MORNING COFFEE

Discussion Forum
41

“OK Johnny, here’s my situation”, said Crenshaw, “Your buddy Jordon has convinced me that war is coming to Europe. Not everyone agrees, but I think he is right. I want you to take over the Texaco Station. We hire another boy to pump gas, wash windshields, and clean up. You run it for me and do basic mechanical work, tune-ups, tires, oil changes, tires, etc. I’ll teach you billing, most by the book for time, and you make things work. I’ve watched you closely, you can do well at this, and your pay will be base plus a percentage of what you bring in doing mechanical work. Would you consider it?”

“Mr. Crenshaw, that would be a dream come true for me, you can count on me, I won’t let you down!” said Johnny.

“Good!’ exclaimed Crenshaw, “I have total confidence in you, there will be a construction crew here next week to add two bays.”

Mr. Crenshaw extended his hand and they shook.

Johnny had a lot on his plate. The Texaco Station was ten hours a day, six days a week, plus he was helping Jordon with building the bull pen, the hog pen, and fencing the pasture. And he would start making whiskey as soon as the first batch of mash had finished fermenting, and once a week every week after that. He liked being busy and felt very successful, time flies when you are having fun!

Copyright Tom Hicks

Tomorrow: “Why isn’t Johnny in school?”,

42

Crenshaw and Jordon had never been enemies, but they had never really been friends either. Now they grew closer because they both liked to see Johnny’s progress and respected each other’s views on the war they felt was coming. Many Americans were isolationist and refused to believe that there would be a war or that America would/should be involved if there was a war in Europe.

“Why isn’t Johnny in school?”, asked Crenshaw, “that boy is smarter than both of us put together and for a good future he needs education.”

“His mother pulled him out at thirteen-years-old.” Said Jordon, “she said he could read scripture and do his sums so he didn’t need any more education. Plus, they were teaching anti-Bible evolution in high school science and she wouldn’t have that.”

“He can do well like he is going”, said Crenshaw, “but he has ability, with an education he could do very well, just a shame.”

“You’ve helped him a lot, he always steps up to the plate, and he can do just fine with automotive knowledge. Working for you, and you being on the Draft Board, he can run the Texaco Station right on through the war and then go on to being a machinist or whatever”, said Jordon.

“Wait a minute, I can’t keep him out of the draft, that would be unethical, and when war comes we need men like Johnny fighting for us on the front.” Said Crenshaw.

“But who will run your Texaco station?”, asked Jordon.

“That is just me” said Crenshaw, “this is a lot bigger than me, this is about Europe and that damn dictator Hitler. We are talking about a national effort here, everyone will have to sacrifice.”

Jordon nodded, this wouldn’t be pretty.

Copyright Tom Hicks

Tomorrow: There was lots of talk about the possible killer,

43

The word was out, the Sheriff had inspected the area where the body was found with lots of bear tracks, and there were many bear toothmarks on the body, but Petey’s body had been dug up by the bear and drug a quarter mile. Someone had killed Little Petey and buried his body in a shallow grave back in the woods, the bear just found it and dug it up.

There was lots of talk about the possible killer, but the Sheriff had little to go on. Small caliber handgun was used and the murder had occurred about two months before. Potential suspects included Johnny, his mother, the Baptist Boys, and lots of others who had a grudge with Little Petey who had made lots of enemies over the years.

Small towns like Chester weren’t accustomed to so much buzz and excitement. Rumors flew, suddenly everyone knew of someone who had a disagreement with Little Petey at some time and exaggerated stories were told of threats made by and against him. Embellishment would be an understatement is describing most of the stories, and most everyone defended Johnny. And most everyone believed that Johnny had done it.

Little Petey’s funeral was well attended, everybody wanted to be there. No one speaks ill of the dead in the south, unless they first say, “Bless his heart.” “Bless his heart”, was said a lot that day.

Little Petey’s body got a good Christian burial and the threat of his return was lifted, easing the minds of Melanie, Johnny, and Sally.


Copyright Tom Hicks

Tomorrow: "…Don’t never mess with a Guernsey bull.”

44

The farmer’s AA pulled into Jordon’s driveway. It carried an angus bull and three hogs.

“Right on time” said Jordon, “can I get you to drive down that backroad a quarter mile and pull over at the pen I got built?”

“Sure”, said the driver, dropping the Ruckstell into low.

Johnny joined Jordon to help unload as the driver backed up to the ramp leading into the pen.

