Underbelly by G. Johanson

drunk without spending any money. In fact nobody even let him reach into his pocket even though he wanted to pay his own way, and took umbrage at the suggestion of him paying for his own liquor.
    Grey nodded vigorously. “I was discharged over a year ago now, Bob. I’ve been out of the chair for four months and threw the sticks away last month. I won’t be on the track again anytime soon but I’m fit enough for the hard labour of the job.”
    “ But your dancing days are behind you,” Bob joked.
    “ In front of me, actually. The wife likes to dance and I can’t say no to her even though she’s full of grace and I’m a plodding lump of meat next to her.”
    “ I never heard that you’d got spliced. Congratulations. In that case you’ll definitely need your old job back.”
    “ If it’s still available. Did the work pick up?”
    Bob grimaced. “It ebbs and flows. The books have been nothing special. Dick’ll have to go.”
    Grey exhaled deeply and said, “I don’t want that.”
    “ That was the arrangement. Dick’s done a sterling job; he’s changed a bit after the crash, a bit more sensible. Still daft as a brush most of the time but he’s toned it down a bit. I’ll be sorry to see him go but it’s just one of those things.”
    Grey and Bob chatted over the afternoon with Grey filling him in on his experiences, yet Bob’s spiel was better and made it sound like Keokuk had been more interesting over the last year than the whole Normandy campaign. After considering the matter Grey said, “I don’t know for sure that I’m sticking around, Bob, so keep things as they are.”
    “ You want some time to think about it?”
    Grey shook his head. “Dick doesn’t deserve to be in limbo. He’s been doing the job now for longer than I did it in the first place. It’s not my job to take – it’s his now.”
    Bob was relieved that Grey said this as he didn’t want to fire Dick and he said, “If things do pick up, which seems unlikely, I can contact you for bits and bobs?”
    “ That’d be good.”
    Grey told his father over dinner that his old job was gone which led to Abner practically rupturing a blood vessel as he ranted that his job had to be there for him by law.
    “ Dick’s been doing it longer. Bob offered me my old job.”
    “ Then take it.” Abner looked to Shirley and Germaine to back him up and said, “You two talk some sense into him.”
    Shirley’s perspective differed from her husband – she’d had to reconcile herself with her son’s imminent burial and she still couldn’t believe he had returned seemingly so healthy. “Do you think you’re ready to work?” she asked, more than willing to support him indefinitely rather than endanger his health.
    Grey nodded. “I’m going to try and stay away from any heavy lifting for a couple of months because I haven’t been walking unassisted long, but I could work now.”
    “ Then go back and tell Bob you’ve changed your mind. Bad enough that joker wrecked your vehicle; don’t let him steal your job too,” Abner said forcefully.
    “ Dick paid me for the pickup,” Grey said. Dick had given him a derisory sum for his wheels. Grey felt bad enough taking this from him as he knew he could ill afford to hand over this amount and if he did not have Germaine to support he wouldn’t have accepted any of his money. “There’s other jobs out there.”
    Abner shook his head, unable to comprehend why Grey wouldn’t take the easy option and go back to his old job. “Fine. They’re hiring at the canners.”
    “ I might look into it in a couple of months. Before I start working I promised Germaine I’d show her the sights of the US.”
    “ And what will you live on?”
    “ I’ve got some money, army pay.”
    “ You were only in the army for six months, that won’t go far.”
    “ I’ll work as we travel then.”
    “ Aren’t they hiring at your place, Abner?” Shirley chimed in with, trying to be helpful, to her husband’s