Provider's Son

by Lee Stringer

  The lack of a funeral procession to the graveyard made the ancient ritual seem that much more fragmented and bizarre. Would there be headstones put in the graveyard later? Levi cursed the ocean, which felt like cursing another god. He would go back to Alberta, at least for one more turn-around. But what he needed now was a cold beer.

  Out of nowhere the sound of the boy hitting the ground rang in his mind so loud that Levi jumped as if it had happened behind him. He chugged his beer and opened another. Death and misery were closing in on him. First had been the divorce. Then the boy falling from the scaffold. And now an ocean grave he had almost stepped into. What would be next? Tingling sensations ran through his shoulders and he burped. He stood up and went to the fridge for food even though he wasn’t hungry. He had forgot to pick up groceries. All he could find was a Hungry Man dinner in the freezer.

  Enjoy The Spoils

  Levi arrived two hours early at the terminal to make sure he got a seat closest to the gate. And even then there were men, his age or older, who had apparently been there at least an hour. Some were even in their seventies, supplementing their old age pensions to save up enough to build a new shed, or to buy that spanking new Yamaha boat engine they had their eye on. Most younger men didn’t have the patience to arrive this early.

  Levi pulled his cap down and closed his eyes.

  Eventually the terminal was full, and eventually they were shuffling towards the door and out to the plane. Levi walked to the end and sat at a window seat. A young woman sat at the aisle seat and said hello. By no coincidence a young man sat in the middle, even though there had still been plenty of aisle and window seats left. He struck up a conversation with her immediately and Levi smiled to himself. He wished he was twenty-five again. But not really.

  Even in the window seat the flight was horribly long. To the young man in the middle it was as if Levi didn’t exist, and he was glad. The guy had not shut up since he sat down, and he went to the washroom at least a half dozen times since the plane took off. Even the girl, who seemed somewhat interested at first, was bored with him. Her final most obvious hint to her suitor was when she took out her iPod and put in her earphones while he was still talking.

  Levi couldn’t resist. “No luck?” he asked the young man.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. What camp you work at?”

  “Pine Valley.”

  “Oh, youre a nice ways from me out in Wisti.”

  “Yeah, I was there before. Shithole. The food out in Pine Valley is way better and...” The kid went on and on and on about why the food was better in Pine Valley, his mouth barely pausing for air. His words rolled out of his mouth at an unnatural pace, as if he couldn’t stop himself even if he tried. And the few breaks in talking he did take were accented by him rocking his jaw, as if the hinges under his ear lobes were coming lose.

  “What do you do?” the guy said.

  “Welder.”

  “Im a scaffolder. No ways away from Fort Crack, our camp. I spends a lot a time in there, by, to tell you the truth. I can only handle it so long in camp. Go off your head sure and...” On and on he rambled about Fort McMurray and why it was the dirtiest place in Canada, to the point where Levi found himself staring out the window, drifting off to other thoughts, while the young man’s incessant chatter became background noise like the never ending roar of the airplane.

  “...have you?” he was asking, and Levi came back to attention. “What?”

  “Ever been in town?”

  “Only in the airport.”

  “On the east side is Crackhead village. Stay the fuck away from there. Fucking big-ass Indians bumming for money when you gets a bit of gas or a pack of smokes. Who’s going to say no to a two-hundred-and-fifty-pound Indian? Might get your head caved in if you do. Eh by? Hookers everywhere.”

  Eventually the length of time between each sentence slowed down and he got up for the washroom again.

  “Urine infection,” he mumbled, as he pushed past the girl’s legs for the fourth time. The scowl on her face was getting deeper each time he got up, and when he met up with a flight attendant in his way she looked at him and said curtly, you’ll have to wait. So instead he went to the washroom on the other side. Levi glanced over at the girl and she shook her head in disgust.

  The young man would never be gone for more than two minutes, and when he came back it seemed as if the urination had revived him once again, along with a reoccurring case of the sniffles.

  “I had a urine infection once,” Levi said. “Just about drove me off the head. How long you have it?”

  “Oh Jesus...a while now.”

  “You take any drugs for it?”

  The girl next to them snorted laughter and Levi and the young man looked at her.

  “Sorry,” she said.

  The young man couldn’t sit in one position for more than five minutes. His leg vibrated endlessly, and his rolling jaw kept on rolling. Sleep for him seemed impossible. In one of the rare pauses Levi pulled his cap down over his eyes and tried to sleep, but the young man was having none of it. He continued to talk anyway, hardly seeming to even care if anyone was listening.

  “I shouldnt have sat in the middle,” the young man eventually said to himself.

  Levi gazed down at the land as the plane began its descent. A myriad of crisscrossing roads, pole-lines, and pipelines cut through the forest, extending to the horizon.

  “Look at that shit,” said the young man, startling Levi.

  “A lot of roads,” Levi said.

  “I suppose I should feel sorry, but wer fucked anyway. One of these days this planet is going to shrug us off like a bad cold. Might as well enjoy the spoils while we can.” He sniffed for the one hundredth time, and straightened up in his seat again.

