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“Sure, let me change, and I’ll meet you out by the man trip. Just give me five minutes.”
The investigator leaves my office as I walk into my private bathroom and pull my only set of mining stripes from the closet. Damn, I’d hoped and prayed I’d never have to crawl my ass through this mines. But I guess this is my debt of being the CEO. I change quickly, lacing the boots up tight and grab the mining hat and light from the closet before leaving my office.
I meet the investigator by the man trip within five minutes, just as I had promised. He is standing in the portal of the mines with a small box in is hand, waving it through the air.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes, ma’am, just checkin’ the methane levels before we head underground.”
We climb into the small, open buggy and begin our descent into the depths of the mines. I’m totally out of my element, and fear trembles up my spine as the darkness surrounds me; the only light guiding us is the dim light that flickers on the front of the man trip. The only noise filling the air is the gears rotating on the man trip, pulling us deeper in to the tunnels. The investigator, Curtis, I believe he said his name is, flicks on the lamp on his mining hat.
“First time underground, Ms. Simon?” he asks out of curiosity. I nod, chewing on the bottom of my lip, trying to get a grip on the anxiety that is attacking me.
It seems as if the ride to the face of the mines takes forever, but I’m not sure; time could have stood still, and I’d be oblivious to it. Curtis pulls the man trip to the side of a break and climbs out, hunkering his back, sure not to scrape the low-lying roof. I look up at the roof, shocked as I reach my hand up and brush my fingers across the top of the mine. I’m munchkin size, five-feet-three inches tall, and the roof of the mines is well within my reach without straining. I take a deep breath and climb from the buggy. The fresh air surprises me. I figured it would be stuffy and suffocating. But it’s not. It’s crisp and refreshing.
I follow Curtis into a lit-up section where the sound of loud machinery is echoing from the mountains around me, piercing my ears as the dust particles floating about the air constrict my throat. Men are working in every direction. Curtis walks a few feet ahead of me, and I try to follow closely behind, but each sound has me turning my head intrigued to see what’s happening. Curtis stops and shines his light up to the roof.
“This here is where Weston’s glove got stuck beneath the plate as they were pinning the roof. From my understanding, the pinner man was under the influence of prescription drugs at the time of the accident.” I nod in agreement. He takes a few steps forward, shining his light against the roof of the mines again. “But here is where the accident could have been lethal, Ms. Simon. This entire row you see here hadn’t even been pinned. Pinner man skipped it; maybe he was too high. I don’t know. But that could have very easily caused a roof collapse. Luckily, once the accident happened and the mines was thoroughly checked, we found the error, and your dayshift crew came in and bolted the roof.”
“But it’s safe now?”
“As safe as can be expected. It is an underground coal mines, after all.”
“You mentioned some other safety issues you wanted to go over?”
“Yes, just follow me. It won’t take long, and we can get you back to surface.” Curtis smiles, patting me lightly on the back.
I follow Curtis around for thirty minutes, taking notes on the safety issues he mentions. I remember most of this from the underground mining class I took, but unless you work in this atmosphere every day, it’s like smelling the number nine. Impossible. I’ll just pass this little list off to Mack and let him handle the issues.
After Curtis finalizes his investigation, we head out of the mines and back to the surface of the earth where we part ways. I shake what coal dust I can from my stripes before climbing the stairs to the office.
Passing by her desk, I ask Shelly to call Mack into my office for a meeting. He handled the MSHA investigators after Colton’s accident two days ago and will need to find new miners to replace Dave and Eric.
“Yes, ma’am. Would you like for me to order your lunch today or will you be going out?” she asks, smiling politely.
“Just order in today. I’ll be in my office. Gonna try to get cleaned up before Mack makes it in.”
I walk into my bathroom and turn the faucet to a searing heat before stripping myself of the coal-covered uniform. I look in the mirror, and my eyes are all I can see clearly; the rest of my skin is smeared with coal, and the smell itself churns my stomach. I wash my face and hands, removing the soot from my skin, but the stain it leaves behind is still noticeable. I shake my hair loose, letting my waves fall freely down my back, and watch as tiny crystals of coal hit the floor. I get dressed quickly, then return to my office and wait for Mack. He arrives a short while later. Stained with black soot and a sweaty brow, he tosses a file on the desk.
“That’s copies of the reports I filed for Weston’s accident. Everything’s there. MSHA investigator talk with ya?”
I pick the file up and thumb through the reports. “Yeah, he did. Told me that Eric completely forgot to pin an entire row of roof, and that could have caused a roof collapse. I hate that any accident happened, but I’m glad it wasn’t tragic. By the way, do we have replacements lined up for Eric and Dave, yet?”
“Yeah, got a few boys comin’ in this afternoon to be interviewed.”
“I’d like to see their applications prior to the interviews, and don’t hire anyone without my approval.”
“You got it, boss.” He nods, making his way to the door. “Mack?”
He turns to me, with questioning eyes. “Yeah, boss? What’s on ya mind?”
“What are we gonna do with Weston?”
“Eh, he ain’t gonna be on leave too long. Doctor told him two months just for rest and physical therapy purposes, but he’ll be back within a week I’m sure.”
“Mack, he suspected that Eric was using drugs, and he did nothing about it. I’m seriously considering demoting him back to general labor, and I definitely want him out of the main mines. So when he’s ready to come back, handle it for me.”
He sits in the chair in front of the desk, scratching his chin at my request. “Carly, what’s really goin’ on here?”
