Pheasant Construction

Once they got going I headed back to Juniper to work with Angel. Towards the end of the day I head back to Destry's job site. They have some skill and have made some progress, but it was not the same quality as what Angel and I do. There was nothing specific I saw they did wrong. Just some sloppiness and shortcuts that I wouldn't do.

My habit was to now go to Destry's job first, make sure they had a plan for the day and then head over to work with Angel. Towards the end of the day I would outline the plan for the following day with Angel. Angel was so good I barely needed to do this.

Life with Tracy was good but changing. As I have said she was more confident and did dress to show off her body more. Her appetite for the restaurants, bars and shops in town seemed to increase.

We met one evening for dinner at Pizazz. We talked about our day. I noticed that as I was talking to Tracie every so often her eyes would scan the room to see who was here and what they were doing. I didn't feel like I was getting her full attention.

We were talking about our new house and she asked about the land, the development and the county. I kept thinking, I need to talk to Preston about that again. I told her I thought we were close to starting on the new house. I also told her that Iris was doing the design. As I started telling her some of the details she looked over my shoulder and with a big smile, her face lit up.

I feel a hand clap me on the back and the unmistakable greetings from Marshall.

"What a nice surprise to run into you both here." He boomed.

"Kevin," He greets me with a quick shoulder squeeze.

"And the lovely Miss Tracie" He says and greets her with a full on embrace. As they separate I notice a quick ogle of her cleavage.

Since when has this level of friendship evolved between these two I wonder? I know we all hung out in Cabo together but that was nearly 3 months ago. They look like old friends, or more. And Tracy is positively beaming at Marshall.

"Do you want to join us?" Tracie asked.

"Just for a minute, I'm meeting some people in the bar." He grabs a spare chair, scoots close to Tracie and begins talking.

This goes on for about 15 minutes before he begs off to meet his people. During that time I'm estimating at least 12 of those minutes were focused fully on Tracie. He told her more than once how great she looked. Each time she gave him a big smile in appreciation.

The whole scene gave off an odd vibe that I was not comfortable with.

On the way home I reminded Tracie that my deal on the land was not something I wanted Marshall to know about.

The entire drive she was uncharacteristically quiet. Silently staring out the window into the night.

Sunday morning I drove to Preston's for coffee. He always seemed glad to see me. I considered Preston a good friend and he seemed to like me too. I sought advice from Preston from time to time and so far it had always proved sound.

We talked about Pheasant a bit and I told him about Destry and the crowd from Texas. I also told him about my thoughts concerning Marshall.

"Son, you ever thought about going out on your own?" He asked.

I told him up until the last few months I had really liked my job with Pheasant. I told him Marshall was really good at what he does and that I thought we were really building something with this business.

"What I hoped would happen," I said. " was that once the county approves development out here I would have enough reserves to start my own thing. Build a house or so per year. Really focus on building a top quality product."

"Ah, yes. The county." Preston sighed and looked toward the ceiling as if asking for divine assistance.

"Margaret Plum, the hippie lady, as we expected is slowing the process down. The other two commissioners are ready to go. Just last week I floated a new proposal to them."

"What was the new proposal?" I asked.

"Minimum lot size, 5 acres." He said. "This would mean fewer homes, less traffic, less pollution and less of a carbon footprint. I'm hoping this will be enough to sway Margaret."

He went on to tell me not to worry I'd get a great return on my investment and to be patient. I felt good about that, as I said, so far Preston had always given solid advice.

I thanked him and as I left I asked him again about my legal protection with the LLC his lawyer set up for me.

"Don't worry son, no one can get their hands on that land but you. Not even your cute little bride." He told me. I thought about that as I drove home.

Angel and I finished the Juniper Drive house mid summer and started on the other big house in River Ridge. Destry and company were slowed on the house they were building because of quality issues. The owners were not satisfied with several things concerning their craftsmanship.

Marshall called and suggested I send Angel over to help them finish so we could get that project buttoned up. When I told Angel, I could tell he was not happy about working with Destry's guys.

