Page 1 of Colby
Prologue
Emma backed her trailer up to the bay doors and waited for the signal that her locks were in place.Once they were, she put her truck into park and turned it off.Getting out, she had her gloves on and was ready to lock things in place when her mom said her name.She told her that she had a phone call.
“Take a message, and I’ll call them back.We’re behind enough on this load, and I want to get out of here as soon as they get me empty.”Mom said that she’d do that, and Emma finished locking down the trailer so that the people on the inside could work on getting things done.She hated to unload or load at this center.
This was the third time this month that their scheduled time had been put back.The first time, it had been only an hour.This time, it was nearly seven.She didn’t have time to pussy foot around with a center if they didn’t get their shit together.It was nearly dark when she decided to get into her bed and eat something with her mom.They’d been traveling together since her dad died five years ago, and it had been working out well for the two of them.
“What is it you’ve made us?”Mom handed her a plate of still steaming spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread.“This is a bit much, don’t you think?”
“Well, we had plans to have dinner out tonight, and I had my heart set on Italian.But this place has screwed that all up.Again.Besides, it’s not that much to throw some frozen meatballs into the pot with the noodles.Not all that good but rib-sticking.”They ate in silence for a few minutes before her mom spoke again.“I heard from your grandpa.He said that the real estate agent showed the house to a couple today.I hope they can sell it.I’m sick of paying taxes on the place when we don’t even live there.”
Her father had passed away a month and a half after the house had been completely paid off.Even with the mortgage that he’d borrowed against the house for her semi, which was now fully paid.From the beginning, her parents had supported her, and now that she was free of any kind of payments to the bank, the profit that she made went a bit further when paying bills.The house being sold would save them a bit more.The two of them were making a profit now, but without the monthly taxes, it would be easier to bank more.
“Don’t forget to call that person back.I think that it was the same person as before, Denver Tucker.”She said she’d call him as soon as she was finished eating.“Are they the ones that I sent all that paperwork to when they were looking for full-time drivers?”
“Yes.They’re opening a distribution center along the coast.It’ll be nice to be at home at night.I know we’d have to buy us a place, but it won’t have to be as big as the place we had back home.”The house had been in their family for generations, but neither she nor her mom was all that sentimental about the place.In fact, they both hated living there after her dad had died.“Maybe we can get us a little condo that has a couple of bedrooms, so we don’t have to do yard crap either.”
“I’d like to have a crafting room.And a big kitchen.Well, not big, but big enough that I could cook some cookies when I want.”They had talked about this before, finding a driving job so that she could be home nightly.Her mom had gotten her driver’s license to drive one of the big rigs, but she didn’t care for it.It had helped a great deal, her knowing how to drive to keep them on track when working.“You know how much it would cost to get us something smaller to go to the store in.I don’t care for driving this sucker to the grocery store when we need something.”
The two of them joked around about what they wanted in a house.Mom had said that she wanted a garden so that she could grow her own vegetables.Emma had wanted a garage to hold her rig in.She didn’t care if it spent all its time in the weather.They only had nice weather down here where they were working for the most part.
After getting the dishes cleaned up, her mom used regular plates so as not to add to the amount of trash in the world, and it worked out great for them.The two of them only drank bottled water, so there were a lot of empty bottles in the rig when they got to a place to recycle them.Emma thought that the two of them worked well together.After checking to see how much longer they were going to be at this center, she called Denver Tucker.
“We’ve gone over your application, Ms.Holden, and it looks like we can work well together.I know you said that your mom didn’t want to drive the bigger trucks, but we do have cargo vans that she could drive that would bring in some good money for her as well.”She told him that her mom would like that, so long as it wasn’t full-time.“I understand that she wants to work part-time, and any time that she can give us will be a blessing.The stores that we’re supplying to are smaller stores that families run.But there are approximately seventy of them along the coast that we’ll supply.”
“That’ll be wonderful.”He told her that the center was nearly finished on the outside, but the inside was being worked on now.“There will be forty bay doors along with an entire section devoted to the perishable things that will be delivered, such as candy and drinks that can’t handle the heat.”
“The place we’re at now has over a hundred bay doors, but they only use about twenty, which is what makes me late in and out of here.I don’t know that they have enough people, or they just don’t care about the times, but it’s a pain to be here.”She shut down her talk about the center where she was working.That didn’t bode well to do that to a new employer.“Mom and I will be looking for a place to stay here, too.About where the center is, so that we can be halfway between each delivery.”
