Honorable Mention in Prose

Don't Dance on Company Time
by Jeff Harrison

      Oklahoma summers can be a hell on Earth.  Unfortunately a large part of the economy is in manufacturing. The hardworking men and women who work here are friendly, sociable and even stop to help strangers broke down on the side of the road. Industrial plants, smoke stacks and oil rigs dot the landscape.  But where there are smokestacks, there's fire.  Or worse.  Furnaces.

Leonard Fairbanks had just moved into Okemah, OK from Mobile, Alabama.  Jobs were scarce and good luck was non-existent.  He finally landed a job working in a small copper mill on the graveyard shift 11-7 am.  It was February and he was grateful to be placed in the casting department where the copper was melted and refined.  He was a big man with a hearty laugh.  At 6'3 and 250 lbs., no one much messed with him.  For the next three months he tried his hardest to learn his job.  He kept busy even when the permanent employees were goofing off.  He wanted to make a good impression on the boss so he would be taken off temporary status thus enabling him for benefits and higher wages.  But as hard as he would try, he would invariably screw something up.  Samples were taken twice an hour for lab analysis but he rarely remembered.  The furnace temperature had to remain a constant 2300º F, which he was to monitor (an easy job), but at least once a week his trainer Ryan would have to intervene and adjust one of the burners up.  He had been told more than once that some of the equipment was old and needed attention but he just couldn't remember.  This became a nuisance to Ryan very quickly.  It was easily remedied by Ryan but kept him away from his duties.  Leonard would just have to move along.

Complaints to Ryan's boss, David Burns, didn't help.  Leonard was too hard of a worker and Ryan could pick up the slack.  Ryan realized that if something wasn't done, they would eventually hire him and he would become an every day problem.  Ryan began to visualize a plan.  First, two of Leonard's car tires mysteriously became flat one night at his home before work.  No problem.  Leonard had such a pleasant demeanor that he had developed several recent friendships and one of them was all too happy to give him a ride into work that week until he replaced the tires.  Strike one.

      A 'mickey' of Ryan's own concoction did do its job but only kept Leonard out of work for a week.  Leonard knew the coffee he had had that last night didn't taste quite right.  He lost 7 lbs. that week in bodily fluids but with the doctors note in hand, next week he was back hard at work.  'I knew I should have made it stronger,' Ryan said more to himself than anyone.  Strike two.

      'Okay,' Ryan thought 'this is it'.  No more mistakes, nothing left to chance.  Leonard just wasn't getting the hint.  Or was he?  He knew his tires may have been damaged crossing the construction zone near his apartment.  Springtime brings allergies and viruses are caught easily but one thing happening on the heels of the other made him wary.  Bad things normally come in three's he had heard somewhere.  He didn't want to think of what other trouble might come his way but he sure wasn't going to take it lying down.          

      Ryan wasn't usually a violent man but the last few months had changed him.  True enough, Leonard had become more efficient at work and caused fewer mistakes but Ryan's anger only increased causing the mere sight of Leonard to send Ryan into a fit of rage.  Even coworkers noticed the change in him.

      Ryan planned to work the same weekend as Leonard when production was down.  It would be slow and easy at work and  the full staff would not be required as during the week.  That was when Ryan figured he could get retribution.  Business was indeed slow that weekend and some workers even called in 'sick' to enjoy the beautiful spring day.  Ryan was planning on enjoying his day too.  Ryan and Leonard were the only two working in casting that day.  The mild 70º temperature outside only made the 100º plus inside even worse.  By midday, both were drenched in sweat.  An hour before quitting time, Ryan started to think about all the problems and frustrations Leonard had created.  The heat from the molten copper just fueled his anger more.  When Ryan thought he couldn't stand it anymore he called Leonard over to where he was working.  Ryan was loading some scrap copper back into the furnace to be recycled.  There were steel hoppers all over the plant to catch the odd pieces and wrong sizes of the tubing and pipes being made.  Ryan would load the hoppers on an elevator that dumped its contents into the furnace.  Foreign metal was to be taken out, if possible, before emptying it.  Tin, steel and aluminum would occasionally be found in the form of popcans or steel bands off material shipped into the plant. 

