Chapter 15: 15 Some Progress

I had barely finished eating the food that May had brought home when the telephone rang. I hopped up and grabbed it. “Parker's Funeral Home! You snuff 'em, we stuff 'em!”

“BEN!” May gasped and smacked me as she walked by to put the fast food containers into the trash.

“Ow! It was a joke!” I said and heard a manly laugh on the phone. “Sorry about that. Parker residence, Ben speaking. What can I do for you?”

“That depends on how your office meeting at school went today.” Adrian's voice said.

“Oh! Mr. Toomes!” I said and May walked right back over to me with a questioning look on her face. “I managed to have both classes rescheduled, so my entire Monday is cleared right out.”

“That's great, kid.” Adrian said. “What about your afternoons and evenings?”

“Fifty-seventh street is two bus transfers away from the school and one from home.” I said. “I can't really spare the afternoons, though. I need to study and to cook meals for myself and May.”

“Ben, we can manage.” May said and I shook my head.

“I had an idea about that, though.” I said.

“I'm listening.” Adrian said.

“You and the guys work all day and pile whatever you want on the floors. I'll show up after supper and I'll get everything down the elevator shaft and out to the alley where the dump truck is.”

Adrian was quiet for nearly a full minute. “You realize I have to trust you a lot to let you do that.”

“Yes, sir. I'll take all of the safety precautions and I promise to stay for as long as it takes. I won't leave until the floors are cleared and you and your crew can show up in the mornings and not have to worry about anything.”

“I'll have to supervise the first time you do it.” Adrian said.

“That's not a problem, sir. I learned a lot yesterday and just like Joe said, I'm not stupid enough to endanger myself.” I said.

“Okay, kid. I'll meet you there in fifteen minutes.”

“You want me to start tonight?” I asked, a little surprised.

“The guys chewed my ears off all damn day because you weren't there to keep everything cleared up for them.” Adrian said and I grinned at May. “There's not as much mess as yesterday, because we had to keep a few walkways and hallways clear for any emergency inspections.”

“I get it, sir. Piles off to the sides and in corners, so I have to work that much harder because it was pushed out of the way first.”

“That's right, kid. Don't be late.” Adrian said and hung up.

“Well?” May asked.

“I need to get my ass in gear if I'm going to keep my new job for more than fifteen minutes.” I said.

May let out a happy squeal and hugged me. “I'm so happy for you, Ben!”

“Me, too.” I said and hugged her back. “I need to change and then I need to run.”

May nodded and let me go. I ran up the stairs and grabbed what was going to become my 'work clothes' and changed, then I ran back downstairs.

“Got your keys?” May asked and I showed her. “Wallet?” She asked and I showed her. “Good luck and don't overwork yourself.”

“I plan to do exactly that.” I said and kissed her cheek. “I'm sorry we can't cuddle and watch TV.”

“I think you working is a little more important.” May said.

I gave her a pointed look. “No, it isn't. It's just something I have to do to so that we don't have to worry so much about money.”

May gave me a pointed look back. “Are fresh mushrooms really that much better for cooking than canned?”

I gave her a big smile. “We'll probably find out in a couple weeks when I get my first pay.”

May nodded and I went to the door. “It's only part time, so don't expect a lot.”

“I don't. It's just a supplementary income to make things a little easier until I can really start working.” I said a bit cryptically and left the apartment at a run.

I didn't take the elevator and used the stairs. I jumped down each flight without pausing for more than a split second to change directions as I bounced off the walls. We lived in an older building and there were no cameras in the stairwell, so I had no problems showing off a little and practised some of the acrobatic moves I had read about. I had to slow down when my spider-sense went off and I walked down the last flight of stairs.

A guy stood beside the door with a cigarette in his mouth. “Hey.”

“You need to be careful and breathe in more and puff out less. The smoke detector is at the top of the next flight of stairs.” I said.

“Thanks.” The guy said and did one long pull. He burned about a quarter of the cigarette away, right down to the filter, and then swallowed.

“Tasty.” I joked and he laughed.

We left the stairwell together and he went left and I jogged down the street to grab the bus. I made it to the right building with five minutes to spare and I checked to see that the dump truck was still at the back of the building in the blocked off alley. I started to walk around to the front again and saw the beat up truck pull up and park at the front of the alley.

