Chapter 13

sarah Anthony And ruth and dau Paris.

While Lucy played mother at the Doc in a Box, Ruth worked in the field, and I cut the grass around the Chicken processing plant. I had no idea how I got that job. Out of the blue the plant manager called to asked if I would do it. It was my first time working a commercial job that large. Since it was good clean money, I wanted to do it right. I mowed the grass with my brand new, forty eight inch cut, lawn tractor with even more power. I bought the bigger Cubby, because I could fit my scraper blade on the front and the home made plow attachment on the rear of it. Oh the old Cub wasn’t dead, so I kept it for a back up. I didn’t like working with tools without having a back up for each one. If not on the trailer, at least I wanted the backup tool near by.

So I cut grass at the chicken plant, while Lucy got Paris her baby shots. After which she took Paris for an Ice cream cone, just the two of them. Paris’s shots cost Lucy more than I made for a tough day’s work at the chicken plant. Lucy loved playing mom. It kept her out of trouble, I supposed.

Ester had been playing soft ball with her buyers for almost two years, when she contacted me. I expected trouble. ‘We need to meet’, was the message inside her envelop of cash, which I picked up on a Monday afternoon. I found it after the chicken plant job. Ester was my only retail customer, and I began to feel that she was a lot more trouble than she was worth. I still did it because I liked the idea of being in the medical weed business. If some cop stumbled on the field, I could plead the good deed as a mitigating circumstance at trial. I might be able to get a reduced sentence at least. So I texted her a coded message to meet me at the park, at 6PM.

“So what’s up,” I asked, when she arrived.

“I have an acquaintance in North Wilkesboro. She wants me to hook her up with my supplier. That’s you of course,” she said with a smile.

“I can’t do it. I don’t save enough pot to do that,” I said. “I can give her contact information to my supplier, but I don’t expect he will supply her her either. The best thing you can tell her is that I can’t get enough to supply her needs.”

“She is willing to pass your entrance exam,” Ester said.

“If you went that far with her, then you must trust her,” I said. “Ester if you are trying to get my boss busted, you are going to get seriously dead. Dead women, not only don’t tell lies, they also don’t testify.”

“I know. You make that clear every time I ask for an increase in my package,” she said.

“How much does she want to buy,” I asked.

A pound,” Ester suggested.

“If I run this up the chain, you better be ready to make the delivery yourself. It’s going to take a week or two to get you an answer.”

I went home to call Amos with my burner phone. I used his burner phone number. “Amos do you do business with a Sarah Anthony.”

“I don’t know her right off hand, why?” he asked. I told him the whole story.

“So you see that she is in your area. She would be an easier customer for you to service, plus it was our agreement.” I replied.

“Well I would need the time to research her, so what quantity are you talking about?” he asked.

“All my contact knew was that she wanted a pound at first. She also wants the good stuff,” I replied. “I suspect she wants enough for the whole year. It’s what I would do, if I could afford it. She probably plans to package it herself.”

“I sounds kind of sketchy,” Amos said. “Is that why you are sending it to me.”

“Our agreement is that I don’t sell it in your area. I can make her come to me, but it’s technically your customer and your sale. If she is not a current dealer, then I guess it’s up to you. After all, I wouldn’t be hijacking your dealer.” I said.

“Tell you what Tyler, you can make a one time sale to her of the pound, but then she has to come to me. I’ll email you the name and address for her next purchase.”

“Gee thanks, you are putting me in the jackpot,” I said.

“Let’s say it’s payback for your past sins,” he said with a laugh.

“If there were any, this pays us up, or I won’t bring any more customers to you,” I said. Visions of Jarrett ran though my head of course.

“You do this, and the day she starts buying from me we are even,” he said.

“I’ll do this because it is the right thing for, almost, family to do. I am not doing it because I owe you,” I said.

Even though I had the decision made, I kept Ester waiting. Since we were growing a second crop for only the second time, I was concerned about the amount of weed we would produce. The plants had spent more time in the green house and less time in the field, we didn’t know or sure what the yield would be. We were still dialing in the timing on the green house plants. The labor was more than it usually was, but it was to be expected and manageable.

Instead of being out of the field in August, we were out of the field in September. But we had almost twice the yield. We sold all of the first crop to the distributor and saved the second growth for out own stash. It was way more than we needed. I figured I could always dump it on the distributor later. It would make him a nice after Christmas present.

I met Sarah at a rest area on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I had a pound of last years product in the truck. I got out of the truck after watching the drop sight with a GO Cam for an hour. I had attached it to one of the porch posts of the bathroom building. It covered the rest area, from a few feet outside the entrance all the way inside to the rear of the parking lot. A couple of families came and went before Sarah pulled into the lot.