10: Grey

That morning Millie hooked up a old broken hoses to the side of the house, the water that came out was naturally from the swamp and wasn't clean in the slightest, but she refused to sleep in the same bed with Grey until he at least did that after his mid-night swim, just made her feel better somehow. Grey did not go back to the swamp after that because though he did not tell Millie, his body was covered in tiny little black bugs after he stepped inside and checked himself out. A good few weeks passed by after that, time moved fast as ever. Grey kept on keeping on with minor jobs and met more and more of the people who lived in town. Until one evening. Millie was at home not feeling very well the past few days so Grey did his work alone again. This day it was leaning into brightness of day it finally reached it's peak and Grey was hardly holding onto his strength, he worked everyday as a dog all seven days a week because once word got around he was doing these sorts of small jobs it spread like hot cakes. He figured it'd be slowing down real soon so he kept on working at full speed. If the work well dry's out and no long term work was found then him and Millie would have to make do with the things they had now, forget fixing up the house and leave this town and probably never come back after this. At the moment this was his last job of the day and this time around he was doing something a little diffract. This man had heard from his friend about Grey's work, and since this man lived alone and apparently no one he known was there to help that day he asked Grey to help him take out his air conditioner, it was old and needed to be replaced in the middle of the season. So that's what he had been working on all day, taking the thing out (Grey faired not to mention that he could see black mold inside the white conditioner.) They haled the thing onto the back of Grey's car (you bet he was getting paid most of all to take that moldy thing to the dump) Then the thing that took longest was setting the new not so black and green inside conditioner set up onto the window. The man said he known how to do it over and over again, Grey kept quite because he could tell the man was admit he do it, but Grey known how to actually get it done and only offered his help once and was declined. Then the work was done, the man rested his hands onto his hips and looked over to Grey with a light grin. "Finally we're done solder." Grey sat on the edge of the bed His hands pressed together on each side of his hips barely looking at the man with his hat almost covering his eyes. "Good. I'll get that out right now, can ah..." Grey sort of beaconed with his left hand and the man stared at it for a second until going 'oh!' and reached somewhere into the back of his large pockets on the bottom of his pants. "I have that right here!" He fumbled with his wallet for a good minute or so counting lightly to himself then reached out and handed him a stack. Grey looked it over and raised a eyebrow then looked up. "Here, you miss counted." Grey reached out and tried to hand over the extra hundred dollars but the man shook his head and laughed hard in a sort of false way. "I did that on purpose." The man walked a little closer and put his hands on his hips. "I've been looking for someone to work at the gas shop, but kids now ah days are lazier then my lab. You've been working around a lot I've heard, so maybe you could take that and add it to my station?" Grey leaned back onto the bed and slipped the money into his left pocked, blank faced for a good for seconds until he let out a short chuckle. "Yes! Yes I would like that a lot yes!" Grey stood up really fast and grabbed onto the man's hand and shook it along with him without even thinking. "God I'd love that. Tell me about it." The man started walking almost not letting go of Grey's hand as they walked so they almost walked along like two happy kids. "I need a drink, want one?" "Ha, what kind of drink?" "Whoa whoa whoa, just water kid." They walked out of the room engorging the dirt they tracked onto the carpet floor from when they where outside on the lawn. "You live on the house near the swamp right?" "Yes sir." "Well I wouldn't! I'm gonna warm you, if you take this job I'm sure people will ask you about where you live a lot, because I've heard a lot of chit chat about you and your girlfriend. It's a real fucked out there you should move in somewhere else closer in town you know? Sure it's probably not as cheep that your joint, but you probably won't die in town!" "Die? Nah I don't think so, there aren't even any crocks out there." "I don't suppose crocks are over there? But eh you know, people disappear. Kids a lot, maybe not anymore but still, it's no good. That house has been rotting for decades. I remember when a rotted tree fell onto the side of that house in like... Ehhh, 2004? And me and a couple other pals of me helped your old man pull the tree off- God bless his soul, and it looked like shit then. I'll never understand why your old man stayed there, I was a little offended when I heard you where coming here, I wanted to burn that place to the ground honestly I have thought about it." The two got to the bottom of the stairs and he pulled two old bottled waters for them and thrown one of them too him, when they drank Grey and the man cringed a little at the taste but they both haven't drank in a while so they bearded it silently. Grey pressed his lips together and apart a few times then pulled his hat off revealing his sweat stained head hair ends. "You met my dad? I got the impression he didn't know anyone in town but that Moore drunk." Grey laughed that out but the man cringed a little like he was holding back a painful grown. "Oh yeah, I didn't know him but you know, he came in for random things. Never food God knows what he ate out there. But Moore did the Hell away from that man. Have you seen him yet I heard he still went around there after Doug kicked the bucket?" "I never seen him but my wife has around, he said he wanted to talk to me weeks ago but I haven't been around him since I was like 15." The man cringed. "Ew, you where around him then? Haven't you heard he's a perv. My brother Brent said Moore told him that he'd pay Brent for a blowjob, and he said that in a God damn parking lot! He does shit like that don't let your woman around him." Grey pursed his lips and his eyes widened, accidentally letting go of his hat and dropped it onto the dirty ground. They stood their for a while the man starting to step from foot to foot looking out the window. Finally Grey let out a small "Your kidding?" "Nah. Just stay away he's a pest to the whole town, you'll see trust me." Grey stepped closer. "Wait your not kidding right? He really does things like that?" The man nodded, Grey nearly stepped away from him suddenly feeling pink in the face thinking how his dad hanged around a perv like Moore. Did he really see Moore doing those kinds of things? Well, yes, the shoe did fit. But he remembered how Moore and his dad interacted and it wasn't uncomfortable or stunted, or creepy at all. Out of everyone in town why would his dad choice to stay around someone like that? 'Dad let me be around someone who wants midnight blow jobs?' Grey thought. He'd have to ask around to get to the bottom of this one. "Let's get off this subject eh?" The man said throwing his empty bottle to the trashcan on the other side of the room and missing it completely flinging it to the door instead. "We got work talk to do." Grey put on a fake smile and nodded picking it up and setting his now dirty hat back onto his head. "Of course, I was planning on keeping him away anyway, but thanks for telling me, Lord what is this world coming too?" The man laughed again and nodded very strongly. The end bit Grey meant as a joke but now he was starting to believe it too. "Of course, so lets get back onto business!" Him and Millie sure where going to have a Hell of a lot to talk about that night that was for damn sure, unless Millie still wasn't feeling well.