Hall was Ronald’s mate, but they went back further than that; actually Hall knew Ronald longer than anybody Ronald still spoke to. They were real close to each other due to all the time they had to spend together at work. Hall was a medium built tall man in his fifties that looked his age but could relate well to a younger man.

“I feel your enthusiasm Hall but my bank account don’t; I got to think about it,” Ronald stated with an uneasy grin. Hall flashed a smile and reminded Ronald of the deadline of his decision, “Think now but in two weeks you got to leap somewhere.” That meant three measly paychecks and then uncertainty of the next means of income.

How could he break the news to Kenya; her cliental at the beauty salon was swell, but she didn’t need someone piggyback riding on her piggybank. Besides she was saving for law school that’s why Ronald took care of all the bills; he even paid a car note for a car he barely drove. To other guys besides Hall he would never voluntarily give up this information, for he would be categorized as a sugar daddy. Even though Ronald couldn’t possibly care less of what other people thought of him, he just wanted to avoid conflict. Besides to him it was the smart thing to do, he saw it as a way to ensure his wife’s success and show support in her dreams.

It was literally going to break his heart to notify his wife that he would not be able to bring in any income until who knows when. To think of it choked him up; attempting to brush it off his shoulders and throw the thought off his mind Ronald clocked in and went to the pre-work huddle.

His boss was like most, white and proud of it. Between the two, they had many quarrels, constant arguments about job related issues but the main reason for the arguments was perceived lack of respect. Neither person thought the other respected him and to speak frankly they didn’t. Ronald felt like his boss only made foreman because he stayed behind during the last strike and the company felt in debt.

In the eyes of his boss Ronald was looked at as a smart ass who loved to show off his wit in the field but had too much of an attitude to survive as a white-collar. His boss was about forty but looked almost fifty with grayish hair on the side of a bald top. He wasn’t in too bad of shape but he did posses a gut that misfit his body.

Ronald looked the other way as his boss read the safety tips for the day. “In Newport News Shipyard we specialize in keeping a safe working environment, and we don’t want that to change. Here are some things you can do to help:

Right before he could go to number four Ronald started laughing, “a, so that mean we can’t work on our job today Hall.” Everyone joined in on the fun besides the man who was interrupted; he just went right along with the safety tips. After he stated the safety tips he told everyone where their jobs were and told Hall and Ronald their job was the same from last week. “So Weise you still want me to cut that pipe then braze it to the sleeve,” Hall asked unsure. Weise nodded then he looked at Ronald and stated, “I’ll be down there shortly.” Those words were like chalk sliding across an old chalkboard to Ronald’s ears. Weise had a reputation for coming on your job, taking over, and messing it up then leaving you to fix it.

Ronald mumbled briefly under his breath and then kept on trucking; once he got on the boat he realized once again he was going to see the sunrise and sunset at this forbidden place. Even though, he would have to admit himself, there is no place better in the city to see the sunset than right on the James River. The sun was beginning to peak as he and his mate went down the twenty foot ladder; their fear of heights vanished through repetitiveness. To get to their jobs they had to climb through holes, dodge angle bars, and avoid slipping off the pipe that they sometimes had to work on. Now Ronald’s safety humor is probably more visible to you.

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