  “What about your kids?” the girl next to them said. Her headphones were off.

  “Kids? Whod be crazy enough to bring kids into this world? Sure Im that paranoid about having youngsters that I wears condoms in me dreams.”

  The tiny Erbacor Energy terminal was full of people in the polar opposite mood of Levi and his fellow travellers. Two people from Gadus were among those departing and he stopped to talk with them.

  “Hows the weather back home?”

  “Not bad by.”

  “Hows your mother getting on?”

  “Alright.”

  “I cant imagine what that funeral must have been like.”

  “No, you cant.”

  “How come you didnt end up on the boat anyway?”

  “Luck,” Levi said, and that word ended the conversation.

  Levi was still on the bus when he passed the project and saw the scaffolds again. A wave of dread swept over him so strong it felt as if someone was sitting on his chest. He tried to distract his thoughts to the precious cargo in his two suitcases, and the likelihood that it got damaged. He saw the way the bag handlers worked, and they weren’t exactly gentle, not even compared to commercial airports.

  In the lobby of Camp Wisti Sinead was standing in line with her bags. He could see her welling up when she saw him. He brought her out into the porch for a little privacy.

  “I really thought you were gone,” she said.

  “Im not gone anywhere, my dear. Im right here.”

  “Why did you even go back at that anyway? You got a good job here.”

  “This racket aint easy, Sinead. Im not a young man anymore.”

  “Its better than drowning on some friggin boat isnt it?”

  “Welding aint the safest racket in the world.”

  “Its safer than a boat.”

  “I suppose.”

  “Promise me you wont go out at that shit anymore.”

  “I promise,” Levi said, having no idea if he would or not.

  Levi figured he would stop in the bar and wait for his luggage to arrive. Caprice cracked a cold Canadian for him before he spoke.

  “Four-seventy-five.”

  “It was four-twenty-five when I left.�
�

  “Now its four-seventy-five.”

  “When did it go up?”

  “Last week, cheapskate. Do you want the beer or not?”

  Levi gave her five dollars.

  “I guess that means less tips for you.”

  She shrugged as she slapped the quarter on the table. “Not really. A lot of guys give me ten and tell me to keep the change.”

  “Jesus...”

  “The only ones dont give good tips are Newfies and immigrants. Well, the younger Newfies are fine. And immigrants dont come in here anyway.”

  “You know why that is?”

  “Because youre cheap-asses?”

  “No, because Newfie baymen have only had any money the last thirty years. Going to a restaurant was a big treat when I was young. Me father could barely afford the meal let alone a tip. I daresay most immigrants that comes here is the same thing. See which one will open his door for you the quickest though, a mainlander or a Newfie.”

  A young man behind him guffawed.

  Levi turned around and saw Jon standing by the door.

  “Your xenophobia is showing.”

  “Tell me what zee-no-fobia means and Ill tell you why youre wrong.”

  “Thats pretty big generalization, dont you think? Does the word ‘mainlander’ encompass all of Canada besides Newfoundland? Lot of different cultures there my friend.”

  “No, its from say…Quebec to…Alberta.”

  “From the frogs to the cowboys,” said Caprice, laughing.

  “Does that include all the native reserves as well?”

  “No. Probably not. Natives is not much like mainlanders.”

  “Yeah, you already explained to me what natives are like.”

  “Oh come on, I was drunk when I said that.”

  “You still believe it.”

  “Lets get off this topic. Im done arguing with you young fella. I brought up something for you from Newfoundland.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yes sir. Got it in me luggage. Not easy either. Had to leave three quarters of me clothes home.”

  “So what is it?”

  “Youre going to have to wait until the luggage comes here to see.”

  “Crack?” Caprice said, laughing.

  “Hey!” someone seated at a booth shouted, and wagged his finger to Caprice.

  “Do I look like a dog to you?” she said.

  “I want a beer!” he shouted.

  “Well come up to the bar and get one!” she said, then “fat prick” under her breath. The guy pushed his gut out from behind the table and moseyed up to the bar.

  “I have a feeling I know what you brought,” Jon said, as he and Levi strolled into the lobby, which was now full of people waiting for their luggage. Levi had consumed three beer in an hour of waiting at the bar. He was feeling better.

  His luggage was a hockey bag and a big black suitcase. He opened it right away to check for damage. There was none.

  “Well miracles do happen,” Levi said under his breath.

  “I knew it,” Jon said, grinning.

  Levi took one of the back-slats out of the suitcase and handed it to Jon.

  “Its curved to give lumbar support right?”

  “Thats right.”

  “Coincidentally I was checking out some amazing rocking chairs last night online. Blow your mind. Yours are really good, but these chairs are on another level.” Jon looked back down at the slat. “The grain doesnt look very tight and it feels hard. This is going to be a bitch to carve.”

  “Yeah, I thought about that. You can give that slat a try anyway. See what happens. If you ruins one slat Ill get over it. But if you can manage we should try to finish a chair.”

  “Yeah, that would be cool,” Jon said, and Levi was happy that he didn’t hear anything but sincerity in the young man’s voice.

