by Jerry Boyd
“I understand. Will he be needing me to sign some paperwork?’
I asked John, “He wants to know if he needs to sign paperwork?”
“That would be best, by the end of the day if he can come by.”
“Dr. Brooks, he says as long as it is signed by tonight, it’ll be fine.”
“I’m already headed that way, Mr. Wilson. I’ll be there shortly.”
“Thanks. See you then.”
“He says he’ll be here in a few minutes.”
“I need to go over some things with him anyhow.”
My comm rang. “Bob Wilson. How can I be of service?”
“Tell me where to park, Son.”
“Back door, Dingus.”
“Thanks. And thanks for getting your buddy to quit chasing me.”
“All part of the service.”
I looked at John. “He’s here. Is she ready?”
“Pick her up and follow me.”
I picked up Mrs. Parks, and trailed along. My whole life I’d heard about picking up women, and how much fun it was. I must have been doing it wrong, I didn’t get a lot out of it..
John punched in the security code and opened the back door. I followed him straight across into the saucer. Dingus had the ‘doc open, and I laid her in it. John took care of her clothes and adjusted the controls. He said to Dingus, “Fly her out to the house until she’s ready to come out. Call before you bring her back.”
“Okay, John. See you in a few hours.”
We went back inside. Jane stood there, dazed. I patted her shoulder and said, “Just your regular old flying saucer, nothing to get excited about.”
“But, I couldn’t see it, except for the inside.”
“How else you gonna fly around and not get caught?”
“Makes sense, I guess. When Mrs. Sloan said things would be a little different around here, I had no idea.”
“I’m still getting used to it too. When I slow down enough to drink a beer and pet my dog, it’s all a little overwhelming.”
“You’re saying you just keep moving fast enough not to think about it?”
“Works so far.”
“You’re a strange man, Mr. Wilson.”
“Wait till you get to know me better. You’ll be calling me asshole, just like the rest of them.”
“Could be.”
Nikki met me in the hall. “What am I going to do with you, Bob Wilson? Everywhere you go, you pick up women. You’re a married man now, you know!”
“Umm, John said to?”
“Blame it on John, now? Is that the best you’ve got?”
Jane giggled, and Nikki lost it. “Caveman, it’s good to see you. Did I hear right? You’re off on a trip again today?”
“Topper found a military surplus truck for me to go look at. We’re gonna take the tipping bed off the other truck, and put it on the 6X6. I’m just glad I didn’t let my CDL lapse.”
“Comedy Dance Lounge?”
“Commercial Driver’s License. You need one to drive anything over 24,000 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight.”
“What are you going to do with the other truck?”
“Either sell it, or put a box bed on it. Are you folks about to get things running smooth around here?”
“Things are getting better. I wonder how many more people are going to have the same kind of problems as Mrs. Parks?”
“That’s John’s department. I don’t have a clue. Just glad we were able to get her help quick enough.”
Jane spoke up, “You folks don’t mess around when things need fixing, do you?”
“We try not to let things get ahead of us. You have something that needs attention?”
“My son has medical problems. That’s how I lost my last job, taking too much time off to take care of him.”
“Is he someplace you could go get him without causing a stir?”, I asked.
“My Mom has him today, why?”
“We better see if it’s okay with Dee for you to take off for a little bit.” Dee had gone back to her office. Ms. Vonn said, “Mr. Wilson, may I help you?”
“I just have a quick question for Mrs. Sloan.”
The office door was open, so I stepped around and knocked. Ms. Vonn was not amused. “Dee, is it okay if I borrow Jane Williams for an hour or two?”
“I suppose. What’s up?”
“Her boy needs to see John’s basement. Won’t take long to get that set up.”
“I see. Gonna let him play with that old game system Dingus put in?”
“Yes Ma’am.”
“Don’t take too long. She’s keeping this place together.”
“I hear and will obey, your magnificence.”, I bowed.
“Get your load of crap out of here before Rena has to mop, Bobby Apples!”
