Overtime (7 page)

“We could get suspended for this,” Dalton said pointedly.

Zachary and Matt arrived on their long boards.

Zachary greeted them with a “Yo, dudes,” and kicked the board to his hand.

Matt waved his phone in the air. “My bud called me. The driver will be here soon. He’s running a bit late.”

“At least that was true,” Dalton said.

Charlie froze, uncertain if he was serious or joking.

“Hi, Dalton,” Zachary said. “I didn’t know you were going to help us.”

“I didn’t either,” Dalton stated.

Zachary and Matt looked at Charlie for an explanation.

“I’m really sorry,” Charlie said. “I should’ve trusted you. I … um … it was wrong. We ordered plastic sheets to lay on the roof to keep the rain away, and it’s paid for … and it’s coming soon.”

“And the six of you are doing the work?” Dalton said.

“With Julia, Rebecca and Alexandra,” Pudge said.

As if on cue, the girls came into view. Dalton spun the key chain around his finger. “I appreciate we don’t know each other very well …” he said. He stopped spinning the keys. “Desperate times do call for desperate measures.”

“I told you they don’t call for subs,” Nick said to
Scott.

A large flatbed truck pulled into the parking lot and, with a high-pitched squeal of the breaks and a gush of air, came to a stop.

The driver hopped out of the cab. He held some papers. The girls slipped in behind Charlie and Pudge.

“How’s it going?” Julia whispered to Charlie.

“So-so,” he answered.

“I have an order for delivery to this address,” he said, holding the paper towards Scott.

“That’s right, sir,” Scott said.

The driver looked around. “Where’s the contractor who called it in? I didn’t know this was for a school.”

“We’re waiting for him too,” Charlie said.

The driver’s face clouded. “I need a signature for the materials, and I have about ten more deliveries, and I’m already late.”

Scott pushed forward. “I’m happy to sign, Mr. Driver,” he said.

“I meant an adult’s signature.”

Scott held up his phone. “We’re working for the contractor. It’s part of a new school program to teach young kids construction skills. We’re all very excited to get going.” He beamed a smile.

The driver crossed his arms. “So this is some kind of school project?”

“Exactly,” Scott said.

“Why do you need plastic sheeting and bags of sand? What are you making?”

“It’s … like … a … the teacher has the plans,” he said in a rush. Scott held up his phone again. “I just spoke to him and he’s running late, so if you want to
wait about another half an hour … or maybe an hour … or two.”

The driver’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t have time for this.” He peered intently into Scott’s eyes. Scott smiled back. “Okay. I’ll leave the stuff with you. But I need you to sign.” Scott took the pen and signed with a flourish. The driver ripped a copy off and gave it to Scott.

“Where do you want me to put it?” the driver asked.

“Right here is fine,” Charlie said.

“Are you sure you can leave it in the parking lot?”

“It’ll be gone in five minutes, tops,” Charlie said.

The driver chewed on his pen. “Fine. I’ve wasted too much time already. Stand back.”

He ran to his truck and used a hoist to lower the plastic sheeting and the sandbags. They were on a wooden skid, bound by metal straps.

He leaned out the window. “Bring the skid back to the shop and you get fifteen bucks,” he yelled, and then pulled away.

“Should I rip this up now, or wait until we’re really bored,” Scott said, holding up his copy of the invoice.

“Why don’t you frame it for your bedroom?” Nick said. “You can put it next to your miniature glass kitten collection.”

“Nick, you know it’s our glass kitten collection,” Scott said.

Nick wiped his eyes. “Is he not the best pal in the world?”

Charlie’s and Dalton’s eyes met. Charlie was feeling worse every second. He couldn’t imagine how ugly this was for Dalton. “Hey guys, I kinda messed Dalton up,”
Charlie said. “I didn’t tell him exactly why we are here and …”

“It’s okay, Charlie,” Dalton said, nodding slowly. “I understand your motivations, and I admire your school spirit and initiative. But, at the same time, the dangers of being caught cannot be exaggerated.” He gave his keys a whirl. “We would be wise to hurry. In order to determine the availability of the gym for fundraising events I did a search of permits given to community groups. The gym is booked every Saturday starting at ten o’clock.”

