I drive the tractor back and forth pulling things out from the barn. Let me tell you how much crap he had in there. When you first walked in you could only take about two steps before there was so much crap you couldn't even see the other side of the barn.
A few of my Grandma's siblings came and helped out today, but they left around five o'clock. I pick up what looks like to be a lump of metal and throw it in the front. We have what looks kinda like the front of a snowplow on our tractor, it's just more curved.
I wipe my forehead as I feel more sweat drip down. I had thrown up my hair within the first five minutes of working. I'm in grubby jeans, with an old t-shirt that has paint stains on it, and then I have overalls over them to make sure I don't cut myself on anything, I also have a hat on, and gloves that are full of stuff that I don't want to know.
I pull myself into the tractor and drive it back to the front. It takes about ten minutes for me to get all the way to the trailer and then I have to dump the crap. Mason and my Grandpa are sorting the crap that I dump while my Grandma is trying to take the things from in the house out to get sorted. I dump the load and hop out of the tractor.
"Guys, I might need some help. There are a few things that are starting to get too heavy for me to lift." I say as they walk up.
"Mason you can go with her and help." My Grandpa says as he picks up something and begins to walk away with it. I motion for Mason. He comes and then looks up at the tractor.
"You'll need to get in first and I'll sit on the right on the right." I say. He nods and hoists himself up into the tractor. I do the same and sit on the plastic piece that's above the tractor wheel. He drives us back and when we're almost there I jump off getting a head start towards the barn. I find the things that I can't lift and wait for him to come. "Ok, I can't lift anything in this section and forward," I say.
"Ok, help me with whatever this was." He says walking to something brown. I nod and walk over. "Ok, lift on three. One, two, three." We both lift and carefully walk out of the barn. We drop it into the basket thing and go back to the barn to get some more crap.
We do this for about two more hours until it's too dark to drive. We then begin helping my Grandma and taking things out. "Ok, you guys did good. Take your overalls off and put them over there" She says pointing to a spot that has everything that's already dirty lays. I walk over there and begin to take them off.
Once they are off I feel ten pounds lighter. "Damn those are heavy," I say and Mason laughs.
"Only because you're so tiny." I glare at him as he takes his off. I take my gloves off and put them next to the overalls. I walk back to the porta potty and clean my hands. We have a water station going over there. It's a bowl of water that you put your hands into after grabbing soap. Amazing right? No, it's fricking cold and gets dirty really quick.
I begin to dry my hands when Mason washes his. "That's cold." He says and he quickly rubs his hands together.
"Yeah, I know." I say laughing as he grabs the towel to dry is cold hands. I take my hat off and pull my ponytail out. After shaking my head a few times it's back to laying on my shoulders. I massage my scalp.
"You all good there?" I hear my Grandpa's voice.
"Yeah, my hair hurts from having the ponytail in all day," I say and he laughs.
"I wasn't talking to you." He says and I look at Mason. He looks slightly embarrassed and uncomfortable.
"Y-yeah I'm fine." He says clearing his throat. I raise my eyebrow at him confused.
"You sure?" I ask and he nods.
"Yeah, yup, great." He says before turning and walking towards my car. I look at my Grandpa and shrug.
"I saw the look in his eyes, but you kids are too young to understand." He says shaking his head. I look at him confused, but he just laughs to himself.
"You feeling alright Gramp?" I ask. He nods and waves me off. I shake my head putting the hat back on and walking over to my car. "I think my Grandpa's going crazy," I say to Mason as I grab myself a water from the trunk. I look up at Mason, but he seems to be in his own world. "Mason?" I ask. He turns his head.
"Yeah, what?" He asks quickly.
"Are you sure you're alright?" I ask and he nods.
"Just thinking about random stuff." He replies. I nod my head before grabbing the Pringles. "Hope you plan on sharing those," Mason says. I smile and hold them to my chest.
"Maybe one." I say and he laughs.
"Not if I can get them." He says and lunges towards me. I scream with laughter and start running. I run around all the junk that's on the ground and try to get to the open field before he can catch me, but he gets me right as I'm about to put my foot into the field. He swings me around and I laugh as he still can't get the Pringles from my hands. He sets me on my feet and I hold them behind my back. I laugh as he reaches, but can't seem to get them.
We continue to play around until he trips and drags both of us to the ground. I fall on his left and we both groan. "Who's the clutz now," I say looking over at him. I get to my feet and stretch my back. I look back down at him and he just stays there. He doesn't move and I tilt my head. "Need help?" I ask. He nods a little and I laugh. I put the bottle of Pringles down and hold my hands out. "One, two, three," I say and pull. He helps which makes it so I can actually get him up.
"That knocked the wind outta me." He mumbles and I shake my head smiling. I grab the Pringles and give him some.
"Just because I hate when that happens." I say before walking away. I walk over to the fire that has more trash in it and sit on the ground beside my Grandmother. She's eating something that looks like mush.
"Those aren't good for you." She says. I roll my eyes looking up at her.
"Neither is...whatever that is," I say motioning to the bowl.
"This is an organic casserole that I made for your information." She says taking another bite.
"I'm just gonna stick with my Pringles for now," I say grabbing a few more. I look to where Mason should have been to see he's gone.
"Where's your pretty boy?" I hear my Grandma ask. I turn to her horrified.
"Grandma. He's not mine and don't call him pretty boy." I say feeling my cheeks get warm.
"What? Do you guys say hot now?" She asks and I'm sure my face is as red as the fire.
"Grandma just stop." I say and she laughs.
"I love seeing you uncomfortable." She laughs. I shake my head and look for Grandpa.
"Where's your pretty boy?" I ask. She starts laughing and I join in. Just then the boys show up.
