Trash Man

When Gloria arrived on Thanksgiving morning she brought her specialty even though Kyle said she didn't have to bring anything. She knew he loved coconut cream pie and everyone told her she made the best. She gave Kyle's mother a small flower arrangement and handed Kyle the pie. His eyes lit up and he grinned. He set the pie down and pulled Gloria into a hug. He kissed her cheek when he broke the hug and said, "Thank you, Gloria. How did you know I like coconut cream pie? I told you not to bring anything."

"Well, DUH. You go on and on about it every time you find a piece in the cafe or your mom makes one. I'd have to be deaf not to know that. Besides, I'm going to eat your food so it's only polite to bring something to the meal."

Kyle sat at the head of the table during the meal and Gloria sat to his left. After the meal they were all sitting around talking, Kyle going on and on about how much help she was to him on the route and about some of the great ideas she had about the business. She was shocked when he reached out and took her hand to hold it for a moment.

Kyle's mother saw him take Gloria's hand and looked over at Gloria's face. She smiled slightly and nodded her head. It seemed like the day ended much too fast. Before Gloria knew it the shadows were lengthening and it began getting dark. Finally, she sighed and said, "I really have to go. I've had so much fun today, but I've been here way too long. Thank you so much for including me in your day. You don't know what it means to me."

Mrs. Williams smiled and said, "Oh, I might be able to guess. We've loved having you Gloria. You'll have to come back real soon."

Kyle walked Gloria out to her car and to her surprise he gave her a gentle kiss on the lips before she got into it. He stepped back and said, "Thank you for coming, Gloria. I really enjoyed having you here. See ya Saturday."

As the fall progressed and days got shorter Kyle and Gloria became more attuned to each other. They seemed to work together better and better, perfectly complementing each other. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, they didn't argue like many others who work closely together. Gloria did become somewhat exasperated with Kyle from time to time, however. It seemed whenever he saw a heavy appearing object they were supposed to pick up he would jump from the driver's seat of the old truck and rush to help her with it whether she felt she needed the assistance or not. On one level it pleased her that Kyle cared so much for her but on another it irritated her. It was almost as if he thought she couldn't do the job she was hired to do.

The second week of December Kyle seemed anxious, preoccupied on Monday and Tuesday. Gloria asked him several times what the problem was but he just blushed and said, rather sharply, "Nothing."

Finally, while they were eating their lunch Wednesday Kyle looked at Gloria and took a deep breath. He said, "Gloriawouldyougototheshowwithme?"

Gloria frowned and said, "What?" She continued to run what he said through her head trying to understand the run on sentence. She looked at Kyle and saw he was blushing. He looked terrified. All at once she got it. Her face broke out in a huge smile. Her heart sang and she said, "Yes. I would really like to go to the show with you Kyle." She looked at Kyle and saw him relax. She asked, "Kyle, is that what's been bothering you all week? Why didn't you just ask me? You ought to know I would love to go to the show with you."

"I just wasn't sure and I was scared I would piss you off. I didnÕt want to upset you or make you mad or anything, but I really like you and want to spend some time with you."

Gloria laughed. She said, "Oh, come on, Kyle. We spend nine or ten hours a day with each other. Don't you call that spending time with me?"

"Well, not really. I mean, we're working then and it's just not the same. I want to do things with you and have some fun."

Gloria took pity on Kyle and hugged him. She said, "Ok, I think I know what you mean and I'd like that too. What show do you want to see?"

"I don't care. Anything you want. You pick. Maybe we can get a burger or something too if you'd like."

Kyle and Gloria pushed hard Saturday to get done early. They rushed home so they could clean up and go out on their first official date. When Kyle came rushing into the house almost an hour earlier than usual his mother was worried. She followed him to his room and said, "Kyle is something wrong? You are home early tonight and came busting through the house like your tail was on fire."

"No mom. I'm just in a hurry. I have a date tonight and have to get cleaned up and back out as quick as I can."

Kyle's mother relaxed and smiled. She said, "Oh. Well you worried me the way you came busting in. Who are you going out with? Is it anyone I know?"

