This story centers around a young boy and his troubles while growing into a man. There is almost no sex in this story. Anyone involved in sexual situations are at least 18 years old. Enjoy and be kind when you vote.
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I was only ten years old when my father was taken from my life. He worked in a small foundry in our town in southern Indiana. You know the type, a small family run business, usually only employing four or five people. Anyway he was moving a large, for them, heat of metal when something exploded hot molten metal all over my father. He must have died horribly within a few moments.
My mother was racked with grief for several months after the funeral.
Since I was only ten I understood that my father was dead but I didn't fully understand the ramifications of his passing. My mother ceased to be the happy go lucky woman that I had known all my young life. She morphed into a woman that only rarely smiled and even more rarely laughed.
She sat me down in our kitchen a week after the funeral and explained life as she saw it while she scrubbed the pans from our meal.
"You and I are all we have now Rafe. Together we will have to support ourselves and make sure you get an education. I'm a thirty year old widow with a young son so I will have to be both a mother and a father from now on until you become a man. That's a lot to expect from one person but I have a plan." She moved one bright copper pan to the drain rack and attacked the next one.
"Old man Winters down at the Feed and Seed is going to start me working in the office tomorrow. The books have gotten too much for him. He needs the help and we will need the money, so starting tomorrow we will be spending our days there." I looked up when she said we.
"You mean I have to work with you too?" I asked.
"Yes Rafe. I can't afford a sitter for you anymore and when I explained my problem to old man Winters, he told me to bring you in with me. While you are too young to work on the clock, he or one of his workers will show you the workings of his business and maybe give you a few tasks to keep you occupied. While I'm not real happy with you being around his grinding mill, old man Winters assured me that you would never be in any danger. As I told you we are all that we have. I don't particularly like this but it's the only option we have now as I see it." She finished her pots then turned around.
I looked at my mother. She had a plain face. At one time she might have been pretty but time and the grief of losing a husband had taken its toll on her. She was a bit heavy, her large breasts had begun to sag. Her hips had blossomed with age and for the first time I noticed her face had begun to age and wrinkle, probably from dealing with the grief and worrying about my future. To my ten year old eyes she looked, old, for the first time ever.
"Don't worry about me momma. We will be okay. I promise. I know you are worrying about us but we will be fine. You'll see. I'll make you proud of me." With that statement I got up from my chair and hugged my mother. I inhaled her scent. Dove soap, the fried chicken we just ate and something else. The undefinable womanly scent of my mother.
Morning found us at Winters Feed and Seed before opening time. My mother was introduced to another woman about her age named Rose Evans. She would show my mom the books and both women would watch the counter for walk in business but most of the business was at the dock where the custom ground feed, hay or straw, or the seed and fertilizer for the crops was loaded on the customers truck or on the company's truck to be delivered. When my mom went to the office with Rose, Mr. Winters took me to the back room where the days business was about to unfold.
He sat me on an old wooden barrel and said, "Rafe I want you to just watch what is happening. Don't get off this barrel and you will be safe. There will be people moving around soon and you might get confused but soon you will catch the rhythm of the place. I am putting Charlie here in charge of you so if you need to go to the restroom or something just let him know. Got it?"
"Yes sir. Sit here and watch. Listen to Charlie." I repeated.
He patted my knee as Charlie opened the big dock doors. The day had begun.
Charlie was a huge old black man. He was old, probably 60, 6' 6" and over three hundred pounds. His arms were huge from constantly moving straw, hay bales, or the bags of feed or grain around. He could easily lift two one hundred pound bags with practiced ease. I watched in awe as he took care of the first customer. It took him only twenty minutes to load a ton of feed. That's twenty, one hundred pound bags. I watched silently and was amazed that one man could do it so effortlessly. He had several more orders to fill and finally the morning rush was over and he came over to me.
"How are you holding up son. Do you need a break or something to drink? I know I could use a Pepsi." he told me.
"Yes sir. I would like a drink." I said.
He picked me up off my barrel perch and we went to the drink machine on the dock. He then selected a bottle for each of us.
"Let's sit on the dock for our break. I have found that I can cure all of the world's ills from right there."
I nodded as we sat on the dock edge and without saying a word I started to bond with this huge, scary, gentle old man. I was curious about this gentle giant because I had never met a person of color at school nor did my parents ever bring one home. I soon found out that people were just people, no matter what color they were. I learned that he lived alone on the other side of town. He had an eighth grade education and had never been married. He asked me how I felt about being without a Father.
"I'm ok, I guess. I worry about my mom though. She still cries at night when she doesn't think I can hear. I think she worries about me growing up without a father."
"That's understandable I suppose. Your mother is a good woman and as long as she stays here old man Winters will watch over you two so don't worry about her. It will be hard but life has a way of taking care of itself. You just need to never give up trying. Also if you never give the other guy an opening he can't hurt you."
I didn't realise it but I had just received an important life lesson.
The day slowed down after our break. We had no more customers so Charlie handed me a broom. He pointed to one side of the dock and told me to start in the corner and work towards him.
"Get used to using this broom. This place is always dusty from the straw and feed and old man Winters likes a clean dock."
I proceeded to do the best job I knew how at 10. I guess I did ok. When lunchtime came my mom came out of the office and handed my lunch to me that she had made earlier that morning. Charlie asked if I could have my lunch with him on the dock.
My mom looked at me and asked, "Rafe would you like to eat with Charlie or with me and Rose in the break room."
I looked at Charlie and said, "I think us men will take our lunch out here on the dock."
My mom seemed surprised momentarily and told me it was okay but not to get underfoot. She looked at Charlie and they both just smiled and she went back into the office.
The summer was well underway and I was becoming familiar with the way things worked on the dock. Charlie showed me where the hay or straw was kept, where the bulk grain was stored in huge bins, where the bulk fertilizer was kept. I was amazed when our first custom feed order came. Charlie patiently explained how the mill worked and then he showed me that each farmer had a special 'recipe' for their animals. My young mind soaked this up like a sponge.