      "Leonard, can you reach that steel band?  You have a little better reach than I do."  Leonard smiled revealing his pearly whites.  While leaning over to retrieve the steel band, Ryan knew this was the moment of truth.  All his problems could be solved with one whack over Leonards head.  He grabbed a large wrench that was close by and raised it over his head.  Sweat trickled down his face more now.  'I just can't do it.  This is crazy.' he thought. Slowly he lowered the wrench and put it back where he had taken it from.  He was angry at himself for not being able to carry his plan out but was also relieved that he couldn't take another man's life.  Leonard stood up and handed the steel band to Ryan.  "Here you go shorty," he chuckled.  "It's my turn to load the hoppers anyway Ryan.  Would you send that sample to the lab I just made?" "Sure Leonard."  He was glad for the chance to get away from even the vicinity of Leonard.  It calmed him down and helped him try to forget what he had almost done.  Ryan sent the sample to the lab and monitored the furnace temperature.  It needed adjusting again.  Another 45 minutes and a twelve pack should help me forget, Ryan thought.

      Another 15 minutes passed and Ryans heartbeat was down to where it should be, not that of a crazed killer.  He was sorry that he had signed up to work the weekend now.  He could have been out soaking up the sun and weekend frivolity but at least work was almost over. 

      From Ryans vantage point, he could see every square foot of the casting department.  The furnace was forty feet up and he could see Leonard loading the hoppers down below.  A horn sounded.  This was to let the workers know they had thirty minutes left in the shift.  Leonard shouted as he always did at this time, but he also started to do a little dance.  This amused Ryan until he noticed Leonard getting too close to the hopper on it's way up.  The last thing he wanted was to have to fill out an accident report.  'Watch out!' he shouted, but Leonard only looked up and smiled.  Leonard kept dancing in a backwards fashion like a moonwalk.  Suddenly Leonard stopped.  Actually something stopped him.  It was the hopper already four feet off the ground on its way up to be emptied.  Leonard had backed into it during his little dance.  Bumping into it didn't hurt him but it did catch the top of his suspenders and began to slowly lift him off the ground.  Now Leonard really began to dance.  He tried to dance right out of his pants.  But the more he wiggled, the more apparent it was that he was not going to be able to break free.  He yelled to Ryan for help.  Ryan was rigid with fear as he knew the fate that Leonard faced.  What was once a goal to be accomplished was now terrifying.  The second call for help broke Ryan out of the trance as he hurried down the stairs to reach the emergency stop button for the elevator.  As he reached the second landing taking two steps at a time, he noticed Leonard was already 15 feet in the air struggling to release himself.  The leather suspenders he wore proved to be stronger than they looked.  The stairs leading down from the furnace had taken Ryan further away from the controls.  He had 50 feet to cover by the time he hit the floor.  Leonard was now 35 feet and still climbing.  And still struggling.  Another 15 feet and it would be too late.  Ryan took off at a hard run.  Sweat was pouring down his face from both his exertion and fear.  10 feet.  20 feet.  He hadn't run this hard since he was a kid.  30 feet, 40 feet.  Now Leonard was almost to the curve in the track that would take him up and over into the orange glow of the furnace.  Leonard was already feeling the heat as he rose higher and higher, tears streaming down his face.  When Ryan reached the emergency stop button, Leonard was starting the arch in the track.  Only seconds to go.  In that split second Ryan remembered his anger from earlier, his intent, the plan that he couldn't carry through with would now be done by no fault of his own.  But not hitting the button was as terrible as cracking him in the head.  The proverbial good angel, bad angel was tormenting him almost to madness.  If he didn't push the button he was not to be at fault.  He simply couldn't get there in time.  But he would have to live with his inaction the rest of his life, especially in bed right before sleep when things seem to haunt us most.  Could he live with that?  If he saved Leonard, he would feel the immediate release of fear and a sense of having saved someone literally from death itself.  Along with that though would be the same old grind and rub of working with public enemy #1.  What a dilemma. 

      As Ryan reached for the controlling factor in Leonard's life and possibly Ryan's own sanity, he looked up into the terrified eyes of his coworker and felt both remorse and rage all bundled together.  He lightly touched the button trying to force his will to press it further and stop the torment he was feeling.  He had to choose one way or the other.  Leonard yelled, "Please, push it!"  But that was the last thing Leonard ever said.  The hopper had reached its apex and dumped 800 lbs. of scrap copper and 250 lbs. of Leonard Fairbanks into the furnace melting them together for eternity.