“Angus bulls are good tempered” Jordon said to Johnny, “easy to handle and not dangerous. Don’t never mess with a Gurnsey bull, they can kill ya.”

“He looks strong.” said Johnny.

“He is a nice one”, said Jordon, “see how muscular his legs are down to the knees, and how short his legs are. These angus are bred to be beef cattle, and they have excellent flavor. This bull is the most important member of the herd. There are others who are buying because they see the war coming, prices are going up, but I got this bull good.”

“Along with three hogs”, laughed Johnny.

“Yeah, stinkin’ hogs” said Jordon, but they will fatten up fast, And I know you like bacon!”

“Pressures on Johnny”, said Jordon, I found a herd of cows I might get, be arriving in a month, that pasture gonna be finished?”

“A month!”, exclaimed Johnny, “That’s a lot of bob wire to string up for fifty acres.”

“Three sides are forest, we can nail it to the trees on the edge of the pasture, then I got posts for the north side. Digging all those holes will slow us down, I might have to get some extra help. But we can do this!”, said Jordon.

“Then how much cross fencing?” asked Johnny.

“Crisscross” said Jordon, “it will equal four 12 acre pastures when we are done. But for now, we need to finish the perimeter.”

Copyright Tom Hicks

Tomorrow: Johnny had four mash barrels going,

45

The Sheriff had gone back out in the woods to where Little Petey’s body was found. There were lots of bear tracks and he revisited the site where the bear had dug the body up drug the body about a quarter mile. He could not find a gun or any indication that another person was involved, but someone had shot Little Petey with a small caliber handgun and buried the body back in the woods, back in the woods close to the barn on the back of Jordon’s property where Johnny lived.

Johnny had four mash barrels going, one started each week, and it was time to run one off. The mash put off an aroma of fermentation. As the yeast converted the sugars to alcohol, CO2 was given off. Good mash could be 10% alcohol, but that alcohol had to be separated from the mash. This was accomplished through fractional distillation. Water boils at 212F, alcohol around 190F. So the trick was to heat the mash to around 200F where the alcohol would boil off and escape from the mash in the form of steam. That steam would rise and condense in copper tubing which was water cooled on the outside. Jordon understood how to accomplish this process and taught it to Johnny. They were getting ready for Johnny’s first run.

That afternoon the bear was sniffing around and the smell of mash carries a long distance. The bear honed in on it and soon found Jordon’s barn. It takes a lot to stop a hungry, 350 lb. black bear, and it tore into Jordon’s barn no problem. It started slurping on the first mash barrel, filled with fermenting corn mash of 10% alcohol. It dumped the barrel over and ate the alcohol soaked corn at the bottom.

A drunken bear is a force to be reckoned with, and Johnny came home to hear a mean, disoriented, drunk bear tearing up his living space.


Copyright Tom Hicks

Tomorrow: the bear and Buddy went around trying each other.

46

Buddy was out of the RPU before Johnny could think and ran directly through the open barn door, howling.
Johnny had fashioned a holder for his shotgun on his RPU and quickly pulled the gun out as he slowly approached the door the bear had torn open. There was a lot of noise from the commotion inside as the bear and Buddy went around trying each other.

Johnny had suspected the bear was in the area, and now he was pretty sure the bear and Buddy were at close quarters in the barn. Johnny sure wasn’t going in. He set up abut fifty feet from the door, shotgun ready.

After about five minutes the bear came charging out of the barn’s side door with Buddy biting at his hind leg. The bear quickly spun and just missed Buddy with a paw swipe. Buddy kept circling the bear going for a hind leg, but the bear kept spinning, its jaws snapping. Johnny couldn’t get a clean shot with Buddy moving so fast, and a load of buckshot in a full grown bear might just enrage it, so he held up. The bear was drunk on mash, growling, running in a bizarre pattern, and spinning to bite Buddy whenever Buddy sank his teeth into a hind leg. Johnny kept the shotgun trained on the bear in case the bear decided to charge him, but the bear never saw Johnny and eventually ran back into the woods with Buddy right behind howling and trying to get a leg bite.

“Buddy back, Buddy back”, yelled Johnny, but he had never trained Buddy for this situation. Buddy had Plott Hound in him, he was bred to hunt bear. Johnny followed buddy and the bear into the woods, yelling for Buddy to back off, but trying to keep his distance. The bear would run for a hundred feet, then turn to fight when Buddy got a bite on him, then run another hundred feet.