I called Dingus. “Hey, Son, what do you need?”
“Are you at John’s?”
“There was more room in your barn, especially since the boys cleaned it up.”
“Jane’s boy needs to have a little lay down. Something like you did, but not as long. I was thinking John’s basement would probably be the best place to do that. Could you meet her there and take care of it?”
“I’ll get Reggie to open the barn. I should be there before she is.”
“Great. Bye.”
“Talk to you later.”
I gave Jane directions to John’s place, and told her Dingus would be there to handle things. She took off. I wondered if I should tell Jack to watch out for her. Nikki said, “That was a nice thing you did, Caveman.”
“Hush, now. You’ll spoil my reputation as a nasty old man.”
“Keep it up, we’re gonna take up a collection to buy you that cape Dee’s been threatening you with.”
“You busy around here today?”
“Afraid so. You lonesome, are you?”
“Yes, but what I was thinking is that I’m going to be driving through some pretty country today, and you might like to see it.”
“Have to be another time, I’m afraid.”
“i better get going. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I went by the bank and transferred some money into my checking. It’s surprising how fast you can run through money when you’re trying to get things done. It was a pretty drive, but it would have been nicer with Nikki along. I stopped at Harbor Freight and got some tie downs, to keep my pickup steady on the way back. I got to the dealer, and looked at the rig. They had been through it, and cleaned it up, so I couldn’t tell much. It started right up, and drove well. “I’ll pay your asking price if you help me load my pickup.”
“Mr. Wilson, you’ve got a deal.”
He was set up for wire transfers, so that went slick. Getting my GMC on the truck was a little more difficult, since the truck I was buying didn’t quite match height with their loading dock, but they had dealt with that before, and got me going. They were able to give me temporary plates, but I would have to start from scratch once I got back across the state line. All those nice, twisty, beautiful roads weren’t as nice in a top heavy rig governored down to 55. I had to pull over and let traffic by a few times. Should have run Interstate, I guess. I remembered insurance about the state line. I pulled into a cafe for lunch, and called them. You would think I would get a discount for so many vehicles, but it didn’t amount to much. At least I didn’t have to worry about a speeding ticket running my rates up, in this rig. Lunch was good, and I was thankful I wasn’t in a big enough hurry to need fast food. I found a station and filled up with diesel. I got back to the house, and the boys helped me unload my pickup. The Datsun was coming together. I took the 6X6 to get legal. Went to the truck stop and got inspected. The ladies at the license office looked like they wanted to hide under their desks. One of them was brave enough to sell me plates for the beast. I took it home and got my pickup. I went by John’s, to see how Dingus was making it. Max said I just missed him, he had flown Mrs. Parks back to Shady Oaks. I checked on Jane’s boy in t
he basement, it looked like he would be ready to come out by evening. Snitz was glad I was back, so we played a little Frisbee. Topper texted me a shopping list. Paint supplies like usual, but he had an order waiting at a fabric store also. I figured he had earned some slack, and didn’t question it. Snitz and I ran Topper’s errands, and then stopped by Shady Oaks. Ms. Vonn would have liked to see some ‘therapy dog’ credentials for Snitz, but Dee was standing right there, and she thought better of it.
Dee said, “Oh! I was hoping Snitz would come with you. I got him something.”
She pulled out one of those flexible indoor flying discs, and chucked it toward the patients’ lounge. Snitz was after it like a rocket. The old folks saw what was going on, and started throwing it for him. I wiped my hand across my brow, and said, “Phew, I’m glad that works. I wasn’t looking forward to that other plan you had.”
Dee said, “I’ve seen you dance. I wasn’t either.”
“Thanks. It’s so nice to have friends. Mrs. Parks back in her room?”
“She is. You gonna say hi?”
“Figured I would, is that an issue?”
“Nope. Just don’t say anything to upset her. She’s already bent about passing out.”
“Gotcha. Talk about the weather.”
“Something like that.”
I found Mrs. Parks. “Hi, Ma’am. You feeling better?”
