later, unpaid work or self employment? Levi pressed one.
â You answered âyesâ you did work during the period of this report. Is this correct?
Levi groaned and hit nine.
â You answered âno.â I will repeat the question. Did you work during the period of this report?
Levi pressed nine.
â You answered âno,â you did not work during the period of this report. Is this correct?
Levi pressed one.
â Did you start a full time job during the period of this report? Levi pressed nine for no. The voice repeated his answer and he entered that it was correct.
â Did you attend school or a training course during the period of this report?
Levi pressed nine for no.
â Were you ready, willing, and capable or working each day?
Levi held his finger over nine for a second, almost accidentally telling the truth, then checked himself and pressed one. He was ready and capable, but he wasnât willing. Work would take away from his woodworking. The machine repeated his reply.
â Did you, or will you receive money other than already reported in question one?
Levi pressed nine. The machine repeated his answer.
â Your report is now complete. If you wish to hang up you may now do so.
Levi hung up with a loud sigh and hoped he did everything right.
The truth about setting up his own rocking chair enterprise was that he felt he was too slow building them. Besides, no one around would pay the kind of money he wanted for his pieces. He didnât even realize they were âpiecesâ until he heard an American tourist call them that. She and her husband had pulled into his driveway in what looked to be a house on wheels, looking for directions to Drydenâs Whale Tours . Her license plate said Texas, The Lone Star State. As Levi was explaining the directions the lady peeped into his shed and put her hand on her chest.
âMy Lord,â she drawled. âDid yall make that? That is a beautiful piece.â
It was a rocking chair Levi had completed the year before. After he told her yes her next question was, âHow much?â For a joke he replied three thousand dollars. Then to his utter amazement he found himself negotiating with her. When they finally settled on twenty-five-hundred Levi realized that as astonished as he was that she was actually willing to pay that amount, parting with the chair wasnât easy. There was so much of him that went into every rocking chair he made, and to see someone take it away was like losing a small part of himself.
That was almost ten years ago. The rocking chair she had bought was half as good as the chairs he could make now. The problem was that it took him weeks to complete one. He had sold a few for far less than they were worth. The rest he either kept, or gave to family and friends.
To be able to support himself financially building chairs was a dream, but without the fishery, the fastest way he could see to make money in the real world was out west. He liked the idea of working twenty on and eight off, like his daughter. According to her everything was accommodated. Not exactly five star, but accommodated none the less. It sounded like a good deal to him, if Anita was willing to go twenty days without seeing him. He had a feeling it wouldnât break her heart.
Levi went back into the bedroom. Anita glanced up at him and he felt he was intruding on something. Intruding in his own bedroom.
âWe needs money,â he said.
âI already told you I was done talking about that bill.â
Levi clenched his teeth. âI was thinking the best way to pay it off is to try and find a job out west.â
âSounds good,â she said, not looking away from the screen.
âIm just not sure what Id do out there,â he said. âI got that welding course when they shut the fishery down, but...Christ, Ive only worked on the boat at it. I never did log any hours.â
Anita laughed. Levi thought
Lisa Pulitzer, Lauren Drain