“There are several condos that you can look into.I can set up a realtor to help you out with that if you want.Also, you will be given an allowance when you have to stay over for whatever reason.”She said that she understood there would be times for her to work overnight.“Good.I’m glad that we’re on the same page.As for a starting date, it will be three weeks before the center starts taking in product.Most of the shelves have been put together and are standing.The merge area—the area where all the boxes and products are put on lines to head to the trucks has been running for a few days now, working out the bugs or whatever.”
“Three weeks?That’s a good deal faster than I thought.”He asked her if she was coming to town this week to sign off on paperwork for her new job.“I really thought it would be months yet.I guess you guys know how to get people fired up.”
“Yes, it seems that once the land was ready, the rest of it just fell into place.For now, we’re only distributing the things for Carol’s Plaza, but we might branch out to other stores and shops as we get used to what we’re doing.Of course, it helps that we have good drivers like you and your mom on our team, too.”She thanked him, embarrassed that he’d say something like that.“If you don’t have a return trip, we can have dinner tomorrow night.I understand that you only have one more week to go with the company you—”
“I don’t work for a company, Mr.Tucker.I’m an independent driver.Working with you will be under contract, but I work because I want to, not because someone is ordering me to.I’m sorry if that makes a difference to you, but that’s what I wanted when I filled out the application to deliver for you and your company.”He said that he’d known that but had forgotten.“Thank you.I don’t want any misunderstanding going on between us.”
“You’re right.And neither do we.Thank you very much for reminding me.”She told him that she was all right with it, and they moved on.She didn’t want to have to only work for one firm.Especially for one that was just starting out.It could mean that she’d not be able to find employment if the company fell through on their promises, and she sort of liked having three meals a day and her truck.“What do you think about having dinner with my family.I will warn you, there are a lot of us, but I think you can hold your own.”
She wasn’t so sure about that.Emma and her mom had been traveling together for years and had been their only company.But she agreed to have dinner with the family on Friday night.That gave her three days to get something to wear and hang out at the rest stop for truckers.A long, hot shower was going to be on her list of things to get done.What she wouldn’t give for a nice big bathtub rightnow, she thought with a smile.
After leaving the center, they headed to the store.They’d not stopped for supplies in a while, so they were about out of everything.In the bed area, they had a microwave, a small oven, as well as a good-sized refrigerator.All the comforts of home and none of the work that went along with it.Her mom was in charge of the area where she cooked, and the two of them had gotten used to sharing a bed when there was time for them to get a good night’s sleep.They got along well and had a wonderful time seeing the country.At least this end of the country.
“What do you think about going to see a movie tomorrow night?”Mom looked shocked that she’d ask such a question.“It’s all right if you don’t want to go, Mom.It was just something that I thought you’d enjoy that was about as normal as two people can get.”
“How about dinner, too?Oh, it would be nice to have time for both, don’t you think?”She told her that she owed her a meal anyway.“I would love to have a date tomorrow night.That’ll give us a little bit of time to catch up on things that have been going on.I know how much you dislike having the radio on, but there are newspapers that we can look at, too.”
Her mom was teasing her, but she’d been right in saying that she didn’t like the radio on.It wasn’t just the bad news that seemed to be on every station, but she really did enjoy her quiet time.They would listen to a book if they’d find one that they both thought they’d enjoy, but other than that, the radio was never on.
Picking up some laundry detergent and some softener, she was going to spend tomorrow morning at the laundry mat to get some things cleaned up.They didn’t really wear all that much in clothing, the usual things, really, but since they rarely got out of the rig more than a couple of times a week, neither of them saw any reason to put on clean clothing daily.
While she was doing laundry the next morning, she took her mom’s advice and picked up the local and larger city newspaper.It had been a lot harder than she thought it should have been to pick up actual papers, but she managed to find a couple.Mostly, it was the local stuff that she read, but other things were going on around town, too, that she was interested in.Like talk of the charity Tucker Charities.
It went on to tell how the Tucker family, along with the Fosters, had set up the charity to help people get back on their feet.Not just individuals but also companies that wanted to expand and or start up.Like the distribution center that she was going to be working for.
It was going to hire as many as six hundred people.All the work on the building was done by locals when it could be done, and once it was up to full capacity, including truckers like herself, there would be over a thousand new jobs.She wholly believed in the trickle-down theory in that if there were that many jobs, people from all other walks of life would benefit from it as well, like restaurants and especially schools.Her mom came into the laundry mat just as she was putting the last load in the dryer and showed her the haircut she’d gotten.
“I nearly fell asleep while she was washing my hair.It’s nice to be pampered a bit, don’t you think?”She told her mom that she didn’t care for people touching her.“Yes, I remember that.You were always an odd man out.But I love you, and that’s all that matters.”
