The Food Truck - 4. Chapter 4

Two weeks had gone by, no luck. Dominic had finished the pilings and was ready to start laying the floor. Jim watched as Dominic welded steel rods into a checker board pattern. By the end of the week, on Friday, Jim watch concrete being poured on the floor. The garage began to take shape. In the meantime, Jim goaded his mother into helping out. She took the orders and handled the money.

Two weeks later a four foot wall of concrete blocks was going up on the garage. Dominic said the garage would be under roof in ten days if the siding arrived. Jim’s luck was continuing, he hired his second employee and again it was at the same dumpster where he found Donnie.

“Donnie, there’s a young boy at that dumpster go talk to him.” The boy smiled as Donnie approached. Jim watched as Donnie and the boy begin talking.

"Hi, my name is Donnie what's yours?”

“My name is Dennis, but my friends call me Denny.”

“Don't look for food in that dumpster come with me, I've got some food for you. That man sitting in the car is my boss.” Denny smiled picked up his knapsack and followed Donnie to the car. Jim met the boys as they approach the car.

After identifying himself he offered a bag containing a lunch from the food truck. The boy opened the bag and when he saw what was in the bag he broke out in a big smile. While he was eating Donnie told him about working on the food truck. He mentioned that they were looking for another person to help out. “I tried to get a job but so far no luck. I tried begging and all I got were offers for sex,”

Over the next half hour, Denny told his story. “My mother remarried, her new husband was a very bigoted man. I’m gay and when my mother’s new husband found out he told me I had to leave. My mother gave me some money and told me to leave. I bought a bus ticket as far away from home as the money allowed. It took me to this city and I have been walking the streets for the last four days. I have used up all my money and so I started begging for food. My last hope where the dumpsters behind the restaurants.”

Donnie sat next to Denny while he ate. Donnie told him his story. “You’re lucky.”

“How would you like to be lucky as well?”

Denny stop eating looking at Donnie in total disbelief. “Do you see that guy standing next to that building, the one that gave you the food that you’re eating, all you got to do is smile at him and shake your head yes. That's my boss.”

Denny threw his arms around Donnie, Jim knew he had his second employee. “Jim, Denny wants a job.”

“Well, Denny, I do have an opening but you’ll have to work with this guy.”

That suited Denny just fine.“Yes sir, I can work with this guy”

Jim liked his sense of humor. “Do you have any clothes?”

“Only what I have in my knapsack.”

Now the knapsack was not a small one, it was the kind that one would normally use if they were going camping for a week. Donnie opened a trunk and put the knapsack in the trunk. “I don't have a place to stay.”

“You can stay with me just as Donnie does. In fact you can share his bedroom.”

Arriving home Jim introduced Denny to his mom and dad. “He’ll be working on the truck. If it’s okay with you, he'll share Donnie’s bed room.”

The next morning Jim drove Donnie and Denny to the food truck. Arriving at the Park, Jim saw a large flatbed truck parked in front of the area where his garage would be. “Jim, that must be the siding. I’ll bet we’ll have the garage finish in four weeks.”

So they decided to have a lottery on the day the garage would be ready for occupancy, Jim charged fifty cents per pick and the winner would get all of the money from the lottery. Jim’s dad mentioned the lottery at his office and by the end of the day people were buying tickets.

Jim needed one more thing for Dennis, he needed a medical certificate since he would be handling food as well. He would ask his mother to handle that.

As the garage construction progressed, Jim's anxiety increased. He was hoping it would be completed before winter hit. It took Dominic two weeks to get metal sides up. Jim thought it was going slow, his dad said it was the fastest he has ever seen for that size of building. Dominic told him as soon as the solar panels arrive, he’ll install them then the garage would be finished.

“You can use the garage now, but you have no electrical power”

Jim was glad he could at least park the food truck in the garage. With the help of Donnie and Denny, he moved all of the boxes from his dad's garage to the new storage area in the new garage.

