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

questions.  Of course Tom respected that.
    Then Tom laid out his one and only condition.  Trevor had to go to the Beaumont Center because that was the best.  “When you get done with a session, you get a Home Depot gift card,” he told the kid.
    “How much?”  Trevor asked immediately.
    “Now you sound like a teenager!” Tom laughed.  “Don’t worry kid.  You won’t be disappointed.”
    And the kid hadn’t been.  Trevor worked his butt off with every penny he got, and turned the Box into a workshop any man would envy.
    Tom grabbed his spring jacket and headed out the door.  The kid wasn’t the only one with a hot date today.  He had called Sorak’s diner to ask Carol if she would be working this afternoon.  She sounded happy to hear from him.  He was actually a little excited to see her—and to get those noodles.
     
    ***
     
    Trevor had to admit, from the outside the Box looked like nothing more than a run-down garage.  He wanted it that way; he didn’t need his uncle snooping around.  But thanks to Mr.T, the inside had been completely gutted and renovated.  And it was spotless.
    Steel-topped cabinets lined one wall.  On top of the cabinets were shelves that held clear plastic containers.  They were filled with every type of hardware imaginable and everything was neatly labeled.  Paint cans were packed under the cabinets in color-coordinated sections.
    Along a second wall was a large workstation with overhead pendant lights.  Mr.T had to help him with the wiring on those.  The station had saws, drills, and various other tools, all hung in orderly rows on the pegboard behind it.
    The third wall, directly across from them, was what Trevor was most proud of.  The Wall of Garbage.  The entire wall was covered in photographs from floor to ceiling.  It looked like a giant piece of abstract art.  It was filled with hundreds of before-and-after shots of everything Trevor had ever garbage-picked and fixed up.  A stove, a wheelbarrow, a clock, a stroller…something filled every conceivable space on the wall.  All of the items looked like junk in the ‘before’ and brand new in the ‘after’.
    “You did all this?” Bea’s eyes were riveted to the wall, her voice quiet.
    Trevor felt his face flushing, again.  “Yeah, this is what I was telling you about.  It all came out of the garbage-picking.”
    She hurried over to the wall. “This is incredible!  So do you sell all this stuff?”
    He joined her at the wall and caught a glimpse of the bike he had given Frank. “Actually, I don’t sell it.  I have to give a lot of it to my uncle.  He was the one who kind of made me go garbage-picking in the first place.  He has a mechanics shop in town—don’t ask.”
    He paused, feeling a little embarrassed, although he wasn’t sure why, “And the rest I usually give away to people.”
    Bea looked at him like he was crazy, “What?  You give it away?  Like donate it?”
    He laughed, “Yeah.  I’m on a first name basis with the volunteers at the Goodwill and Salvation Army stores.”
    “Seriously?”  She was quiet for a minute, studying the wall.  “You do realize you could get some serious money for this stuff.  You know, sell it on EBay or something.”
    Trevor shrugged his shoulders.  He had really never considered selling any of it.  “Yeah, probably.”  He walked over to the workstation and fiddled with some drill bits.  “I guess giving it away just…feels right, you know?”
    He knew that probably sounded lame but it was the truth.  He would never forget the look on Frank’s face when he brought that bike back to him.  Trevor worked his ass off on that thing.  It looked brand new—painted fire engine red with yellow flame decals on the frame.  As it turns out, Frank had an eleven-year old son with an upcoming birthday.  From then on, Frank was all too happy to show his appreciation.  He became Trevor’s inside guy to the best stuff on the garbage