“Feel pretty good, I suppose. Not a lot you can expect when you get to be my age.”
“Don’t expect to ever find out. Surely somebody is gonna wise up and shoot me before I get that far.”
“You’re Tom Wilson’s boy, all right.”
“You gave us a little scare this morning. You don’t need to be doing that any more, you hear?”
“Dr. Brooks and Mr. Branham said I ought to take it easy the rest of today, but I can be up and around tomorrow. Sounds like I’m missing out on something, though.”
“That’s just my dog, playing Frisbee with some folks. I’ll bring him around again tomorrow.”
“Lord, I remember when I could catch a Frisbee behind my back, or throw it between my legs. Sucks getting old, Bob. I don’t recommend it, but it beats the alternative.”
“Suppose it does Ma’am. I better go find my wife, before she gets jealous of you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Jealous of me! It’s a wonder your eyes ain’t brown.”
“I’ve heard that.”
I found Nikki talking to a patient. He didn’t want to get up, said he didn’t care. I figured there wasn’t much downside, so I whistled for Snitz. When I heard him coming, I patted the bed beside the old fellow. SuperSnitz, able to leap tall bedrails in a single bound. “Wha? Oh, hey pup. Who are you?”
“His name’s Snitz.”
“Snitz, huh. What happened, boy, somebody sneeze while they were trying to call you?”
He scratched Snitz’s ears and petted him for a while. I said, “He likes to play Frisbee, you think you could help him with that?”
“Frisbee, huh? Ain’t as limber as I once was, but I wouldn’t mind trying.”
I helped him get into his wheelchair, and pushed him down to the lounge. He joined in the game with the rest of them. Nikki said, “You’re a wonder, Caveman. Stuff just gets better when you’re around.”
“I thought that was you, Space Cadet.”
“Snitz is having fun, isn’t he?”
“He’s having a blast. I need to run some things to Topper, can you keep him out of trouble till I get back?”
“He’s going to run himself silly and then lay down. I think I can handle it. We’ve got things running well enough we’re going to supper at Julie’s. You wanna meet us there?”
“Sounds great.”
“See you then.”
I took off. Snitz looked at me, I said, “It’s okay. You can stay with your new friends.” He went back to Frisbee like he understood me.
Jane caught me on the way out. “Mr. Sloan says Greg will be ready to wake up in about an hour. Would you mind being there when he does?”
“No, but why me?”
“You gave me this opportunity, out of the goodness of your heart.”
“Dee gets a committed employee she can count on to show up. Dee’s happy, Bob’s life is easier. All about me, no goodness involved.”
“They’re right, those have got to be contacts!”
“Whatever you say, Jane. I’ve got to run by my place, and then I’ll be at John’s.”
I drove to the shop. Taz and Ozzie were working the grav pallet under the bed on the car hauler. The bed off the 6X6 was laying beside the shop. “You guys done with the Datsun already?”
Taz said, “Well, Boss, everything we needed more than one big bot for is finished. Topper is supervising the smaller bots, and finishing up a few bigger things. We figured we might as well get started on this.”
“How hard does it look like it’s going to be?”
“Not bad, but we probably can’t finish till Topper is done with the Datsun. He wants it clean for painting, and we need to weld up some brackets. We’re going to have a little parts list, too.”
“Figure out what you need, and text it to me. I’ll get it to you as soon as I can.”
“Thanks, Boss.”
“No problem. Where does Topper want his stuff?”
“Just sit it inside the door. He’ll find it.”
“Okay.”
I put Topper’s stuff inside. I was still in the dark about the fabric order. It didn’t seem like upholstery fabric, so I had no clue what he was up to.
When I got to John’s, Jane hadn’t yet arrived. I joined Dingus and Max on the porch. Dingus said, “Hi Bob, didn’t expect to see you.”
“Jane wanted me here when Greg woke up. Didn’t have anything else to do. Snitz has found new people to play Frisbee with.”