“Your idea of providing a platform above the floor for storage Is a good idea, with proper insecticides you won't have any bug infestation in the paper products.”

“We’ll use traps for mice. I don’t want to kill them.” Going to the local hardware store, they bought an insecticide for the bugs and catch and release traps for mice. They headed back to the garage to set the traps. Having done that the boys headed home.

Two weeks later the solar panels arrived, Dominic installed them in three days, along with the DC batteries needed to provide electricity at night. A separate backup system was install utilizing the regional electric company. Dominic explained that this system would be a backup, showing Jim how to activate the system. The electric company charged a fixed fee for the meter plus usage which would be registered on the meter. Jim was happy. Dominic provided one surprise for Jim, he called it a gift. He built a bathroom with a shower and an outlet that Jim could use to fill the water tank on the food truck. The drainage from the bathroom and the garage were tied into the Park’s sewer system.

That evening, Jim brought his mom and dad up-to-date. Now he needed that sign he mentioned to Donnie earlier.

Sandwiches were made in the morning by Donnie and Denny. The salads were made the night before and placed in a refrigerator. Jim handled the grill, Donnie and Denny worked the window. Jim showed Denny and Donnie how to make the soup. While Jim made salads, the boys made soup.

Breakfast was a fixed meal, eggs, bacon or ham on alternate days, and toast. Friday special were pancakes and sausages, a fried egg on top would be extra. Lunch consist of a sandwich with the salads, sandwich with soup or soup with salads.

Business was doing well. One of the managers asked Jim if you could move the truck a little closer to the center of the Park. He said his employees couldn't take advantage of the food truck. “By the time they walked to the truck, received their order and walk back, they only had a few minutes to eat.”

That evening Jim mentioned to his mom at the dinner table what the manager had said. “Why don't you make a menu, have them mark what they want and then have one of the boys deliver it?”

Jim didn't say anything. That evening he went on the Internet and looked at various small delivery vans. He found a small electric delivery truck. He thought if he could modify it, it could handle a coffee urn and shelves to hold the meals.

It was six weeks before the vehicle arrive. Jim took the vehicle to a car repair shop and told them what he wanted done. One week later, Jim headed to the park with his modified delivery truck. The boys created the menus for distribution. Jim went and saw the manager explaining what he proposed. The manager was glad, he knew his people would be glad as well. Only one issue remained, payments for the food. The Manager suggested on Friday a bill be presented to the men with a copy to him. He would see that the bill was paid. Jim thought it was a good idea and agreed to the payment system.

That weekend Jim bought a computer and printer for the food truck. He created his menus, Donnie and Denny review them and printed out several for distribution. Monday morning he delivered them to the manager. Two hours later, a secretary brought the menus back, a name was at the top followed by items checked. She also brought a breakfast menu for the next day marked similarly to the lunch menu.

While Denny handle the window, Donnie took over filling the lunch menus for delivery. Each bag was marked with the name of the person. At noon, Donnie took the electric van and made the deliveries. It only took him about thirty minutes to drop off the bags. He was back to help Jim and Denny with lunch.

After lunch, Donnie and Denny using a program that Jim had set up, added the cost of each menu by employee name. “Jim, if we make a form duplicating our menu, all we would have to do is check the item and program the computer to keep a running cost by customer. Then at the end of the week, we could run a tally by customer.”

“If I give the Manager the tally on Thursday, we can collect on Friday. We’ll have to run the tally from Friday to Thursday to do that.”

“Jim, what if someone said they didn't receive what we charged them?”

“I guess that could be a problem. If there’s an issue I’ll discuss it with their manager, he’ll either resolve it or we won't fill any more orders for that person.”

That evening Jim discussed the issue with his dad. “Jim, you’ll be tested. Those men or at least one will test you. What you do will determine what the men will do. I suggest you talk to the manager and make him aware of what you would do if that situation arises.”

Jim followed his dad's advice. Two weeks into the program, he was tested. He took the men's menu and approach him. The man in front of his buddies claimed he never got two salads only one.

