A New Chapter

Hey So if you have  visited before welcome back if today is your first visit welcome. I am attempting to build each Kevin story as modular. I want you to be able to enjoy each one as it's own short story. 

Kevin, had returned to Butler with a new attitude, and new direction. He had spoken to the manager of his store right away. He called two Wal-Mart locations inside the city limits, and a third nearby. The call to the store in Harahan yielded fruit, yes they had an opening, and yes they would be delighted to have an experienced maintenance person join their staff.

 Kevin was getting more excited as his moving date neared. He contacted the sole attorney in his town. He had learned from losing his trailer, and was determined to make better decisions. The attorney helped Kevin find a once in a lifetime deal on a house in New Orleans, he also wrapped Kevin’s house and small plot of land in unbreakable bands of ironclad legalese. 

 Kevin was getting his old house in order. He had sold most of the prehistoric farm tools he had found out in the old barn behind his house. Kevin, wondered why the old white people had paid so much for those. He'd thought about throwing them away. Kevin, had also discovered an old truck that he'd pushed out of the barn. He had planned on sending it to the Vo-tech at his old high school. He covered it with a tarp, and planned to get back to it, as soon as he got established in New Orleans. New Orleans, was the new goal, the new target and Kevin did not miss a target. He had spent much less than expected, so far, on the new house, it had been condemned by the city inspector, however it was on a parade route, and as a result, the city was eager to have it be renovated. Mr. Moran, his attorney, had purchased the split level townhouse for much less then the $10,000 he had billed Kevin.  

The townhouse had everything, including an outdoor pool, and indoor Jacuzzi, though both were in bad shape. It had a wrought iron stairway, winding through the center.  Kevin loved it.

 Kevin, was expecting to have some hurdles with the renovation, despite Tony’s assurance that the $6 thousand he had sent was more than enough. So he was using his last month in Butler, to work as much as humanly possible and save money for unforeseen events. The older friend of his father’s, for whom Kevin hauled pulpwood, was sorry to see him leave. Kevin had been a hard worker for him for the last six years, and had worked as hard as any man twice his age.
 The night crew at Wal-Mart, had thrown him a going away party, complete with a cake and ice cream.

 Yasmin, had looked as if she wanted to speak to him before he left but the conversation never reached fruition. Every Saturday, Kevin headed to New Orleans as soon as he showered, he would complete a workday, get dressed and drive over. With Jay and Tony’s assistance, and with a group of the twins friends, his place was shaping up to be a really nice investment. The house had originally been condemned because, of the outdated electrical wiring. In order to get the house up to code all he needed to do was have it rewired. Tony had promised that if Kevin bought the beer, the crawfish, and supplied the new wire, he would bring an electrician and they could rewire the house in a single day.

 Being metal workers Jay and Tony had done miracles with the wrought Iron stairways, balconies, and fencing that  encircled the small yard.  Titus Paul, the twins new “road dog” had resurfaced the pool and the Jacuzzi for the price of materials. He couldn't wait to see what they had been doing in the evenings when they got off from work. 

Five and a half months, shy of turning 20 Kevin was feeling accomplished, he had set a goal, worked hard, and was seeing results.
 There were tons of beautiful women in New Orleans, and they were as excited about the tall good looking young man, with the curly hair and dimples, as he was about them. All he wanted to do was play the field and make some money. Nothing else mattered. That's what he told himself. Kevin, didn't know what he was going to do long term. He hadn't planned that far ahead, the truth was his heart was still broken but he wouldn't admit it, even to himself.

 Excited by the prospect of getting his place closer to moving in Kevin jumped on the highway right outside of Meridian and set his Buick’s cruise control. The sun was beginning to set over the Greater New Orleans bridge as Kevin pulled into the city and headed towards his uptown dwelling.

 Jay and Tony, and their friends from the shipyard had been painting the exterior of the house and it looked great. Kevin had decided that the house that the city had painted gold, would look more homey in gray, and the twins had appropriated the shipyard's spray guns and several of the paint crew guys.

 He didn’t know when they had started working or drinking but it looked as if both activities had been ongoing for hours. The columns that held up his front porch had been graying, and scarred eye sores, they now, looked new and pristine somehow the white paint had transformed the 18 foot tall columns, and they stood out in contrast to the grey that now coated the face and stone facade of the building. 

An I beam had been set in concrete and was serving to mount Kevin’s mailbox. He could still smell the welding rods that had been used to attach the mailbox, even over the smell of the chicken and sausages cooking on the two grills now burning in his front yard.

