The Underdwelling

1

Second month on the job at the Hobart Mine in Iron City they put Boyd on the night shift and he knew he would be going underground where the raw ore was. No more sweeping up and running errands and driving truck, working the rock pile until his back was filled with needles. Maybe it meant he’d passed the initiation and maybe it just meant that they were short-handed. Either way, he was glad. Because this was what it was about: going down into the tunnels. It was cold and damp and weird down there from what he’d heard, but if you wanted to get in the Union, then this was the path.

And with a kid on the way, he wanted that real bad.

Russo, the mine captain, told him about it, getting right in his face as was Russo’s way. Day before, as Boyd clocked out, Russo came right up, pressing him into a corner like he was horny and Boyd was available. “Hey, Boyd,” he said, “how do you like this fucking pull? You figure on sticking with it or you just passing the time?”

Boyd told him the truth. “I’m staying. My old man worked the mines and so did his old man. I’m no different. It’s in my blood.”

Russo chewed on that for a few moments, nodding silently. He was a big guy with a crewcut and eyes just as black as coal chips. You didn’t want to mouth off or give him any guff, but at the same time you had to stand your ground. Look him dead in the eye and let him know you had a set on you. He liked that. Didn’t respect anything else.

“Now… you ain’t gonna jump on me, are you? You ain’t gonna get all girly and run off on me when things get tough and dirty below, are you? Not gonna cry your eyes out first time your pussy gets wet?”

“No, sir.”

“Because I can’t have that. I gotta quota to fill and if you bust me on it, swear to God I’ll maroon your fucking ass down in the drift and it’ll be the last time your little wifey sees your baby blues.”

That’s what the last month had been about.

When they took you on at Hobart, and they were real picky with all the damn unemployment, they put you through the acid test. They gave you every dirty, shitty, back-breaking job they could find. That’s how they tested you. Found out if you had the nuts for the job, had the mettle. Found out if you’d fold up on ’em or complain. Boyd did neither. They threw it at him and he caught it, never once dropped it.

Russo kept nodding, his breath smelling like salami. “Okay. Tomorrow night you’re on the graveyard shift. Don’t let me down.”

And that’s how it happened.

Boyd figured he was lucky. There were ten other guys hired with him but he was the only one they picked. Funny, almost like it was fate. Like what was coming next was meant to happen.