B.B.U.S.A. (Buying Back the United States of America)

by Lessil Richards

  “Mr. Fullmer, I presume?” Sam’s voice boomed across the yard. He had a deep voice and looked almost identical to Duane Allen from the “Oakridge Boys.” Leo half expected him to start singing “Elvira.”

  “Your presumption is correct, and you must be Sam? I’m pleased to meet you.” The men shook hands. “This car is a real beauty. I know it weakens my negotiating status, Sam, but I have to be honest, I’m amazed you haven’t sold it yet. If the engine runs well I suspect we will strike a deal today.”

  Sam reached into his pants pocket, pulled out the car keys and handed them to Leo. “Try her out; I’m sure you’ll see that she purrs like a kitten.”

  Leo unlocked both doors with the remote control attached to the key ring. He sat down in the driver’s seat, inserted the key in the ignition, and turned it halfway to check the mileage. He was surprised that the vehicle only had fifty-two thousand miles on the odometer.

  Sam opened the passenger door and looked in. Leo pulled the emergency break and painfully depressed the clutch and took the car out of gear, then depressed the brake and turned the ignition. The car started instantly and purred quietly.

  “I would have had her sold twice now if she were an automatic. Most people around here do not want to bother with a stick shift up and down these hills. I should have known better when I bought it and not have been so darn adamant that my daughters learn to drive a stick. Nowadays, you can hardly even find a new vehicle that comes in a stick shift, it seems.” Sam paused for a breath. “Well, you want to take her for a spin or are you not interested in a five speed manual transmission?”

  “You know what, Sam, I can sense things about people. I sense that you are an honest person, the kind that still makes deals with the shake of a hand. A test drive won’t be necessary, and I’m not going to even bother negotiating the price with you. I know it is for a good cause and I’ll be happy to know the money went to help your daughter finish her college education. Consider her sold, cash, full price.”

  “For what it’s worth, Mr. Fullmer, this is a pretty unique vehicle and I suspect you won’t find many others like her. Most U.S. MX3’s were sold between 1992 and 1994. Japan went on to make them through 1998 but they were not sold here. I had a friend that went to work in Hiroshima for a year at a dental practice and returned with this car. He bought it where it was assembled. Later, he wanted to upgrade the small car to an SUV when his wife gave birth to a son and I bought it from him for my daughter. You won’t be disappointed. It is well worth the money, and she may be a classic someday.”

  Sam ushered Leo inside to get the title and bill of sale. Sam left him sitting on the couch in the living room while he went back to his den to retrieve the paper work. While he was in the den, Leo rummaged through his duffel bag’s side zippered pocket and extracted four thousand five hundred, in hundred dollar bills and placed the cash on the coffee table in front of him.

  Sam soon reappeared. “My daughter already signed both the title and the bill of sale. I’ll just need to fill in the date, price, and name.”

  “Great, but go ahead and leave the name blank for now. I too have a son that will be graduating from high school soon, and it might end up being his. I’ll decide after I have some time driving it around, although I suspect just from the looks of it, my wife will want to claim it as well.” Leo smiled, and offered to count out the hundred dollar bills.

  Sam filled in the date and price and left the name blank as Leo requested. “Mr. Fullmer, it has been a pleasure to meet you, and there is no need to count the bills. You are right; I do business with the shake of a hand as my father and his father before him did. You are a good man and I hope that vehicle serves you and your family well.” Sam handed him the title and bill of sale, and Leo placed them in the side zipper compartment of the Oregon Ducks duffel bag.

  Sam walked him out to the car and insisted on showing him some of the mechanics of the vehicle. Leo learned how to operate the intermittent wipers, cruise control, rear window defogger, the electronic mirrors, and the added security equipment. Sam mentioned that both the brake fluid and oil had been changed and the gas was topped off the day before. The men shook hands and Leo thanked Sam and wished him and his daughter well.

  Leo eagerly started the engine, clasped his seat belt, and waved at Sam who was still standing on his front porch. He hoped Tim Bance would not haunt him for buying a foreign car. He knew if Tim were still alive today he would never hear the end of it. Tim was adamant about buying only American made products.

