Stress Fractures

By Steve Husk

Less than a full day after the Sentry Ridge manager promised the guys in Metzgerhund a lighter work schedule, he assigned them to organize and officiate an intra-company basketball tournament. Forty-one games over four days.

This eliminated all the time they planned to spend on their music. Even worse, they needed to find out why the battle of the bands coordinators now claimed Metzgerhund might not have qualified to be in the contest after all.

To add to all this unhappiness, their boss chewed them out for not slanting their officiating to favor one team over the others. And why did the other teams not react to this lopsided treatment?

The accumulating frustration and stress affected the band. Calvin was suddenly unhappy with everyone. Reggie was showing up late to his assigned games. Jason kept falling asleep while working the scoring table.

The guys came up with a way to show their dissatisfaction with how things were going. And, with some unspoken help from a few of the teams, nothing bad was going to trace back to Metzgerhund.

In theory.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Husk
• Release date: Mar 17, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224196401

Steve Husk

Some say Steve Husk is constantly going up against his demons and the many voices in his own head. Truth is, Steve has recruited most of them as his advisors. Some of them want to start a band with him.Steve is a retired software / web application developer and security control center officer. He currently works his writing (and sometimes music) craft in northern Virginia, USA.

Book preview

Stress Fractures

Verse Seven of

Metzgerhund Retreat

Steve Husk

_______________________

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2023 Steven M. Husk

Cover art Copyright 2023 Steven M. Husk

All rights reserved.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to the author’s page on Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

_______________________

Billy raised his head towards the sky and closed his eyes to enjoy the sun’s warmth on his face. After his rough night of sleep---what little bit of sleep he actually got---this felt good.

And there was no humidity!

So far.

His fellow Metzgerhund band mates moved one by one out of the mess hall, walked across the grassy courtyard with quickened steps, past the Imperial Suite, and to their practice shed. Each of them shared a heightened sense of optimism towards how close they were to being ready for the upcoming battle of the bands competition. The one problem that plagued their progress since starting their jobs at Sentry Ridge was scraping enough time together for meaningful practices. As of yesterday afternoon, that complication was swept away. Mr. Laypus promised them a more condensed schedule instead of expecting them to be available 24/7. Granted, this promise wasn’t even a day old, but the fact that Mr. Laypus had yet to give them a morning assignment was a good start.

Just before Billy could dial the security numbers for the practice shed door, his in-park phone chimed.

The words he read drained any energy and excitement he had for the day out of his body. His arm flopped down by his side.

Uh, guys---I just got an email from the battle of the bands coordinators.

It’s probably the additional information they said they’d send to all the bands that qualified, Reggie answered. They still haven’t named the starting times.

That’s not what this is. They’re saying we might not have qualified after all.

The verbal confusion from the band was loud.

Billy held the phone up so everyone could see the email. They said we didn’t send enough solid samples of our playing.

That’s the exact opposite of what they already told us last month, Jason answered with his usual booming voice.

Well, they just did a complete one-eighty on us. Now, they’re saying we have two weeks to send them some new audio files of some different songs.

We don’t have anything else recorded, Sam said. Why are they even doing this to us?

Do we still want to be in this battle of the bands? Reggie asked.

The band mates barked.

Then, whether or not this is fair doesn’t matter. We know what needs to be done. We’ve got plenty of songs to choose from. Let’s just pick a few and record them.

Billy smiled and nodded. Decreed into law.

The band barked their approval even louder.

Billy’s in-park phone rang.

He was surprised to see Aaron’s number.

I thought you had this weekend off.

I thought I did, too. Mr. Laypus wants you five in his office in twenty minutes. He wants to tell you about your next assignment.

Next assignment?

Everyone in the band stopped setting up their equipment and turned towards Billy.

Yeah, sure, Billy said to Aaron. We’ll be there. Any reason he didn’t call me himself?

He’s not back yet.

Back from where?

He’s meeting with the owner of the company who is bringing a lot of business to the park. It’s gotta be important, because he called me one my weekend off to make sure you five got the message.

Billy turned to face the wall. He could already see how this next ‘assignment,’ especially if it was from a customer Mr. Laypus deemed important enough to visit in person, would derail their positive momentum towards their battle of the bands preparations.

Uhhhhhhh---yeah, we’re heading to the office now, Billy answered with an unhappy exhale, then disconnected the call.

That already doesn’t sound good, Jason said.

Billy paused to make sure his tone was under control. I think we’re about to find out how true Mr. Laypus is to his word.

#

Metzgerhund was already in Mr. Laypus’ cramped office when he walked in, holding a cup of coffee.

I appreciate you five showing up on time. We’ve been asked to host a group that will make what the Papa Frederick’s Deli paid us look like laundry change. The company is called Hetcher Moving and Logistics.

I’ve heard of them, Calvin said. I see their trucks at my dad’s warehouse all the time.

Yes, they’re by far the biggest moving company in the state, and they’re headquartered on the opposite side of Annapolis from us. For the last five years, they played an intra-company basketball tournament. And, for four of those years, I’ve tried getting them to let Sentry Ridge host the tournament.

Why only four of the five years? Calvin asked.

Mr. Laypus sounded a snorting laugh. If you’d met the activity counselors you five replaced, you’d know why. They would have embarrassed the entire park, so I didn’t place a bid this year. The company owner noticed this, and called me the other day to ask why. I told them the truth. He was impressed with my dedication to give his company first class service. I also told him about the activity counselors I have now, and your dedication towards doing great work.

You actually said something nice about us? Sam said with a slight laugh.

You five aren’t perfect, but you’ve met every challenge I’ve thrown at you so far. And, for reasons I may never understand, most of our guests like you five. Mr. Laypus paused, then repositioned himself in his chair. He also took what looked like a deliberately long time to take a simple sip of his coffee. Before we go any further, I want you to know I did not forget about what I said to your five about reducing your workload. And I want you to know I meant every word of it.

But you’re about to break your agreement anyway. Billy made sure his lips were clamped closed when he thought that.

I’ve explained how long I’ve been working to win Marvin Hetcher’s business. It’s no exaggeration when I say that park ownership wants this deal done more than I do. He turned to his desktop computer and clicked the mouse a few times.

Seconds later, all five work phones chimed.

I just forwarded to you all the information Marvin gave me. The teams. The rosters. And how they want the tournament scheduled.

Everyone pulled out their in-park phones. Calvin slipped on his reading glasses.

Billy opened the email. Eight teams, split into two divisions. That sounds easy. Ten games for---what? Ten games per team?

Calvin’s reading glasses almost fell off the edge of his nose. That’s forty games.

Plus, one championship game for the two winners, Reggie added.

How many weeks is this group going to be here? Billy asked.

"Not weeks, Mr. Laypus answered. The tournament will run for four days. Starting tomorrow."

We’re supposed to maintain a presence in the gym for four straight days? Jason asked.

More than that. They’ve asked us to provide two game officials and someone to work the scoring table for all the games.

Billy told himself to keep his mouth shut. Judging by all the other gasps and sighs and grunts he heard from his band mates, he knew they were having just as much trouble forcing themselves to remain silent as he was.

You’ll see that the owner has also requested that the activity counselors create the game schedule, Mr. Laypus added. He wants the schedule to be as random and as unbiased as possible. You can read all the other requests in his email to me.

Billy’s mind went numb. Writing the schedule would fall on him. He would also have to figure out an officiating schedule for his band mates When were they supposed to perfect and record those extra songs for the battle of the bands coordinators?

I know this is the exact opposite of what I promised you five---

Duh.

"…so, get through this, and I will find