Hick is not known for his tact. Especially where Val is concerned. He speaks without thinking, and then tries to justify his words. I'm hoping. The alternative is that he says these things WITH prior thinking!
Saturday evening, I asked about his meeting with his "roof guy" about Cheap House.
"So what's the price for a new roof?"
"I don't know yet. He looked at it, and said he'd give me the estimate by Monday. While I had him there, I asked him about tearing off the back porch. What he could do it for. I told him HOS [Hick's Oldest Son] and his buddy gave me a price of $1500. He said I should take that, because I wouldn't get it any cheaper."
"So you told him somebody else's estimate? That doesn't seem fair. Can HOS and his buddy even do that kind of work? I thought they might need a backhoe or bobcat to tear it down."
"Oh, yeah. They can do it. It's just pulling down lumber. They won't even need the dumpster. The city already said I could burn the wood in the back yard, as long as I don't burn any shingles. They'll finish with the dumpster in time. They just have the old drywall left to put in it."
"Well, I don't want them to get hurt trying to do something they're not used to."
"It HAS to come down, Val. You haven't seen that back porch. Not to be mean, but it looks like YOU built it!"
"That is NOT a very nice thing to say! So much for not being mean!"
"No. I just mean it looks like a kindergartener did it."
"You're not helping yourself..."
"Somebody who has no idea how to build! That's all I meant. It's falling off..."
"You could have just said that. And not put MY name into it! Did HOS and his buddy find anything they wanted when they cleaned out the house?"
"A few knick-knack kind of things. They sold $125 in junk metal. HOS took one of the dryers home to use. They had a buddy who wanted the refrigerator. HOS said they took it to the carwash and cleaned it, but it's still not a prize."
Good thing Hick didn't say that refrigerator looked like something I would have...