“Have you maybe noticed how stubborn that little Southern belle is?” I ask him. “You think I have any chance of convincing her to do anything she doesn’t want to do?”
“Dude, we all know you can make any chick fall in love with you…get on it.” It’s funny to think Tango has this image of me in his head. Chicks aren’t falling all over me; they never have been. It’s been Tango who had girls tripping to introduce themselves and their tits to him. I’ve just been the beefy wingman…well, with the exception of late night bar escapades where the chicks are all at least half wasted.
“No promises. I gave her the offer so we’ll see what she decides to do,” I tell him.
“Well, I’ll have Cali get on her case about it. My girl is pretty damn convincing when need be.”
“We all know, man. Dude…do y’all have any idea how thin your damn walls are? And do you ever consider what Tyler thinks is going on in your bedroom every night?”
“We have a white noise machine in her room. She doesn’t hear us,” Tango argues.
“And I suppose the rattling of your house is the soothing vibration that keeps her asleep?” I add with laughter.
“Dude, see, you got it! Take note for your future. We’ve got this whole parenting thing down to a science.”
“Tango, man, your daughter told me if I moved her doll while she was sleeping, I’d wake up without an arm in the morning…just putting that out there.”
“No shit?” Tango laughs. “That’s my girl.”
“She’s five. I don’t know, maybe she should be playing with her dolls or some shit…not threatening to tear a limb off a grown man in his sleep.”
“No one is going to mess with my little girl,” Tango argues. “You’ll see…you’ll have a son or daughter someday and you’ll want them to know how to defend themselves.” While this conversation is funny, it’s a little sad too. Tango lives his life in fear. Always has. Probably always will.
We step out of the truck and start walking across the empty lot over to the group of men hovering around a pile of lumber. “I may have a job starting tomorrow, by the way,” I tell Tango. I know he was short staffed here today but I don’t want him depending on me for more time this week.
“No shit? Where at?” he asks, stopping in his step.
“Just an auto body shop downtown. This chick I met runs the place and offered me a job.”
“Sweet, bro.” He looks confused for a quick second and places his hand on his forehead. “Wait. A chick you met? You’ve been here a week and the only person you’ve mentioned is that Bambi woman you were talking about this morning. Bambi runs a body shop?” He’s smiling. He loves the idea of this, I can tell.
“Yeah. Cool, right?”
“Bambi’s Body Shop?” he snickers. “That’s funny.”
That is funny. She should have named the place that. I should suggest it. “Yeah, I must have been so damn charming that she wanted to offer me a job,” I tell him.
“Charming?” he asks through laughter as he starts walking again. “Was this before or after you tried to drag her into the Sawdust Motel?
“Don’t worry about that,” I say, leaving this topic alone.
“So does this mean you might be thinking about settling your ass down here for a bit?”
“It’s not Boston, but I think I’ll stick around for a while.”
“That’s what I like to hear. I’m glad and grateful you came, man, it’s good to have you back in my life again.”
“Dude, you’re getting all cheese-ball on me now. Need a tissue?” I reach down into my shirt just as Tango punches me in the shoulder.
“Get to work, ass. The siding needs to go up on the left side. You can start there. One of the men can show you around.”
“Yes, Sergeant.”
“Oh and lunch is at noon. We can get a bite down the street,” he says, disappearing inside of the bare-bones framed house.
Damn, it has to be at least a hundred degrees out here. My ass is not primed for this shit. I’ve lost all my stamina since I was discharged a couple of years ago. I definitely know I’ll be happier under the hood of a woman tomorrow, that’s for sure.
After watching one of the guys show me how to put up the siding, I squat down to grab my next piece and feel something sharp in