He said that he could get a crew together and start in about three weeks and the job should only take a couple of weeks. He also gave me a price that I thought was very fair. But, being a newbie with all that goes into construction, I asked him some questions about the quality of work, references and the crew.

“Daniel, I’ll be honest with you, the reason that I can start so soon and give you such a good price, is that most of my guys are on day job work release from the State pen, about eight miles up the old highway.”

I was stunned, and could only get out, “oh, um, so they’re...”

“Yeah, they’re serving their last few months and this is a way for them to get some work experience. I used to be the assistant warden there, that’s how I moved out here from Chicago. But I thought I could help these guys out better this way rather than working on the inside.”

I listened as he went on, “My foreman, Tyrone, who used to be like them, picks them up each morning and brings them to the job site with a prison chaperone, and then they go straight back. No pit stops, so they’ll be here only to service your needs.”

He continued, “Look Daniel, I know you might be feeling uneasy with all this. But the guys will get the job done, they need perform well for me, to get their final release. I know there aren’t many other outfits out here that’ll do this work now when you need it. The guys have to work during the day anyway. You don’t even have to be here, if it makes you uncomfortable.”

Feeling uneasy about the thought of a group of inmates at my home, “No, I think I’ll take some time off from work to be here, um, you know. . .”

Rocco understood and responded, “Oh okay, if you can handle some minor crudeness, everything will be fine. They have skills, and don’t worry, they won’t be in orange jumpsuits or anything.” I let out an uneasy laugh. “I’ll make sure to be here most of the time too. Daniel, you are just the kind of customer we look for, open-minded. You got a lot of heavy work that needs to be done here, so I’ll make sure we get some big, strong guys for the heavy lifting.” He sniggered and added. “You know there isn’t too much for them to do in there, but lift weights. It helps us all if you, the customer, is satisfied. The job should get done pretty quick, they got loads of stamina.” We both kind of laughed, although mine was more of a nervous chuckle.

I had some reservations, but I did not have a lot of options, so