Adrian stepped out and nodded to me as he handed me the safety equipment. I put it on before he unlocked the building and we entered to go up to the top floor. I let out a low whistle at the piles of concrete and debris.

“There are a few bigger chunks with the rebar still in them, so leave those for later.” Adrian said.

“Did you leave a jackhammer here for me?” I asked with a grin.

Adrian chuckled. “The closest you'll get is the sledgehammers we left over by the outside wall.”

I nodded and we entered the main part of the top floor. “You took down most of the roof already?”

“We're experts, Ben.” Adrian said. “We'll get into the really dangerous stuff when we start tearing out the supporting walls.”

I walked over to where the hand tools and the wheelbarrow had been left. There was no point in bringing them back and forth every time the crew left for the evening and came back the next morning.

“Any asbestos like Frank suspected?” I asked and put a sledgehammer and the shovel into the wheelbarrow.

“Not yet. We're doing experimental drill tests on the other floors. So far, it's just a lot of lead paint in the old apartments.”

I nodded. “Right, safety masks on when working.”

Adrian nodded and we slipped the partial cloth and partial plastic masks over oue noses and mouths. We already wore the safety glasses and I took the wheelbarrow over to the largest pile of debris.

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“I'm sorry this is taking you away from Doris and Liz.” I said and started shovelling.

“They practically threw me out when they heard me laughing and asked what happened.” Adrian said.

I chuckled. “May smacked me good for saying that on the phone.”

“That's understandable. Doris smacked me for laughing.”

I nodded and quickly filled the wheelbarrow.

“Did you ask my daughter out yet?” Adrian asked when I started moving the wheelbarrow out of the room.

“No, sir. I did impress her in math class and she kissed me like we were already dating.”

Adrian gave me a squinted look. “You need to be careful, Ben.”

“Yes, sir. I know.” I said and dumped the wheelbarrow into the elevator shaft. “I was going to ask what your plans were for this coming weekend.”

Adrian lost the squinted-eyed look. “Just spending time at home after work on Saturday.”

“Me, too?” I asked and he nodded. “Cool. Another full day of working out is gonna be great!” I said and went back to the main room.

Adrian looked a little surprised as he followed me. “You really are enjoying this, aren't you?”

“Yes, sir. After yesterday, my whole body ached and it felt great. I had sore muscles where I didn't even know I had muscles.”

Adrian chuckled. “It is a good workout doing stuff like this.”

“I know! None of the guys on the crew are tiny things like me.” I said and started shovelling again. “I'm going to work hard and I'm going to get the most out of this as I can.”

Adrian nodded and fell silent as I grabbed one of the larger chunks that I couldn't use the shovel for. I picked it up properly and carefully placed it into the wheelbarrow while making sure the balance wouldn't be off when I went to dump it.

I worked for a couple of hours before I had to use the sledgehammer on a fairly large piece of ceiling. It still had the steel rebar inside, so I had to hit it a lot to break it apart and I removed the metal from it. I tossed the metal into the pile with the rest that the salvage company could refurbish or sell as is, then I shovelled up the smaller chunks of concrete.

I could almost feel how impressed Mr. Toomes was as I continued to work to clear up all of the floor and dumped it into the elevator shaft. When that was done, we went down the stairs to the second floor and over to the covered opening. I carefully opened it inwards and revealed part of the wall was missing. Now it was time for the fun part. Tossing it all out the side of the building and into the back of the dump truck.

Adrian didn't bother justifying himself as he grabbed the handles of the wheelbarrow and I quickly filled it. He practically ran at the hole and emptied the wheelbarrow and came right back in one smooth motion.

“I have to remember that move.” I said with a laugh and we worked for about an hour until we had everything cleared out and into the back of the truck. I closed up the hole and secured the covering.

“All right, Ben. Be here tomorrow night before six. I'll know it if you aren't.” Adrian said and took a key off the key ring he had. “Don't lose that.”

“I won't, sir.” I said and put it right onto my own set of keys. “No one will even know I have it.”

Adrian nodded and waved at my outfit. “Take good care of your equipment.”

“Yes, sir. I've got a bag at home to carry it all in.” I said.

