Vertex - Chapter VI, A Man's Lot

	Chapter VI, A Man's Lot

Farai spread the quilt on the ground without waiting for any replies, sat down and began to pile things out of her basket.
"I say we start by eating and relaxing! We need to talk about what we're going to be doing, don't we?"
Then she looked at the distinct piles of lumber.
"Eh? You started without me?"
She was biting her lower lip.
"I did" Craig said, as if it made a difference.
"Aww... have you two been here long?"
"I just got here" Raquel said.
Farai looked to her, then to Craig, then to the lumber, then back to Craig.
"You mean... you've been at it on your own?"
Craig nodded.
"But that's dumb! You don't even know what we're going to do! You could totally be wasting resources and manhours!"
As expected of a girl, fussing over things like that.
"Men do instead of talking" Craig said, feeling very masculine since he was using tools now.
"Geez! That's the kind of attitude that always screws up any group assignments I get!"
"My scores are higher than yours..."
"What was that?"
"You heard me. You asked for my help with math, not the other way around. Keep that mind, yeah?"
Farai stood up and stomped her foot. Unable to come up with a retort, she stuck out her tongue at him.
That's when Craig realized just how natural the flow of their conversation was. He wasn't stuttering or embarrassed or anything. They were arguing the same way he would do with Andrea! Hahaha! Aah, and now she was being all cute and pouty...

"Hmm? Is that tuna I smell?" Raquel asked, inspecting Farai's sandwiches carefully.
"As a matter of fact it is! And these ones have salami, and these have regular baloney and cheese. I'm not really all that much of a cook, but I thought I'd throw a lot of different stuff together since I didn't know what either of you really liked..."
She babbled on as if there had been no argument just a moment ago. Guess she hadn't been all that mad.
"I'll be taking the salami, then..." Craig reached for one, only to have his hand slapped away.
"What?"
"Hmm? Where are your manners? Naturally, ladies go first!"
Her expression was as stern as it could be, considering she was trying to hold back an impish grin. Getting back at me like that, are you? Damn kid...
Craig sat down on the quilt and waited for his turn. Raquel wasn't being picky, she grabbed one of each kind and didn't waste time stuffing her face. Her mouth was big enough easily go through sandwiches like these, and as she took her hands out of her pockets and they were this close, Craig noticed their size for the first time.
In all the comic books the size of a Jinko's paws is usually a comically exaggerated thing, but it is founded on reality. Her hands were much, much bigger than those of a human, and not just because she herself was bigger, the proportions were off, if only slightly. There was fuzz there, orange fuzz, but not really very noticeable. Of course, she had no pads on her palm and fingers, but her claws... whoa. Even when pulled in, they looked quite... ferocious. Like, she could probably kill and elk with her bare hands.
All three of them were sitting on the quilt, so the difference in size was all the more apparent. And the smell. She smelled like cigarette smoke.
Craig reached for a salami sandwich.
"No!"
Farai slapped his hand away again.
"Oh come on!"
"I haven't picked one yet!"
The tone of her voice made it clear she was trying to pick a fight.
"Then just pick one already!"
"No silly, this is a matter that requires some consideration. As is the building project of today! One cannot simply charge headlong into these things, they require thought! Let this be a lesson to you, boya!"
Did she just call me...? Eugh. I don't need lessons from my own student!
"I don't need lessons from my own student" Craig snarked.
"Just because you happen to have a knack for math doesn't make you a polygon!"
Did she just say "polygon"?
"You mean polymath, girlie" he corrected her, and seeing a temporary hole in her defence, grabbed a salami sandwich. Feeling triumphant and manlier by the minute, he took a bite and sure enough, it was the best thing he had ever tasted. He smiled smugly while chewing as slowly as possible, savouring both the flavour and the moment.
Farai's eyes were shooting venomous daggers enchanted with lighting spells at him.
"That was a dirty, lowly and boorish trick. I've half a mind to bend you over my knee and spank some manners into you!"
Craig stopped chewing. She was obviously joking, right?
Farai seemed to realize what she had said herself, and the anger in her expression was replaced first by confusion and then embarrassment.
"Ah! The tea! Right!" she began to fuss about and took out three plastic mugs, handed them out and opened the first thermos.
"Hold them out so I can..."
Raquel and Craig held out their mugs and the pleasant aroma of... blueberries? Yes, blueberries, the pleasant aroma of blueberries began to emanate.
"Hm? This some kind of fancy fruit tea?" Raquel asked, sniffing the air. "That's totally the scent of blueberries, ain't it?"
Well of course she was going to recognize it with her fancy Monster senses. Craig had wanted to get the glory of recognizing the tea brand... but then he realized that for one, he had not recognized any brand or label, and secondly, what the hell was he expecting to win by it? Farai's admiration? Hardly...
"Sure is Raquel! The other thermos has blackcurrant. They came in the same box so please bear with me... I got totally suckered in by the commercials that said the tea was flavoured like "your favourite snacks", I mean I just can't get enough of sweets and..."
She was such a blabbermouth.

