Chapter 61

Day Sixty-one - Friday

Someone was banging on the door. I slipped on my shorts, grabbed the 9-mil and went to what was my front door, the opposite from the patio door. I turned on the outside light then peeped through the peephole. Shawna was standing there with a sheriff's deputy.

Now what?

I quickly opened the door, and before I could ask what was up, Shawna was in my arms saying, "You have to help us, Steve, please, Charlie's on the way to the hospital, he's in bad shape, help us, Steve."

I motioned for the deputy to come in and I brought Shawna with me as I went to the back to wake up Sue.

Sue and Sandy were already sitting up when I brought Shawna back to the bedroom. She leaped from my arms to Sue's as soon as she saw her and was again begging for help. I began dressing quickly so I could go find out how bad Charlie was. Sue said she would follow with Shawna as soon as she and Sandy were dressed.

The deputy said the best that they could determine was Charlie was turning into the park when a car hit him from the rear and took off. Shawna was thrown off and landed in some bushes, but Charlie rode the bike into a ditch. A resident had seen it happen and had even gotten a partial license plate number, with a description of the pickup truck that hit Charlie. The deputy said Charlie was alive, but badly broken up. I told the deputy that I would drive my truck to the hospital.

At the park entrance there were several sheriff's cars, a fire truck, and a tow truck with Charlie's bike hanging from the hook. I stopped and asked the driver to put the bike in the back of my pickup. The deputy that had brought Shawna to the house waved for the tow truck operator to do it.

Twenty minutes later, I was at the University Community Hospital over on Fletcher and Bruce B. Downs Blvd., trying to convince an emergency room administrator that I was one of Charlie's family members. They finally let me through to see Charlie trussed up on an emergency room gurney with a nurse, or tech, or whoever, taking Charlie's blood pressure. Charlie was awake and instantly held out a hand to me asking, "Shawna? Where's Shawna? Is she, is she okay? Please say she's okay."

"Shawna's okay. She didn't get hurt. She's on her way with Sue and Sandy. She'll be here soon. Relax, let's worry about you, Shawna will be here soon."

"Thank God she's okay. I didn't even know anyone was behind me. We didn't even stop at the clubhouse or the bar, we just went for a ride. Steve, what am I going to do, we don't have health insurance and the insurance on the bike is only for ten grand. This is going to take our house and everything."

"Don't worry about it, Charlie, Shawna's insurance covers you too, and trust me, I'll find the guy that hit you and he will pay. He'll pay good, I promise."

"I hope you're right, Steve, we're just getting on our feet with Shawna making such good money. We just can't lose it all now."

Shawna, Sandy, and Sue came in at that second, along with a nurse and a guy with some papers.

Charlie could see Shawna was dirty and scratched up a little, but was okay. They gingerly hugged before the guy said he was taking Charlie to x-ray, so we needed to go back to the waiting room. Shawna said she wasn't leaving Charlie. The guy started to give Shawna some trouble but the nurse said to let her go with him, as they had both been though a traumatic situation.

Back in the waiting room, the sheriff's deputy that had brought Shawna to our door was waiting for Shawna so he could get her statement. He said he had no problem waiting for her, as this was a criminal investigation. He said his Captain knew both of us and insisted he treat us as dignitaries.

The deputy described the crash scene and how they had found Shawna keeping Charlie quiet where he lay. The park resident that had seen the crash and had run to the street, saw the pickup stop and the backup lights come on. When the guy had yelled at the pickup driver, the driver took off, but not before the guy got most of the license number and the make and color of the pickup. The deputy said that the state police were probably at the driver's front door arresting him at that moment.

He received a call on his portable, answered, and had a short conversation full of codes and police jargon. When he was finished he said, the police had stopped the hit and run driver as he was driving into his driveway, so they had the truck with the damage on the front, along with the guy driving it.

The Captain that had been involved with my past exploits entered into the waiting room. He came up to me and shook my hand saying he hoped my friend, Shawna's husband, was going to be alright. The Captain then told the deputy that I had been the one to help out and save the deputy that had been shot a few weeks ago.

"So, this the same guy that was in all those gun battles at that same park?" the deputy asked.

"He's the one, and that little girl that you helped tonight, is the one that was in the gunfight with Steve and capped that burglar not long ago."

"That little thing, she can't be but about five foot or so."

"And mean as a bobcat. Small, but vicious," I added.

The deputy stuck his hand out, "Thanks for helping one us when he was down. That was a brave and crazy thing to do."

The sheriff's Captain and the deputy said they were going for some coffee and would bring back some for everyone.

Sue and Sandy had sat down to stay away from people, as they were upset too. When I went to sit down, the two separated and motioned for me to sit between them. This looked like it could take a while. I looked around and saw that it was just after one in the morning.

An hour or so later, Shawna came out saying that they were going to clean Charlie up and put a cast on his leg and his arm in a sling as he had a broken collar bone. He had a couple dislocated fingers, but they were back where they should be now. Charlie wasn't comfortable, but he said he was going to be all right. We were able to check Charlie out of the hospital a little after three. We had Charlie in a full leg cast and his arm in a sling. He was drugged a little now, and was supposed to stay a little out of it for a day or so.

We loaded Charlie into the back seat of the truck with the wheelchair in the back with his bike. I drove home carefully trying to avoid the usual bumps in the road. When we got to the park, I stopped in front of Charlie's place to take him inside.

I was about to lift him out when Tom and Al magically appeared, saying to let them haul him, and I was to make sure there wasn't anything to trip over. Shawna wanted him on the bed for tonight, saying she would be able to take care of him now that they had him inside.