 “If you can’t get here on time just get here when you can!” Tony teased his friend from his station at one of the grills.  His voice partially, drowned out the whine of a tile saw coming from the interior. Kevin hadn’t planned on replacing the tile floor, it was going to cost too much, he had planned on doing some sort of wood look laminate. So the familiar sound was a little upsetting, he wasn’t trying to spend his entire savings.

 He bumped his friend's forearm so that he could continue to use both hands on the grill. “Who cutting tiles bruh, I told y’all I ain't spending that kinda money. “ Tony chuckled and used a long spatula to wave toward the house . “That’s Titus, me, him and Jay redid your kitchen. I know that we gone be eating over here all the time, so we figured that you needed a kitchen that you can work with.”

 Titus, no longer worked at Avondale Shipyard with Jay and Tony, he had started a construction clean-up business and the tile that he was using in Kevin’s kitchen had been scavenged off of one of his dump trucks. Well damn, what y’all need me for then?” Kevin asked. 

“Who said they need Yo country ass!” Jay yelled as he came from inside the house carrying a tray of raw meat rubbed with a blend of seasons and soaked in malt liquor to be put on the grill. “You go get the Romex yet?” Tony, asked as he took the cooked meat from the grill, and deftly replaced it with the meat his brother had been holding. “Nah, I was waiting till I got here.” Kevin replied. Jay looked at him his expression unreadable. However, Kevin got the impression that he should have shown up with the electrical wire in hand. Rather than chastise him Jay reached into the back pocket of his Girbaud jeans and pulled out a handwritten list. which he used two fingers to hand to Kevin.  “Go to Lowes and get this shit, and we can have your house ready to live in by Monday.” 

 Even with explicit instructions, and a guide, the Lowes had been hard to find. The one way streets that require you to travel long distances before you could turn around, were a new thing for someone accustomed to a town small enough to know every single driver that you might encounter on any given day. He had borrowed Tony’s F-150 to make the store run as the stuff might not fit inside his Park Avenue.

 He and Farris, the young man who had been volunteered to be his guide, quickly gathered the items on the list including the light switches, and wall plug covers. 

 Kevin was triple checking the list as he walked up to the cashier, and didn’t realize just how bad she was until he looked up.

  “Say Bay-bee, you found everything okay, huh?” Kevin loved the way people spoke in New Orleans, and this vision with the tiny space in her teeth, and the bluest eyes he had ever seen on anyone, least to say a black person, sounded sexy as hell to him calling him Bay-bee.

 Kev’s response wasn’t nearly as cool as it had sounded inside his head. “I found you that’s the important thing ain’t it?” The woman sighed as if the pickup line had hurt her physically. “No it’s not. Obviously you are working on somebody’s house don’t you think that’s important?” The direct challenge appealed to him, and Kevin decided right then he had to get this girl. “Listen mama, I’m working on my house, and I am just trying to let you know that you are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, and I’m trying to get to know you. and yeah if I got to put my house on hold to get to know you it'll be worth it even if I got to sleep in my car!”

 Perhaps she saw his sincerity or she forgave him for being ignorant because he was handsome; Kevin had no idea which, but she gave him her phone number, and he intended to call. 

 The beer and liquor flowed, marijuana got smoked , and the 9 men doing different jobs inside and outside of his house made progress and told ribald manly jokes, as they quickly and cheaply performed over $60,000 worth of home repairs. 

It was well past midnight when the men loaded into their individual vehicles and left for the night. Kevin crashed on the sofa at Jay’s place and was knocked out by the time the house got quiet.

 All that was left to complete in his new house was the electrical wiring and the interior paint, once those two things were finished Kevin planned on moving in.

 Kevin woke before the sun rose completely, and was making coffee, when Tony and Jay padded into the kitchen. They both wordlessly reached for the cups of steaming heaven, and no one spoke until the first cup had been drank and the first cigarette smoked.

 The electrician was set to arrive at noon and the trio had crawfish to boil. Kevin had never done it before, but with the twins and Titus direction Kevin seasoned and boiled the crawfish, corn and potatoes successfully.
Kevin drove back to Butler Alabama content, and ready for the next week. Kevin, hoped  his last working at Bonita Lakes Walmart would pass quickly.

 He was ready to begin his new chapter at life, and getting to know Karen, from Lowes, was something to look forward to as well. The inspection went off without an incident and the next week was spent getting his furniture and personal items securely packed into his car and Tony’s truck. He was on his way. A whole new chapter of life.