Raquel took a sip.
"I'm not all that particular. When you're homeless, a warm drink is a warm drink, you know?"
Neither Craig or Farai answered. That kind of... put things into perspective.
"So Farai... you gonna pick a sammich?"
Farai perked up.
"Eh? Ah, n-no, that's fine, go ahead..."
Raquel shrugged her shoulders and took a tuna sandwich that had probably been meant for Farai.
Craig took a sip of tea and tried to come up with something to say that would be neither offensive or just plain awkward.
"So... about that house we're supposed to be building..." he began, and Farai seemed relieved.
"Ah, yes, umm, Raquel dear, what exactly... did you have in mind?"
Raquel emptied her mug and Farai hastened to fill it. How the hell did that happen? The tea was fucking hot.
"Nothing fancy. Just a floor, walls, roof. Keep out wind, rain, snow, hail, cold. Keep my stuff in it, sleep in it, stay warm in it. That's about it" she said, not really adding anything to the discussion.
Farai was downright despairing over this. She squirmed and tried to figure out what to say next. She may have been a member of the student council, but she obviously wasn't getting things organized the way she had planned.
"Uhh, you said something about cutting down trees earlier?" Craig said, to relieve the tension.
"Hmm? Yeah... for poles" Raquel said, eyeing up another sandwich, which Farai offered her eagerly.
"Poles?"
"Hmm, yeah. For support, you know? Cardboard isn't really, you know, sturdy..." she mumbled while chewing. Her teeth were big and sharp too.
She wasn't really being very enthusiastic about this...
"And these poles, what would they be like?" Craig asked to move things along.
"Never you mind, I've got it all in my head, yeah? I just need something to cut the trees neatly. Just gimme that saw and I'll get 'em cut down in a jiff"
With that she got up, stepped over to were the saw was and picked it up.
"Oh, and uhh, rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub!" she said to Farai, before stepping off into the woods.

There was no movement on the quilt, just two youngsters staring into nothingness.
"Well..." Craig tried, but failed.
"Well..." Farai confirmed, but got no further.
Come on man, you can do better than this. You can. You can. Just... try! You're a fucking man, aren't you?
"We-" DON'T SAY WELL!
"Weee... might as well just... wait it out since, you know, there's not really anything we can do, what with me needing the saw to... keep doing... stuff... you know?"
"Mm-hmm."
The two munched on their sandwiches and finished their tea.
"Ah, there's still more if you want" Farai fussed again, seeing that Craig was done.
"Uhh, no thanks..."
Wait, why the hell not, this stuff is good and there's plenty more tea, a whole second thermos!
"I mean, sure, thanks..."
Farai smiled while pouring his mug full.
"I don't even know what I was expecting today" she said all of a sudden.
"I mean, I was all psyched up, last night and today at school, I was, really, and I thought to myself that I was really doing good for a change, that I was seriously helping someone out! I mean think about it, it's one thing to give some change to someone who's homeless, but I was actually going to help her build a house! How about that, right?"
Craig nodded, pretending to be following her train of thought. What mattered was that she was getting this stuff off her chest.
"And then I was all, like, hey, what if I made some sandwiches and tea and snacky-cakes and made it into a little picnic! Oh, what a great idea that turned out to be! She probably thinks I'm just a piece of trash now!"
Craig felt like she might have been getting a lump in her throat at this point. As a man, he felt like he had to do something.
"Come on Farai, you just committed a faux pas, these things happen. And keep in mind that you're actually helping her. That's gotta count for something, right?"
Farai rocked back and forth a little.
"I guess so..."
"No, don't guess so, know so. I know so, so should you. Not just anyone would, like, offer to help someone homeless build a house. I mean I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you, you know?"
Oh great going asshole, now she'll totally think you're just doing this to get on her good side. Bravo.
"Hmm, I gue-ah, no, that's so, I know. Ahahah... aah, thanks Craigie. You know how to cheer a girl up, you know?"
Craig forced a laugh. And stood up. He felt like he had to move around a bit, like there were ants in his pants.
He stretched out his back and paced back and forth a couple of times. He was actually eager to get back to work!
"I'll get cold if I just sit here..." Farai mumbled and got up.
"We'll eat the cakes and drink the rest of the tea later, then..."

