D I V O R C E by cmsix

Chapter 24

They'd fixed Ranch Style Beans and Wolf Brand Chili tonight and plenty of frybread. I realized at once that I hadn't clued them in to what powdered milk was and how it could make cornbread worth eating. My next thought was that there probably wouldn't be time to do it before we went back.

After we'd eaten, Louise shocked me. She sat me down in the recliner and brought me a long neck. I knew damned well that she didn't approve of firewater, even though I didn't know how she knew about it. Obviously they had something similar but I'd never seen any of it back then. Still I wondered why she was bringing me a beer.

"Bill need relax, work hard today," she said, when she saw my look of surprise.

"Yes. Bill tired," Nancy and Helen agreed.

What the hell, Bill relaxed, and when I had to consciously release the tension in the muscles at the back of my neck, I knew they were right on the money.

Louise actually brought me another beer after the first one was finished and she wouldn't let me turn it down. When it was done they took me to the bedroom, undressed me and put me to bed without letting me get anything started. They kept saying I needed to rest, so I did.

As normal as of late, I woke with the sunrise and so did the girls. They got first crack at the bathroom but when they let me have a turn I told them not to cook anything. After I was dressed we hopped in the truck and headed for Daingerfield to find a cafe for breakfast. They decided they liked scrambled eggs and sausage.

We went right back to the camper after eating and Louise made Mr Coffee do its thing. At eight AM I took a chance and called Milton's number and he answered right away.

After the pleasantries that I already knew I couldn't get out of I began detailing the things that he'd need to pay today and that would be coming up shortly. That's when the first snag came up with him.

He tried to ease into it but it boiled down to his alarm at how fast I was spending a lot of money. I wanted to tell him to shove it but decided to try setting him straight before going to the bother of moving my money.

"Milton, I fully intend to spend at least five of the six million dollars in the next two weeks. I had it deposited in your bank because I already had an account there.

"I realized that you probably couldn't give me the kind of service I needed, but I was willing to let you have a chance. You just used up your last one.

"If you don't want to handle this business, without butting in, let me know and I'll move the money today. You're my banker, not my financial advisor," I said, and then shut my mouth.

Talk about a change in attitude, Milton had a conversion right before my ears. He was getting wound up to apologize but I wouldn't let him get it going.

"Don't bother with apologizing. I'm not mad, but I have things to do and even more things to buy. I won't be disposing of all the money. Before I have to travel again there will still be at least half a million, and it will just sit in the checking account. You should be able to come out with that, and don't be afraid to charge me a reasonable amount for your help. Just do what I ask and we'll all make money," I said.

He didn't give me any more static after that and he was very attentive while I explained what I needed out of him today.

A call to Carl in Woodville was next. He was happy to send a man to Lone Star with my pickup and he said he had one that could stay until it was done. I had him rent the guy a car to use while he was up here because there damned sure wasn't a motel or hotel worth shit in either Lone Star or Daingerfield. Mt Pleasant was the closest place he could get anything decent and I knew it.

After that was settled I gave Bruce a call and he said that everything was going fine. He'd hired Jack Parsons to help with the job and he had already spoken to Milton. In fact, his and Jack's welding trucks were already mine and they had their money.

I didn't have time to let him thank me, so when he tried to get started I asked him about the steel. He'd placed the orders at T&N and they said they could start loading trucks tomorrow. I told him I'd get the trucking company moving and give them his phone number. He said he could let them know exactly who to call to get the details.

My next call was Julia at Schneider. The prepayment must have done its job because all she wanted was for me to tell her was where and when. She said that the empties should be arriving at my drop yard sometime this morning since they'd had some at their Houston yard and the rest in Dallas getting empty. Julia told me she'd called the yard and spoken with one of my employees there to let them know the trailers were on the way.

I wondered how in the hell Carl had gotten a phone connected so quickly and next I wondered how Julia knew the number. I hadn't even asked Carl about it when I talked to him since I hadn't dreamed he'd be set up there so quickly. That could wait though.

"Julia, do you have flatbed service?" I asked.

"Yes, we've just started a flatbed division," she said.

"Great."

I gave her Bruce's number and told her that we would need several trucks right away and that the freight would need to be dropped at the yard too. She didn't give me any shit at all about that and even offered me a slight discount on the demurrage. Seems that they really had just started the flatbed division and that the trailers they'd ordered had begun arriving much more quickly than new drivers had. They had trailers sitting around apparently.

The last thing we discussed was tarps. I told her that all loads would need full tarps and they had to be in place and photographed before the bills were released. I also would have the tarping job inspected before they were allowed to drop the trailers and that any adjustments required would have to be done.

This was not an uncommon requirement, except for the part about dropping the trailers with the tarps still on the load. Skateboard haulers were notorious for skipping the tarping job if they could get their bills without doing it, then they usually just hoped it didn't rain on the load or that it wouldn't show later if it did.