Copyright Tom Hicks

Tomorrow: Buddy lay in a heap, out cold

47

Eventually as Buddy tired the bear turned and got a lucky swipe, his claws taking off Buddy’s left ear and throwing Buddy twenty five feet. Buddy lay in a heap, out cold while the bear took off deeper into the woods.

Johnny ran up to Buddy and could see he was still breathing. Johnny gently picked the 65 lb. dog up and headed back to the barn to be met by Mr. Jordon who had heard all the commotion all the way back up at his house. Johnny put Buddy down and Jordon quickly took a piece of string and tied off what remained at the base of Buddy’s ear. Then he slowly checked every leg for breaks.

“Looks like he is just knocked out”, said Jordon, “probably live if he hasn’t lost too much blood, these dogs are tough.”

“Just time”, said Jordon, “We’ll know how he is by tomorrow. Make him comfortable as you can. Dogs either recover fast, or they don’t.”

Johnny’s living space had not been fancy, but it had been destroyed by the altercation between Buddy and the bear. Johnny set up his cot and put Buddy on it, hoping he would come to soon. It didn’t look good.

“Keep in mind”, said Jordon, “It may be in his best interest that we put him down…”

Johnny was speechless after the afternoon’s events, Buddy was his best friend.


Copyright Tom Hicks

Tomorrow: a good, mannerly nice one named George

48

Johnny’s new position at the Texaco Station was working out well. His replacement was a colored boy, but a good, mannerly nice one named George who respected white people. Mr. Crenshaw instructed Johnny to teach George what he could and fire George the first time he was inconsiderate or uppity to anyone.
George learned right quick for a colored boy, and that gave Johnny time to do mechanical work which he loved.
It amazed Johnny that people did not realize how easy it was to get a T to run smoothly. He ran into a lot of jack leg repairs and worn out parts, but could quickly diagnose a poorly running engine as long as the compression was good. It had to be carburetion and fuel or ignition. Experience was now on his side, he almost always beat the flat rate manual on time, and he developed a reputation for tuning up cars, flat head eights as well as Model T’s, which kept him busy.

After a few weeks George was fully competent at Johnny’s old job, and the customers liked him. They loved to see that Johnny was now running the station and got Johnny to do their mechanical work.

Copyright Tom Hicks

Tomorrow: " …you have to recognize your limitations.”,

49

George approached Johnny one afternoon when things slowed down, “Mr. Johnny, when you gonna be learnin me to do tuneups?”

Johnny had been brought up to know that adult coloreds were no smarter that a 12-year-old, but he didn’t know that many coloreds acted that part to keep whites happy. Coloreds had to keep their place in society or risk retaliation.

“Well George”, said Johnny, “I applaud your desire to learn, but you have to recognize your limitations.”, said Johnny.

“Yes sir”, said George, “but how do you know my limitations if you don’t give me a chance?”

Johnny sighed, this being in charge wasn’t easy. He wanted George to stay on, he would be difficult to replace, and the customers loved him, but he did not want to embarrass George by trying to teach him something he could not possibly comprehend.
^^^^^^
Sherriff Jenkins had a mystery on his hands. No doubt Little Petey was killed by a small caliber hand gun. But the time of death could not be determined, shoot he didn’t even know what day. The decomposition of the body indicated several weeks at least, so there was no way he could take any suspect off the list by eliminating those who obviously not around when the murder occurred. Or maybe it was suicide? There were no real suspects. Little Petey’s wife Melanie had put a skillet to his head, but that was to defend her daughter Sally. And although Melanie was strong, she would have difficulty dragging the body way back in the woods like that. Maybe Johnny, maybe Little Petey had gone after Johnny and Johnny did him in, and buried the body back there? Or perhaps the Baptist Boys, this was the type of thing they would do in the name of keeping order in the community, but their actions usually involved keeping the colored people straight. No real suspect. But usually in something like this someone would eventually talk.

“Recon I need to talk with Johnny, maybe see if he has a handgun.”, the Sherriff said to himself.

Copyright Tom Hicks

Tomorrow: The Sheriff was greeted by Buddy

50

The Sheriff was greeted by Buddy when he got to Johnny’s. Buddy had bounced back fast and, and besides missing most of his right ear, was back to his old self. Buddy ran up to the Sherriff tail wagging and obviously excited. One thing Buddy did not lack was energy! Buddy crashed into the Sherriff’s legs sideways and nearly knocked him over. Then Buddy sat on the Sherriff’s foot and leaned against his leg for maximum body contact.

