Fireworks

11

"Has anyone seen those box cutters?"

"- stole my price gun-"

"These were definitely supposed to be shoved in the back...right?"

"-almost cut my finger off for God's sake."

The voices buzz around me as the excitement of the tent bounces around in an almost palpable and tangible form.

My first-day jitters have completely dissipated within my first hour of working at the tent.

As soon as I had arrived, I was sent to work. Almost everyone was here, with the exception of Sarah and Diego, and per usual, it was chaos.

All of the tables have been arranged around the perimeter of the tent, and in small squares surrounding the support beams down the middle of the tent. The truck containing the last shipment of fireworks arrived this morning, and apparently, most of the guys have been here since 7:00 this morning unloading the boxes into the trailer. Now the guys are carrying up the boxes and putting them under the table at which they'd be displayed.

I helped carry boxes for a while, but they were super heavy and my noodle arms weren't helping that much so Harriet suggested I start pricing things. It was an easy job that I've been doing for a couple of hours now. I didn't have to talk or work alongside anyone, and I was good at using the price gun. I've already gone through four boxes of sparklers and was on my second crate of fountains.

People were always moving around me, even the other people that were working on pricing. Dad had shown me the pricing chart with the exact name and brand of each firework with their price and display instructions. It was fairly simple, but lots of the other kids were bustling around looking for Harriet to ask about something or other or were yelling at each other for silly mistakes.

While everyone had their respective jobs and was somewhat focused, the chatter and intensity of the tent never decreased.

It was blazing hot out, and I felt bad for Johan, Ryan, Edwardo, and Arlo, who basically haven't stopped lifting boxes since this morning and aren't under the shade of the tent most of the time.

Isa and I were sitting kind of close together behind the middle tables. We were both pricing boxes while Isa prattled about school or Edwardo or her family and I would occasionally add something. It was nice to just sit with her and hear her talk, and it was easy.

As I'm finishing up my second box of fountains, a loud thud makes Isa and I jump. I look at the table to my right and see Edwardo leaning on the box he just plopped down. "Why hello, ladies. How's the pricing going?"

Isa squeals and jumps up to make out with him for a second and I look away to give them some privacy. On the table to my left, Ryan is carefully stacking boxes of little parachutes for us to price.

I wordlessly reach up and start arranging the boxes under the table where they'll be displayed, setting them how they're supposed to be stored while waiting to be priced.

"Oh hey, Hadlee. When'd you get here?" Ryan says good-naturedly.

I smile a little and say, "A few hours ago."

He nods and says, "Oh cool. Damn it's hot out here," he says, and to my mortification pulls his shirt off while standing right in front of me.

There's sweat dripping down his neck and onto his chest, and I quickly look away before he sees that I'm looking. "Every year I tell myself to start remembering to bring my own water, but I never do. I end up just drinking like twelve of those plastic ones in the cooler a day," he laughs and drapes his shirt over his shoulder.