“Is this your menu request for tomorrow?” The man nodded yes. Jim took the menu and tore it up. “I’ll not provide you any food until you pay this bill. In fact, I may not provide you with any food even after you have paid this bill. And if you don't pay it, I'll stop deliveries here.”

“You can't do that. The boss said you have an agreement.”

“Let’s go and tell that to your boss.” The guy walked away.

One of the men came over, “How much is he talking about?”

“A dollar for one of the salads” The guy gave Jim a dollar, “My wife thinks this is great. She doesn't have to get up to fix me breakfast or lunch. So it is worth the dollar.”

“No, I suspect he’s always trying to cheat, between you and me, I'll still deliver the meals. I need to pay off my delivery van.”

Jim did go to see the manager. Three days later the manager came to see Jim. “I talk to a few of the men who had lunch with Harry. They said he did have two salads but he thought he could get away with only paying for one. Are you going to stop delivery?”

“No, why make the guys suffered because of one guy. I'll still deliver and I won’t deliver to Harry. If he wants any of my food, he needs to come to the truck and pay at the window."

“If he apologizes?”

“Apology is always accepted the first time, never the second. If I'm wrong and the boys do miss something, then that lunch or breakfast will be free. But I don't think that will happen”

The Manager left knowing that the crew will take care of Harry. But Harry didn't change. He tried to talk the others into pulling the same trick. One of the older guys slipped a note to Donnie telling us about Harry. So we made double sure the orders were correct. If a friend of Harry's made an order, we marked the bag with an X. When Donnie delivered, he made the guy open the bag and sign the menu sheet declaring all the items where there. That lasted for two days, when Jim received a note telling him Harry had been isolated. “No one sits with him and when he starts talking about his schemes, the others tell him to shut up.”

He did ask Dominic to come and install an alarm system to include the doors and peripheral areas as well. Jim talked to the boys about building a small office area next to the garage. The boys asked if it could be made larger so that they could have a room in it as well. Jim couldn’t see why not so a second floor was added, two bedrooms with a connecting bathroom. He also had the garage extended to include the bedrooms, a small storage room on the second floor, and two large rooms on the first floor.

Providing breakfast and lunch was keeping the three of them busy. Jim was making soup the evening before and reheating it for lunch, with manning the truck, making deliveries, Jim with the boys agreement needed a third person. Denny was good on the computer so he decided that Denny would do the menus, tracking the costs per person, keeping track of inventory and cost of supplies.

Now the question where to get a third employee? Dennis had the answer, “You graduated from high school and didn't go to college. Maybe there is someone from your high school looking for a job.”

“Good idea”

Jim decided go to his high school to see if there were any kids who had no college plans. He knew he’d have to wait till graduation next year, but if there was someone he could use during school breaks and then full-time after graduation, that would be okay.

Friday afternoon he went to see the principal at his old high school. She was glad to see him and asked how he was doing. After Jim told her about his food truck, he told her why he was there.

“Jim, I think you just answered one of my prayers. Do you have a computer that a student could use?”

“Yes, I have one in my home and one at work, why?”

“We have a young man here who’s a junior. He lives with his mother and money is tight. I think he’s working evenings, his grades are slipping and my teachers tell me that he’s failing. If you can give him the job and a place to do homework, it might turn him around. He's a very nice boy but just needs a break.”

“May I meet him?”

“Wait here I’ll go get him.”

Jim waited about fifteen minutes when Mrs. Larson returned with the lad. Jim remembered him, he always was a loner and the kids avoided him. His clothes weren't the best, some of kids made fun of him. Mrs. Larson introduced Paul to Jim, “I remember you Paul, how are you?”

“Okay”

“Paul, I own a small business, it's a food truck over at International Park. I serve breakfast and lunch. I have two boys working for me but I need a third. Mrs. Lawson said you could do your homework on my computer and submit your work to the teachers via the computer. Once a week, you'll come to the high school to pick up your work assignment for the week. Besides getting paid, you get breakfast and lunch. The boys eat leftovers for supper but we can always make a little extra. Do you want to think about it or do you have any questions?”