“You’re a good boy”, said the Sherriff leaning over a little to scratch Buddy gently behind the one ear he still had. Buddy could never get enough attention, he liked everyone, and he pushed against the Sherriff’s leg so hard that the Sherriff nearly lost his balance.

“Johnny here?”, the Sherriff asked Buddy who was doing everything he could to push the Sherriff over.

Johnny had no experience dealing with colored people. They went to their own schools, they went to their own churches, he had not had much interaction with them.

“OK”, said Johnny, “stay on late this evening for no pay and I will show you how to clean and check a Model T timer.”

“Yes sir! Yes sir Mr. Johnny, thank you Mr. Johnny!”, said George.

Johnny showed George using the same method that Mr. Jordon had used to teach him, and Johnny was amazed to see how fast George learned, making the same initial mistakes Johnny had made, but learning fast. Johnny realized that he could use George whenever a Model T needed its timer cleaned, and even more important that he could teach George to do even more. George wasn’t as stupid as Johnny had been led to believe coloreds were, he was the exception!


Copyright Tom Hicks

Tomorrow: Not everyone believed the war was coming.

51

George continued to work pumping gas, checking oil, and cleaning windshields, but after hours Johnny taught him to do oil changes, gap spark plugs, set points, adjust carburetors, and do the basics of tune ups. Everything except troubleshooting. George got good enough that Johnny could troubleshoot and tell George what needed to be done. Business was building as Johnny’s reputation for fixing cars built. George, under Johnny’s direction, did the work which Johnny did not have time to do. Crenshaw was happy to find himself in a situation where he had to find a replacement for George because of the increase in customers looking for auto repair.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Not everyone believed the war is coming. Many Americans were isolationists. After the horrors of the The Great War which was supposed to be “the war to end all wars”, many had no stomach for another World War.
But Germany’s back was to the wall. The German people suffered under the reparations they had to pay for WWl, and the Great Depression in the U.S. was worldwide. By uniting the German people in nationalism and giving them jobs to build war equipment Hitler had made Germany a rising world power. Hitler had a plan to reunite the German people and take back the homeland. When Germany invaded Poland in ’39 the dye was cast. England and France both declared war on Germany. But many Americans did not want to get involved. The neutrality acts were an attempt by congress to forbid Roosevelt from getting involved. Roosevelt started pushing for lend lease under which America would send arms and equipment to England, but no men and no war for America.


Copyright Tom Hicks

Tomorrow: “Fire him”, said Crenshaw.

52

“Fire him”, said Crenshaw.

“But he’s good”, said Johnny, “he can do the work, I troubleshoot and tell him what to replace. You said to use him to my best advantage, and I think it is working out well.”

“Johnny, the Baptist Boys paid me a visit, George was looking at a carload of white girls while he was pumping gas.” said Crenshaw.

“Hard for me to believe that”, said Johnny, “but I’ll fire him if you want, you’re the boss. But he makes my job easier, and I would like to keep him. He is leaning to do trouble shooting. If he can figure out what the problem is, I can teach anyone to repair it.”

“Well believe this”, said Crenshaw, “If we don’t fire him we won’t have any customers, the Baptist Boys will see to that.”

After Crenshaw left George approached Johnny, “You have taught me right Massa Johnny, you know my work is good, you keep teachin me an you know I will work hard, I love this work, I just need someone to shows me. I can dos it.” said George.

Johnny and George weren’t exactly friends, after all George was colored. But they got along well and George knew Johnny well enough to know something was wrong by the look on Johnny’s face after Crenshaw left, so he asked, “It’s that white mule isn’t it?”


Copyright Tom Hicks

Tomorrow: “I’ll get my stuff.”

53

Johnny looked at George quizzically.

“Ten years ago”, said George, “my Daddy had a wagon. but we didn’t have a mule to pull it. Everytime we went to town we had to load up the wagon, then me and all my brothers and sisters and Mumma and Daddy would grab the tongue and pull it into town. In town we would get what we needed, put it in the wagon, and then we would pull it back home. So one time when we went into town a white man convinced my Daddy that we needed a mule to pull the wagon and sold him one. We were going to the white man’s house to pick the mule up the next day. We were so excited we couldn’t sleep that night, because we wouldn’t have to pull the wagon, we could RIDE! The next morning we were up early, and we pulled that wagon over to the white man’s house to get the mule. The white man walked the mule out of the barn, and that mule was WHITE! So, we loaded the mule in the wagon… I’ll get my stuff.”