Raquel returned, the saw hanging from one finger as she carried in her arms eight young alders.
"Like I said. In a jiff"
She let them fall.
"You got a billhook?"
Craig's mind went blank for a moment.
"A what?"
Raquel rolled her mismatched eyes.
"The kind of bladed thingie you use to cut off branches from trees" she said, frustrated.
"O-oh. Uhh..."
Come on, quickly now, you know what she's talking about! It's... not here, obviously. It's at the vacation house.
"It's at, uhh, our vacation house" he mumbled. Fuck, a homeless person does not need to hear about people having multiple homes!
Raquel shrugged it off.
"You got a knife there though?"
Craig quickly picked it up and handed it to her.
"Thanks. I'mma work on these then"
Raquel set to removing the branches from the trunks, while Craig picked up the saw and jumped back into the pit. He had a pen, he had measuring tape, he was going to get measures for all the dimensions of the pieces needed for the platforms now, and then he'd just finish them up...
"Wait, what am I supposed to do?" Farai asked, suddenly panicking at her uselessness.
Raquel shrugged again, but then she dug around her coat and took her keychain out.
"You remember where I live?"
Farai nodded.
"Roll up the mat on the floor and bring it here. Don't forget to lock up"
Farai nodded with more enthusiasm, took the keys and hurried along. Raquel and Craig kept doing what they had been doing.
By the time Craig had finished his measurements, he had realized there just weren't enough materials to finish the job. He didn't think much of it though, he could just go get more easily enough, better just keep working.
"You know, I wasn't really expecting to be done by the end of the month" Raquel said while absentmindedly abusing the knife that was clearly not meant for such rough strokes.
"And I was thinking it wouldn't really work out, either" she continued. "But I'm glad to have you two give a hand, you know? I don't mean that in the "faith in humanity restored" kind of way, I mean it, like, in practice. Things are working out faster. Today, at least. It took me days to dig all that up..."
That was something that had been bothering Craig. He was tempted to ask her about it, but then again, Farai probably wanted to know too. He could ask when she came back. That way Raquel didn't need to explain it twice. She wasn't the talkative type, she'd appreciate that. Maybe. Or maybe she wouldn't even notice.
Craig was now making several different piles out of the planks in their correct sizes, and Raquel finished her, uhh, debranching? Was that what it was called?
"Hmm... I need to whittle now. Is that okay? The knife's going to wind up dull" she said. Craig didn't know what she was planning, but gave her the permission anyway. The time had come for him to apply himself.
He had enough pieces now to finish making a single platform. This was the hard part, wasn't it? He remembered his elementary school birdhouse. Making the pieces had been menial labour, and he had enjoyed it. Putting them all together? That required more.
Oh well.
He put away the saw, picked up the hammer, took out some nails, and set to work.

By the time Farai returned, carrying a the rolled up carpet, Craig's right hand, wrist and arm were all hurting. He had not remembered how hard it was to hammer things. Was it the impacts that disagreed with him, or the force needed?
"I've brought the carpet, Raquel! Where do you want it?"
"Hmm. Just put it on the couch, under the tarp"
Farai did so.
"Eeh? There's so much stuff under here!" she cried out, her head still under the tarp.
"What was that?"
"I SAID THERE'S SO MUCH STUFF UNDER HERE!"
Farai skipped happily to look at what the two of them were doing now.
"Umm..."
Raquel ignored her.
"Is there... anything I could...?"
Oh come on now. Poor girl.
"Farai, c'mere!" Craig ordered, and she happily obeyed.
"Here" he said, handing her the measuring tape and the pen. "I want you to make me more of these..." he gestured at the piles of the finished planks, "...out of those" he gestured at the assortment of junk.
"Think you can do that?"
Farai puffed her chest, still sadly hidden by the bulky winter clothes, with pride.
"Of course I can!"
Craig couldn't help but smile at her can-do attitude.
"Alright. See those long ones in that pile?"
"Uh-huh"
"There's enough of those. Make more of everything else", Craig then paused, for he had an awful, wonderful idea.
"Actually, go take the measures from the one in the pit so I don't need to rack my brain over them" he said, trying not to grin like an idiot.
Farai put one hand on her hip and brushed through her hair with the other.
"Still treating me as your student, are you? Fine, I'll give you this round, Craigie. Mark my words, I'll get you back for this!"
Farai went to do what she had been told to do, and Craig returned to his hammering. He immediately came to regret he hadn't told Farai to take over this part, his body protested with every blow.