Hell, independents would even untarp after they were made to tarp and then tarp again just before they delivered, all to save wear and tear on tarps that they had to furnish out of their own pocket. At least that wasn't going to be a problem in this case since Schneider was furnishing the tarps.

If the loads were tarped when they left and the drivers knew they weren't going to have to take them off when they arrived they damned sure wouldn't try to save the company money by untarping for the trip and retarping before they delivered.

It was coming around to lunchtime when I got off the phone with Julia, so I gathered the girls up and we headed back to the same cafe. We had burgers and fries and my little harem all thought they were grand. We were off to Longview after that, because I wanted to see John Nathan.

Forty-five minutes later we pulled up into the lot at John and Scotty's tire shop and garage. I was impressed that Scotty had already put up a new sign and even given John top billing. I was also impressed that the lot was full of cars and pickups. John was the first one I saw when I walked into one of the shop doors.

"Bill, how the hell are ya," John said, as if we were long time friends.

"Doing good, John, and how 'bout you. Looks like ya got plenty of business, today anyway," I said.

"Thank God this is a slow one. We stay covered completely up almost every day. Course that makes it profitable," he said.

"I just got back yesterday and noticed that you hadn't stayed with the terms of our agreement," I said, trying to look stern.

"What do you mean, Bill? I paid the whole note off already," he said.

"That's what I mean, you didn't deduct for that Barrett, the ammunition, or that scope I didn't even realize came with it until I started wanting to shoot it," I said.

"It just didn't feel right, Bill. I knew you didn't really want that thing and I felt bad about springing it on ya. We're coining money here and even though it was a little of a squeeze, Carrol and I decided that we couldn't take advantage of you like that," he said.

"I'm not gonna argue with you about it John. If you don't show me the invoices for all that and let me give you a check I'm gonna have the bank put it all back in your account and tell them not to take anymore from you," I said.

"Carrol told me you'd probably try something like that, right after she dug it out of me how much I paid for that whole mess," he said.

"Well I'm going to tell you something that you can't tell anyone but Carrol. That Barrett has already saved my life twice since I got it. I'd be dead if you hadn't come by that night to sell it, and I'm not going to let you give it to me. I wouldn't sell it back to you now for a hundred thousand.

"I don't have time to rassle it out right now, but I'm going to put Milton on your case and he'll make you take it all back if you don't show him the invoices and let him write you a check," I said.

"Aw all right, I'll get Carrol to take 'em down there tomorrow. I can't afford to get crossways with Milton either. Scotty and me are doing so well we're fixing to open another place across town, and Milton's doing the financing for us," he said.

"No he ain't," I said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean * I'm * doing the financing for you. Haven't I been a good banker so far?" I asked.

"Well hell yeh, I've never heard of one nearly as good as you, but this is a bigger deal Bill. It's nearly a hundred and sixty," he said.

"You want it in your personal account or in a business account?"

That stumped him. He did the mouth opening and closing thing that I'd seen a few places lately and then got a grip.

"Let's go talk to Scotty about it," he said finally.

Scotty was just as surprised, maybe even more so. He didn't need near as much convincing though, but he nearly fainted when I drew up the paperwork, and I could tell Milton wasn't all that pleased when I called him to make the transfer. But two hundred k still wasn't millions and he bit his tongue and did the deal.

With that over and done I asked the two of them what we were gonna do about my new truck.

"What do you need done about it," John asked.

"I need a set of wheels, might as well make them aluminum, and a set of Monster Mudders for it, air shocks and a belt drive compressor under the hood too. I don't know if you can even get me dual aluminum wheels for the back," I said.

"I'm pretty sure we can get some of those new super singles for the back and some extra wide wheels, but I don't know if we can get wheels for dual Monster Mudders. It's never come up," Scotty said.

"I think I saw one done like that, before the mill laid us off. It belonged to one of those damned Cat drivers. Have you got a few days for us to check it out," John said.

"A few days is all I do have, ten to be exact," I said, "but if you can find 'em anywhere, I don't mind paying to have 'em shipped here overnight," I said.

"If we can find something that will work we'll get 'em Bill. I'm gonna get on the phone right now," Scotty said, and got up to go back to his office.

"He'll find 'em Bill. He does all that crap full time now while I run the shop. He can find anything," John said.

"Well, I'll check back tomorrow afternoon to see how you come out with it. It was good to see ya John, but I got a few other things to take care of," I said, and after about the same from John I went back to the girls.

We drove to Lone Star then and I let the girls off at the camper before driving over to Bruce's shop. I wasn't even out of the truck before I saw something else I needed to buy a lot of. PVC pipe. I went on inside though.

Bruce stopped what he was working on, took off his gloves and helmet and walked toward me, sticking his hand out to shake. Jack gave me a grin and a wave but just kept welding.

"How's it going Bruce?" I asked.

"Hell, I've got the world by the tail again now, thanks to you," he said.