  The car handled the road well. The Mazda’s peppy 6-cylinder engine responded with gusto. He made a few turns and then found himself on the correct highway leading south-east. He was relieved to be heading out of town on the highway, where he didn’t have to shift gears as often. His foot had protested each time he depressed the clutch shifting gears. Driving into the late afternoon glare of the sun, Leo lowered his visor, put on his sun glasses and reached into his duffel bag for a warm No Fear energy drink. He popped the lid and drank half of its contents before placing the can in the cup holder. With one hand on the steering wheel, he reached back into the bag a second time, retrieved his already opened bag of jerky and started to chew on a small bite.

  He let out a sigh of relief and set the cruise control at fifty-eight miles per hour. It appeared as if his plan was going to be successful. He turned on the radio to a classic rock station, and let down his guard a bit and began singing along to Bob Sieger’s “That Old Time Rock-N-Roll.” Leo thought the song was perfectly timed as he needed something to sooth his soul and the familiar music helped. He smiled as he saw the last of the city buildings disappear from sight in his rearview mirror.

  Chapter 13

  Ervin was startled by a noise that sounded like a doorbell. He yawned and realized that he must have drifted off to sleep. The bell was merely the Captain’s signal that the seat belts no longer had to be worn and that people could get up and use the restrooms if needed. He could not believe that he had fallen asleep so easily. He must have been exhausted.

  He got up, stretched, and looked around to orient himself then, he walked into the coach section of the large plane. He surmised that Leo’s seat would be towards the rear of the plane on the far side. Ervin still had not yet decided on the best way to dispose of him, but figured that he would eventually come up with the perfect way.

  He wanted to stare Leo in the face and watch his life drain away. Ervin knew that Bob would have arranged backup for him at O’Hare, so all he really had to do was locate him and place him into custody at the terminal. He looked forward to being the big shot. Perhaps he would even be promoted.

  He walked to the end of the plane and crossed the middle aisle by the bathrooms. By now Leo would have felt relaxed thinking that he had escaped and was safe from the reach of the B.B.U.S.A. Ervin could not wait to see the look on his face when he realized he’d been caught.

  Ervin increased his pace. Looking at the seat numbers marked on the luggage compartments, he knew that he was close to the right seat. He approached Leo’s aisle slowly and cautiously.

  He was astonished to see an elderly bald headed gentlemen sitting in his seat. The window seat was occupied by a young, bushy haired lady reading a women’s magazine. The elderly man was just staring down the aisle, attentively watching the two approaching airline hostesses passing out refreshments from their cart. Ervin eased in the vacant row of seats directly behind the elderly gentleman’s seat.

  He was utterly confused. Had Leo moved seats on the plane? He looked around nervously to see if he had drawn unnecessary attention, half expecting to make eye contact with Leo, who would undoubtedly be watching him had he moved to a nearby seat. He realized that he had gone unnoticed and could not see Leo anywhere in the near vicinity. He leaned slightly into the aisle to look at the elderly man again. The older man still had his sights on the approaching flight attendants.

  Ervin glanced up at them just as the closest stewardess bent down to reach for another 7
-Up in the storage compartment under the cart. He instantly realized why she held the old man’s attention. She was gorgeous. He reluctantly took his eyes off the beautiful, athletic woman in order to concentrate on the mission at hand.

  He focused his attention on his wallet, rearranging his badges. He needed to act quickly or he would have to wait for the two flight attendants to pass by his aisle before questioning the elderly man.

  Ervin rose and confronted the surprised man ahead of him. He showed the elderly man his DEA ID, and said “Excuse me, sir, I am with the Drug Enforcement Agency. Please show me your boarding pass.”

  “What?”

  Now towering over the seated man, he repeated himself with more authority. “Sir, I am with the Drug Enforcement Agency, please show me your boarding pass!”

  The young lady in the window seat peeked at Ervin over her magazine, still pretending to be reading an article. The now-baffled looking man cleared his throat for another one-word sentence. “Why?”

