Night Shift

By Red Haircrow

To escape a troubled home, Jamie works the night shift at a box store along with a ragtag group of punks, war veterans, and bickering couples. He's unsure what direction he wants to take in life until a mysterious new co-worker arrives.

With his long ponytail, faint accent, and quiet manner, Derrik manages to disturb or fascinate everyone, not just one pint-sized Southern boy who wants to escape his boring life.

Jamie finds himself falling for Derrik, and recognizes mutual attraction, but will the secret the older man harbors end the dream of a happily ever after?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Apr 13, 2024
• ISBN: 9781685507213

Red Haircrow

An award-winning writer/poet, freelance news correspondent, chef and former law enforcement officer of mixed Native American descent (Chiricahua Apache/Cherokee) who lives in Berlin, Germany. Red Haircrow holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology, is a Graduate Student at Montana State University Bozeman, and owns/operates Flying With Red Haircrow Production, a multimedia company.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Third shift trailed in by ones and twos. The rather young supervisor, Jason, and his loud-mouthed assistant, Rick, awaited the full crew’s arrival before giving the nightly schedule. So far, Arnold was there, the quiet Vietnam veteran who went about his work seldom speaking to anyone; the young couple who’d met on the job and spent at least a few hours every night unaccounted for though everyone knew they were making out in the upstairs stockroom; and Jamie, who sat atop a pallet loaded with large boxes.

Excluding the supervisors, the full complement was usually around sixteen people if no one called in sick. Being sick usually meant too drunk to work. Everyone was locked in from ten P.M. to seven A.M., come what may, which occasionally included heated arguments, emotional break-ups, and hangovers. Everyone had a job to do, and in the end, each made sure the others pulled their weight so when shift end came and the sun rose, everyone could go home on time.

Most of the graveyard shift employees were college students who signed on to make extra money for school. They worked the night, caught a few hours of sleep before going to class and, when that was finished, headed back to the store. Jamie was a sub-type of that group. Although he was attending school, he came from an affluent family and thus didn’t really need the job but liked to make his own money and stay away from the stuffy upper middle-class peers with whom his parents encouraged association. He’d disappointed them when he’d chosen to take a few basic classes at a local college instead of attending an Ivy League university out of state, but his secret dream was to save up and move somewhere in Europe. His parents had vetoed that idea immediately, refusing to fund what they considered a wild idea, so Jamie had quietly decided to make it happen on his own. This job was the main part of reaching that goal.

There was supposed to be a new guy joining the team tonight, Jamie remembered, looking around. Well, not exactly new, but transferring in from another store. Seems the guy had had some problems with a coworker whom he happened to be going through a divorce with; so Cindy, the local gossipmonger, had informed them all.

Loser, Jamie automatically thought, but revised his hasty judgment a few minutes later when the new guy walked into the receiving area. He looked to be in his late twenties, was tall and long-limbed, clean shaven with a narrow quiet face, and dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. He wore khaki cargo shorts, sneakers with low socks, and a faded band T-shirt. His gaze seemed to meet no one’s in particular before fastening onto Jamie’s for a long moment before sliding away. Those eyes were a clear, unsettling gray, curiously bright beneath strongly marked eyebrows.

The others regarded the man in a variety of ways: disinterest, speculation, disdain, impatience. The last was from the supervisor who hurried over to unlock the back doors, letting the second-in-command roll up the next layer of protective metal fencing before turning back to the small crowd.

We’ve got a three-thousand-piece truck tonight, most of it breakpacks, so get moving. There was a general groan, but people pushed into action. Jamie hopped off his perch.

And there’s another coming in four hours, added the super, so look sharp.

The few curses uttered by the crew were shrugged off as usual by the supposed authority figure and manager, who was already on his way back to his office. Rick lingered behind to clap his hands together like a head coach on the playing field giving an ill-regarded pep talk. Arnold, the veteran, silently gave him the finger before moving to start set-up of the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt was made up of turn-of-the-century heavy metal sections that had to be hooked together and locked in place. Between the chipped borders there were multiple rollers to facilitate moving boxes down the line to be stacked on numbered pallets and wheeled out to the right department for the stockers.

All the others laughed at Arnold’s gesture except Jamie and the new guy, but it broke up the bad mood. Everyone moved into place, quickly falling into the usual pattern: Mack unloaded the truck, placing items on the conveyor belt, sending them on their way to Cindy, who logged them into the computer system with her magic wand before sending them onward to the receiving crew, of which Jamie was one. Each receiver hurried to identify and then distribute those boxes to assigned pallets.

From there, those who covered departments either got a pallet jack and took away the whole stack if it was full enough or used shopping carts to get what they needed to take to the floor and begin stocking. The new guy had been assigned along the conveyor belt. Arnold introduced himself, holding his hand out to the