day on site.
"Come with me," said Keith as he turned to walk towards the trailer.
"Uh, sir," interrupted Tim. "I'm supposed to report to the engineering crew chief. I think I was supposed to report to him before eating lunch, but it's been a long day, I didn't have breakfast, and the food smelled good. So maybe I need to find my chief first."
"Don't worry about that Tim. Mr. Reece wants to see you first."
"Uh, excuse me, isn't Mr. Reece the site GM? I mean, I know I should have reported to my chief before eating, but I didn't know it was that serious. I'm sorry for..."
"No, nothing's wrong kid. Just come with me. Mr. Reece will square it with your crew chief. Just come with me," said Keith.
In a minute, the two entered the trailer where Buddy Reece was tapping the table nervously with a bite-scarred yellow pencil.
"Buddy," said Keith. "This is Tim Mallen, the new engineer. Just arrived."
Buddy stood and extended his right arm to the nervous young Mr. Mallen. Buddy grabbed the young engineer's hand and shook Tim's entire body.
"Sit down young man. Sit down right here."
Tim sat in the chair previously occupied by Keith Brown. Buddy sat on his desk and grinned at the young engineer. He remembered his first day on a field site some 20 years earlier. Keith Brown leaned against the wall behind Buddy.
"What did you do in there? In the mess tent?" asked Buddy.
The young engineer tightened his body in the chair. He pursed his lips and rubbed his shirt.
"Tim," said Keith Brown, startling the young engineer. "It's alright. You did something good in there. We want to thank you. We just want to know how you did it."
"Yes Tim," added Buddy. "You did well."
"You see Tim," said Keith, "Grant Caldwell has not spoken to anyone here in two weeks. Something happened that upset Grant, and, well, sometimes he goes into one of these fits of silence and withdraws. You pulled him out of it. How did you do it?"
Tim turned his eyes from Keith to Buddy to Keith and back to Buddy. "Oh, I didn't know that. Like I told Mr. Brown here earlier, I didn't eat breakfast this morning so I was hungry and the mess tent smelled pretty good, so I went in to eat. I sat at the first table I saw. Mr. Caldwell was sitting at it, so I sat next to him."
"So you knew who he was?" asked Buddy.
"Well, sort of. Back at the staging site a few months ago I helped him load his tools into the shipping container. I know he works the generators."
"Tim," interrupted Keith, "what did you say to Grant?"
"Well, uh, I said, 'Hi Mr. Caldwell. How is it going with the generators?’"
"And," asked Buddy, "what did he say?"
"Oh, I don't remember. He said it was okay I guess, and then we talked about lots of other things. You know the weather, the food. Those sorts of things."
"And that was it?" asked Keith.
"Yes sir. I guess that was it."
The three remained silent for a few moments. Buddy and Keith grinned at one another.
"Is this all okay?" asked Tim.
"Yes Tim. This is all okay. You did well. Thank you," said Buddy.
"Tim, go on to see your crew chief. Tell him you were talking with the two of us. Things will be square with him." said Keith.
Tim stood slowly. He eyed the two older men with a hint of suspicion and walked to the trailer door. He opened the door, but stopped and turned back. "I didn't know there was anything wrong with Mr. Caldwell. Had I known, I wouldn't have talked to him. I mean, it sounds kind of scary. You know, scary in not talking to anyone for two weeks. I didn't know."
The door closed behind the young engineer. "Hah!" laughed Buddy. "Can you believe that?"
Both men laughed for a moment. Keith shook his head and continued to grin. "No, I don't believe it. Yes, I do believe it. Sort of makes sense you know."
"Makes sense?" asked Buddy. "How does it make sense?"
"Well," answered Keith, "Grant was mad at everyone here. It was a big ‘him vs. us’ match. Grant wouldn't give in. He is too strong, too proud. This kid, Tim, he wasn't here. He wasn't part of the 'us' in the ‘him vs. us.’ Grant wasn't mad at him."
"Silly. Just plain silly." said Buddy.
"I know, but don't say that to Grant," said Keith.
"Oh no. No way would I tell Grant Caldwell that he was acting silly," concluded Buddy.
"Come on," said Buddy. "Let's go talk to Grant. We need his status. And if he won't talk to us we'll send in the kid."
Go to
Dwayne's Home Page
Email me at
d.phillips@computer.org