The Long Dark by Billy Farmer (best book club books for discussion .txt) 📗

in and try to meet them. If I couldn't, we closed it down and let everyone go. I'm not especially proud of those days, but if I'm gleaning something positive out of them, it would be the insight I gained from people in those types of situations.

In almost every instance, employees assumed I was there to close the operation down, and no matter how much I explained how that was the last resort, they didn’t buy it. Everyone hated me because I was the big, mean closer, and they sure as hell weren’t going to put forth any more effort than they had to. That would make my job too easy, and, most importantly, they would gain nothing from it. They would take long breaks, slack off instead of working, and essentially lay down. Hell, some of them would go ahead and quit, leaving me with empty positions I couldn’t fill because no one wanted to board an already sinking ship. It was essentially a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts.

When I got to the Commons, Titouan was locked outside. He was getting a small taste of what I went through, and I wasn’t in the same league of asshole as he was. Everyone was already upset that I had been demoted. Those most displeased by this turn of events were the loyal, senior workers who worked with me in East Texas. Couple that anger they had from his unexpected ascension with supply shortages, horrible work environment, and, at that point, a complete power outage, and what you had was a bonafide shitty situation for everyone involved.

You’re probably thinking, well, if they were loyal to you, then it makes sense they would treat Titouan like dirt. I was their friend, no doubt about that. Most of them had a family and kids, though. They wouldn’t give up their paycheck out of loyalty to me, and I wouldn’t have wanted them to. Loyalty wasn’t the problem.

The issues were driven almost exclusively because of Titouan. He was one of the most arrogant people I had ever known, and there were a lot of dickheads in the oil business. Imagine, if you will, listening to a person who is at least fifteen years your junior, who never worked a day in his life prior to coming to work at the Patch, drone on about “The ethics of work.” He liked to give speeches before, during, and after he bitched you out. Besides hearing himself talk, he loved to talk about his ancestry. “Charles de Gaulle is my fourth cousin,” he would say. The first time he namedropped de Gaulle, Sam was unsure why he should care. “Who the hell’s ‘at sonofabitch? Is he French? No wonder Tit’s such a dick.” Long story short, Titouan was his own worst enemy and should've never been running an operation as big as the Patch.

“Fuck you and fuck them, William. They all hate me, and it’s all your fault.”

“I’m not sure that’s an accurate appraisal, but if it makes you feel better, run with it. Don’t let reality spoil it for you.”

“I wouldn’t have hired any of those Cretans from East Texas. They’re your people. Not mine.”

He was deluded. All I wanted to do was go into the Commons and explain to people what I believed needed to be done. I didn’t want to litigate things with him, again. I told him on numerous occasions how he had to make relationships with his (not my) employees, and I wouldn’t stand in his way or make things difficult for him. It was his job to make or break things, and, well, he broke the hell out of them.

Titouan was hilariously fuming by that point. Almost to the level of six-year-old didn’t get his toy at Wal-Mart fuming. I thought he’d stomp his feet at any moment, so I gloriously waited him out. I wanted to hear the unadulterated, unfiltered reason why he was standing outside. It almost made the power being out worth it.

He finally couldn't hold it in any longer. "I let them know even though the power was out, there were things that needed to be done. They didn't like what I said, so they threatened to kick my ass if I didn't leave."

“You really think now is the best time for all of that?”

“They don’t have anything better to do.”

A sardonic laugh quietly escaped my lips before I could stop it. I quickly covered it up with a derisive sigh which wasn’t much better, but I doubt he even noticed. “Here’s the deal. I’m going to go tell everyone what’s going on, and you’re going to go in with me, but you aren’t going to say a damn word. You fucked that up. I won’t let you make things worse than they already are because you have a gigantic chip on your shoulder. Got it?”

He didn’t say a word to me. He gave me this weird shake of the head. It wasn’t an okay I got it head shake. It was a big fat I hate your fucking guts palsy of a head shake, but to his credit, he at least didn’t argue with me.

The Commons had a gray haze and an acrid smell to it. There were too many kerosene heaters in too small of a space, but even then it was not comfortably warm. For whatever reason, the Commons had the thinnest walls of any living space on the patch. Most of the other buildings, especially the bunkrooms, had walls bordering on a foot thick. The walls in the Commons were less by a quarter inch or more. Compounding things, it had two large windows. It was the best we could do, given all the shittier options.

Titouan and I weaved through elbows and knees on our way to the front of the room. I heard some grumbling because of Titouan's re-entrance, but no one did anything stupid. Not all the complaints were Titouan related. People were frustrated and cold, and if they were anything like