Hughie turned to his partner and shouted, again, “Put some more coal on—it’s freezing in here and my beard hasn’t grown in yet!”

Hughie Hunduck sighed as he reached for the coal shovel. It was always like this. Sure, he was supposed to be an equal partner, but the truth was that he was always being yelled at like some minimum-wage peon. Ever since that weasel, Hunduck, had screamed he wasn’t going to take it anymore and stormed out, shrieking back that if he returned he was bringing a gun, they’d been understaffed. For some reason they just couldn’t fill the position, either; every time he and Hughie interviewed a prospective employee, the interviewee would look increasingly uncomfortable and then make some serous excuse and ooze out the door, looking over their shoulder as they ran out into the parking lot.

He sighed again. Maybe they should offer benefits. But if they did that… how would they afford the Binky?