The night of the third day of Angel working with Destry, Angel called me.

"KC, I no wanna work with those guys no more". Angel said.

I didn't blame him, but I wanted to know why.

"How come Angel?" I asked.

"Jus no wanna work with them. I work with you or on my own, not with them." He said.

I asked him for more detail and he was reluctant to say anything, Finally I got him to tell me.

"They make fun of me, call me name, bad guys. I no wanna quit you, but I no work with them no more." Angel told me.

Fucking assholes. I could see it happening. I should have thought about that. I felt bad for Angel.

"No Angel, you are not quitting. You don't have to work with them anymore." I told him. "You're back with me starting tomorrow. I'll take care of this."

"Gracias KC." He told me.

The next morning I got to their job site early.

"Where's Jose?" Destry asked me.

I didn't say a word I just walked up nose to nose with him and stared.

"If you fucking idiots could build right he wouldn't need to be here!" I firmly told Destry, staring him right in the eye.

"Easy boss man, get out of my space." He said, no insolent smirk now.

As the tensions escalated Junior walked over. I thought about it. I did not want to mess with that monster.

I walked away, toward the home, reducing the tension a bit.

"Just do your job right if you want to keep working here." I said.

"You threatening us with our job boss man?" Destry asked.

"Just manage your projects from now on." I said as I walked back to my truck.

I heard Destry say something, but I wasn't quite sure what it was, and then I heard Krump start cackling. What it sounded like was, "you can't even manage your woman." Could that be what I heard?

I thought about Tracie that day as I worked. She was in a good mood most of the time, but I'm not sure it was me putting her in the good mood. She was gone a lot. Sometimes into the evening. There were some nights she was home after 9 PM.

When I questioned her she gave vague answers. I know she was working a lot, so was I. We talked about our dreams and our goals when we were together. Lately though, it seemed I was doing most of this talking and she was just agreeing with me. We seemed to be drifting apart.

That night I said something to her about all this in a non accusatory way. I got her attention and for the next few months things seemed back to normal. Lot's of good sex, we spent more time together and she was in a good mood most of the time. Far fewer evenings away. We were still a little off but I attributed that to our frantic work schedules.

I was meeting up with Iris a few times a month mostly at our job site so she could walk the build, answer questions and make sure we were all on track.

To supplement her income Iris told me she was bartending at Maxine's, a nice restaurant near downtown.

"My uncle doesn't pay that well and it's kind of fun. On weekends I can easily make $100 to $200 a night."

Iris asked me to come with her when she was at Destry's job sites.

"He gives me the creeps." She told me. "And that Junior. He stares at me as if he is about to rape me at any moment." She wasn't joking about any of this.

One day as she was leaving our job site in early November she asked me a strange question.

"Everything OK with you and Tracie?" She questioned.

"Yes, why." I asked.

"OK good." She said. "Forget I asked."

And with that she was gone. I wonder why she asked? Tracie and I seemed to be getting along fine.

The pressure to finish these jobs was enormous. The pressure came from the clients who had personal timelines but also from Marshall. The more production he got the more money Pheasant Construction made.

My pressure was compounded by my desire to create a good product and make sure that the Pheasant Construction reputation didn't suffer. After all, I was a partner.

Late November I told Tracy the next month or so was going to be more busy than normal. She took it well. It was the following day Marshall called and invited us to Cabo in January again.

"Marshall, how can you even suggest Cabo this year." I asked him. "We are weeks behind on this project and the homeowners need to move in by mid January."

"Kevin, you are the project manager. It's your job to get these projects done on time. I'm planning on going and I would like you and Tracy to go." He said very calmly.

I was steamed. How can he, with good conscience, take off on a vacation when I was working 60+ hours per week.

"Well, I can't go. Maybe Tracie and I will take some time for a vacation once this one is buttoned up. The other thing is so much of my time is fixing your boy Destry's mistakes, it slows me down. We are going to have a serious discussion about this whole set up as soon as I can get this project done." I told him.

A few days later I got a call from Tracie.

