“You know what I find the most amazing about all this?” Tracy said, looking back at Kim. “Within a couple of days, you’ve gone from a narcissist to an altruist, from one extreme to another. I used to be under the impression that personalities couldn’t change.”
“I’ll let you psychologists worry about that,” Kim said as he opened the car door.
“Be careful,” Tracy admonished.
“I will,” Kim said. He climbed out of the car but then leaned back inside. “Remember, I’m only going to put my earphone in my ear on rare occasions. For the most part this is going to be a one-way conversation.”
“I know,” Tracy said. “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” Kim said. “See ya!” He waved goodbye.
Tracy watched Kim saunter toward the door in character with his outrageous disguise. Despite her apprehensions, she had to smile. He had the carefree, brazen look of a punk-rock drifter.
With the car back in gear, Tracy drove down to the end of the plant as Kim had suggested and parked behind a van.
After rolling down the window, she put the antenna on top of the car. With the stereo headphones in place, she turned on the amplifier. After the experience that morning with the volume, she had the dial all the way down. Carefully she turned it up. When she did, she immediately heard Kim’s voice with an overdone Spanish accent.
“I need a job, any job,” Kim was saying, drawing out his vowels. “I’m flat broke. I heard in town you were hiring.”
Tracy hit the start button on the tape recorder, then tried to make herself comfortable.
Kim had been both impressed and encouraged by the speed with which he’d been escorted into the office of the kill-floor supervisor. His name was Jed Street. He was a nondescript man with a slight paunch bulging his long white, bloodstained coat. On the corner of his desk was a yellow plastic construction helmet. In front of him was a large stack of cattle purchases receipts.
Jed had looked quizzically at Kim when Kim had first come through the door. But after a few moments, he’d seemingly accepted Kim’s appearance and made no mention of it whatsoever.
“Have you ever worked in a slaughterhouse before?” Jed asked. He rocked back in his desk chair and played with a pencil with both hands.
“No,” Kim said casually. “But there’s always the first time.”
“Do you have a Social Security number?” Jed asked.
“Nope,” Kim said. “I was told I didn’t need one.”
“What’s your name?” Jed asked.
“José,” Kim said. “José Ramerez.”
“Where are you from?”
“Brownsville, Texas,” Kim said with more of a southern drawl than a Spanish accent.
“Yeah, and I’m from Paris, France,” Jed said, seemingly oblivious to Kim’s verbal faux pas. He rocked forward. “Look, this is hard, sloppy work. Are you ready for that?”
“I’m ready for anything,” Kim said.
“Do you have a green card?” Jed asked. “When are you willing to start?”
“Hey, I’m ready to start right now,” Kim said. “I haven’t eaten anything for a day and a half.”
“That’s probably a good thing,” Jed said, “considering you’ve never been working in a slaughterhouse before. I’m going to have you start out sweeping the kill-room floor. It’s five bucks an hour, cash. With no Social Security card, that’s the best I can do.”
“Sounds good,” Kim said.
“One other thing,” Jed said. “If you want to work, you gotta work the three-to-eleven cleanup shift too, but just for tonight. One of the guys called in sick. What do you say?”
“I say okay,” Kim responded.
“Good,” Jed said. He got to his feet. “Let’s get you outfitted.”
“You mean I have to change clothes?” Kim asked anxiously. He could feel the gun pressing up against his thigh and the audio system’s battery packs pressing against his chest.
“Nah,” Jed said. “You only need a white coat, boots, hard hat, gloves, and a broom. The only thing you have to change are your shoes to get the boots on.”
Kim followed Jed out of the supervisor’s office and along the back corridor. They went into one of the store-rooms Kim had looked into Saturday night. Kim got everything Jed had mentioned except the broom. For the boots, he had to settle for elevens. They were out of ten and a halfs. They were yellow rubber and came to mid-calf. They weren’t new and didn’t smell good.