      Ryan just stood there a minute not believing what had just happened and what he had witnessed.  Only after 30 seconds had passed, but what seemed infinitely longer, did he survey his surroundings to see if anyone else had witnessed the tragedy.  The room was empty with only the dull roar of the jets of fire blasting away in the furnace.  Anxiety began to rise again as Ryan realized he must again make a life changing decision.  This day was beginning to drive him mad!  Should he report the incident or let it remain a mystery as to what happened to poor Leonard?  If he did nothing, some investigation would likely come about but what evidence would there be?  The furnace had taken care of that.  However, if he reported it, he ran the chance of possibly being implicated for the death.  Several workers around the plant knew of his resentment towards Leonard and that would supply the police with a motive.  Jail time.  Criminal record.  Humiliation.  This last thought cinched it.  He would have to keep quiet and play dumb.

      Only 15 minutes left of the shift.  Better hurry and get ready for the next shift he thought.  A quick cleanup, check the burners and one more sample to the lab ought to do it.  He adjusted the burners up and started sweeping when Jack and Tex came in.  "How's she been running today?" Jack asked.  "A little temperamental but not too bad.  How ya doin' Tex?"  "Ready to mount up and ride off into the sunset.  Where's Leonard?"  "I told him to go ahead and get cleaned up.  Probably in the bathroom."  So far, so good.  Remember, he thought, just play dumb.  The shift change happened with the sounding of the horn and Ryan was on his way to the parking lot when he remembered he had forgotten to take the lab sample.  Upon reaching his car he began to dial the numbers on his cell phone to call Tex and ask him to take the sample he had missed.  The images of the last hour were churning within him when he realized that maybe he shouldn't have the sample taken.  Leonard's remains  might show up on the lab analysis.  He called anyway and told Tex that he had taken the sample on the current batch and they didn't need to.  He didn't want them discovering where Leonard had gone.  After that Ryan headed straight for the bar.  He needed a drink in a bad way.

      When Leonard didn't show up for work the next two days, management just filled out the paperwork showing him as being fired.  There was a little talk among the workers but that died off by the end of the week.  Ryan got a new trainee who seemed to learn the job quickly.  It was work as usual at the plant. 

      At Leonard's apartment, his phone was cut off due to non-payment and then his lights.  After two weeks of his disappearance the landlord sent letters and phone messages requesting rent payment.

      Usually Leonard called his mother every Saturday.  When he missed the second Saturday, she decided to call and see if anything was wrong.  She had to leave a message and by the following Wednesday when no return call came, she called the local police to file a missing persons report.  Two days later a police cruiser showed up at Leonard's apartment.  Apartment 302 was on the third floor and as Sgt. Brown reached the top landing, he was almost out of breath.  Gotta lose some weight, he thought.  He knocked and waited.  No sign of forced entry on the door.  It was a pretty spring day and he didn't mind being outside.  He knocked again and loudly identified himself as the police.  At this point, the next door neighbor opened his door and came into the breezeway.  "He hasn't been home for a couple of weeks now," he said.  "I'm Sgt. Brown with the Okemah police.  Mr. Fairbanks mother has filed a missing persons report on him.  Do you happen to know of his whereabouts?  Any information would be helpful."  "Well I'll tell you what I know but that isn't much.  He pretty much kept to himself.  However, I did see some of the people he worked with come over once in a while.  One time he watched my dog for me when I went out of town one weekend.  He seemed to be a nice guy.  We saw each other when he came home from work but that was little more than a passing 'Hi'.  I think he worked at Southwest Metals, the copper plant."  "Well, thanks for your help.  Give me a call if you think of anything else." he said while handing out a business card.  "No problem.  Sorry I couldn't tell you more."  Sgt. Brown headed for the rental office then to see if he could gather any more information.  He did verify that he worked for Southwest Metals which was on his rental application.  Since the rent was late and the police was looking for him the landlord asked him to accompany him to Leonard's apartment.  He would use the pass key and maybe both of them would learn something.  No such luck.  Upon entering his apartment, they just found a sparsely furnished apartment of a single man.  The air seemed stale and the one plant he had was practically dead.  "Definitely looks like he hasn't been home in a while," Sgt. Brown said to the landlord.

