Does this go on all the time?” I asked.

older than my mom. Across from the women sat a man in workman’s clothes. He wore khaki slacks and a khaki shirt, neatly pressed but without starch, and polished work boots. He was about 10 years older than my dad. They smiled as Mike and I walked past them toward the back porch. I smiled back shyly.

“Who are those people?” I asked.

“Oh, they work for my dad. The older man runs his warehouses, and the women are the managers of the restaurants. And as you arrived, you saw the construction supervisor who is working on a road project about 50 miles from here. His other supervisor, who is building a track of houses, left before you got here.”

“Does this go on all the time?” I asked.

“Not always, but quite often,” said Mike, smiling as he pulled up a chair to sit down next to me.

“I asked my dad if he would teach us to make money,” Mike said. “Oh, and what did he say to that?” I asked with cautious curiosity. “Well, he had a funny look on his face at first, and then he said he

would make us an offer.”

“Oh,” I said, rocking my chair back against the wall. I sat there perched on two rear legs of the chair.

Mike did the same thing.

“Do you know what the offer is?” I asked. “No, but we’ll soon find out.”

Suddenly, Mike’s dad burst through the rickety screen door and onto the porch. Mike and I jumped to our feet, not out of respect, but because we were startled.

“Ready, boys?” he asked as he pulled up a chair to sit down with us. We nodded our heads as we pulled our chairs away from the wall

to sit in front of him.

He was a big man, about six feet tall and 200 pounds. My dad was taller, about the same weight, and five years older than Mike’s dad. They sort of looked alike, though not of the same ethnic makeup. Maybe their energy was similar.