In his bathroom, he slipped off his sandals and sat on the edge of the tub. The cool water felt good on his swollen calf, so Brad just let it flow for a couple of minutes. He touched a puncture on his ankle. A little invisible splinter from the thorn still stuck out of the wound. Brad reached the vanity drawer and got his tweezers. He couldn’t see the thorn, but by brushing the tweezers over his ankle, he could feel it. When he pulled, the skin pulled up too. The thorn’s barb tugged at his flesh.
“Why would you be so persistent?” he asked the thorn. “Usually with burrs there’s a seed or something to transport,” he said.
The other bloody spots were surrounded with leg hair. He couldn’t tell if they still had thorns or not. He plucked out several hairs before giving up. After scrubbing the rest of the blood from his leg, he dabbed some antibiotic cream on the worst spots.
Back in the bedroom, next to his bed, Brad kept a little diary with a pen stuck in its spiral binding. He flipped it open to the ribbon he used as a bookmark and wrote, “Plants that move.” This book served as his Internet reminder list. It used to be his ex-wife’s dream journal. Aside from the smell of her hair conditioner, the journal was the only thing of hers left in the master bedroom. He sat down on the edge of the bed and scratched his leg. A few of the bumps really itched. He opened the diary again and wrote, “Venomous plants?” He put the book back on the nightstand.
The pillow sat right there at the head of the bed. With one quick move he could stretch out and kill the whole afternoon with a nice nap. This was the problem with working at home and vacationing at home, he decided. Every moment turned into a decision—should he stay busy, or just relax? Which would lead to a better quality of life? Brad usually chose activity over leisure. He gained a great deal of satisfaction from a job well done. This week would be tough. He had the whole week off to catch up on chores and home projects, but he couldn’t finish everything on his list. No matter what he did, he would remain disappointed at the end of the week.
He pushed to his feet and then flopped back down. On second thought, he figured a slothful hour or two wouldn’t hurt anything.
WHEN HE WOKE UP, the sun had already set. The clock read nine something. He felt stiff all over as he rolled over to turn on the lights. He immediately looked to his leg. No real sign of the injury remained. He found a couple of slightly red spots on the back of his calf, but his leg looked so intact that he started to wonder if it had just been a dream. Brad jumped up and headed for the kitchen. His little glass still sat on the counter with a tiny amount of water in the bottom, but he didn’t find the vine.
“That’s odd,” he said.
The phone started ringing. Brad just stood there, staring at the glass. He almost didn’t get to the phone before the call disappeared into voicemail-land.
“Hello?” he asked.
“Hi, Brad?” the voice asked. His client, Phil Anderson, didn’t wait for a response before he continued, “I’m so sorry to bother you on your day off. Is this a bad time?”
“No, not at all, Phil,” Brad said. He rubbed his temples with his free hand. “What’s going on?”
“We’ve got a surprise slippage with some of our programmers. We’re looking for a white night here.”
“Yeah?” Brad asked. Phil couldn’t possibly be this dumb, thought Brad. He’d sent a memo to Phil almost a month before, predicting this exact circumstance. How could he describe it as a “surprise slippage?”
“Yeah,” Phil said. “I thought we addressed this quite a while ago, but apparently not everyone got the message.”
“You know I’m working for Cincinnati next week, right?” Phil asked. He tried to keep his voice upbeat and friendly. The most important part of contracting, more important than the work itself, was being perceived as a positive, friendly, team-player. Brad learned that lesson years before. But he also knew you must show up on time, and the Cincinnati project was twenty times more lucrative than Phil’s unexpected emergency.
“I know, I know,” Phil said. “We’re just trying to get you for the next five days. I know you’re supposed to be on vacation until Monday, but we’ll pay you ten percent over your normal rate if you can lend a hand.”
“Absolutely, Phil,” Brad said. This was another technique he’d learned from previous jobs—you always agreed with the client. You agreed, and then you presented your caveats. “But since today is Wednesday, then I only four days to give you. And the ten percent is unnecessary, because you know my contract states I get time-and-a-half for weekends. So, Thursday and Friday will be regular time, and Saturday and Sunday will be time-and-a-half.”
Normally, Brad would leave the details of his rate to the accountants, but Phil managed his budget with tight fist. If he didn’t have a solid agreement on the phone, Brad would never get his money out of Phil at the end of the month.
“That’s right,” Phil said. “Fifty percent over for weekends, I remember. But what about Wednesday? You can’t work tomorrow, buddy?”
“I’m sorry?” Brad asked. He looked up at the calendar. It was Wednesday, right? The glass on the counter caught his eye. He stared at the little bit of water in the bottom of the glass and tried to remember the events of Tuesday.
“Brad?" Phil asked.
Brad looked at the phone. The display read Tuesday, June seventh, almost ten o’clock. Why was Phil calling him so late?
“Yeah,” Brad said. “Yes. I can work five days. Wednesday through Sunday.”
“Great,” Phil said. “That’s just great. Hey, maybe you’ll finish early and you’ll still have a weekend.”
That would be perfect, thought Brad. He could work on his vacation week and then save Phil the time-and-a-half by finishing before the weekend. He thought he might somehow figure out how to stretch the work through the weekend. He would finish after exactly eight hours of work on Sunday, all for his buddy Phil. That was the reward he received for finishing his part of the contract on time—he got to clean up after the grunts they paid one quarter of his hourly wage. Could be worse, he thought. He could be in the opposite situation.
“I’ll check in tomorrow morning then,” Brad said.
“Great,” Phil said. “Talk to you then.”
Brad hung up and propped his arms on the counter, staring at the glass. He could imagine losing a day, but he couldn’t begin to understand how he gained another Wednesday. One day was like the next though. He had very little to hang a calendar on. He remembered the letter. He always wrote a letter on Tuesday night. Since he’d just woken up he couldn’t have written one yet, but he remembered what he’d written. He nearly ran for his office.
The legal pad sat in its normal spot, propped next to his printer. He grabbed it and flipped to the middle. The last entry was from June second—a week earlier. He wondered if it was possible to dream an entire day with such clarity that it seemed real. Brad flipped the page on his yellow legal pad. Each Tuesday night letter was to his ex-wife. He never sent them anywhere. After divorcing Brad, Karen put the final stamp on their relationship by dying. He sat down to rewrite the letter he thought he’d already written.
Dear Karen,
I should tell you straight-away—the Cartonio place burned down. I know you’ll be heartbroken. Nobody was hurt, thankfully. I showed up just after Butch kicked in the kitchen door and pulled the dogs out of there. Butch smelled and heard the fire down at his place, so you can imagine it was pretty far gone by the time he got there. Luckily, the dogs were in the kitchen and the fire started over by the garage. All those propane tanks, old mower engines, and junked cars were exploding when I happened to drive by. It sounded like the fourth of July. Now the nearest neighbor to this house is almost three quarters of a mile away. There goes your theory—this place is getting more rural every year. I’m certain Cartonio won’t try to rebuild the place. He didn’t have any insurance, and he owes the town a bunch of back-taxes anyway. If the town puts a lien on the property then he’ll have to sell, and I’ll try to pick up the land cheap. I’d rather pick up more property I don’t need than have someone put up another shack.