Crash Test Dummy

Chapter 5

The shed soon became my own man cave, nah, crib. Man cave sounded like some doddering oldie. I would come home from school and begin my exploration. I generally stayed there until Seth called me in to eat and then went back out afterwards.

Dad had a recliner out there. There was an apartment-sized fridge which had been cleaned and turned off. There was a two-burner contraption like some kids take to a dorm room. There was a brand new microwave still in the box. Mom said she bought it for him but by that time he was more into liquid refreshment than things that needed heat. A window air conditioner unit was built right into the wall and served to make the room habitable in the summer. A small space heater was sitting in a corner to provide heat on the few days that you need it in Louisiana.

It took me most of the first week to spruce up the space. There were dirt dobber nests, spider webs, and mouse droppings. I was determined that Pop's crib would be put back to rights. I figured that giving it a good scrubbing would go a long way towards that end. I also hoped to light on the hiding place where Dad kept the key to Blue Ox.

In a corner near the recliner was an old wooden barrel. It had a wooden top that fit over it making it into a sort of small table. When I took off the top, it was chock full of old beer bottles. There were local breweries like Chafunkta along with a bunch of national brands like Budweiser. I had seen something on the Net about making wind chimes out of bottles. Mom really liked wind chimes. She had them hanging all over the back yard. I decided that making bottle chimes would be a good way to get Mom's goat so I sorted the bottles by brand, put them in the dishwasher to clean them and then got to work. I ended up with six different wind chimes. I hung one from each corner of the shed and one midway down each side. I knew they would make plenty of racket when the wind blew, but I also knew that just the sight of them would be enough to vex Mom. I gotta give her props. She didn't set up a squawk, but when she thought I wasn't looking, she would glance at them and cringe. After I hung them, when she was outside she always sat in a patio chair with her back to the shed.

After I had the room reasonably clean, I decided to start with the tool area. I checked out the various electrical items. I cleaned them, oiled them and plugged them in one at a time. Although there was some rust from being in a shed with no air or heat, they all seemed to be in fairly decent working order. The hand tools were in similar shape. They had been hanging on the peg-board or kept in toolboxes. Again, some rust but nothing so bad that they couldn't be cleaned, oiled, and used. I found some linseed oil in a container and used it on the wooden handles. They soaked up the stuff but looked almost new when I got done.

I dumped out every jar on the nail shelf. That seemed like a good hiding place for a key, but all the jars held were various types of nails, screws, bolts, nuts, and washers. Finally, I opened the cabinets and began to explore the contents. There were old paint cans, each labeled with the room that had been painted that color. There were ropes, bungee cords, and every imaginable type of tie down. I found drop cloths, paint brushes, turpentine, and paint trays.

When I reached the last cabinet, the one closest to Dad's chair, I found blankets and pillows. There were some old shoes and a few paint clothes. When I removed them, which didn't take long, I found a long piece of metal with a point similar to a Phillips screwdriver. I figured it was just something Dad had laying around in case he found a use for it. I had found other such implements elsewhere in the room. He didn't seem to throw away much. 

The more interesting find was that the cabinet was not as deep as the others. The back of it ended about a foot short of the depth of the others. Excitedly, I began to feel around to see if there was some type of false back. I tried inserting a slim screw driver at the top and then the bottom. trying to pry the back off, but it didn't budge. In feeling around I noted a small round hole near the top towards the middle of the cabinet. It reminded me of the screw holes on the backs of electronic devices where you have to insert a screwdriver and unscrew before you can access the inner workings. I picked up the long piece of metal, thinking it was an extra long screw driver that had lost it's handle. I figured it was designed to allow one to open the back panel without having to get down on ones hands and knees. I was partially right. When I inserted the shaft into the hole and put a little pressure on it, a spring released, allowing the back to swing down and rest on the floor of the cabinet.