      Sgt. Brown called Southwest Metals to set up a time to interview some of the workers along with their boss.  He would have to go early as the workers left by 7 a.m.  He also placed a call to the temporary agency that employed Leonard.  He learned that Leonard's paychecks had not been cashed although they had not been returned through the mail.  The next day, Sgt. Brown got an early start and arrived at the plant at 5 a.m.  He started interviewing with Ryan.  When Ryan Parker heard his name paged to go up front, he was nervous.  He had been told the police were coming to ask some questions relating to Leonard's disappearance.  He had expected this but couldn't help being jittery.  Ryan's boss David Burns was in the conference room along with Sgt. Brown when he came in.  "Ryan, this is Sgt. Brown with the Okemah police.  Since you worked with Leonard he wanted to ask you a few questions."  They shook hands and sat down.  "When was the last time you saw Leonard?"  "A couple of weeks ago on Saturday, the last day he worked."  "Did he seem different that night or anxious?"  "No."  "Do you know who he spent time with away from work or where he might be?"  'I think he might have hung out with some of the other temps.  I usually saw him with them together at break time."  Sgt. Brown wrote some notes on his pad.  "Okay.  I think I'm about finished here.  One last thing Ryan, do you know if he had any enemies?"  The question he feared most shot right through him.  He couldn't avoid it.  It would be better coming from him instead of someone else.  "Well, it's no secret that at first Leonard and I were far from fiends.  He was harder to train than most but he does a much better job now.  Or did."  "I see."  He wrote some more in his notebook.  'Thank you very much for your cooperation Mr. Parker.  If you can think of anything else that would help please give me a call."  "Sorry I couldn't be of more help.  Hope you find him."

      After interviewing the other temps, Sgt. Brown was nowhere closer to finding out any useful information into Leonard's disappearance.  Calls to Leonard's bank showed no activity so Sgt. Brown decided to sit on the case for a little while to see in anything developed.

      Ryan was nervous the rest of the day after being interviewed by the police.  He heard and saw others go up front to go through the same routine but he had more riding on this than others.  Luckily, no one noticed his agitation that day.  Days began to pass and at the end of the week, he had almost completely pushed the fears aside.  There was still an aching in the back of his mind and occasionally when hoppers would dump their contents into the furnace, he would grimace.  Sometimes he almost smiled.  It looked like things would be alright.

      A week later a small detail Ryan had overlooked came back to bite him.  Not a deadly bite but one that drew blood.  That Tuesday, Ryan was walking out to his car when he noticed a wrecker picking up a car in the parking lot.  As the car was raised he recognized it by the new tires that were on it.  It was Leonard's!  He was so surprised that he tripped over the curb and fell, skinning his hands and knees.  He had forgotten about Leonard's car.  Not that he could have done anything about it anyway.  Leonard's keys were in the same place Leonard was, in a billet.  But it did point a finger back to where he was last, at the plant.  The car was taken to an impound lot and dusted for fingerprints on the interior.  Nothing turned up.  Rumors really started to fly when Leonard's car was taken off the premises.  Someone claimed that Ryan had given him a lift his last day and left him to die on an old country road.  Someone else said they saw him at the bar and some bikers drove off with him to do God knows what.  The best one was that he had been brainwashed and joined a cult of the Hare Krishna's.  But as days and weeks passed, so did the rumors.  And Ryan's fears. 

      The case was growing cold fast but with no other leads to follow and no new information, he reluctantly placed a call to Mrs. Fairbanks.  He couldn't discuss some of the details in the case to her when she pleaded with him not to give up.  "Mrs. Fairbanks, I've got a grown son also and I'd be the last to call it quits but for the moment, I'm at in impasse.  Sometimes these things have a way of working themselves out."  He said this more to appease her as he knew most disappearances ended up as either a corpse found or unsolved.  With the sound of sobs in the background he told her he would let her know if anything came up.  After he hung up, he closed the folder and placed it in the missing person's file.  Along with the other 57.

      It was June now and Ryan had been moved to the day shift.  Almost two months since that one fateful day.  The long summer days almost melted the workers under the tin roof of Southwest Metals.  They could feel the heat escaping their body as it tried to relieve itself.  Ryan was anxious to leave work after a blistering 100º day.  Each step left drops of sweat behind him.  The air conditioning in his car didn't work so he had to settle for the hot wind against his face.

