All the Night Custodians

Leroy was the head custodian, 63 years old, tall and fat, with a short fuzzy white beard like Santa Claus trying out something new. He took to me quickly even if I didn’t look the part, my skinny little arms and smooth little hands fit for, at most, a keyboard. I was assigned to the math wing on the first floor of the high school—which also included the gym and the nurse’s office—but I had some trouble my first day because the route wasn’t properly explained. I was rushing around until a few minutes to midnight trying to finish, and when I showed up the following afternoon Leroy beamed like I had passed through some gauntlet and now the real work could begin. “I didn’t think you’d come back,” he said.