  While dragging his bags back to his room Levi met a man carrying two dozen beer.

  “Where did you get that?” Levi said, half joking.

  “You want booze, buddy?” the guy said.

  “Yeah, wouldnt mind.”

  “How much?” the man said, laying down the two dozen on the floor, and taking out a pen and pad. Levi chuckled.

  “A dozen?”

  “One dozen? Has to be at least a two-four, or a twenty-six ounce bottle.”

  “How much?”

  “Thirty-five dollars for a twenty-six or a two-four.”

  “I see. Ill have two two-fours of Canadian.”

  “No choice in brands, buddy.”

  “Oh, well, thats different. What kind is it?”

  “Coors Light.”

  Levi thought it over and the man looked impatient.

  “Yeah, alright, but make it five dozen.”

  “Hundred bucks.”

  “You want the money now? I dont even know you.”

  “Buddy, where am I going to go? I live in the same dorm as you.”

  Levi handed over the money to the man.

  “What room are you in?”

  “The one with the blue door.”

  The man laughed.

  “Thirty-three,” Levi said.

  “Be back in twenty minutes or so.”

  Levi dragged his bags into his room.

  A knock on the door, and when Levi answered the man was standing there with the two two-fours in his hands, and another dozen at his feet.

  “This is getting heavy, buddy.”

  “Thanks,” Levi said, taking the beer and putting it on his dresser.

  “No worries. If you need more Im down the hall. Room 521. Although I wont always be able to get it as quick as that. But anything you want I can get. Perks, oxy, weed, you name it.”

  “Ill stick with the booze.”

  Team Work

  Levi didn’t like assembling his chair anywhere besides in his own shed, but he had no choice. Jon had quickly realized that to carve the chair in such a way that the artwork flowed from piece to piece it had to be put together first. And in Levi’s cramped little dorm room this was not an easy task. But after he got a few items he needed picked up in Fort McMurray, and moved a few things around, he managed to assemble it.

  First, glue was brushed in the mortice with a toothbrush. Then the leg was pushed into place in the seat, a pleasant sensation, feeling the tendon slide in tightly. When this was in place a wedge was driven into it to tighten it into the remaining kerf of the hole. There was no man strong enough to pull a leg out of its mortice once it was set. The whole process took a couple of hours, but his room stank with glue that would linger for days.

  The camp attendants were what scared him most because he was afraid he would come back to his room someday and find his chair stolen. They were a shady-looking bunch, some of them, but he was relieved to learn the day attendant for his dorm was a pleasant, middle-aged lady from Newfoundland. The night camp attendant, however, with his greasy hair and missing teeth, he wasn’t so sure about. He said hello to the man one night in the hallway and received no response. Luckily Levi didn’t work nights.

  After he was finished assembling the chair Levi treated himself to a Tim Hortons coffee and a smoke. On the way back he headed to Jon’s room.

  Once outside Jon’s dorm room he raised his hand and it froze in midair when he heard a soft female moan from inside. He put his ear to the wall and listened. A low slapping sound of flesh on flesh. Heat rose to Levi’s face and he quickly turned and walked the other way as quietly as possible, anger replacing the embarrassment. Half way down the hallway he stopped. Wasn’t Sinead supposed to be working now?

  Levi stood motionless in the hallway for minutes, staring at nothing. He slowly began to walk again, gradually gaining speed, and on the other side of the dorm hallway door he stared in through the door window.

  Then he remembered the security cameras. He turned around and saw the black eye staring down at him. It was quite likely that right now one of Jon’s security guard buddies was staring straight into his eyes, wondering just w
hat the hell he was doing. He imagined it would be addictive, all those cameras pointed in every hallway, watching people going about their life in this strange little community.

  No matter what the potential brain behind that black eye thought, however, Levi was not leaving until he found out if it was Sinead in that room. He tried to look casual by sticking his hands in his pocket and appearing as if he was waiting for someone. His cell phone was in his right pocket and that’s when he realized a simple way to figure out if she was in there. Sinead didn’t go anywhere without her phone.

  Levi opened the door again and casually walked down the hallway. He took out his cell phone and called her number. He was relieved in spite of himself when he heard a cell phone go off in Jon’s room. The song on her phone was I like It Rough, by Lady Gaga. Levi shook his head and turned back to the dorm hall door.

  He called Anita.

  “What do you think of Sinead being with a Indian?”

  “Where did this come from? She hasnt even been with him that long.”

  “I just wanted to know what you thinks of it, is all. Its getting more serious between them all the time.”

  “You mean because hes a Indian? I knows a lot of them is drunks but he dont look like no drunk to me. At least not on the pictures.”

  “Hes not.”

  “Well whats the problem? I imagine hes a Christian so theres not that much culture difference I wouldnt say. What do you think of him?”

  “Hes not my cup of tea. He looks down on people. He dont show me much respect either, for a man old enough to be hes father.”

  “Everybody got their ways. You cant dislike him that much if youre building a chair with him. Sinead told me.”