“What do you expect out of me?”
Brynna grimaced and fell back to her side. Silently, they walked towards the main office. After a long moment, Brynna’s fists unclenched.
“It was makeup,” she said. “In the bag. Jeanie, you’re crazy.”
“Boy, tell me about it. Seems to me I’ve heard that about a thousand times in the last month.” Of course, it could have been makeup. But it probably wasn’t.
“Yeah.” Brynna gave her a sidelong glance. “Maybe you’re not a wimp after all.”
“Ha. Look at my hands shake!”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Jeanie shaded her eyes and applied Mackie’s rule of thumb to the construction site. Look for the large, muscled figure of Danny Rivera, and there would be Quinto jogging behind, with his hardhat, shining eyes, and endless stream of questions.
Danny waved. His grin made the world seem like a better place. “Hey, good to see you, Jeanie. Come to check out my guy, here?” Danny hauled a heavy cardboard box under one arm. “He’s a great young man, one of the best I’ve had. Never wears out on me halfway through the morning.”
“Soon’s I get my GED, I’m gonna come on full-time, ain’t I, Mr. Rivera?” The great brown eyes looked like Corrigan’s when he was hoping for a walk.
“We’ll see about that,” said Danny heartily. His eyes, meeting Jeanie’s, expressed some doubt. A subtle tilt of his head indicated a tall gray-haired man with a sheaf of papers. “We’ll have to see what Mr. Browning has to say, but I’d sure recommend him in a flash.”
“Quinto, don’t you already work full-time on Saturdays?”
“No, just a couple times, when they was behind, like they was last week,” said Quinto. He tensed and studied the ground between his feet.
That, she realized suddenly, was the day Bryce Wogan had been hurt. She hurried on, trying to ease his embarrassment. “So, what are you doing today, Quinto?”
“We been checking out the supplies of rebar. We got lots a them cinder blocks to go afore we get to the rafters. I been framing out windows, cross bracing, you know. Hey, let me show you something sharp. I just learned me this, just this morning, been working on it real good.” Quinto ran off to the trailer.
“So, what do you really think?” Jeanie asked Danny.
“Gotta love that enthusiasm. He’s got some good stuff in him, Quinto does. Not the brightest, but sometimes he surprises me.” Danny indicated Quinto jogging back, a loosely rolled sheet of paper tucked under an arm.
“See? Look, Jeanie. Them’s blueprints, see? They tells all there is to know about this building. There’s a cut-away, shows what it’s gonna look like, kind of three-D, you know.” Quinto threw his hand in front of his face, and framed the building between thumb and forefinger. “See? Just like that, ain’t it great? Then these marks here, they tell about stuff like the plumbing, and the inside walls. Look here, see? That there’s a support wall.” Quinto pointed to the drawing, and then to an empty space in the middle of the floor. Danny nodded approvingly as he scrawled his initials on Jeanie’s paper.
“It ain’t there yet, but it’s gotta go in before they get much higher. Real important, Jeanie, ‘cause if it ain’t there? The whole second floor will come crashing down, soon’s they get the furniture on it. This stuff, this blueprint, it’s important. It’s like people live, or die, depending on if these guys done their pictures right. Ain’t that something?” Quinto shook his head. “And it’s all math, Jeanie. How come none of them teachers ever told me that? Math ain’t just counting apples and money. It’s people living or dying, and I never knowed it before, ‘til Mr. Rivera showed me this morning.”
Behind him, Danny said, “You stay here for a bit, Quinto, talk to your teacher. I’ll be up on the scaffold.”
Quinto turned instantly. “Hey, I’ll go with you, Jeanie don’t care.”
“No, no, in a minute or two,
Brynna grimaced and fell back to her side. Silently, they walked towards the main office. After a long moment, Brynna’s fists unclenched.
“It was makeup,” she said. “In the bag. Jeanie, you’re crazy.”
“Boy, tell me about it. Seems to me I’ve heard that about a thousand times in the last month.” Of course, it could have been makeup. But it probably wasn’t.
“Yeah.” Brynna gave her a sidelong glance. “Maybe you’re not a wimp after all.”
“Ha. Look at my hands shake!”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Jeanie shaded her eyes and applied Mackie’s rule of thumb to the construction site. Look for the large, muscled figure of Danny Rivera, and there would be Quinto jogging behind, with his hardhat, shining eyes, and endless stream of questions.
Danny waved. His grin made the world seem like a better place. “Hey, good to see you, Jeanie. Come to check out my guy, here?” Danny hauled a heavy cardboard box under one arm. “He’s a great young man, one of the best I’ve had. Never wears out on me halfway through the morning.”
“Soon’s I get my GED, I’m gonna come on full-time, ain’t I, Mr. Rivera?” The great brown eyes looked like Corrigan’s when he was hoping for a walk.
“We’ll see about that,” said Danny heartily. His eyes, meeting Jeanie’s, expressed some doubt. A subtle tilt of his head indicated a tall gray-haired man with a sheaf of papers. “We’ll have to see what Mr. Browning has to say, but I’d sure recommend him in a flash.”
“Quinto, don’t you already work full-time on Saturdays?”
“No, just a couple times, when they was behind, like they was last week,” said Quinto. He tensed and studied the ground between his feet.
That, she realized suddenly, was the day Bryce Wogan had been hurt. She hurried on, trying to ease his embarrassment. “So, what are you doing today, Quinto?”
“We been checking out the supplies of rebar. We got lots a them cinder blocks to go afore we get to the rafters. I been framing out windows, cross bracing, you know. Hey, let me show you something sharp. I just learned me this, just this morning, been working on it real good.” Quinto ran off to the trailer.
“So, what do you really think?” Jeanie asked Danny.
“Gotta love that enthusiasm. He’s got some good stuff in him, Quinto does. Not the brightest, but sometimes he surprises me.” Danny indicated Quinto jogging back, a loosely rolled sheet of paper tucked under an arm.
“See? Look, Jeanie. Them’s blueprints, see? They tells all there is to know about this building. There’s a cut-away, shows what it’s gonna look like, kind of three-D, you know.” Quinto threw his hand in front of his face, and framed the building between thumb and forefinger. “See? Just like that, ain’t it great? Then these marks here, they tell about stuff like the plumbing, and the inside walls. Look here, see? That there’s a support wall.” Quinto pointed to the drawing, and then to an empty space in the middle of the floor. Danny nodded approvingly as he scrawled his initials on Jeanie’s paper.
“It ain’t there yet, but it’s gotta go in before they get much higher. Real important, Jeanie, ‘cause if it ain’t there? The whole second floor will come crashing down, soon’s they get the furniture on it. This stuff, this blueprint, it’s important. It’s like people live, or die, depending on if these guys done their pictures right. Ain’t that something?” Quinto shook his head. “And it’s all math, Jeanie. How come none of them teachers ever told me that? Math ain’t just counting apples and money. It’s people living or dying, and I never knowed it before, ‘til Mr. Rivera showed me this morning.”
Behind him, Danny said, “You stay here for a bit, Quinto, talk to your teacher. I’ll be up on the scaffold.”
Quinto turned instantly. “Hey, I’ll go with you, Jeanie don’t care.”
“No, no, in a minute or two,
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