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“It’s just us, you pretty little rat,” Cody said in a cooing tone.
“Don’t call my sweet girl a rat, Bonker.” Jugs’s deep voice rumbled from the break room.
“Don’t call me Bonker. And at least I called her pretty first.”
Jugs stepped out of the break room with a takeout carton of food from Margie’s Diner in hand. From the smell, Demetrius figured it was a corned beef sandwich, Jugs’s usual order. Jugs moved past them to the fold-out table they’d set up in the front corner by the window to serve as his desk, and under which he’d arranged Enid Helen’s bed. He’d been hinting at having his own desk once he’d become a full time employee, and Cody had discovered the six foot table at a garage sale a few weeks ago for five bucks. Jugs had only griped a little about it not being an actual desk before bringing in personal items to make it his own: photos of him, Agatha, and their four dogs, one photo of Enid Helen, and a picture of him in his high school football gear, Harriettville Hurricanes visible on the stands in the background.
“How’d the squirrel job go?” he asked before taking a bite of his sandwich. Seeing him eat made Demetrius realize he and Cody had yet to have lunch, and his stomach rumbled.
“You know how it is with squirrels,” Cody said as he sat at his desk and leaned back in his chair. “They’re pretty nutty.”
Jugs grunted with his mouth full and rolled his eyes at Cody’s joke.
“But add in a dusty attic without air conditioning, and you’ve got all the makings of a great morning.”
“Glad it was you and not me,” Jugs said.
“Any messages?” Demetrius asked.
“Nope.” Jugs took another bite, then looked over his shoulder at Demetrius, saying around his food. “How bad is it?”
Demetrius glanced at Cody who shrugged and nodded. Jugs was, after all, not just an employee, but a good friend. “It’s not great.”
“We still going to get paychecks?” Jugs asked.
“You will.”
He put the sandwich down, wiped his fingers on a paper napkin, and turned his chair to face Demetrius. “What about the two of you?”
“Honestly, if we don’t get more work, like, a lot more work, things are going to get very tight.”
“Shit.” Jugs leaned forward, hanging his big hands between his knees. “This is all because of the family of that zombie kid?”
“Maybe,” Demetrius said, then corrected himself. “Probably. They’re still trying to get our business license revoked.”
“And have threatened to file a civil case against me,” Cody grumbled.
Jugs fixed his gaze on Cody, his face tight with anger. “Even though everything that’s come out since all that shit went down proves their son was already dead before you clobbered him?”
“All I know is what I’m hearing from Dieter,” Cody said.
Demetrius turned on his computer and waited while it booted up. Since they didn’t have any jobs waiting, he could try to move what money they did have around to cover as many bills as possible.
“Dieter.” Jugs grinned. “He still dating Eileen?”
“Yeah,” Cody said. “He takes her out to Antonio’s at least once a week.”
“Let’s hope she doesn’t cut him loose before this case is dismissed,” Demetrius said.
“Hey, he’s been doing all this for free so far. Even if he does start charging us, at least we’ve got some free stuff under our belts.”
“You guys and all those old folks out at Parson’s Pines.” Jugs shook his head and turned back to his sandwich. “You’re old before your time, Bonker.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Cody said with a dismissive wave. “I like to think of myself as mature.”
Demetrius was saved from responding to that statement by the ringing of the phone. “Critter Catchers, animal control with heart. This is Demetrius.”
“Hi, yeah. Um, there’s something in my wall.” The caller was a man, not much older than him, it sounded like.