"Why didn't you tell me that we were invited to Cabo again?" She asked. Apparently she had bumped in to Marshall somewhere and he had said something.

"Tracie, there was no point. There is no way I can get away with the job I'm working on. It's going to take all my time just to get it done by the 15th even without the vacation." I told her.

And that was that. I knew she was disappointed but there were no options. Destry and his crew were way off schedule on the house on Canyon Ridge.

I expected Tracie to be upset about Cabo but she was in a sweet mood at home that night. Maybe she is starting to understand that in a matter of maybe, months, no more than a few years, our life dream will be fulfilled. Less hours, less financial stress and more time to do what we want.

That Saturday Tracie had a date night planned for us. Dinner in town then a nice night at home. I expected there will be good sex Saturday night.

We had a nice dinner and as we were sipping our wine, Tracie a little nervously, started speaking.

"Kevin, honey, I know you're real busy these days and don't have much free time. But, see, the thing is, is that I'm starting to slow down for Winter." She told me.

OK, I knew all this, where is this going.

"So, even though you can't go, I bought a ticket for me for Cabo." Her face was down as she said this, quickly glancing up to gauge my reaction.

"You're going without me!?" I asked.

"It's just for a few days and I really like being there at that beautiful villa and that fantastic weather. They said it was OK if I came by myself." She said.

I didn't say a word. A couple of thoughts went through my head. Number one Tracie prancing around topless with me not around. But I think the thing that bothered me most was a lack of sacrifice on her part.

I thought she and I had a dream. A vision of how our life would be. To achieve your dreams we often have to make sacrifices. I was working long hours, that was a sacrifice. There was no way I could do this vacation, that was a sacrifice. I had to deal with asshole's like Destry, that was also a sacrifice.

I didn't see many sacrifices coming from her, and now she is planning on going to Cabo without me. There were several things so wrong with all this, for the first time I started questioning her commitment to me. With that, I began ever so slightly to question my commitment to her.

"OK, sounds like your mind's made up." I said.

"You mean I can go?" She asked. It was like dealing with a child.

"Tracie, you are an adult, you can make your own decisions. I have to say I'm surprised and disappointed." I said.

"I know, she said, I'm disappointed too." She totally misunderstood my disappointment. She thought I was disappointed in not being able to go. Of course what I meant was I was disappointed in her decision to do this without me.

As we walked to my car she hugged my arm, happy that she was getting her way. I was not happy in the least.

She chatted all the way home. I didn't have much to say.

Once at home she tried to initiate sex.

"Not tonight Tracie," I said. "It's been a long week."

In the years we were together I'm not sure I ever have turned her down for sex. She just stared at me surprised.

"You don't want me?" She asked, completely bewildered.

I told her not tonight. She still didn't get my disappointment in her with this Cabo trip.

In the weeks leading up to the trip there were moments when our interaction was fairly good, we even had sex a few times. But I was working these long hours and most of the time I didn't have the energy to pretend nothing was wrong.

On the day she left I told her to have a good time and that she and I were going to need to have some discussions once she returned.

"What discussions?" She asked. She had a bit of a worried look on her face.

"You have a good time, and we'll talk about it then." I told her.

Was it cruel to drop that on her right as she was leaving? Did I want that to be on her mind while she was on vacation? Did I want her to be a little unsure of my commitment to her?

Absolutely.

The week went by fast. I was able to work long hours and we ended up actually ahead of schedule finishing the house a few days before the homeowners were scheduled to move in.

I confided some of the things happening in my life to Preston and he helped me put together a bit of a plan for this coming year. I knew things were going to be different this year, I just didn't know how different. But I would soon.

One other thing Preston told me was that he was getting some positive signs from the county and he may have some good news soon.

Once Tracy got home I noticed a few things were different. She seemed more aloof, less engaged with our relationship. I would sometimes catch her talking quietly on her cell phone, ostensibly about business. And not only were her boobs tan (I expected this), but it looked like her entire bottom was a little tan. Had she gone bottomless?

I called Marshall and scheduled a meeting for after work on Friday. He asked what the purpose of the meeting was, I told him "a lot of things."