Dalton selected one key and held it out to Charlie. “I believe you are more fleet of foot than I. This key opens the front doors. I assume we’ll be moving the supplies in through this side door, so you’ll have to walk through the school.” He held up another key. “You need this key to open the door leading to the south stairwell.”

Charlie wanted to give Dalton a hug — obviously not a good time for that. “I’ll see you guys in a sec,” he said, and took off with the keys in hand. It was weird to be the only person in the school. Only a few lights were on, and it was a bit creepy. As he reached to open the side door, for some reason he felt compelled to look back. This place meant a lot to him, and he realized how much when he saw it empty like this. It filled his heart with a heavy feeling. This was the place where he had come after his dad died, when he thought he would never be happy again. Here he had made the best friends of his life; and he had expected grade ten to be an even better year.

He opened the door. Matt was snipping the straps. Scott and Nick were staggering under the weight of the sandbags and coming towards him. Charlie quickly
stuffed a rock into the corner of the door to keep it open and ran over to help.

Charlie and Pudge struggled up the last few steps. “My arms are gonna fall out of their sockets,” Charlie said. “Hold on.” He rested a corner of the plastic wrapping on a stair. “How can plastic weigh so much?”

Pudge was breathing heavily and he put his end down too. “Maybe another school ain’t such a bad idea,” he said.

Charlie grinned. He picked up his end, and together they carried it over to the stairs that led to the roof. He’d sure learned something about school security! A lot of the doors were locked by the same key — what Dalton called a skeleton key. The same key that opened the stairwell door also opened the door to the roof.

“Are they making any progress?” Charlie said to Zachary.

“Matt actually seems to know what he’s doing,” Zachary said. “We’ve already laid down a few sheets of plastic. But the wind is kicking up and the sheets won’t stay flat. I’d say it’s complete mayhem and things are spiralling out of control.”

“That sounds better than I’d hoped.” Charlie grunted, as he heaved the roll of plastic sheeting through
the door. It caught on something, and he pushed harder.

Matt came over — and he greeted them with a frown.

“Guys, I know it was heavy, but we needed to be careful not to rip it,” he said.

There was a large gash on the side.

Charlie banged his thigh with his fist. “I’m beyond stupid. I bet I ripped it when I pushed it through the door.”

Matt looked more closely at it. “Let’s unroll it. I’m sure we can use most of it.”

Scott and Nick began to cut away the ties.

“We’ve covered about half the area,” Matt said. “We’ll be done in about twenty more minutes.”

“I need a sandbag!” Dalton said urgently.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Pudge said.

A row of plastic sheeting began tumbling across the roof. They could only watch as it gathered speed and sailed off the end into the air.

“Who was supposed to sand that strip down?” Alexandra said.

Dalton, Julia and Rebecca looked at each other guiltily. Alexandra started to laugh. “Maybe we should hold off on our plans to start a roofing company.”

Charlie hung his head, his hands still on his knees. “I think we should launch a search and rescue operation — now.” He stood up. “Sergeant, are you with me?”

Pudge saluted. “Ready when you are, Major.”

“We’ll start laying out this roll,” Matt said. “Hurry up with that piece, and we should almost be done when you get back.”

Charlie and Pudge practically flew down the stairs
and out to the field at the back of the school. Charlie saw the plastic sheet rolling towards the fence.

“This is becoming a comedy,” he said. “I’m so tired I feel like I’ve played three hockey games in a row.”

“I wish I was only that tired,” Pudge said. “I had no idea roofing was like running a marathon.”

Together they charged out onto the field and wrestled the plastic sheet to the ground. The wind was getting downright unruly, and it was no easy task to fold the sheet so they could carry it. Every second that ticked by made Charlie uneasy. This had already taken too long.

Pudge grabbed one end, and Charlie the other, and they ran back to the side door.

Charlie looked at Pudge. “I guess it didn’t occur to either of us to leave the door open.”

Pudge pursed his lips. “Doesn’t look like it.”

A car pulled into the parking lot.

“Retreat,” Charlie hissed, and they scampered around the corner. Charlie poked his head out. Four adults wearing track pants and T-shirts were walking towards the front doors. Two of them tossed a basketball back and forth.