By the time everyone cleared out of Charlie's and went home it was almost four thirty in the morning. So much for sleep, as it was almost too late to even think of going back to bed.

All three of us lay down on top of the covers and drifted off. I woke every ten minutes or so to check the time.

I got up at six fifteen, started the coffee and jumped into the shower. When I went out to the patio at six thirty, everyone from our group that lived in the park, except for Shawna and Charlie were there. Even Mandy and Drew, as Al had called Drew to tell him about what had happened.

I finally woke the two girls at seven. They thanked me for letting them get a little extra sleep. They jumped into the shower to help themselves wake up.

We all agreed that we would help Shawna with Charlie. Glenda said she would make sure Shawna had all the help she needed today and we could take turns in the evening if it were needed. This evening we would get him in his wheelchair and over to the patio so he could at least visit with people. The collarbone heals fast, like three to four weeks if you don't bump it, but the leg was going to take every bit of six weeks.

When someone suggested that we should have a benefit party for Charlie, there was instant enthusiasm. I thought we might do one with hard core biker friends and one for the folks in the park. I didn't feel too comfortable mixing a bunch of clubbers with the innocent folk that lived around here. I knew if I asked Hap, he would control his folks but there were guys that Charlie knew that could get stupid when they had too much to drink. We would do a 50/50 raffle at each of the parties along with a couple of drawings for stuff we could go out and beg. Jim said he would ask the dealer if he might help with a couple of T-shirts or something.

I said we would take the bike into the shop and begin to tear it down to see what it would take to get it right as Charlie was going to want to get up on it as soon as he could. Sandy and Mandy said that they would tear it down after work tonight and see what it would need. Since it was going to be apart, they thought Charlie might appreciate a rebuild. The girls were assured the shop would stand for any parts they might need.

Perhaps when Shawna was feeling better, she could think of something special for Charlie in the way of paint and customizing.

Phil and Tiny said they knew a lot of businesses that they could get to donate something simple that folks would want.

It was nice to hear how we all pulled together when one of our own needed help. At seven forty-five we all took off for the shop and a busy day ahead.

When we arrived, Abe was using the big forklift to pull pallets of steel sheeting from a truck backed into the yard. The steel company shipped both the regular steel and the stainless steel. Al and Dan would be busy for a while.

Al made a list of local companies that I could get the good locks and drawer rails from, but said the boom-lift the other company was using was one of the best.

Dan said to leave them to start, as they had a plan. If I could pick up the other parts, they would appreciate it.

I called the two vendors that had the locks and drawer rail sets. I bought four sets, but said I would be back for at least ten more sets within a week, so they could order more of what we needed. The drawer rail supplier said he would like to see what we were going to use them for so he could be sure we were using the right ones. I agreed with that and told him to drop by as soon as he could. The folks in Shawna's shop were a little down, but determined to put out quality work whether she was there or not. Hank said he had all of the ancillary equipment for the big trucks staged on pallets so he could install them as soon as a truck was ready. He asked if I would mind if he stripped Charlie's bike when he wasn't busy doing something.

I went to my office to get the digital camera. I took pictures of the bike from every angle so there wouldn't be a lot of discussion of what was needed to repair the bike, then gave Hank permission to take some direction from Sandy and Mandy and have a good time.

Al and Dan were all assholes and elbows cutting pieces of steel for the various panels, shelves, doors, and drawers. It looked like they were cutting out more than one bed at a time. I would leave what they did up to them, as they said they had a plan.

I made it up front in time to greet the vendor for the drawer rails. I took him back to our truck to show him what we were building, but had designed a few drawers into the bed for easier storage. I mentioned that we were building an all stainless steel model to see if it would sell.

He suggested a heavier duty rail and guide as the steel drawers were going to be heavy and could wear a lesser rail out. I asked if he would have the heavy-duty rails in stock and of course he did, but only enough for ten trucks. He would order more from the factory. He asked if I had any literature on the utility body and told him that so far we had only sold the truck as a complete unit.

I gave him a CD and one our new brochures saying that I would certainly appreciate his talking up our product. He was fascinated by the guys in the frame area, and watched the guys working the sheet metal. I walked him over to Abe's shop and showed him all of the men in the process of re-building large generators.

He said he would have the drawer rails delivered as soon as he returned to his warehouse and thanked me for the business.

Debbie told me there were two more orders for trucks and had called them to warn them that delivery could be delayed as we were a little behind due to the quantity of orders. It is amazing that we were selling so many big-ticket items. The new big generators could go all the way up to a hundred grand and these trucks were over a hundred thousand, but sales for both were more than brisk. The outside people were doing a great job. Tiny was going to have a fit figuring commission out for all of them and doubling it. I didn't care whether we were paying double the commission for a month. The way the orders were rolling in, the manufacturers was going to give us unheard of discounts for volume. The first thing they were going to do was free freight, but that would just encourage more sales.

Gene called to tell me that my truck was a hit with all the folks. He said we didn't even have to open it up because all the crews were having a good time checking out the neat paint.

I asked him if he thought the truck would pay for itself. His reply shocked me.

"I wish I had thought of it. Your guys are so busy selling odds and ends that they're going to run out of everything quick. Every crew has bought a part from them, something they forgot or broke. I think they're close to being out of sheet metal, and I know they've already sold the Dodge engine, as one of the teams blew their motor in practice. I told the team owner that he wouldn't blow one from you unless he abused it. My crew chief said that he had heard of a couple of teams with bad motors and had suggested they get them rebuilt at your shop. They showed off one of your rebuilds in our number two car, saying that rebuilt engine took an accident and made it back up to a top ten finish.