When Marshall and I and Claudia were all together at the office I told them I wanted to discuss the coming year and some changes that needed to be made.

"First, the schedule that we were on this last year cannot continue. Angel and I are working too many hours. I know we're paid well but that is way too much." I told them.

"I'm sure we can work this out, maybe even hire some more help." Marshall said, not acting terribly concerned about this topic.

"Well then speaking of employees, I will not be working with Destry and his crowd this year. I'm not managing his projects and Angel and I are not fixing his fuck ups. Anymore!" I kind of raised my voice as I pronounced this.

Suddenly I got Marshall's attention.

"Now wait a minute." He said, a bit more serious now. "It may have taken Terry and his crew a few months to catch on to the way we do things but we are not getting rid of them. They're way too valuable."

"Well fine, you can keep them." I said. "Neither Angel or I will have anything to do with them." I told them.

"Hold on." He said. "Angel is an employee of Pheasant Construction, if he is assigned to work with them, he WILL work with them!" Marshall's voice was rising.

"Furthermore, if I assign you to work with Terry or Junior or anyone else, you will work with them." He was now shouting at me.

"You forget Marshall, I am a partner too." I said. "I have rights as an owner and I am exercising my rights on this matter."

After I said this I saw Marshall look at Claudia and then she quickly looked away. There was a pause in the discussion.

"What" I asked.

Once again they looked at each other and then I saw Claudia nod towards Marshall.

"Kevin, you are no longer a partner." Marshall told me.

He went on to tell me that when I had taken the loan it was collateralized with my shares. In the corporate bylaws it was incumbent on me to begin to pay back the loan. As I paid back the loan I would regain my shares.

"I explained that to you during the loan process." Claudia said to me.

I never recalled that discussion.

No wonder they were so eager to provide the loan. For the last two years I've busted my ass for Pheasant Construction thinking I was an owner, but I was no different than Junior or Krump, just an hourly employee.

"I see," I said as I got up. I was so angry I needed to leave. I was afraid of what I might do.

"Now Kevin, we can certainly keep talking about some of these issues," Marshall was saying as I left the office.

"Kevin" Iris called to me as I was leaving, but I didn't trust myself to say a word to her either.

That night I really wanted to discuss the future with Tracie. I was hoping in this time of need she would be by my side so we could plan our future.

By 7 o'clock she still wasn't home and had not answered my voicemail or text. I had to figure everything out. I planned on talking to Angel, I owed him that. But I was pretty sure that my days at Pheasant were done.

Any small trust I had in Marshall was gone. Claudia had schemed to get me displaced as a partner. Meanwhile I worked 50-60 hours or more every week. All my effort and stress did was build up the good reputation of Pheasant Construction.

Tracie finally showed up a little after 9. I was so confused. I wanted to talk all this out with her, but I was also pissed off she was getting in so late with no message back to me.

When I asked where she had been she got defensive and never gave me a solid answer. At that point the mood between us wasn't good. I could not imagine a scenario where I could get the support I needed to discuss the future.

I went to bed upset with Tracy and she wasn't speaking to me either.

The next day I drove to Angel's. He was the one I was most concerned about. If I left would he still be able to continue working for Pheasant with the way Destry had treated him?

I sat with Angel and explained that I was leaving and why. He nodded and understood. I asked him if he would be OK, and he said he would be. He was a tough little guy. He then asked what I was going to do.

"You know Angel, I'm going to start my own carpentry business. It will take a while to get it up and running. But I'm confident I can do well with it." I told him.

"And I can't do it right away, but if you can hang on for a few months, I'd love for us to work together again." I said.

He smiled and told me that would be what he wanted too.

"You say when you ready for me KC." He told me.

I gave him a hug as I left. That went better than I expected. I had quite a bit of cash on hand in preparation to finance my new house. So cash flow was not going to be a problem. I'll just wait a few more months before I start the new place.

Now I needed to resign from Pheasant Construction.

I called Marshall on Sunday. I was prepared to leave him a voicemail but he surprised me by answering.