I was almost dozing when the quiet woke me up. The excavator had stopped. I leaned forward and squinted at the grainy monitor. The crew was gathered in front of the machine, closed in a tight knot. Then Jay and Lawrence stepped back, and Marie walked out from between them with her arms held out in front of her. I couldn’t see what the hell was going on, so I moved to the window. Marie passed beneath it, not looking up, and I saw that she held a snapping turtle, scooped out of hibernation, its shell crushed in the middle. The turtle’s legs kicked slow responses to its spine’s final currents. It beaked around for something to bite. Marie walked over into the scrub grass, past the tower of excavated clay. She knelt down and let the turtle roll to the ground, waited through its last spasm. She took a cigarette from her pocket, peeled back the paper, and let the contents fall near the broken animal. Jay and Lawrence waited at the machine, leaning on their shovels. Marie rejoined them, and swung herself back up into her seat. The excavator rumbled up again. The whole thing had taken maybe three minutes.

Was I supposed to do something? I looked at the list of protocols on the wall, but I didn’t really read it. Instead, I turned back to the screen, embarrassed by my own curiosity. I kept watching, but nothing like that happened again.

I ate lunch by myself, a ham sandwich Shane had bought me. On the screen, I watched the crew climb into their truck to eat with the heat going. Then I had to pee, and no one had said anything to me about that. So I went out and stood near the truck, but the crew didn’t look out at me. Inside, I could see them laughing and talking, passing the thermos around. Finally, Lawrence opened the door and said, “Was it something you wanted?”

“Is there somewhere to take a piss around here?” I asked. Jay laughed, Lawrence blushed, but Marie rolled her eyes.

“Just pop a squat any old place,” she said. “You’d think they’d provide porta johns. If I ever see that, I’ll let you know.”

So I squatted behind the trailer. When I opened the door to go back inside, Marie’s voice stopped me. “Hey, foreman,” she called, rolling down the window. “Thought you was experienced.” Laughter from the cab. There was really nothing for me to say. Marie wasn’t waiting for an answer. She’d already rolled up the window. I hid myself in my container.