He spent a week erecting a modest garden summerhouse while I nibbled the contents of the fridge. I counted the food against his pay, and he began to stew over it.
I needed a summerhouse on my plot, so I decided not to hunt down a massive construction firm. I thought all I required was a bloke who knew the basics of building.
A neighbour sent me to his mate, a carpenter from a small village near York, who ought to be able to raise a simple garden shelter.
Luck was on my side; the man was free. He didnt want the job at first, but I somehow coaxed him into it.
He claimed he could finish it in a week, which suited me fine. On Saturday he said he would drop by to survey the site, and the next day he would buy every material needed for the build.
We also spoke of hard labour. He said he needed a helper straight away, then he would find another hand to work alongside him, because he had a crowd of friends.
The crucial point was that I would be in town all week for work, so I couldnt be onsite while the scaffolding rose. I handed him the keys and told him to return the following weekend.
James swore he would see to everything, for he was a seasoned tradesman. He asked for a proper fee for his services, rather steep, and I agreed.
By Saturday evening the summerhouse stood completed, exactly as Id imagined, with no quibbles left. James had no complaints at that moment.
The only thing that irked me was that James had devoured everything I had in the fridge: two kilos of pork tenderloin, two dozen eggs, several cartons of milk, a jar of sauce and a bottle of red wine. Such gluttony struck me as intolerable. It wasnt that I felt sorry for the groceries; it was simply that no one had asked me whether they might indulge, they just pushed the leftovers into their mouths as if I were invisible.
I tallied the cost of the provisionsabout one hundred and fifty poundsand deducted that sum from his wages. It was a drop in the ocean, but it mattered to me.
James took offense. He began to argue, insisting that builders are always fed and that its the norm. He added that during the work there were moments when he exerted extra effort, yet the final tally remained unchanged.
Part of me wanted to concede, yet I still believed I had honoured every term wed bargained for, and I should have been warned of every nuance. The dispute lingered like a strange, halfremembered dream, the keys hanging in the air, the summerhouse humming under a moon that felt both familiar and utterly foreign.