Copyright Tom Hicks

Monday: " I put some salt on it…"

54

The first batch of mash was ready! Johnny had moved the still down by the creek and built a small dam upstream so they would have flowing water to cool the coils. Moving the mash barrel was a tough job, but at least it was downhill. He had built a sledge for the mash barrel to ride on and pulled it with this RPU. He looked forward to learning the process from set up to product first hand.

Jordon arrived and showed Johnny how to set the pot up high enough so they could build a fire under it. On top of the pot went a cap which collected the steam from the heated mash. A small pipe led from the top of the cap down to a long coil of copper tubing which was cooled by the flowing stream water. Johnny did the hard work of pouring the mash into the still, bucket by bucket. All the joints had to be sealed with a mixture of flour and water so the steam wouldn’t escape.

“I’ve heard these can blow up, steam is very dangerous.” said Johnny.

“Steam under pressure is dangerous”, said Jordon, ”but this is not a pressurized system. Even the smallest amount of pressure would blow out this flour mix sealer we’re using. We contain and direct the steam, but no pressure builds.”

“Fire her up!” exclaimed Jordon after Johnny got the wood laid under the still.

Jordon sat down comfortably to wait for the mash to heat up, “Years ago I had a converse with Crenshaw. My asparagus patch just wasn’t producing, so I asked him about it. He said he had had the same problem and he had sprinkled salt on the bed which killed all the weeds.”

Copyright Tom Hicks

Tomorrow: “Which plan is that?’

55

"So I went out and put some salt on my asparagus patch. About a month later I saw Crenshaw and told him I had salted my bed and it killed all the weeds, but it killed the asparagus. He said, ‘mine too!’ "

Johnny thought on Jordon’s story trying to figure if there were some deep inner meaning in it, then said “I like your plan.” as the still began to warm up.

Buddy sauntered over and laid down by Johnny.

“Which plan is that?’ asked Jordon.

“The whole overall plan, “ said Johnny, “to get through this war by stocking up on the supplies that were short in The Big One.”

“Speakin a that”, said Jordon, “Did you pick up those cases of 30W from Crenshaw for me”.

“Did”, said Johnny, “you have him convinced war is coming, he is stocking up himself.”

“Crenshaw smart man”, said Jordon, “he’s a good businessman. If war comes he will have to hunker down for awhile, won’t be selling any cars that’s for sure. I spect he will be buyin some alcohol from us to run his T!”

“He has a whole barn full of T’s, and most of them are in great shape. “ said Johnny, “he is going to get me to tune them all. He likes them to start with three pulls of the crank. One choke and two to fire.”

“As a Ford dealer for a few decades he has had a lot of opportunities to pick up good cars and he really loves T’s, they were the cars of his childhood. Lots of memories.”, said Jordon.

Copyright Tom Hicks

Tomorrow: "how to keep you out of the war "

56

“So the plan is,” said Johnny, “raise corn, make mash, make alcohol to run cars and sell for spending money, feed old mash to hogs, eat hogs, raise beef to eat and sell, and have a Model T with enough parts and supplies to keep running in order to get through the war.”

“Basic, yeah”, said Jordon, “problem is how to keep you out of the war so you can help?”

Johnny’s first delivery was to Higgin’s restaurant. He was to deliver the white lighting and pick up the week’s waste for the hogs. Delivery was to be at 11:00 p.m. after closing when the workers would be cleaning up.

Higgins had owned the restaurant for twenty years and it was a very popular place for locals to gather when they were ready for a meal out. The food was home cooked style and good, especially the fried chicken, BBQ, and the homemade apple pie! It was a family restaurant run by the Higgins’s family which included his wife Samantha, his daughter Susan who was fifteen, and her little brother joey who had just turned thirteen. Samantha was definitely southern, had a strong accent, and accustomed to using large words along with the vernacular of the locals.

Johnny pulled into the rear of the restaurant as instructed by Jordon. There was a double back door and a large deck to unload on. Johnny backed up to the loading area and turned his RPU off.


Copyright Tom Hicks

Tomorrow: the sweetest voice he had ever heard

57

There was much conversation coming from the inside, laughter and banter, between Higgin’s wife Samantha and their daughter Susan.

“Land’s sake child, I ain’t never seen anyone appreciate apple pie more than Mr. Jake.” said Samantha.

There was a light laugh and then … the sweetest voice he had ever heard said, “Mama, your pies are famous from Chester to Dinwiddie!”

When Johnny heard Susan’s melodic voice he imagined the most beautiful girl in the world, with an incredible smile and great disposition, a girl who walked with elegance, had a beautiful face, and eyes that danced. A girl who was happy.