"What's got you ladies laughing so hard?" My Grandpa says. I just shake my head and start calming myself down. I look over to Mason and he seems to be in thought about something. I bump his shoulder with mine and turn the Pringles towards him. He smiles before taking some.
The rest of the night we joke and talk about random stuff. My Grandparents go to bed pretty early, but Mason and I stay out again. This time we'll remember to put water over the fire. My Grandma scolded us for about ten minutes before going to bed.
"Mason?"
"Hum?"
"You alright? Did you find something out about the...whole thing?" I ask because he's been in his own world since getting back from with my Grandpa.
"Yeah. Yeah, your Grandfather is a smart man and said something to me that's been making me think." He says turning his head at me.
"Yeah, he's good at that. A man of few words, but the ones he does say normally make you think or just confuse the crap out of you. Happens to me a lot." I say back pulling his sweatshirt tighter around me. We're both on the little bench, but I made him give me his sweatshirt. We were both too lazy to go and get a blanket so he's stuck in just a t-shirt.
He moves and lays down on the bench. His legs are off at the sides so I don't have to get up, but it's a small bench so I'm right at the end of it. I don't say anything and begin staring off into the fire. I start to think about Mason and his life.
He's forced into this life, but yet is so kind about it. People that want to be bodyguards or whatever for a living aren't even happy about it. I glance at him and wish I knew him under different circumstances. Then I just might have been brave enough to send him some tints. Just little ones to show him that I like him, but he's on a job and I can't interfere with that. It's not like he'd like me back. I am like five years younger than him. He probably sees me as a little sister or just some immature little girl.
I feel the breeze pick up and my hair goes all into my face. I try and brush it back, but it's no use, nothing's going to keep it back. Giving up on my hair I turn my head and see Mason's sitting up looking over at me. "Hello." I say and he smiles looking away.
"How's the wind?" He asks just as more hair goes into my face.
"Just great." I say taking a piece out of my mouth.
"You just got to do this." He takes some of my hair and puts it behind my ear. I look up at him and feel my stomach start to do flips or something like that. He holds my gaze and then my hair is covering my eyes. I laugh and then hear him. "Guess that doesn't work too well. Why do you girls put up with it? It doesn't do anything, but get in the way."
I push it back again before answering. "Girls enjoy their hair even when it's a pain in the ass, well at least I do. My hair is like...another arm or something. For me, it's what can make me look decent even if it's a pain in the ass. Me with short hair would be horrible. Also, what am I supposed to do when I get embarrassed or shy, gotta be able to hide behind the hair." I say and he shrugs.
"You'd look good with short hair don't you think? Why not get matching haircuts?" He says and I bust out laughing.
"Hardy har har, yeah, I'm gonna stick with my long hair, but if you want to match you can just grow yours out," I say and this makes him laugh.
"I'll pass." He replies staring off into the distance.
"I've got a question for you," I say and he turns towards me. "If there was one job in the whole world that you could do, what would you pick?"
"Anything?" He asks and I nod. "Um.." He takes his time thinking before he smiles. "Since I was little I always wanted to be a firefighter. I don't know why, but I loved the big red trucks or the stories about going to a fire in just your pj's. I got to go to a department once. My Dad had to do something and he told me to go hang out with two of the firefighters. I thought they were the coolest people in the entire world. They let me in the truck and press buttons. They let me come down the poll and even try on the boots for their gear." He has this bright smile on his face and it makes him look a lot younger.
"So you'd pick firefighter over something to do with engineering?"
"Yeah, probably, but firefighters also need engineers. They need people to know housing and well the trucks don't fix themselves."
"You should go for it," I say and he looks at me confused.
"What? Become a firefighter?" He asks and I nod.
"You can pass any test from the physical to knowledge."
"Yeah, but I'm in this with my parents. It's just like the engineering thing. I can't tell my parents after everything I'm changing directions. It's not so bad, I get to work in many different places and meet different people." He says, but his smile's gone.
"If you say so," I say and he looks back at me. I ignore his stare and look at the fire.
"Why do you think I should get a different job?" He asks and I shrug. "Come on, what's the reason?"
"You shouldn't have to do something you don't love because you're parents may or may not approve. You should be happy to go into your job, that's how you help others. If someone shows up at work and is happy to be there, they not only are living a better life, but everyone else around them will be happier. I know that not everyone can get a job they love, but if you can why not do it?" I ask looking towards him.
"It's more complicated then just that-"
"Not really. If your parents weren't in the decision making would you chose this job or being a firefighter or even an engineer?" I ask and I already know the answer. "Exactly."
"But my parents are in the picture so it doesn't matter and if I wasn't in this job I wouldn't have met you or your crazy family." He says and I scoff at him.
"My family and crazy, yeah right," I say sarcastically. He chuckles and shrugs. We both look at the fire just enjoying the sounds of nature.
I feel Mason shiver next to me and begin to take his sweatshirt off. "Here," I say holding it out for him.
"If fine." He says and I give him a look.
"Stop acting like a man and take your sweatshirt. I'll go grab mine." I say. He glares at me but grabs the sweatshirt. I get up and hear him mumble something about being a man. I roll my eyes and jog down to my car. I open the back seat and begin searching for a sweatshirt. I hear some noise behind me, but it's probably just Mason.
I dig in my bag and pull out a sweatshirt. "Ha, I finally got-" I stop talking as I see that there are two men right in front of me. "MA-" One covers my mouth and I try pulling it away. I kick and scream trying to get away from them, but I can't. I bite the hand that's in my mouth and yell for Mason.
"Shit." I hear and then I feel pain on the side of my head. My vision blurs and then it's black.