  Ervin’s face was a perfect picture of frustration. A small muscle in his cheek began twitching. “Sir, I have reason to believe that someone else is supposed to be sitting in this seat.”

  “Oh,” he said, but made no attempt to retrieve his boarding pass. His attention was still mostly fixated on the lovely flight attendant.

  Ervin was running out of patience. He bent down within inches of the old man’s face and said in a slow harsh voice, “Sir, show me your boarding pass, now!”

  The seemingly senile old man squirmed and began feeling his pockets, searching for his boarding pass. Ervin felt little beads of perspiration form along his forehead, knowing that the hostesses would soon be to the old man’s aisle and would begin inquiring as to what was going on. After a few more seconds, which felt like an eternity to him, the elderly man handed over the requested information, and found his tongue as well.

  “Sorry, this isn’t really my seat. I moved seats to have more space.”

  Ervin could not believe his ears. His face was rigid. Veins at his temples and around his throat began appearing, almost as if he were straining to lift a car off a helpless child. He was so focused on the old man, that he did not hear the hostess say “Excuse me, sir, but you’ll have to return to your seat until we get by your row.”

  “No one else was ever sitting here?”

  This time the lady with the women’s magazine answered. “He’s right. This is my assigned seat but no one else sat in this row at all.”

  Ervin broke off his staring contest with the old man, and felt the presence of the attractive flight attendant. He turned, looking into her lovely dark brown eyes, temporarily transfixed.

  “Pardon?” He finally replied. He seemed to be picking up the old man’s proclivity for one-word sentences.

  It was the old man who spoke first, answering for the pretty attendant, “She said that you were in her way, and that you would need to return to your seat!”

  Ervin looked back at the old man with a look of contempt and tossed the boarding pass on the man’s tray. “Damn him to hell!” He turned, ignoring the stares he could feel watching him walk away. He returned to his own seat in first class, clearly envisioning what he would do when he actually caught up to Leo. He could see himself thrusting his open, palmed hand with all his might into his nose, shattering the cartilage, and sending fragments into his brain. He smiled, but knew that would end it way too quickly, and thought about strangling him to the point where he would lose consciousness instead, then splashing cold water on him to just repeat the process till he got thoroughly bored with it, and finally drowned him in a shallow tub of water.

  He dreaded having to call Bob from Chicago to tell him that Leo wasn’t even on the flight at all. He would have even more egg on his face when the other three B.B.U.S.A. guys showed up at the gate to help him apprehend Leo. This entire mission was turning out to be a disaster.

  Chapter 14

  The freeway seemed like a blur. The setting sun was now just a distant orange glow on the western horizon and the surroundings were merging together, rapidly losing their individual shapes and hue. To Leo, everything resembled the dark grayish freeway as bushes, trees, and shrubs mingled together and disappeared into the approaching darkness. He finished his second warm No Fear energy drink, and ate another handful of jerky.

  Although he had just filled up half an hour ago and used the restroom, he felt the need to stop once more. Not only was he getting too tired to drive, but he longed to call Sarah, and knew she would be anticipating his call soon.

  Leo pulled into the next rest stop. It was a quarter mile off the interstate that he was now traveling on, and somewhat secluded with trees that served as a sound barrier from the constant roar of the big rigs on the freeway. He felt confident that he had lost his pursuers and suspected that they were still chasing false leads. He used the rest room, opened one of his citrus Vitamin waters, and sipped it as he reached for his cell phone to call Sarah. She should be at her father’s house by now, he reasoned. He stood outside next to his car, enjoying the fresh air as he searched through his phone’s address book and located Alex’s number. Leo hesitated making the call. He wasn’t sure if the cell phone could be traced or triangulated to reveal his approximate location. He finally decided to take the chance, as he was next to a very busy interstate freeway in a vehicle that no one knew belonged to him. He only heard it ring once before Sarah anxiously answered the phone.

  “Hi, Honey, it’s me.”

  “Leo! Thank God. Are you all right?”