Kyle looked a little sheepish and said, "Gloria. We're going to get a burger or something, maybe pizza, then hit the late show."

"Ok. Well be careful honey and have fun."

That evening Kyle and Gloria hit the Dairy King for a burger before the show. Several of their friends were there and tried to talk them into going down the river where they had a bonfire and keg of beer. Kyle looked at Gloria to see what she though but he couldn't tell. Finally he asked if she wanted to go to the river instead of see a show. He thought he detected a little disappointment in her expression and decided she felt like he did. He really wanted to spend some time alone with her to get to know her better. Kyle turned to his friend and said, "Naw we got plans. Maybe next time."

Kyle knew he made the right decision when he looked at Gloria again. She was smiling and glowing with happiness. He just sat and looked at her while he finished his drink. Finally Gloria said exasperatedly, "What?"

"Nothing. You just look so pretty I have trouble keeping my eyes off you."

Gloria smiled and hugged him then impulsively gave him a quick kiss.

Naturally their friends saw the kiss and made a big deal of it. The building was reverberating with the catcalls and whistles as they made a big deal of the display of affection.

Kyle couldn't even tell you what the movie they saw was about. He knew it was something girls and women like but honestly didn't even remember the name of it when he was asked. He slept in on Sunday morning, not getting up until nearly noon.

When Kyle came stumbling into the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee his mother looked up from preparing the Sunday lunch meal and said, "How did the date go Kyle? It was awfully late when you got home. You weren't drinking again were you?"

"It went fine mom. A bunch of the guys had a bonfire out at the river but we didn't go. No I wasn't drinking. We just fooled around and talked until late."

"You really like Gloria don't you son? Are you going to invite her over for Christmas? If you do, be sure you invite her parents also and let me know so I have time to get everything we'll need to feed the larger group."

"Yeah, I thought I would. I hadn't thought about her parents though. I'll tell her to bring them if she comes."

Finally Christmas arrived. Kyle and Gloria made arrangements to run part of their routes early in the week and part later so they had a four-day break over the holiday. That meant working longer hours on the consolidated routes but they decided the time off was worth it.

Kyle was happy because this year he had enough money to purchase nice presents for his whole family. It was going to be a more subdued Christmas than before because it was the first one after his father died almost 11 months ago but he was still excited as were the rest of the members of his family.

Kyle once again invited Gloria to his house for the meal as he and his mother discussed. He did ask her to bring her parents and made a point of inviting them personally one evening when he picked Gloria up for their date. He got her mother and father each a small gift and went all out for Gloria. He got her a $300 gift card at Macy's.

The first full year Kyle operated his father's business his profits were over $15,000 more than he made working at the plant when he added in the pallet and furniture income. They were not quite as much as his father and he made together but he thought he could get there. Hell, he was paying two full time employees and still making the profits. He thought that was exceptional.

In January Kyle received a phone call from his largest competitor. He was an older man and got right to the point. He said, "Kyle I want to retire. The way I see it I have three choices. I either have to just close my business or hire someone to run the route for me or I have to sell out. Now if I just close down I leave all my customers without trash service for a while then you or someone else will pick them up. I end up with nothing and have my truck to sell. If I hire someone to run the route he will either screw off and cost me customers until I go broke or will tear up my equipment. Oh, I know I might luck out and find someone that'll do ok but the odds of that are slim. That leaves me the option of selling out. That's what I wantta do, boy. I want you to buy my business and take over the routes for me. I'll make ya a good price and I guarantee my truck's in good shape. Whatta ya say, boy?"

Kyle sat there in shock. He knew old man Stephens was getting old. Hell to look at him you'd think he was Methuselah himself but being asked to buy his business floored him. Heck, if he did that he would have many of the problems old man Stephens talked about. He would have to hire someone to run the route and they might do just what Stephens worried they would do to his trucks.

"What's tha matter, boy? Cat got yer tongue?"

"Uh, no, sir. You just surprised me. Why did you ask me to buy you out? I'm not even sure I could afford it if I wanted to. I bet there's a lot of people that would like to buy your routes."

