The Landscaper

Chapter 1

Prologue

It started in Pennsylvania. My father's friend, and landlord had fallen into depression, and hung himself. He tied a rope around the top banister of the stairs at house number 108 in Pittsburgh. He jumped over the handrail of the steps, and thus killing himself.

My father lived an hour outside of Pittsburgh in one of Matthews houses. The death Matthew, my fathers friend hurt him. But the stress started when the realtor showed up unannounced, and plopped a heavy wooden for sale sign in the front yard. He was not about to live in an already falling down house with a new owner.

My wife and I drove from Harrisburg to help him move. We moved him back home. North Carolina. Where he was born. Where I was born. Where most of my family was born.

My baby brother and sister were born in P.A. to my dad, and his wife. At the time of the move, my little brother Dakota, was 3, and little sister Michelle was 2.

It was supposed to be a short 8 hour drive, but we wound up going through a snow blizzard in P.A. A hail storm in Virginia, and a thunderstorm in North Carolina. It took 11 hours to get there.

We finally made it. My military father had finally made it back home. We left when I was 3. 20 years later, he returned.

My wife and I live near her family in her home town between Harrisburg, and Philadelphia. Her, and her family is the only reason I never moved. So I didn't see my family much.

Chapter 1

I had just started a self employed landscaping business when I helped my father move. 3 years later, and we are triple booked for an entire year. I had a partner in business.

Ryan was a civil engineer, and licensed by the state. His idea for the company was to build bridges for the state. I was all into the idea for a few reasons. The first reason being the money that it would create. The second was the power. Contractors don't really have power, but our business was already highly recommended, and respected. However, designing, and building bridges would link us to some higher up people in government.

That is all I wanted. To make great money, and to be known. It all cracks down to living the American dream. However, American Dreams can lead to American nightmares.

It was a warm day in Harrisburg. Only a few clouds floated above. Not rain clouds, but more or less shade clouds. Every hour or so one of these small clouds would glide in front of the sun, and give us a little comfort as we worked. It was only about 85 degrees, but the humidity is what made us drink an 8oz. Bottle of water every 30 minutes.

This week's job was actually quite easy though. Most of the work was done by two small front end loaders, and an excavator. We were excavating for a new home construction. We had a few skilled employees, and a couple unskilled laborers. We got work done pretty quickly everyday, and then it was off to the shop. Today though, was different. We were working in a the heat, and the homeowner kept adding additions to his house in the drawings which meant we were to excavate even more. The homeowner showed up four times the previous day, and added a few more square feet.

It was around 2:30 p.m. when I got a call. I was on a tractor, and didn't care to answer. I hated getting calls while in the middle of work. That's why all business calls were wired to my partners cell. He would handle the calls while I handled the work. We had a pretty good agreement, and setup.

I ignored the call, and waited to hear the notification sound informing me that I had received a voicemail. I didn't get the notification sound, and thought nothing of it. A few seconds later my phone started to ring again. I was really starting to get annoyed. I reached to my side and hit the lock screen button on my galaxy. This silenced the ring, and set it to only vibrate. Once again there was no notification.