“I thought the boys were busy today.”
“They are. He’s playing with the old folks at Shady Oaks.”
Max said, “Is that good for them?”
“Exercise is pretty much always a good thing. They’ve been so sedentary, with being doped up, that they need to start easy, but getting their blood flowing and smiles on their face has got to do some good. One old boy wouldn’t even get out of bed till Snitz came and got him up.”
“So he’s helping them with motivation?”
“That’s a good way to put it. They wouldn’t enjoy just doing exercises, but playing with a silly little dog is fun.”
Jane pulled up. She looked worried, but she was trying to smile. “Is it time?”
Dingus said, “I think so. Come on in.”
“Do you really think this will help him? I’ve tried everything there is, and nothing helped.”
I said, “I was an idiot and let myself get shot. This machine had me healed up in two days.”
Dingus replied, “He’s right. He was an idiot.”
Jane giggled. “Do you guys ever get serious?”
I said, “Not if we can help it.”
We were about to start downstairs when Max’s comm rang. He answered, and then turned to us. “It’s Mickolec and Random. Their scanner went down and they got hit with a meteor. They’re coming in hot.”
As I ran for the garage, I mumbled, “Knew I should have pulled maintenance on that saucer when it was here.” I ran the door up, and grabbed an extinguisher. The others had followed me out. They grabbed extinguishers too. I said, “Get back against the walls. It’ll probably be a bad landing.”
Micky brought it in better than I expected. Most of their stealth was still functioning, and no flames were visible.
I had thought Micky was flying. Random poked her head out the door and said, “Help me. Mickolec is too heavy for me.”
Max and Dingus ran onboard, so I went to open the barn. I saw the saucer Dingus had flown earlier and opened the door. I knew enough to open the autodoc, but I left the settings for Dingus. I backed out of the way as they came in with Micky. His left hand was black and
blue all over, and swollen. Dingus punched a code into Micky’s uniform control, and it came apart for easy removal. They laid Micky in the ‘doc, and Dingus started inputting instructions. I went back up to the garage to check on Random. Jane already had it under control, so I racked the extinguishers, and ran the door down. Jane said, “She seems to be okay, Mr. Wilson. She got her suit sealed quick enough when they lost pressure.”
“That’s great. They’ve got Mickolec in the autodoc, he should be all right. It’ll be tomorrow before I can get work on this saucer. You two may wind up flying the loaner, if he gets fixed up quickly.”
Random replied, “He was in shock for a couple of your hours before I could get here. It may take longer than you think.”
Dingus walked in and said, “She’s right. The vacuum damage to his hand is pretty bad. The box has him stabilized, but it wouldn’t give me a time estimate yet.”
I said, “Random, do you mind staying with your saucer for a few minutes? We’ve got to wake up Jane’s son, Greg, and he’s not passed acceptable contact yet.”
“No problem, Mr. Wilson. I need to write and file a report.”
“What’s with all this Mr. Wilson stuff. You two call me Bob, please.”
In unison, “Yes, Mr. Wilson.”
“If comedians were quarters, I could play Pac-Man all day. Come on, Jane.”
The four of us went to the basement. Dingus and Jane went to the ‘doc, Max and I hung back. Dingus told the machine to go ahead and wake Greg. He woke up and saw his Mom. He said, “Mom, I feel good. How long till this treatment wears off like the other ones?”
“I don’t know, Sweetie. Enjoy it while it lasts, okay. Let’s get you dressed.”
She got him dressed, and he stood up. She said, “You remember Dingus and Max from before, don’t you? This is Bob. He’s a friend of my new boss.”
“Hi Bob.”
“Hi Greg. You like to play Frisbee?”
“When I feel good enough. Not much lately though.”
“You need to meet my dog, Snitz. He loves to play Frisbee.”
“Is he here?”
“No, he’s helping at your Mom’s work right now.”
“How is he helping?”
“He’s getting people to exercise. Your Mom’s boss got him an indoor Frisbee. You know, the floppy kind?”