The Seedling Bucket

There it was damp and moldy stuck against the bottom of the plastic seedling bucket.

“Alex, I found it!” said Sally who kneeled in the furrowed row of the grape field they owned in Fresno, California.

“Found what?” said her brother who whistled while he planted fragile seedlings by hand like her in an adjacent row.

“The receipt from the co-op store.”

He tore his gloves off and dropped the digger by his spot to run over to her.

“I can see the logo,” she said as he neared. He couldn’t see her egg shell blue eyes behind the drape of her sun-bleached braids.

He peered into the bucket sprinkled with dirt and roots. “Better use your fingers to pry it off.”

“I already tore one corner off.”

“Look. Don’t chance it. Let it dry first. That’s valuable paperwork right there.” He lifted the bucket, jogged it over to the trailer at the end of the orchard row.

Sally called out to him, “How long do you think it will take?”

He walked back to her, “In this sun, only an hour or two I surmise.”

“Will it make a difference?”

“Don’t know,” he said. “If we had had it in hand the day of the transport company meeting for distribution transport, we would have won the contract.” He stopped by her. “We could have expanded the back fields like we had planned.” The shock of that occurrence a couple months ago still braced his nerves.

Sally stabbed her digger into the dirt and stood. She placed her hands on her hips. “I still have nightmares about that meeting.”

“Me too.”

Alex spread the loose dirt with his boot. Images of the interview meeting burst into his mind. He had sat in a chair before the transport company’s bureaucrats and bid like all the other competitors seated left and right of him. It had been a farce how not having that equipment order receipt, nor the grace to retrieve an electronic version of it, turned the transporters against his ability to deliver in a timely manner to them. He and his sister had been struggling ever since. They continued to bring their produce into the distilleries by their own trucks which was time consuming. It stole from their other responsibilities over the last few weeks. He had noticed how they had been losing whatever edge they had in the market to the other competitors.

His fists tightened. “We would dominate the valley production if we had gotten that transport contract.”

“Yeah, without that contract, our credit was shot.” Sally shook her head, her hands on her hips. “But I just ask you, how did the receipt get lost in the first place? I wouldn’t have stuck it inside a bucket.”

Alex lifted his wide-brimmed hat and swept his brown as a grape stake hair aside before replacing it, “Nor I. I would have jammed it into my wallet.”

“We both needed that receipt. We knew what significance it meant.”

They both stood in the serenity of the field, the only sound louder than their voices was the sprinkler system in the mature field adjacent to them. Sweat streaked the inside of their shirts.

“I remember both Merv and Elkton helped us that day. We all worked as fast as spades to get everything packed before traveling back to the fields.” Alex nodded as he recalled the shoping trip. “I remember you paid with the credit card. I know it was the beginning of our billing cycle. I had told Elkton we would be able to pay the first installment with the sale of the grapes ready for harvesting.”

“Did he take the receipt?”

“Maybe,” said Alex. He then looked directly into her eyes. “We both know he gave notice two days later to work at  Saroyan Trucking.” He placed his hand on her shoulder.

Sally couldn’t stop the tears from her eyes. She wiped them away with the backside of her glove. She sputtered, “Could he have intentionally taken,” she paused, “or stolen the receipt?” She searched her brother’s face. “Why would he do that?”

“I’m going to find out.”

“What difference would it make now that we lost the transport bid?”

“I told you. I’ll find out.”

“How?”

“Don’t push me, Sis. Men aren’t as honest as they can be with women but man-to-man, I can leverage the odds. He’ll tell me or I’ll break his neck.” He swiped the side of his pant leg seam. “I’ll do it.”

The next day Alex took a photocopy of the dried receipt to Saroyan Trucking. He signaled a hello with his hand once he got into Elkton’s office. Elkton waved back and pointed toward a chair in front of his desk as he spoke on his cell phone but Alex remained standing by the door frame and surveyed the contents of Elkton’s work space. There were framed certificates on the wall for Elkton’s schooling and degree amid a row of award certificates concerning the transport company’s efficiency and integrity. There were no windows in the cubical and the overhead fluorescent panels made the room hot and stuffy. The heavy wooden desk was drowned by three oversized computer screens and two keyboards. He glanced at Elkton’s tight physique and full head of black hair. He had been an excellent employee for three years. The resentment that he had given this man these years of training on the job tightened his fists and straightened his back.

Elkton slid off the headset as he stood to greet Alex. “Buenos Diaz my friend,” he said as he rounded the desk and offered his hand. “I am happy to see you but I’m in the middle of arranging a shipment so I can’t visit long.” He winked,  his hand still held in the air. “ but I can certainly make an exception in honor of you.”

Alex refused the hand.

