In fact, many days I didn’t have enough money to burn a wet mule. So when I came home for summer break, I got it in my head I was gonna work harder than a four-armed tobacco picker and save every dime so I could head back to college and enjoy the next few semesters. My brother, Jason, owned a roofing company at the time, and even though it was his senior year of high school, he had always worked hard and had great ambition. So, having worked in that industry for many years, I asked him to sign me on. Jason looked right at me and said I was just a mouse trying to be a rat. Now, me and Jason got along in the workforce like a tornado in a trailer park. When we hit heads, something was gonna get tore all to pieces. Being a good brother, I’ve always tried to see things from his point of view; I just never could get my head that far up my tail. But after many hours of debates and begging and having to sign my life away in blood, he agreed to let me run a crew. At first I was as happy as a pig at an all-you-can-eat slop trough, but then lunchtime came on the first day and Jason started in on me because I didn’t caulk the flashing around the chimney.