"Don't know boy. Might be. I been watchin' you though since yore pappy died. Ya took right a hold and been doin' right fine. Ya do your job and take care of people. Ya got that girl of my cousins workin' fer ya and I like that. Her pappy never was such a much but I think that girl's ok. She can run one truck fer ya I'm sure and ya can do the other. You'd still have ta hire help but then you would each have a newbie and could watch over em and make sure everythin' went ok. I'd make ya a good deal son."

"I don't know. How much we talkin about here, Sir?"

"Well, I figure $125,000 and ya get it all. The truck, route and all my tools and equipment to go with it."

"I don't have that kind of money. I can't afford it at all. Sorry."

"Now hold on there boy. I didn't say I needed it all in cash here. You give me $10,000 down and I'll carry the note on the rest for ten years at 5%. Ya pay me monthly. It would only be about $1220 a month, boy, and it would make me and tha wife an easier retirement. I don't think a youngster just startin' out could do that and still feed his family. You could do it fine and still pay your wages. I take in about $9000 a month from the routes. You'll even have a little left after wages and expenses so you'll be doing better and helpin' me out too."

"I don't know. I need to think about it and talk it over with the family."

Kyle thought about the phone call all the rest of the day and even during the night because it kept him awake. The next morning he told his mother what he was thinking about and she was worried. "What if something happens, Kyle? I don't want more debt hanging over our heads here. If you got sick or something there's no way I could take care of things."

Kyle was quiet and thoughtful on the route that day and once again Gloria picked up on it. She finally asked in exasperation, "Kyle, what's the matter this time? You can't be worrying about asking me out again. We're over that hurdle now. What's bothering you, now?"

Kyle looked over at Gloria and said, "You know that phone call I got yesterday? The one I walked away to have?"

Gloria nodded her head yes and Kyle continued, "Well, that was from your Daddy's cousin, Mr. Stephens. He wants to sell me his routes and equipment. He thinks you could run one truck and I could run one. He will carry the note and let me pay most of it out over ten years. If what he says is true I think I can pay you and two more helpers as well as the note and operating expenses and still clear over $1000 more a month than we do now. What do you say? Would you like to run your own truck for me?"

Gloria sat back in shock. She looked scared and said, "I don't know if I can do that, Kyle. It's a great opportunity for you but I just dunno if I can run a truck by myself."

"What's the problem, Gloria? You drive this truck sometimes and don't have a problem. I don't know if his truck is a stick like this one or automatic, but either way you can do it. Besides, you wouldn't be doing it by yourself. We would keep his helper on to help you."

"Well, yeah, I guess I could drive ok, but what about being the boss? You know a lot of the guys that do that kind of work are pretty much drunks and assholes."

"I know, but if they gave you much trouble you could just fire them and we'll find someone else. I won't put up with any crap and you don't have to either. Mom isn't too excited this, but I think I would like to try it if you would agree to help me out here. It'll mean a nice raise for you and we can maybe find even more things to fix and sell."

Kyle and Gloria talked about the deal all that day and the next two before they decided to give it a try. Kyle called Stephens back and began negotiating with him for the routes. The end result was he paid $120,000 for the business and $10,000 down. Stephens carried the note, but it had a sweetener in it for Kyle. The interest was only $4.5% and if both Mr. and Mrs. Stephens died before the note was paid off Kyle did not have to pay the remaining balance.

Kyle made out on the deal because Stephen's routes were more compact, mostly in town and with a lot of well to do households in two of them. He also had a five-year-old truck in almost perfect shape and his helper agreed to stay on. The helper was a little upset he would be working for Gloria, but a fifty-cent an hour raise seemed to calm him right down.

By Memorial Day that year Kyle was feeling the bone deep exhaustion that comes to those who work six-day weeks, fifty to sixty hours a week for long periods. He badly needed to relax and unwind. He was becoming sharp with his family, employees and, even worse his customers. He needed a vacation badly and knew if he needed one, so did his employees. Perhaps, except for Gloria and the man who came with the business he bought from Mr. Stephens he needed one the worst. Like many lower quality blue-collar jobs, his jobs didn't stay filled with the same person for long. His employees tended to come, work a while, and then quit or he fired them for performance reasons. He, Gloria, and the other man had now been working for over a year doing 6-day weeks.

