Hope For Garbage by Alex Tully Read Free Book Online Page A

ever set foot inside the Box.
    “Yeah come on in,” he said as he got up.  Holding out his hand, he helped her to her feet.  He led her to the Box, not letting go of her hand.
    When Trevor opened the door, he could hear Bea suck in her breath.  He caught a sideways glance at her face.  She was holding her hand up over her mouth and her eyes were wide,   “Holy crap!”
    She was definitely surprised.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 9
     
     
    Tom didn’t recognize the car in the driveway or the girl that wandered into the Box with Trevor.  So the kid had finally met a friend his own age, and a pretty girl at that.  He hoped this was a sign of more good things to come.  The kid needed to start opening up to people, preferably people not on social security.  Maybe the sessions with Dr. Fisher were making a difference.
    When Trevor first gave Tom a tour of the Box and showed him all of the projects he was working on, Tom was truly impressed.  Here was a kid who had been to hell and back, and he still wanted to do something productive with his time.
    One day Trevor had asked him for help with an air-conditioning unit.  After researching on the internet, the kid still couldn’t figure out which fuse to replace.  Spending over forty years as an electrician, Tom knew everything there was to know about fuses, and they fixed it together.  Things were going so well, Tom thought it was a good time to bring up an idea he had been tossing around in his mind for a while.  He asked Trevor if he had ever thought about going to a doctor.
    “What do you mean?  I’m perfectly healthy.  I think you should worry about your own old ass.”  The kid didn’t understand that Tom was suggesting a therapist.
    “No, I mean a doctor that can help with your problems.”
    When the realization hit, Trevor got ticked off.  “What, you think I need a shrink?  You think I’m crazy?”
    Tom held up his hands, “No, no…nothing like that.  It’s just sometimes it’s good to talk to someone about things. Someone objective, someone that doesn’t judge you.  You just get some things off your chest you know.  I’ve been to one before.  It helps.”
    “Well no thanks Mr.T,” he said.  “Not interested.”
    “Okay,” Tom didn’t want to give up.  “But you like making deals right?  You have a pretty good deal with that garbage man, what’s his name, Frank?”
    “Yeah, what about it?”
    Tom chose his words carefully.  “Well I was thinking.  You could really use some new tools and stuff to fix up the place.  And I would be willing to help you buy that stuff if you do something for me.”
    “What?  Like go to a shrink? What does that do for you Mr.T?  Deals go both ways.  Frank gives me tips—I give him something I fixed up.  That’s how it works.”
    Trevor started looking through his screwdriver drawer.  “Did you see the tiny Phillips head screwdriver?”  He wouldn’t look Tom in the eye.  “Besides, I’m sure you just have tons of money to be throwing around.  Tools aren’t cheap.”
    “Here.”  The screwdriver was sitting on the work table, right under the kid’s nose.  “I have enough money kid.  What do I spend it on anyway—heating bills and TV dinners?  I have some extra.”
    Tom thought of Trevor like his own grandson.  The kid was family to him, and Tom worried about him.  After everything he had been through, what the kid needed most was professional help.  There was too much he was hiding under the surface, and if he didn’t talk to someone about it, who knows what would happen.
    Trevor began twisting the screwdriver faster, still avoiding Tom’s eyes.  “Can there be some conditions?”
    Tom laughed under a sigh of relief, “Absolutely.  Name them.”
    The kid insisted on picking his own doctor.  Tom thought he could probably arrange that without a problem.  He also insisted everything that happened behind closed doors stayed there—he didn’t want a million