“I have to take care of my mother. I work part-time and make just enough to buy food. My mom works to pay the rent and utilities. I need to talk to my mom before I can give you my answer.”

“How much do you make part-time?”

“I’m paid five dollars and fifty cents per hour for twenty hours a week.”

“When do you think you can give me an answer? I’d like you to come work for me.”

After Paul left, “What do you think his answer will be?”

“I’m not sure, it’ll depend on what his mother says.”

“I can't pay him five fifty per hour. I paid the other boys thee fifty plus meals and a place to stay. For him, I probably can go four dollars per hour assuming he stays at home.

Monday morning Jim got a call from Mrs. Larson, “Jim, Paul wants you to talk with his mother. I think she has some questions for you.”

“Okay, can you give me her address and the time she’d be home?” I heard Mrs. Larson talking to someone, it was muffled like her hand was over the phone.

“Jim, Paul said anytime after seven would be good.”

“Okay, can you give me her address.” Jim wrote the address down. He called his dad to find out if he knew the address.

“Why do you want that address? That’s a rough neighborhood”

Jim told his dad about needing another person, Dennis gave him the idea of looking at students who were not going to college. Jim's dad gave him directions and told him he would go with. Jim thought that really must be a bad section if his dad was going with him.

Jim and his dad left at six thirty that evening. Jim brought two of his lunches with him and two cups of leftover soup. Arriving at the address, Jim confirmed his dad's comments. It was a very rundown section of town. Finding the apartment building wasn't hard, there was a bar on the ground floor and a sign on the building advertising adult entertainment. Jim locked the car, he noticed a police car patrolling the area.

Paul's apartment was on the fourth floor, no elevator. Jim had no problem but his dad was breathing a little hard when they reach the fourth floor. Jim found the apartment and knocked. Paul open the door, smiling.

Jim handed him the food. “This, is to get you to say yes to my job offer.” Paul smiled took the packages. Jim introduced his dad to Paul, Paul introduced his mother, Marie, to Jim and his dad.

“Mom, Jim brought some food from his food truck. He said he wanted us to taste the food he sells.”

Marie smiled, “Paul is very excited about working for you. I had to make a decision, my sister's husband died about six months ago, she wants be to come and live with her. At first, I didn't want to leave Paul. He mentioned at your meeting that you said you had two boys working and staying with you.”

“That’s correct,” Jim may not have been college material but he hadn’t fallen on his head either. “If Paul comes to work for me I can arrange for him to stay with me as I have with the other boys. But there is one condition, he must continue with his schooling.”

“Then Paul, I think you should except the job.”

Paul nodded yes. “I’ll tell Mrs. Larson tomorrow, when can I start?”

“How about Wednesday? Get all your class assignments, your books and clean out your lockers. Get the schools computer access directions so you can send in your homework. I'll pick you up Wednesday, we'll swing by here to get your suitcase with your clothes.”

Paul smiled then looked at his mom. “Mom, when did you plan on leaving to go to Aunt Martha’s?”

“By coincidence Wednesday, I'll make my arrangements for Wednesday.”

I took Paul to the kitchen, “Are you going to be okay with your mom leaving?”

“Yes, it’s best for her. This isn’t a nice place to live”

“I'll see that you stay in touch.”

I talked to Paul, dad spoke to Paul's mother. What they talked about I didn't hear. I knew if dad wanted me to know he’d tell me.

Tuesday I received another call from Mrs. Larson. “I don't know what you did last night but there’s a new boy here today. He told me he has accepted the job and will be staying with you. His mother Is going to stay with his aunt. When you pick him up on Wednesday any chance of having one of your lunches. A little boy told me they were very, very good.”

I laughed, “Only one?”

“Well ,maybe two.”