He took a moment to steady his nerves. My father and I stood at the counter patiently. We didn�t care either. He�d already put us at least an hour behind and we were trying to keep it less than two.
�Yes, about our truck reservation,� I gently nudged. �We have a reservation for a seventeen foot truck.�
He took a long puff on his cig. �See, I�m a single father, for God�s sake.� He arched his eyebrows and put his arms out in a gesture that sought understanding. �And my son, he has ADHD, and this morning he was just not cooperating.� Drag. Blow with Popeye mouth.
Meanwhile, the woman who had been in line in front of us, the woman to whom he had tried to give the dolly we�d reserved, the woman whose transaction had inexplicably taken 45 minutes, the woman who had been at the door at 8 a.m. because her reservation was for 8 a.m., the woman who waited an hour for Popeye Mouth to show, the woman who didn�t care, that woman, was outside waiting for her truck to be brought around. She was speaking in a voice she believed to be private, but which in fact could be heard clearly through the single pane window.
�I still don�t think it�s fair. He owes us an hour, honey. He owes us an hour. I don�t think the free furniture pads are enough. If he�d thrown in the dolly too, like we asked, it might have compensated us for that hour, for that lost hour, but even then�� She held her head in her hands. I think she may have been crying, but just a little.
�See!� Drag and Popeye blow with left hand, lower back scratch with right. �She don�t care.� He sighed heavily and deposited his cigarette on his lower lip freeing both hands for hot scratching action. The cigarette bounced and dangled like needle on a lie detector. �I tried to tell her I�m a single parent and my son has ADHD. She don�t care. �You owe me an hour!�� he mocked and shook his head in disbelief.
�I really, I just need my truck.�
He stretched and stubbed out his butt. �People, they don�t realize what it�s like. Some days he�s good. Others he�s not, and hell if I know which it will be when I get up. Hell if I know. I mean, I don�t plan on opening late or nothing.� He lit up another smoke. �She thinks she has problems, she should try being a single parent with a child with ADHD for a while. Then she�ll see what kind of problems there can be in this big old wide world. Then she�ll see.�
�I have people waiting at my house ready to load the truck we�re renting from you. They�re waiting.�
�It�s just, it�s hard, you know? You know? You know what I�m saying? It�s so hard.� Deep drag. Side blow. �Like take this morning. I told him to eat his cereal and he didn�t then he threw it on the floor, so I had to clean that up. Then I told him to get dressed, to put his jamas in the hamper, but he wouldn�t, so I had to hold him down and make him get dressed. �We�re going to Pop Pop�s� I said to him. That usually works because there�s a trampoline at Pop Pop�s, see. But nothing was getting through to him. And then I have to come in here and deal with folks that don�t care. They just don�t care.�
�Yes, well, if you would just rent us a truck, we�ll be out of your way.�
He looked up at my father and I. His eyes were a bit glazed over and I noticed food in his handlebar mustache. He scratched his head with his cigarette hand. �What can I do for you again?� he asked.
Posted at 5:06 p.m.
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