Kyle decided that he was going to take a week long vacation and he was also going to see that every employee who had been working at least a year got one also. He instituted a policy that after working for the company one year you got a one-week paid vacation.

Kyle walked into the trash service office the week before Memorial Day and said to his assembled employees, "I am sick of these long days and weeks. I have decided to make a policy where everyone who has worked for us at least a year gets a one week vacation with pay on the anniversary of their hiring. No more than two people can be gone at one time because we still have to cover our routes. Now, I intend to take off the week of Memorial Day. The rest of you can see me or Gloria to schedule your vacations also as soon as you have been working for us a year or longer."

Everyone cheered when Kyle made his announcement. He then said, "Ok. Lets roll if the pre operational checks are completed. Gloria, would you wait a minute please? I have something to ask you."

When everyone left to begin his or her routes Gloria walked up to Kyle. He first gave her a kiss, and then said, "I want to go camping back along the river where I don't have to see anyone or listen to any noise except for what Mother Nature provides. Would you like to take your vacation the same time I do and come with me? We can fish, swim and just generally lay around for a week."

Gloria smiled and said, "Yes I would like to come with you but can we really both afford to be gone at the same time right now?"

"I don't see why not. There may be some longer days for the other guys but they all know their jobs so it should be ok. We can check back in every couple of days to be sure there's no problem but I don't expect one. I would sure like for you to come with me."

Gloria's eyes glistened as she smiled widely. She said, "Ok, I"ll do it. The thought of a whole wee away from here and on the river bank sounds like heaven to me."

Gloria and Kyle agreed to leave at ten the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. They knew they would have a lot of traffic and several other people on the river the weekend but during the next week they thought it would be less crowded. Besides, the place Kyle intended to camp could only be reached by canoe and was only large enough for one camp. It was not a popular spot for the canoeists to stop because it was so small and was slightly difficult to beach a canoe on. There was a small spring running into the river beside the gravel bar and the current tended to make landing there difficult.

Sure enough, when they got to their destination, it was clear of campers. They landed their canoe and spent the next hour setting up camp. After they had their lean to tarp tent pitched and everything arranged to their satisfaction Kyle waded into the stream and floated on his back letting the tension drain from his body. Gloria rapidly followed him.

That evening after a delicious supper they pulled a beer from the cooler and leaned back to watch the sunset. Gloria settled into the crook of Kyle's arm and leaned her head back against his chest. She looked up at him and said, "Oh, Kyle, this is just perfect. Now that all the floaters are past it is so peaceful I could just lay here with you forever. I'm so glad you thought of this."

Kyle hugged her quickly then bent to give her a kiss. The kiss quickly became very intense. He heard her moan as she twisted slightly to press her breasts against his rock hard chest. In the dim light beside the remaining orange coals of their campfire Kyle and Gloria enjoyed their first love making session. They had done oral and heavy petting before but this was the first time they Ôwent all the way.

After Kyle rolled off Gloria onto his back she snuggled up against him and lay her head on his shoulder. She threw one leg and arm across his body and said, "Oh, Kyle, that was perfect. I love you, you know. Now I know what everyone was trying to tell me. Sex is much better with someone you love."

Kyle turned his head slightly and gently kissed Gloria on the top of her head and said, "Yeah, I know what you mean. I love you too, and this was fantastic."

The two new lovers lay there in the gathering darkness and listened to the sounds of the running river and wildlife. They slowly drifted off to sleep. Sometime in the night Kyle woke chilled and after he took a piss at the edge of camp he covered them with a light blanket.

The next morning the sun rising over the river woke him. He quietly got up and built up the fire to make their coffee. He was sitting beside the river leaning on a tree drinking his second cup when Gloria came wandering down slowly sipping on her first cup of coffee. She sat beside him and leaned on his shoulder while they drank their coffee quietly and watched the world wake for another day.