After Craig finished the platform, he carried it into the pit and stuck it next to the one already in there. Since there were supposed to be three rows of three... wow, this was pretty accurately measured. Craig stuck the one he had made against the edge of the pit, and the one already in he stuck against the former. There was just enough space for a third one to be lodged there.
"Hey Raquel..."
There was no response.
"HEY RAQUEL!"
"Hmm?"
"How did you dig this pit?"
Farai perked up at this as well. She was clumsily sawing and seemed thrilled to get an excuse to stop.
"With my paws" Raquel replied, then lighted up a cigarette before continuing with her whittling.
"EEEHHH?"
Wow. Craig was surprised by that, too, but Farai's reaction was like out of an anime. It was sad that was the first thing to spring to his mind, but there it was. Only a sky pan was missing.
"Seriously? With your paws?"
"Mm"
"But... it's so neatly done!"
"Took a lot of effort. And I was kinda mad, so... yeah"
"But... how did you... I mean..." Farai trailed off.
Craig grunted as he jumped out of the pit.
"You know, it really is accurately measured, how'd you do it?"
Raquel was actually smiling now, her eyes gleaming with that gleam only cat girls get.
"Oh, I used a rope. The one under there" she pointed to where the couch was with her cigarette.
Craig saw no reason to pursue this further, a rope was as good a measuring tool as any, mystery solved. He returned to his hammering.

			***

"That's it, I'm done!" Farai said, wiping her brow. "There's nothing more I can make out of these!" she said, pointing at the remaining planks. By this time Craig had managed to make a total of four platforms, and he could make one more. So they would need the materials for four more... Craig smiled when he realized how this mirrored the number of planks he had needed to make for the first batch earlier.
Raquel had turned the ends of two of the trunks into sharp spearheads. Now she got up and inspected the remaining stuff.
"These could..." she mumbled, picked a short piece up and fitted it over the trunk... or pole, as that was the function it was to serve.
"Hmm, yeah. Like this, but..."
She picked up another piece.
"Hmm. If these would fit here in like, and L, you know?"
Farai didn't. But Craig did. Kind of.
"Just nail a third piece at the top and then nail those two to that one" he said, as if it made sense. To Farai it didn't, but to Raquel it did.
"Yeah, like that. For four of these, I think?"
Farai tilted her head.
"I have no idea what you two are talking about!"
Raquel shrugged and went back to sharpening up the poles.
"Let me explain then, my pretty little apprentice!" Craig said, feeling a surge of confidence and masculinity overtake him.
"Pretty little apprentice? Why master, I fear that borders on sexual harassment! Ahahaha!"
Well, she didn't seem to mind.
"Okay, so, those poles she's making, right? They're there to support the walls and the roof, since, you know, cardboard isn't sturdy enough to stand against the weight of any snow that might pile up on it, yeah? So these planks we talked about? They'd be there to increase the, uhh, surface area, yeah, of the, of the supporting area... umm, you got it?"
Farai smiled a warm smile at him.
"Sure I do. I wish I had been with you guys as a kid, building secret bases and stuff... I'd be more useful now..."
Craig shook his head.
"You couldn't have been there with us Farai. You're a girl, there's no way you'd have been allowed to join us back then!"
Farai put on a fake pout.
"Hmph! As it happens, I remember Tammy and Ryuko both playing with you boys back then! Are you telling me they weren't girls then?"
Craig remembered them alright.
"No, they weren't girls. They were tomboys!"
The two looked at each other with expressions of the strictest sternness.  And then there was a crack in Craig's poker face. And then a bigger one in Farai's.
"Tsk..." Craig stifles his laughter, but couldn't turn his face away.
"Mfmfmfm" Farai bit down on her lip to keep quiet.
"Haha..."
"Ahahaha....
"Hahahaha!"
"Ahahahahaah!"

