Chapter 38

I could just imagine. She'd called him and laid down the law was my guess. Something like, "I want it now, not next week, and if you can get it to me yesterday it will be even better" - that's the message I thought he probably got.

"One thing I don't quite understand is the need for the winches," he said.

"Bite your tongue George. We're making a good living on those winches, so don't fuck it up," Bill said, and then laughed.

I could tell George was confused. Hell, I was confused and I started it.

"Mr Baugus, George, there's no need to get into the why. I caused it and there's nothing I can do to stop it now. We just have to get winches for the front bumpers and the backs of the tractors. That's all there is to it.

"I'm assuming you can get them and install them, with Bill's help and direction, if need be. I have no doubt you can find a way to make a profit on the deal, so let's just get our minds set on the tasks," I said.

I knew he was still curious, but at least he decided not to ask any more questions. He told us mother had already ordered another truck exactly like the one we'd bought the other day. He started explaining that he couldn't justify selling it for the same price.

"We don't expect you to George. In fact, it won't hurt my feelings if you make up some of what you should have made on the other one, and the trailer. She did order another bull rack too, didn't she?"

"Yes she did. I had to tell her I didn't have one like that here and she explained, carefully, that whatever you bought today had better have a nice looking trailer behind it when it got to your house. She explained it very carefully," George said.

"She can do that sometimes. Mother often has very specific requirements and she isn't shy about pointing them out. If you don't believe me, call Scott Jackson, the contractor that's working on the extension to our house.

"I'm going to let Bill fill you in later on the winch deal and everything he needs to get it done. He promised to ride herd on that for me. What I need now is a practice truck for Jacob and I and a nice looking trailer to go with it. I don't think we'll need it before tomorrow and maybe we can even stretch it to a day or two.

"So lets look at the best tractor you have here first thing," I said, trying to sound like I was only suggesting, but wanting to get the show on the road.

He led us right to it. I saw right away it wouldn't do, and told him so.

"What's wrong with it? I'm not trying to talk you into it, but I need to know about its drawbacks. It's the best truck I have."

"I'm sure it's a great truck, but you have to understand that mother will be basing her opinion largely on the way it looks. This one doesn't have aluminum wheels all around and the stacks are smaller. Mother likes big stacks. You can call Fitzsimmons and ream his ass out about them if you want to. He's the one to blame for that."

"The wheels are no problem and neither are the stacks. In fact, your truck has custom wheels that we had to install and its stacks are 8" - we installed them too. We can fix that overnight," he said.

"I didn't realize. Let me take a closer look."

I walked around the truck and from the outside it was nearly the same as the one we'd already bought. The big air cleaners didn't look the same and the aluminum wasn't as shiny. I didn't mention that yet, since I assumed if they could change the other things, they could change those too.

Inside, it wasn't as plush as my truck. The seats weren't real leather and the carpet wasn't nearly as nice. I looked into the sleeper and realized I should have noticed from the outside it was much smaller. I didn't think that would make any difference, but I wasn't sure. The transmission only had one stick and I hoped Mom hadn't paid any attention to that, but realized she probably had.

Bill had been looking around too and when I got down he climbed inside. He was back in just a few seconds.

"I think he can get it in shape for us. It shouldn't be much trouble to change out the seats and carpet, even if it takes him a few days to order more.

"Your mother probably won't be bothered if it can be put in shape later. We'll have to have the same extra gauges that are in the other truck though, but we won't be getting into them for a while," he said.

"Well, what about the air cleaners, I'm hoping they can be changed too?"

"They can be done by tomorrow too, but it will take a few days to order the same seats and carpet as your other truck," George said.

"Don't be afraid to have them shipped overnight if it will help, and if FedEx or UPS won't take items that large, let me know and I'll send after them.

"I don't mean to sound picky, but I know that I have to. The wheels and tanks on this truck just aren't as shiny as the other truck. Will you have to change the fuel tanks too?"

"Oh no, these haven't been polished out yet. We can have that by tomorrow too, if we can work everything out," he said.

My phone rang then. I asked them to excuse me and stepped away a few feet to answer. It was Kathy, calling from school.

"Hi baby, how's your day going?"

"It's just school, same old shit," she said, and giggled.

"I'm beginning to wish I was back in school. Mom has my nose to the grindstone today. Your Dad's too."

"I know, I called your house first and your Mom told me you were out buying another truck or two. When are you going to get hold of Karen?"

I checked to see if Bill and George were trying to listen, even though I was sure they wouldn't. They were at the front of the truck and Bill was on the ground looking up at the backside of the bumper, or that's what it looked like.

"I'm waiting until I can drive the truck well enough to pick her up in it."

"You'd better take me for a spin in it first you big meanie. I haven't even seen it yet."

"Don't worry, you know you come first."

"I don't have to come first, but I want a ride in the truck before you give Karen a ride on your big dick. I have to keep your priorities in line," she said, giggling again.

"I'll make sure you get a ride this weekend."

"Jimmy Breslin, you don't even know what day it is, do you? This is Friday already and you've lost track of the week," she said, laughing this time.

She was right. Things had been moving so fast I didn't realize it was Friday. I also knew I hadn't said a thing about picking her up tonight and I hoped she wasn't mad.

"Don't panic, you need to pick me up at six-thirty and your Mom has already called mine and Kim's. We're going to sleep over with Shelly and Shelia," she told me, and was back to giggling.

I started to tell her I was sorry but she cut me off, told me she loved me, and said she had to get to class.

I walked to the front of the truck where Bill was getting back up.

"No problems for the winch on either end, Jimmy. All I know that we need to do is have you take another look outside for other things that have to be taken care of," Bill said.

