Llew smirked. He knew Leslie wanted him to talk, but it just wasn’t him anymore. But his brother had missed him. Being apart had hurt him just as much as the distance had hurt Llew. Leslie had felt like he’d failed him, like he’d should’ve been here the night he was arrested. But Llew really didn’t see how anything would’ve been different.
“I remember how to do it, Leslie. If there’s something else you want me to do, just tell me. I was on the landscaping crew for three years before there was an opening in construction. So I think I can handle it.” Llew grinned, and held up the gloves. “And I did it without these pussy-ass gloves, too.”
Leslie busted out laughing, reaching up to pull Llew into a headlock, like he used to when he was younger. He easily maneuvered out of it, playfully jabbing Leslie in his side, but his brother actually grimaced and clutched at his ribs. “Jesus, Llew. Your freakin’ fists are hard as shit.”
Llew covered his grin, his heart warming just a tad. “Oops. My bad. I didn’t know you’d gotten that soft, bro.”
“Fuck you. I’m not soft, man. I just don’t lift fuckin’ thirty pound cinderblocks for fun.” Leslie shoved the thermos into Llew’s broad chest, shouldering him in his upper arm as he went by.
They were still smiling when they climbed into Leslie’s work truck. Things almost felt like they used to between them. But, when Leslie pulled up to their first job site, Llew was thrown back into his reality.
The twelve men that sat and stood around the two other work trucks eyed them skeptically as he and his brother approached. Surely, Llew’s size left an instant bad taste in most of the guys’ mouths, the slight curls of their lips was evidence of just how much. “Everyone. I told you that my baby brother was coming to work for me this week or next week, but anyway. He’s home now.” Leslie slapped Llew on his shoulder, a proud smile on his face. “He’ll be on my crew for the duration of his probation period, then he’ll head up Darren’s crew when he leaves in February.”
Llew snapped his head around at his brother’s words. Heading up a crew. It wasn’t only him that was shocked at Leslie’s words, either. A man in khaki brown overalls about half Llew’s size, with shaggy red hair sticking out from under his skullcap, hopped off the back of the trailer, slamming his metal lunch pail down on the ground.
“What the hell you mean, Darren’s crew? I’m up next for that position, Leslie. You know that.”
Not backing down an inch, Leslie stepped closer to the fuming man. “What I know is that my brother owns half this company. I never said that position was yours, James. No one is entitled to shit around here. Positions are earned. Calling off work at least five days a month sure as hell ain’t earning it. Now Llew will do the ninety days under my supervision, but if he’s even half as good as I think he is, the position is his. Does anyone else have a problem with this?”
The guys all turned around and finished packing the gear on the trailers. Llew quickly jumped in and helped, mostly with the heavier items. When they were all packed, he went to Leslie’s side of the truck, where he was going over the specs for the day’s jobs.
“Hey, bro. We set to go?”
Llew rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, all ready. Uh, Leslie. Why didn’t you tell me about putting me on as head of a crew?”
His brother turned to him, clicking the end of his pen as he regarded Llew’s concerned expression. “Llew. This is your business too. That logo says Gardner Boys. That’s me and you. It’s always been about me and you, since Dad started this company.” Leslie huffed out a puff of cold air, turning to face him. “I know we had a plan, bro. You were going to be the architect and we were gonna mold our businesses together… but… sometimes you have to go to your back-up plan. With you and me together, we can still build this company to something huge. You were always the visionary, Llew.”
“I’m not the same, Leslie.” He grimaced, turning to walk away.
Leslie grabbed him and yanked him back to face him. His face was angry, and although his words were hushed, they were just as powerful as he meant them to be. “You’re right. You’re not the same. You’re stronger, smarter, a survivor, Llew. The sooner you accept that… know that, the sooner we can move forward. Just like you said. Focus on the future.”
The first week went by without incident. Llew didn’t have much to say and the guys had even less to say to him. But he worked hard and enjoyed it. By the middle of the second week, Leslie had to let the guys go home early because they didn’t have their last two accounts to do. By Friday, they only had two accounts, both of them commercial. The six residential accounts had terminated their contracts.