"I'm glad it worked out for both of us. Damn, it looks like you and Jack are doing a hell of a lot already," I said.

"We've been at it ok, and we plan to keep at it. We're gonna stay with it from can to can't.

"Do you know of another hand that would help instead of get in the damned way? If you do, hire him, but be damned sure you charge me for time and a half for anything over eight, double time for weekends, and double time and a half after eight on weekends," I said.

"We don't need to go that far Bill, we'll come out good as it is," he said.

"Bruce, are you forgettin' I'm a Steelworker, a union man? Just because you ain't organized don't mean you won't be paid like you were."

"Organized, there's only the two of us for fuck sake," he said.

"Don't matter. After I head back out in a couple of weeks I might not never be back. You need to make money while ya can; I want to pay ya while I can. I didn't come here for the cheapest job."

"Damned if I ever thought I'd be doin' work for a guy who wanted to pay me more than he had to," he said.

"And you know you won't get to hit a lick like this many times. You won't gouge me and I know it, but while you got this chance you need to make every cent you can stand. You got a wife and kid to make payments on and even if you don't think you need it they will."

"Ok, ok."

"Now, do you know another welder that's any damned good and needs a break? If you don't know one that's good and needs a break, I'll settle for one that's just good," I said.

"Randy was by here three days before you called me. Him and Gerald are fussin' again and he was huntin' some work. You know he turns out top-notch work, can do any damned thing, and can work longer at a stretch than anyone I ever saw. He does take his little smoke breaks though," Bruce said.

"I don't give a shit how many he burns, long as he don't get to where the soap stone gets away from him."

"I'll call and see if I can still get him then, and I'll keep an eye on him," Bruce said.

"I ain't worried about Randy. When he smells cash and needs some he is a caution. Make sure he knows it's a short job and he'll hit it even harder. Front him a grand or so too, just in case. I don't want Marilyn's horses going without feed," I said.

I was so happy that he'd mentioned Randy and made me think of Marilyn and her horses that I could've shit right there. I didn't care about the Tennessee Walkers she raised, but it reminded me how damned nice it would be to have a few good horses back where I was going. That made me think of snaggin' a few damned milch cows too. I wondered if Schneider had any bull racks, but I wasn't done with Bruce yet.

"Do you know anything about where to get PVC pipe by the truckload?" I asked.

"Yeh, I never bought that kind of quantity but I know where to, and I'll be glad to order it for ya if you need some," he said.

We went to his office and the more I thought about it the more it sounded like something that would be handy. I ended up ordering a lot more than I thought I could ever use, but hell, that stuff is cheap.

It ended up with Bruce promising to order a straight truck of every normal size between three-eights and four-inch in both drain line and schedule forty. I even talked him into getting about three times as many fittings for it all as he thought I could ever use and twice as much glue. I know Julia was going to be happy as a pig in shit when she got the call to pick that stuff up.

Right before I left Bruce's shop to head back to my camper it hit me that I was forgetting one of the most important things I needed. I doubted he'd know anything about it but I asked anyway.

"Bruce, do you know of a good place to buy a generator, one that would take care of a trailer house or two until the utilities got put in? I'd want it to do a good job, not a get by type of thing."

"I don't know where to get new ones like that, but I know about two damned good used setups. That nursing home over in Atlanta just got bought out and the hell of it is it was bought out so it could be closed. They had two complete new setups put in about six months ago. I went over to take a look at 'em to see if there was any way I could figure out to make a few bucks selling 'em. I couldn't come up with anything though.

"If things were still going good around here I'd have bought 'em just on the chance. They don't want even a tenth of what they cost to start with, for the whole deal. Propane tanks, engines, generators, control setup and all," he said.

"Why did they have such an expensive setup for emergency power?" I asked.

"Hell, it wasn't emergency power. You know who owned it don't you?"

"Dicky got it when Lester died didn't he?" I asked.

"Yep, and you know how he felt about taxes and stuff. The place had never had any utilities from the start. They had there own water wells, their own septic system and their own electricity.

"It started out because the power company wanted to charge them twenty thousand to put the lines to them when they built the place. Lester wouldn't pay that and he put in a single unit to run off propane. Hell, that didn't even cost him five thousand, and propane was dirt-cheap back then.

"Dicky got them setup with some type of energy credit thing on some government program about two years ago, and he put in the new system because he got such a hellacious tax credit over it. He told me himself once that the money he saved on taxes was more than the propane would ever cost, even if it went to a dollar a gallon," Bruce said.

"Will you call and see if you can get it for me?" I asked.

"Sure, I can probably talk them into selling only one setup," he said.

"Hell, don't you dare, I want it all," I said, and then grinned as I left.

Thinking of calling Bruce in the first place had been a hell of a deal for me. I'd have to make sure he was in good shape before I left.

The girls were cooking when I got back to the camper and they didn't let me do one thing except sit in the recliner and drink a couple of beers.