“Come on Cheryl, I got to get back to work,” Archie said , untangling himself from her intrusive fingers.
“Archie Campbell you’re a tease.” The older women nibbled on his earlobe as he pulled on his Bart Simpson boxers.
“Gerroff,” he pushed her lips gently away with the palm of his hand. “I’ve only got twenty minutes to catch up with the crew.”
He pulled the luminous orange t-shirt over his head, yanked on his trousers and with a wink and a cheeky grin at the pouting woman, he was out the door.
Archie slipped his feet into his steel toed boots in the garden of the semi-detached house. If he took the alleyways he would still have time to buy some cheese cobblers at Peggy Jones before he had to catch up with the dust crew in Mornington Road. He whistled as he bowled towards the bakery the aroma of hot rolls and bread pudding tantalising his taste buds.
“You been tom-catting again Archie?” Peg smiled, as he entered the shop.
He had known Peg most of his life, in fact she had been his rather attentive landlady for a few years but when she met Alan, her husband, the home-comforts dwindled.
“Aw! Peg,would I do such a thing?” His grin exposed perfect white teeth and large dimples in his plump tanned cheeks. A mop of blonde hair, wavy, like spaniels ears, framed his twinkling brown eyes.
“One of these days you are going to get caught. It’ll only take an irate husband to come home unexpected and he will kick the cockiness out of you,” she said with mock concern. “Now how many cheese cobblers do you want?”
“Six please Peg and can you put bacon on mine, I need to keep my strength up,” he giggled as the woman threw a paper napkin at him.
Archie arrived at Mornington road just as the dust cart pulled in. The rest of the crew covered for the work-shy man, and in return he would share his ‘gifts’ from the lonely serviced housewives. They had big homes, big cars and big bank balances, a bit of rough while hubby was away on business was as natural to them as doing lunch with the girls.
He walked towards the crew pulling out the rubbish from the driveways, glad they had already done Beechwood avenue. It was like a giant car park and all the gardens were at least a hundred foot long, and every other one had some kind of dog ready to chew on your leg.
“Whoa! The wanderer returns ,” Steve said as he threw the bags into the crusher at the back.
“It’s all right for some, you took your time. Did she want seconds?”
“Yeah! But I didn’t want to spoil her,” Archie said passing him the snack. “I will divvy up in the truck. She was feeling generous today, two hundred quid.”
“Flippin’ heck Arch! We are practically making our wages again with you on stud duties,”
Steve laughed mentally spending the money.
“Chalky has got the hump,” Len said grabbing a cobbler from the bag.
“What! with me?” Archie asked, pushing the button of the crusher, the thunderous sound of the jaws crunching household waste drowned the answer.
The three men walked towards the cab of the truck, and with a mouth full of food Len spluttered.
“Nah! Not you mate, the flaming crusher is playing up, he’s had to climb in four times today to clear it.”
He climbed up into the cab and handed Chalky the last of the rolls. The man looked at the roll before launching it out of the window, missing a woman walking her dog by inches. Archie thought it best to keep quiet, he knew Chalky had a bad temper and he could see the fury in the older man’s eyes. His nostrils twitched as the rancid smell of rotting food and dirty nappies came from Chalky’s overalls, and there were a few live maggots wriggling on his leg.
“I stink! That crusher is worse than useless; I’ve reported it four times this week and the suits ignore me!” Chalky spat the words out. “I’m sick to death of this two-bit firm. There’s going to be an accident one day, then they’ll be sorry!”
Archie looked at the dishevelled man and decided not to try and jolly him out of his dark mood.
“Look mate, I will come down the dump with you and help you tip the load,” Archie said climbing over the lift pulleys and settling into the row of three seats at the back of the cab.
It was the drivers responsibility to tip the load but Archie knew how it worked with Chalky.
“Thanks Archie. I just knew you would say that,” Chalky said, a fleeting grin crossed his face.
They drove in silence towards the gates of the refuse tip. Archie thought about Chalky’s wife Ruby. She was stunning; her long raven hair against china smooth skin gave her emerald eyes the look of an inquisitive cat. He was heartbroken when he saw the picture of his work mate on the living room wall. Ruby wasn’t one of his ‘ladies’. It had been the only time he had cheated on a friend. Archie stopped seeing her when he realised, but it still hurt. It had been hard at first, keeping it from Chalky, but as time went on he felt at ease in his company.
The truck pulled up in the corner of the landfill site, the heavy smell of rotting rubbish and steaming gases made Archie retch. He could never get used to the toxic aroma. The two men climbed down from the cab and made there way to the back of the truck. Chalky pushed the red button and the machine rattled into action, but within seconds stopped again.
“It’s okay mate, I will go up,” Archie said clambering into the hopper, not wanting Chalky to get any crankier than he was. He threw out the bags that were intact, ready to pull at the trapped rubbish. Terror shot through him like an electric shock as the crusher started up again. His feet slipped from under him as the roller moved forward; his legs shot through the mouth of the machine. The jaws first gripped, then bit down on his thighs, shattering his bones before he had a chance to utter the ear piercing scream.
“CHALKY,” he screamed just as the the crusher whirred to a halt. The blood spurted from the open gashes on his thighs the pain so intense, he thought his heart would burst from his chest.
“Help me Chalky, please help me,” Archie cried, tears streaming down his pain filled face. The pain eased to a frightening numbness as Chalky began to speak.
“You know what Archie, my gorgeous Ruby, you know her don’t you? Turns out she’s been sleeping with some scum bag.”
Archie looked at the man the fear of death paramount in his panic stricken mind.
“I would have forgiven that; after all she was still with me, yeah! But he left her a present; a present I couldn’t give her!” Chalky’s voice was cool, calm, it was as if he couldn’t see what was happening to his workmate.
“For Gods sake help me!” Archie’s screams fell on deaf ears, “I’m begging you, please.”
“Well Archie, I am going to keep the present. She wants it, see; I do, too. But, Daddy, there is only room for one father and it’s not you!”
The realisation of what he was saying finally hit Archie as did the hopelessness of his situation.
Chalky hit the red button drowning out the terrified screams of the young man’s crushing body…
Early Evening News
“A man was killed today in faulty dustcart accident…reports have been leaked that the crew had reported faults on four different occasions…”
