What word should fill in the blank?

For countless hours of his youth, Eddie longed for his father's attention, sitting on railings, squatting on his short pants atop tool chests in the repair shop. Often he would offer, "I can help, I can help," but the only job ______ on him was crawling beneath the worktable in the morning to pick up the screws and nails that had dropped on the floor from the day's work.

Could someone please let me know what word should fill in the blank?

Many thanks.