Adrian nodded again and we left the building. I locked it up and took off the mask and hat before I went to the bus stop. I rode it back home and went up the elevator to the right floor.

May looked anxious as I entered the apartment, then she saw the safety harness and jacket I wore and she let out a happy squeal and hugged me. “EWWW! You're all dirty and sweaty!”

I laughed and took off the jacket. “That kind of happens when you work your ass off and have fun.”

“Go get cleaned up and you can tell me all about it.” May said and I did.

*

Nothing of note really happened on Wednesday morning, except that I forgot to put my watch on and had to rely on the school bell more than I normally did to get to my next class. Lunch was entertaining with Betty and Cindy there again and Liz making me sit next to her instead of across from her like I usually did.

I went to mechanical engineering class and my eyes kept going to the clock on the wall as I waited for the classroom part to end and for the physical lab to begin.

Mr. Simmons noticed and smiled knowingly at me. “Antsy to get to the practical class, Ben?”

“Yes, sir. I forgot my watch and I'm a little lost without it.”

The teacher chuckled and reached into his pocket. He tossed something at me and I snatched it out of the air. “You can give that back at the end of the afternoon.”

“Thank you, sir! I really appreciate this.” I said and stared at the watch the teacher couldn't wear around machinery. It was metal and the wristband was metal as well and quite restrictive. He could lose a hand if it was ever caught in anything. The wristband was also made of interlocking metal parts that could expand to slip over the hand and then they would collapse to form tightly on the wrist.

My mind fired up at the thought of making a larger and wider version, with compartments on the back of the interlocking pieces, and when fully made, could expand as I slipped them over my hands and onto my wrists.

Is this how Peter felt when he had a brainstorm? I asked myself and flipped my scribbler to a fresh page before I started to draw out the pattern of the metal band.

Big center pieces, smaller interconnected ones underneath, with small metal pieces to act as pins and springs to keep the telescopic pieces together... and on and on it went as I drew and guessed about what was inside the strap pieces, which was mainly nothing but space.

I also started to think about the center piece that was the watch itself. That would need to become the main mechanism for the web release and I could make a specific pressure sensor with a high force adaptation in robotics class, so it didn't go off when I made a fist or picked up something heavy.

They also had small compressed air cylinders used for pneumatic systems, mainly for suspension and movement for the heavier robots they built for competitions. Adapting a bunch of them into compressed web cartridges would be as simple as replacing the contents and then ramping up the compression to about 200 PSI, or nearly double the normal pressure.

Pneumatics were used extensively on competition robots and used compressed air to create mechanical motion. The pneumatic system was comprised of an air compressor, air storage tanks, pressure sensor, relief valves, regulator, tubing, control valves, cylinders and the pneumatic control module. A lot of that I could eliminate, because I could have the release valves on the web cartridges themselves and the control valve would be on the web shooter itself.

The compressor didn't have to be included in the working system and only used to charge the web cartridges beforehand. I could completely remove the tubing parts and the regulators, because I would be replacing it with an easy to use mechanical system. I would need to debate having the pneumatic control module because I would have to strip it down to its bare components.

I wouldn't need extensive programming to control such a simple system. I needed to look into some of my classmates and their work in the robotics club to see if they had something similar. Writing it all on my own might not be a great idea, since I had no practical knowledge available. That should change by my next robotics class, however.

Of course, this is all assuming that I could get the web formula to work. I had been too busy last night to play with anything I had brought home and I would have to wait until after school this afternoon before I could try a few things out. That was going to be fun.

Until then, I could work on more mechanical engineering class projects this afternoon while also seeing how I could make the pieces for a double thick and wide watch strap without getting caught. If I continued to work at my accelerated pace, I would be caught up to the current lessons by Christmas Break, or less than three weeks.

Almost as if he knew what I was thinking, Mr. Simmons clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. “That's enough classroom time. Let's go have some fun with the CNC machines.”

“YES!” I yelled and everyone turned to stare at me. “Um... I mean, that sounds a bit boring, sir.”

Mr. Simmons laughed, as did a few of the other students. “Pack up and grab your notes, then follow me.” He said and waited for a minute, then he left the classroom area and led us to the next room, the mechanical engineering lab.

Needless to say, I had a great time.

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