Without words, it was decided that they would be stopping their labours soon. As it turned out, it was almost seven already. Craig finished up on the last platform and put it in its place. He was proud to find how evenly they fit in the ground.
Looking at how little had changed in the scene, he felt a little discouraged. All the hours of time spent, all the pain, well, all the exhaustion, in his body, and what did he have to show for it? Not much.
But he knew the effort he had put into this. He felt it, by Hathor he felt it, and that was more than enough. The three got on the quilt and began to eat up the cakes Farai had brought while sipping on the blackcurrant tea.
Raquel had said things had progressed much faster than she had thought they would. That counted for something too, didn't it?
For some reason, Craig was beginning to remember some rant his grandpa had given once, about how it was a man's lot in life to do this and that. One of those things had been making the earth produce food. This was a man's lot in life, to farm. Another, much more important here, had been building a house.
"It's a man's lot in life to build a house", that's how that particular rant had begun. It had been a stupid rant, made by a man on the verge of dementia. But now that Craig had actually partaken in this effort, he wasn't so opposed to it anymore. He had half a mind to write an extra essay for school, maybe a philosophy class, to earn some extra credit from the teachers. An essay about how it made one feel to construct a shelter with their own two hands and be able to survive whatever nature throws at you inside it.
Luckily, his overactive imagination calmed down before he went all chuuni and began to think of himself as Hadrian and made Andrea his Antinous.
Still, there was some merit to the line of thought he had gone through. And to grandpa's rants, too.
"You know, tomorrow's Friday..." Farai said, looking pleadingly at Craig. What? What was she looking at him like that for?
"And I was thinking that we might finish this whole thing during the weekend if we worked from dawn to dusk, you know? I mean, figuratively speaking?"
Raquel shrugged her shoulders and lit up another cigarette.
"I hadn't counted on your help today, I'm not really counting on it tomorrow or the day after. Do what you want"
Farai grimaced a little.
"S-so anyway, I was thinking we might, umm, Craig and me, that is, we might go up in to, umm, the Nordwoods, yes? And we could get those, those platforms all doncey-oncey, yes? Just, just tomorrow?"
Craig nodded in agreement. It's not like he had planned on much of anything, for Friday or the weekend. Had he? Nah. Nothing worth more than this at any rate, that's all that mattered.

Raquel puffed and huffed.
"Fine by me, but I'mma spend Friday night collecting cans and bottles. Gotta make some dough. And weather forecast says there'll be rain on Sunday. So..." she got up and walked to the covered up couch.
"See here?"
She flung up the tarp. Just like Farai had said, there was a lot of stuff on the couch. Piles of old newspapers, those trash bags that had been taped together, folded up piles of cardboard, the carpet... even a length of rope.
"What I'm gonna ask you to do tomorrow, if it ain't too much trouble for you two philanthropists, is that once you're done with the platforms, is that you lay down this..." she picked up the trash bag tarp, "...over them, yeah? And then this..." she pointed at the cardboard, "over that, and then ALL of these" she pointed at the newspapers, "over that, and then this" she pointed at another pile of cardboard, "over them, and then the carpet over that, and the couch over the carpet"
Farai and Craig nodded simultaneously, this seemed like it would be easy enough to do.
"Now there's no saying if there will or won't be rain BEFORE Sunday, and if there'll be, it'd be a right shame to get my new bed all wet, yeah? So..."
She walked over to the pit and stuck the three sharpened poles into the ground.
"If it says on the net or wherever that it'll rain, just throw the tarp over these and use the rope to tie it in place. Either of you know how to handle a rope?"
Craig shook his head, but Farai responded in the affirmative, full of enthusiasm.
"You can count on us Raquel! We'll have this house up by Sunday! Craig and I will come back tomorrow, and then I'll get all three of us warm meals for Saturday and Sunday!"
She did one of her silly salutes.
"Then I'mma head off. Y'all take care now"
Raquel waved her hand and walked off after putting the tarp back over the couch.

With that, they were done for the day. Farai packed up her basket, Craig picked up his tools, and the two wished one another good night as they parted.
Craig fully intended to take a bath now, no matter how late it was. Still closer to seven than it was to eight, that wasn't very late at all.
While walking home he did wonder as to what explanation he would give for why he had been out with tools, but as it turned out, nobody was home when he came. Probably Mom was at an office Christmas party he hadn't remembered.
While soaking in his hot bath, Craig suddenly remembered he had yet to finish his homework for tomorrow.
"It's a man's lot in life to sacrifice his academic success so he may impress women with acts of selflessness and compassion" he muttered, deciding not to get out of the bath until he was good and ready. He'd do his assignments after that. And if he was too tired, in the morning. Yeah... morning sounded good.