Dinner with God

Chapter 4 - Part 1 - Mr. Decker

‘Why don’t you do it yourself, if you know everything better!’

John slammed the thick metal door shut behind him. The sound echoed through the garage for seconds. Inside, he was boiling, but he had deliberately kept his voice down, since he didn’t want Decker Jr. to actually hear what he had said. John was assertive, not stupid. He really needed his job, if he ever wanted to seriously work on his future. And even though Decker Jr. was the most incompetent jerk of an employer he had ever known (not that he had a lot of reference for comparison), he was still the one who paid him his salary every month and John wanted to keep it that way. Once, I’ll tell him, straight to his face, John frequently thought, but for now, he stuck with one-sided arguments. Arguments Decker Jr. thought he was winning without having to put up a fight, not knowing that John continued to fight minutes, sometimes even hours after he had left his office.

John had no issues dealing with authority, however, the fact that he had worked his butt off to climb the ladder, from simple warehouse assistant to full-fledged courier, made it very difficult for him to deal with Decker Jr’s criticism. Jr. was twenty five years old, but u complete rookie. He had inherited the company from his father, and had no idea about the courier business. Twenty two year old John however, had been working for the company for over six years, and knew all the tricks of the trade. He had always had great pleasure in his work. First on the cargo bike, after old Mr. Decker had given him the opportunity to prove himself, then in his trusty old orange van, which he used to deliver packages across the state. Old Mr. Decker died on April 26th 1969. That date would be imprinted in John’s memory as the date on which he didn’t just lose his mentor, but his love for the job as well. The young and reckless Decker Jr. didn’t care about the company at all. He only cared about the money he was making with it, and that didn’t benefit the company in any way. Two years ago, Decker’s Delivery Co. employed sixteen people, now, there were just two, John and Evan.

‘Is he at it again?’ Evan gave John a friendly slap on the shoulder.

‘Oh, don’t even get me started man’ John answered as he put a package in his van. ‘I swear, that jerk waits until my shift is over and then tells me I forgot a package. I am telling you, it’s all on purpose!’

Evan smiled. ‘Panic strategy, John, nothing but panic. He simply blames you, so that he doesn’t have to pay you for overtime, as if that will help him save his butt. C’mon, you know how he is, right?’

‘I know, I know,’ John replied annoyed. ‘I swear, his old man is rolling around in his grave. His entire company is going down the drain!’

Evan was quiet for a couple of seconds. ‘But not if we can help it. Let’s go, I’ll join you, my shift is over anyway. Might as well make it a fun trip, right?’

Evan was the only person in the world John could always rely on. He didn’t have the best social skills, and to date, Evan had been the only person to see right through that. As John shut the back doors of his orange van, the reflection in the window reminded him of how unlikely his friendship with Evan was. John was dressed entirely in black, his hair neatly combed and he had giant glasses, whereas Evan’s colorful personality was expressed in a bright yellow Hawaii shirt, red pants and a bunch of hair that would make the average cotton candy jealous. John still didn’t understand how they ever managed to become friends, but it worked, and they clicked, from their very first encounter at the warehouse.

‘Where are you headed?’

‘Flower Power’, John answered, ‘some flower shop at the …’

‘Oh, I know where that is!’ Evan interrupted him. ‘Just behind the bakery of Mrs. Michaels. How unfortunate!’ He said it with a big smirk on his face. The bakery of Mrs. Michaels was the place where Evan always got his favorite oatmeal cookies, whenever he got the opportunity. How he managed to stay as thin as he was, John didn’t know, because Evan hardly ate anything but greasy junk and sweets. Evan gestured to the radio. ‘Mind if I play some music?’

John shook his head. Evan pressed the button and the car radio made some crackling noises before it played some classical music. John felt like hearing it, but Evan immediately pressed a button. ‘Let’s save that for your funeral, shall we?’

In the summertime, when the weather is hot… the radio played across the van. Evan clearly was happy with his musical discovery, as demonstrated by his crazy arm movements that made the van shake as if they were a couple in a drive-in.

‘You are crazy, do you know that?’ John failed to suppress a smile as he tried to keep the swerving van on the road.

A couple of minutes later, he parked the car across Mrs. Michaels’ bakery. ‘That will be three dollars and fifty cents,’ he joked.

‘How about you get nothing?,’ Evan answered with a smile, as he climbed out of his van. ‘I’ll see you in a minute.’

John nodded and took the package out of the van. According to Evan, the flower shop was around the corner, meaning that he might as well walk. It was a beautiful, sunny day, but it still didn’t match John’s mood. With big steps he marched past the stores, without noticing his beautiful surroundings. He should have said something to Decker Jr., but he also knew that once he did that, all bottled up frustration would exit his brain through his mouth, like water through a hole in a dam. It would surely cost him his job, and that wasn’t worth it.

He arrived at the shop earlier than expected. Flower Power, the bright lettering on the façade said. John stepped inside and closed the door behind him. A little too powerful, because the little bell attached to the door rung like it was Christmas, but nobody in the shop seemed to care.