      The coolness of his house welcomed him home.  He immediately hung his clothes to dry and showered off the days work.  Now he was ready to relax.  He popped a beer and turned the stove on.  Time for a pizza.  He noticed a hissing sound and quickly turned the stove off.  After inspection of the gas line he noticed a break in the copper tube.  Not too big a job but I'm hungry now, he thought.  He grabbed his keys and headed for the Pizza Palace.  The smell of pepperoni's guided him the last half of mile.  After the fifth slice from the buffet, he decided to call it quits.  With a mint in his mouth from the checkout counter he headed over to the hardware store for some replacement tubing and flux solder.  How nice of the hardware store to carry a great line of copper tubing, he said under his breath as he picked up the box with the Southwest Metals logo.  He even recognized the coding on the box showing what day it was made.  April 17th.  That date would forever be etched in his mind.  He decided to take that one to commemorate his achievement.  True to his estimate, he had taken the old line out and replaced it in just a little over an hour.  He turned the gas back on and crossed his fingers. All OK.  He caught the end of a baseball game and went to bed.

      Ryan was looking forward to the next 7 days.  He had a vacation planned and would take some much needed rest.  The first day of his vacation was spent piddling around the house and watching TV.  He had some home maintenance to do but was putting that off till Thursday.  Early Wednesday morning he awoke to the smell of sulfur.  "Oh Crap! The line I fixed must have busted."  He was groggy but stumbled his way through the dark into the kitchen.  The smell grew stronger, keeping pace with his racing thoughts.  As he fumbled for the light switch and turned it on, he saw that he was facing the far side of the dining room.  His eyes squinted from the sudden burst of light and as his vision came into focus, it became riveted on the thermostat across the room.  He realized the A/C wasn't running but if it kicked on, he was a goner.  Now he raced across the room just as the mercury switch made connection, sending a spark to activate the compressor.  The entire house lit up as Ryan Parker exploded into a thousand tiny pieces.

      The fire department came but had no problem putting out the few small fires still smoldering from the blaze.  It was more an explosion and not a consuming fire.  The next day the fire chief came out to investigate the cause.  With the reports form the firemen along with the burn pattern, he was able to find where it originated easily.  The stove had been blown out into the back yard and there was the gas line Ryan had replaced.  It was heavily charred but where it had been split was the last few digits of the company coding.  He recognized it as one of Southwest Metals tubing.  How odd he remarked.  The decedent worked there.  After checking the condition of the oven and gas line outside, he called the gas company.  No repairs had been logged and no anomalies showed up.  He took the fragments of the severed gas line back to the fire departments internal lab for analysis.  The report showed a high concentration of steel thus making the tube brittle and unfit for the pressure exerted on it by the gas line.  Old log books were dug up back at Southwest Metals and showed that there were no tests done on it.  Management was informed and an internal investigation took place. 

      When David Burns found out he was furious.  He took pride in his departments precautions and safety measures.  He asked Tex and Jack separately  about the day in question.  Tex remembered exactly what happened that day.  Two odd things had happened that day.  It was the last day that Leonard worked there and Ryan had called him about a lab sample already being taken.  Usually Ryan wouldn't have bothered so it stuck out in his mind.  David thought it extremely odd that the sample Ryan had told Tex he had taken resulted in Ryan's death.  Why would he lie if we don't have a record of a sample being taken?  Mr. Burns called Sgt. Brown requesting the analysis results.  He was told about the high concentration of steel.  He thanked Sgt. Brown for sharing the report with him and would be back in touch if he found anything out.  Mr. Burns was thinking that maybe Ryan had covered up for one of Leonard's mistakes.  Maybe Leonard took off for fear of losing his job.  Mr. Burns got out Ryan's and Leonard's personnel files.  There was nothing special or revealing in either of their files so he turned to the notes he had taken during their respective interviews.  He read his own notes concerning the interview with Ryan which dated back four years ago.  It brought back some old memories but nothing of use.  Then he turned to the notes on Leonard.  The words almost leapt off the page at him.  He had forgotten about Leonard having a motorcycle accident several years earlier.  He had been in the hospital for over 18 months.  Almost his entire bone structure had been reconstructed with steel plates and pins.  Could this have been the high concentration of steel found in the analysis?  Mr. Burns could hardly conceal his apprehension when he called back to check some of the other chemicals found in the analysis.  When asked if he was looking for something in particular, he replied Calcium.  It was one of the most abundant chemicals found in the human body and would have shown up as it's boiling point is close to that of raw copper.  Sure enough, his conclusions were correct.  David Burns had solved two mysteries at once.  Ryan Parker had been killed as a result of his coworker Leonard being melted in the furnace and his remains caused the weakness in the copper produced.  Ryan had killed Leonard but Leonard had killed him back.

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