Samantha stepped top the back door, saw Johnny, and said, “Goodness, gracious, mercy me, what have we here? Susan, you better come help this young man.”

Samantha went back in and Susan stepped out the back door. Johnny’s daydream came true. She was everything he could imagine in the perfect girl, and he was dumbfounded. He stood slackjawed and staring.

Susan had a similar reaction when she saw Johnny by his RPU, a young man with a tall, muscular build, and a handsome face. But she kept her composure and asked nicely, “Can I help you?”

Copyright Tom Hicks

Tomorrow: “Can I help you?” she asked again sweetly.

58

Johnny snapped out of his trance, but still couldn’t speak.

“Can I help you?” she asked again sweetly.

“Johnny began stuttering, “ Ah, ah, yes I am,. Ah, ah, I brought some, ah, did Mr. Jordon contact you all?”
“Oh he did, you must be Johnny, he said you would be bringing some supplies and picking up the week’s garbage”, said Susan.

“Yes”, said Johnny regaining his composure, I brought some ‘supplies’, where do you want them?”

“Right this way”, said Susan smiling and motioning into the back door. Johnny picked up the cases of moonshine from the back of his RPU and followed Susan back into a storeroom. The way her body moved when she walked was amazing, he couldn’t her eyes off of her. “Right here, on the floor in the corner”, she said motioning to the far corner of the storeroom.

Susan couldn’t avoid looking at Johnny’s strong shoulders and arms as he passed by her, then blushed when she realized they were alone in the back room. She went to the door as Johnnie put down the cases of white lighting and looked over her shoulder at him, “the week’s garbage is this way.”, she said.

Johnny followed her back out and picked up the large metal garbage can on the side of the back porch. He easily lifted the heavy can and put it into the back of his RPU.

“Thanks”, said Johnny, “I hope to see you next week, same time, same station.”

The RPU started right up of course, and he backed out and headed for home. Susan watched as the tail light disappeared in the distance, thinking the same thoughts he did.


Copyright Tom Hicks

Tomorrow: “Seemed a bit on the tall, strong side to me…"

59

The next week was the longest Johnny had ever experienced. He had no excuse to go to Higgins Restaurant, and he couldn’t stop thinking of Susan.

“Hmmmm”, said Samantha, “Wonder if Mr. Jordon will use that same delivery boy with the snazzy truck?”, knowing full well that Susan would like to see him again. “Seemed a bit on the tall, strong side to me, and a nice manner. What do you think”, she added.

“Oh Mama, stop, you haven’t talked about anything except Johnny since last week”, said Susan.

“And you haven’t thought of anything else”, added Samantha.


Johnny was running late. Splitting the firewood, loading it into his RPU, and delivering and stacking it at Mr. Jordon’s back door had taken longer than expected. Normally he enjoyed this weekly chore, especially on a cool, cloudy fall day. “Cutting wood warms you twice”, his mother had always said. Today he was hurried because he had to get back to his place and clean up so he could make a delivery to Mr. Higgins’ restaurant and pick up the weekly garbage there to feed the hogs.

He threw the sledge, wedges, and ax into the back of his RPU. It fired right up and ran smooth, he had just adjusted the coils this morning. He loved the truck, it represented his new life and freedom. He knew it inside out. It was a 1925, or mostly 1925, he had put a ’27 engine in it, but he didn’t care that it was old and beaten up, he had it mechanically sound. It ran well, and it was his.

Johnny sped back down the hill to the old barn three miles away which was his home. It was just starting to get dark, and the temperature was dropping fast. Leaves blew in gusts across the dirt road in front of him. Normally he would take a little more time to enjoy this drive and signs of winter coming, but he had to get unloaded, clean up, and get to Higgin’s restaurant by 9:00. Double delivery tonight, and Susan might be there!

Susan had been constantly on his mind since he first met her last week. He hurried into the barn and cleaned up well, even combing his hair carefully, then putting on his best shirt and trousers.

Jordon met him on his way out the drive, “My don’t you look spiffy! Something special going on?”

“Running late”, said Johnny smiling, “gotta go!”

Johnny was rolling, probably 40 - 45 on the downhill grade into town. It was a dark night, and he didn’t see the bear that ran across his path and clipped the right front wheel. Johnny lost control, and the RPU ran into a large oak on the side of the road, dead stop from top speed. The sound of the crash could be heard all through Chester.

Johnny heard nothing.