  “Yes, Darling, exhausted but I’m all right.”

  “One sec, I’m taking the phone outside on the porch by the pool. Okay, I’m alone now. What happened to you? I sensed you were in danger or hurt, or both. I was so afraid all day. Are you really okay?”

  “Sarah, I was in danger for a while, but not now, and I did hurt my foot but nothing very serious. I’ll be fine; I’m just very tired, as I did not sleep last night at all. Honey I need to apologize to you as well.”

  “For what?”

  “You were right all along and I was just too darned stubborn to realize it. From the first time you met Bob and shook his hand you had a real bad feeling about him. Now I see your gift had warned us, but I was blinded then, and of course hind sight is always 20-20.”

  “Yes, I know; perhaps it would behoove you to listen to me more often. Although, to your defense I guess, my impressions at the time had more to do with his war experiences previous to us meeting him. You know my gift is a strange thing. It comes and goes, and only gives me glimpses, images, feelings, perceptions, and not always in the right order either, but yes I knew Bob had an ugly past. I too had hoped it was ancient history. I wish we had made better decisions in the beginning, but we can’t undo the choices we have already made.”

  “I know Hun, but for what it’s worth, I am sorry.” He went on to tell her of the previous night’s events. She acknowledged that her gift was still accurate, and felt relief that his injury wasn’t worse. “Honey, did you get the passports in order?

  “Yes I did, and I even went ahead and bought the airline tickets, but I was hoping we wouldn’t need to use them.”

  “Good job, dear. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but you and the boys will need to use the tickets. I’m heading for Doug’s place and should be there by tomorrow afternoon or evening. I need my mind clear and cannot afford to worry about my family and the B.B.U.S.A. Namibia should be the safest place you can be. It’s really isolated. I’ll find an end to our current problems and come meet you there in hopefully less than a week. Mom will be ecstatic to see you and her grandsons. Honey, I’m so sorry I ever got us involved with the B.B.U.S.A. Please stay safe and keep a close eye on Chris. Traykie can help, but I worry about Chris as he is still too young to realize the danger.”

  “Of course I will. Please call me and let me know what’s going on. If you can’t reach me on the cell internationally call us at Joyce’s, okay? I love you. Please be careful.” />
  “Yes Dear, I’ll be careful and I’ll call you as soon as I can. I love you too. Oh, can you please let me talk to Traykie for a sec?”

  “Sure; I’ll go get him.”

  The rest stop was nearly completely dark now. A semi-truck pulled in on the opposite side, flashing his bright lights in Leo’s direction and momentarily blinding him. He squinted, turned his head and looked away to allow his eyes time to adapt back to the near darkness.

  “Dad, how’s it going?” Traykie’s up-beat, eager voice was reassuring to him, out here in the darkness so many miles away from his loved ones.

  He knew he had to get his son’s full attention. “Hello Pup. I’ve been better. I need to talk to you about something very serious and I need your full attention. Are you alone and where you can focus?”

  “Well, Mom and I are standing outside near the pool, but yes, I can focus. What’s going on?”

  “I’m not sure how much Mom has told you, but I need you to listen like you have never listened before, okay?”

  “Dad you are starting to scare me a bit. I am listening.”

  “Good! What I’m about to tell you is scary. My business partner Tim Bance was murdered a few days ago by the investment company we have invested in as well. They now suspect that I know they were involved with Tim’s death. They are coming after me and probably your mother as well. That is why you left for your grandpa’s and why you are leaving the country tomorrow morning.” A long silence hung over the phone. “Are you still there, Son?”

  “Yes Dad. Sorry, I was just listening like you told me to. I’m not really sure what to say, or what you want me to do now?”

  “Okay, I want you to grow up right now. No more horseplay or kid goofing off stuff. Right now I need you to be a man. I need to know that before I hang up this phone tonight, I can relax knowing that you are there in my place to protect your mother and brother. I can’t be at two places at once. You have trained for years with me in martial arts and running events. Your martial arts skills are truly at black belt level. Are you taking all of this seriously, and can I truly count on you?”