Elkton twisted his head, surprised.  “Oh,” he said as he dropped his hand, “We had many fun times between us Alex and I know you well enough to know you have no time for greetings when You have something hot on your mind. What is it?”

Alex handed him the photocopy.

Elkton’s brows knit tight as he scrutinized the items listed on the lengthy receipt. It looked similar to the many he managed daily on his job. He looked up, puzzled. “What’s this?”

Alex breathed,  “Check the date.”

Elkton relooked. He exhaled, eyes heavy in his lids, and returned the sheet of paper. Alex pushed his hand back. “Keep it as a memento. We found it wadded up inside a seedling bucket. You must have stuck it there while we loaded the truck bed that day. “

Elkton shook his head. “You have no proof.” The cell phone Elkton had left on his desk surface when Alex entered the office sounded. “I need to pick that up,” he said. He picked the phone up and said, “Buenos Diaz Hank. Thank you for calling but I’ve got to put you on hold for a few minutes. Can you wait? Thank you.” He held the cell in his hand.

Alex spoke louder than before. “I invested in you, Elkton. Why did you do this?”

“My friend, you know I came from south Mexico and you were most benevolent to hire me when I hardly knew English. You supported me with my citizenship and helped with the schooling. I will always owe you that.”

“I want to know why Elkton. I don’t want to hear anything else. Just tell me why you sabotaged me.”

“I don’t agree with your accusation but I admit that when I finished my degree I knew that your plans for growth weren’t big enough for me to become a manager.” Alex stood silent before him. “ I knew you and Sally would maybe delegate field hand management but I needed more than that. I’ve  four children who want to follow in my footsteps. They all want to go to college. I knew that wouldn’t be possible with you and Sally.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? With the expansion that would have been  possible.”

Elkton waved the phone over his desk. “Not to this extent. Saroyan Trucking is still growing. In time it’ll be the biggest transport company in San Joaquin Valley. The marks against you were that you hadn’t received the equipment yet, the other growers had theirs installed already and consequently, they were ready to go.” Elkton shrugged his shoulders. “ I had no idea that receipt would give the interviewing officer enough excuse to cut you out of the lineup altogether.”

“Excuse?” Alex yelled. “You use the word ‘excuse’ when that jerk blew me off for consideration. HE was insane and so are you.” He punched the air. “ I’m going to sue you.”

 “I repeat. You have no proof.” Elkton checked his phone and saw that Hank had hung up. He set the phone on the desk and sat down. “All you have is circumstantial evidence because there were other people packing that day and who knows, maybe you or Sally did it yourselves.” He tossed the photocopy into the trash can behind him next to the rear wall.

Alex strode forward, reached in and grabbed it. He wadded it up and tossed it into Elkton’s face. He then stepped to the wall and pulled out the electrical cord. The screens on the desk went blank. Before Elkton could stop him, Alex swept them off the desk onto the floor. He stomped on them. The pieces flew across the linoleum.

Elkton charged to Alex’s backside as Alex started to pull down the framed certificates on the wall. He took hold of Alex’s arms and pressed them to his back. They both wrangled for dominance, neither winning.

Elkton tightened his hold. “This isn’t going to help you, Alex.”

“You ruined my chance to succeed you monster. You greedy bastard.”

“I will sue you for assault.”

“There’s no proof.”  Alex chuckled at his joke; his anger now dwindled.

Elkton felt the release of his arm muscles and plunked him down into one of the seats. Elkton stood in front of his knees, hands on the arm rests. “Are you yourself now?”

“Yes.”

Elkton looked fondly at his former employer and friend and laughed. “Oh, the stories we made up on those hot nights under the stars in order to convince the rest of the field workers we had traveled the world and Fresno was the best place to live.”

“Si, senor. Si, senor,” said Alex who stretched his legs long and crossed his arms over his chest.

Elkton resettled the other upturned chair and sat down. Smiling, he said, “Whether we want to blame the loss of a receipt or a tyrannical Saroyan employee, I do owe you my friend.”

Their eyes locked, held by the truth of this statement. Alex realized in that moment that the found receipt was what had given him the voracity to approach Elkton. It was that anger that drove him,  but it was pride and resentment that had blocked him.

“Tell me about it,“ he said, curious.

“I’ve got the ability to incorporate your grapes for transport. We have several pickups along your highway now and one more stop won’t raise any eyebrows. Your grapes would be part of a larger haul. So, if you are interested, I can do this as, shall we say,  a type of amends. If any are due, mind you.”

Alex stood. Elkton stood. They shook hands. Elkton said, “Let’s let bygones be bygones.”

“I accept your offer,” said Alex.

“I’ll email you the requirements and contractual agreement.” Elkton looked around his room and held his arms out. He snickered. ”Maybe I’ll tell the owner the equipment broke due to an earthquake.”

Alex whistled. “And what an earthquake it was!”