“Aren’t they a bit early?” Charlie said.

Pudge pulled out his phone. “I’ll call someone to come down and let us in.”

In less than a minute, Dalton opened the door.

“Good timing,” Dalton said. “This piece is all we need to finish.”

They made their way cautiously to the stairs while Charlie explained the situation to Dalton. He glanced at his phone. “They may have come early to practise, or the permit changed. It’s almost nine o’clock. This is a very
worrisome development, because someone would have had to open the door for them.”

“Janitor!” Charlie and Pudge said together.

“We’re totally busted,” Charlie said.

“Not if we don’t get caught,” Pudge said.

Charlie titled his head to one side. “Sergeant, that’s the kind of bold talk that will get you that promotion.”

“I like the sound of General.”

“That might be a bit too bold.”

They began to creep upstairs. About halfway up the first flight, Charlie heard a noise. Someone was whistling — and Charlie knew that whistle.

He mouthed the word “janitor,” and flung his head backwards frantically. They tiptoed as fast as they could down the stairs and out into the main hall.

“Let’s go south stairwell,” Pudge whispered. “It’s away from the gym.”

The coast was clear until they got close to the main washrooms. Up ahead they heard two men talking.

“We’re sandwiched,” Charlie whispered.

“The boys’ washroom,” Pudge hissed, pulling Charlie’s arm.

They ran inside, and Charlie opened the door a crack. The voices were getting louder.

“They’re coming in,” he said.

Their eyes met.

“Into a stall,” Dalton said.

They stuffed the plastic into one stall, and then all three boys climbed up on the toilet seat of the other.

“The door,” Pudge whispered.

Charlie reached out and pushed the stall door shut, and slid the bar across to lock it. The boys held their
breath.

“I could have sworn Mackie told us nine o’clock,” a man with a deep voice said.

“No big deal. We can warm up. I spoke to the janitor, and he’s cool with it. Besides, you could use the practice.”

The man with the deep voice laughed. “It’s bizarre being back here,” he said. “I can’t believe we graduated from this high school twenty years ago.”

“I hear it’s closing down.”

His friend gasped. “What? Why?”

“I think the roof has to be replaced. A neighbour was telling me the school is trying to raise the money to do some temporary repairs so the kids can finish the year off. He was not too happy about having to reach into his wallet, believe me. He said most of his friends were not happy about it either. But I don’t see how they can raise the money without the parents.”

They washed their hands and left. Charlie opened the stall slowly. He made his way to the door and looked out.

“The coast is clear,” he announced.

Pudge pulled the plastic out of the stall. “Do you think that’s true? Do you think the parents don’t want to help with the fundraising? If it is, we’re done.”

“Of course some parents aren’t going to be interested,” Charlie said. “Same with the students. That’s always the way. But everyone will get into it.” He wasn’t sure he really believed that, however. It was an unpleasant thought.

They raced to the stairwell and carried the plastic to the roof.

“Over here,” Matt yelled, waving at them.

“Shh!” Charlie said, his finger to his lips.

He and Pudge carried it over.

“We need to keep quiet,” Charlie said. “The janitor is here, and some people came early for a basketball game.”

Matt inspected the plastic for damage. With the help of Alexandra, Julia and Rebecca they laid it out, while Zachary, Scott and Nick placed the sandbags around it to keep it in place.

“Maybe you guys should start that roofing comany,” Charlie joked.

“Maybe we should get out of here,” Alexandra said.

She definitely had a point.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for all of us to leave at the same time,” Charlie said. “We should leave in groups of two or three. We’ll see you leave from up here, and then send the next group. Sound like a plan?”

They nodded.

“Why don’t Julia, Rebecca and Alexandra go first,” Charlie suggested. “Then —”

“Because we’re helpless little girls who are afraid?” Alexandra said in a mock-sweet voice.

“No. I just … was just saying off the top of my head …” He hesitated. “Uh … maybe it makes more sense to get the tools off first. Matt, you have all your dad’s tools?”

“I’m loaded.” He held up a red toolbox.

“Zachary. You want to help him?”

Zachary flashed a grin and bowed. “Should we rendezvous at The Hill for a long board session?”