"What about the sleeper, it isn't like the one we have?"

"It will be more of a problem. I'm sure it can be done if it has to, but it will require lengthening the frame or replacing it completely," George said.

"That sounds like a very big problem to me," I said.

"It would probably be better to buy a Glider Kit and then worry what to do with what you have left over later," Bill said.

"I have to ask, what's a Glider Kit?"

"Like that," George said, pointing to a truck inside the fenced in storage area in back.

Looking at it more closely, I saw it only had wheels on the front and the frame rails at back seemed much too long. They were propped up at the ends on fifty-five gallon oil drums and there was no sleeper at all.

"They're often used to repair wrecked trucks or to update shabby tractors. They don't have an engine, transmission or rear axles. We just remove those from the old truck and install them in the Glider," George said.

I thought I understood what he was saying but I'll admit I couldn't figure out why you would want to do that. If it was a common thing though, I could see a loophole for us.

"So, after the new truck comes in, you could get a Glider Kit and change things around so we'd end up with three trucks exactly alike?" I asked.

"It's possible, but if you need three trucks to be alike, it would be cheaper to just order another new one and sell the one you don't want. Especially since you'd only be saving the rear axles from this truck by doing that. It has a different engine and transmission than your others," George said.

I'd forgotten about the transmission and hadn't even asked about the engine, and buying a practice truck, then selling it later had never entered my mind. That's probably because I couldn't remember us ever selling anything. I knew for a fact we still owned every limo we'd had since I was old enough to remember. They were stored in a garage somewhere in town.

Another light shined for me then. If we were going to build a bunch of barns anyway, we could move all those old limos into one of them. There were a lot of cars stored too, since Dad got a new one every year. I'd have to ask Francis how many cars and limos we had scattered around in downtown Atlanta.

Right now I needed to get this truck thing settled.

"I think we've gone over everything that had me worried, but what about the transmission? This one isn't the same," I said.

"It doesn't have to be. You and Jacob need to learn how to use more than one type. If it's a problem for your mother's approval, it can be changed too, but I don't think it needs to be. Let's try to slip this by her," Bill said.

"She might let it go, but I'm pretty sure it won't be because it slipped by her. She's a lot more observant than you'd think. We'll try it though.

"Now, George, what are we going to do about a trailer? I've already found out mother doesn't approve of trucks driving around without one."

"She mentioned that to me too. I only have one nice new trailer here. It's top of the line but it's a reefer," he said.

"What's a reefer?"

"It's a refrigerated trailer. Made to haul loads that need to be kept cold or frozen. They can haul normal freight too. Anything that can go in a dry van can go in a reefer also," Bill said, explaining.

George led us over to it then. It was on the other side of the lot. I liked it at once, but it was a sickly green.

There was a big tall white box-like attachment on the front and I assumed it took care of the cooling. It had big letters in its chrome trim that said Thermo King.

"It can't be that color. Can you have it repainted?" I asked.

"Yes, but not by tomorrow morning," George said.

"We have more time than I'd realized. It was Kathy that called and I didn't even know today was Friday. I hate to ask, but do you think you could have it done early next week?"

"We're open twenty-four seven. At least the shop is. It will be the same red as the truck by late tomorrow," George said.

"Can you paint the truck too?"

"If we need to we can," he said.

"I was thinking it would be a lot better if they were all the same red, and this one isn't the same red. It's red, but not the same red," I said.

"I'll take care of it. The other red was custom mixed but we can paint this one the same color with no problem.

"I guess we'll need to change wheels on the trailer too, since they aren't the same as the ones on your other truck," he said.

"Mother likes for things to match. She's having our neighbor's houses torn down because she doesn't think they go well with ours," I said.

"I understand. Well, no I don't exactly, but I know what I need to do now and I'm happy to," George said, grinning.

"Just call the bank if you will, and tell them how much to send over. If they think they need some kind of authorization, they know where to get it. I really appreciate all your help Mr Baugus," I said.

He told me again to call him George, then we all shook hands. Bill and I got in the hummer and headed back to my house. There wouldn't be any time for truck driving this morning.

"Since I've already left the car lot for the day, I'd like to go scout up some CB radios while you're off to your Dad's office," Bill said.

"That's great, I've always wondered about those. Where do you have to go get them?"

"You can find them in a lot of stores, but I use a guy that does custom work. He doesn't sell the normal CB," Bill said.

"Even better, Mom won't know a thing about it, but when she hears it's different and better, she'll be happy."

"I thought she might. They aren't cheap but they're not in the same league with other things you've been buying," he said.

"Will you need to have the bank send you a check or can it go on a credit card?" I asked.

"He'd prefer cash, in fact it's all he'll take. I'm afraid he isn't very forthcoming with the IRS," Bill said.

"You can just call Francis and tell her what you need. She'll have it sent out by courier. She's very efficient," I said.

"I'll do it. We might even be able to get him to install them and tune up the antennas," Bill said.

It sounded good to me and I told him so. We were back at the house and it was only eleven-thirty. Maybe I'd have time to wind down a little.

Bill started to leave to see the radio guy, but I talked him into coming in for lunch. After last time, it wasn't hard.

When we walked in the house I saw Jacob coming down the stairs. He looked shell-shocked and when he saw Bill and I, he smiled and headed our way.

"Man, I'm so happy to see you're back. I've been upstairs since you left, and I've been measured everywhere, twice. I must have tried on two-dozen shirts, belts, and I can't remember what. I hate to tell you, but you'll be in for it next week sometime," he said, grinning like he wasn't a bit sorry to be telling me.