Page 64 of His Curvy Distraction

“It looks like there’s a lot more to do,” James said. “Let’s get the tree and go from there. Are you saving the wood?”

“Um, yes?”

The men chuckled.

“If you’re going to use some of those fire pits, you might as well keep the wood so you can use it for that. If you are, we will cut it up into pieces that are small enough for someone to carry. If not, we can just leave it in logs,” James explained.

“Oh, well, yeah, I was thinking about that. I want to take down the fire pits out there and make one bigger one using the bricks. Hopefully something to cook on. Your mom also has a lot of big ideas about how to use the space, and I think using the fire pits in one way or another is something she wants to do.” I didn’t want to create more work, but if it meant I could save money down the road, it was smart.

“We will cut the logs small,” Derek said. “You saw, I’ll chop?”

James nodded.

“What am I going to do?” Jude asked.

“You are going to help Ms. Natalie stack these wherever she wants them. Make sure there’s a neat pile somewhere so everything is all together,” Derek said.

Jude nodded, sliding his hands into gloves his father handed over.

I grabbed my gloves, and the two men pulled tools from their vehicles. James handed me a pair of earplugs, and Derek offered me a pair of safety glasses. Both men donned their safety equipment, and Jude followed suit. I’d learned my lesson and did the same.

James cranked up the chainsaw he brought, the loud zipping noise cutting through the otherwise quiet space. He set it against the trunk of the tree, a line forming immediately.

James sawed the tree into three pieces, being careful not to get too close to the basketball court. After those pieces were cut, he turned off the chainsaw and set it on the ground.

“Let’s get these off the court and I’ll cut them up smaller. I don’t want to risk damaging the court.”

Derek moved to help, grabbing one end of the biggest section. Jude stood by, watching them, and grabbed one end of the smallest piece.

“I’ll help, Jude,” I said, walking to him and knowing it was going to be a challenge for us to lift the large log.

We tried, getting absolutely nowhere.

James and Derek came back and carried off the second piece.

“What if we roll it?” I suggested, noting there weren’t a lot of branches sticking out from the piece we were trying to move.

“Let’s try it,” Jude said.

We got on one side and pushed. The log didn’t move right away, but after a few seconds, it did. Jude and I grinned at each other and pushed harder, getting the log to roll right off the court and next to the other pieces.

“Have you seen the court?” Derek asked from behind us.

I stood and shook my head, anxious about what I would find.

“It looks good,” James said, walking around the surface. “Could stand to be sealed and definitely needs to be cleaned up around the edges, but it’s a lot better than I expected.”

“I agree,” Derek said. “I have a service contract with a local crew that does paving and sealing. I can reach out and see if they can do this, if you’re interested.”

“It’s on my very long list. I need someone to do the driveway and parking lot.”

“I’ll give them a call and have them get in touch with you. I know you’re on a budget, so I’ll ask if they can do it for cost.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I argued.

“Yeah, he does,” James said. “Because you are on a budget. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

I drew a breath and nodded. I needed to get that through my head. I grew up not asking for handouts. There were times when it might have helped, but my parents always said there were families worse off than us. And they weren’t wrong. I never went without meals like so many kids at MacKellar Cove Elementary did. I always had my parents around, and they made sure I knew how much they loved me.

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