A CLEARING HORIZON... with just a little fog (Part 67a)

Even though Jay and I got along very well, he was not very forthcoming about his personal life. Other than his interest in computers and cars I knew very little about him. I did know he was married and had a daughter who was around three years old and that they lived with his father. That was it. Whenever I asked him to help me he was always willing but he never reciprocated. That is until that Saturday morning. The phone rang right at 7am. Elle and I had become somewhat used to the phone ringing at that time of the morning with calls for Elle to come in to substitute teach at the local school. But it was Saturday and it was a call for me... Jay. He asked if I’d like to make some money over the weekend. Before I could ask “doing what?” he said I could possibly make $25 cash. It was perfect timing with Christmas only two weeks away. He told where we'd meet and said he’d pick me up. I was out the door without even eating.

Jay’s father had been a carpenter/builder until arthritis made it impossible to continue working. I found out that, on weekends, Jay did carpentry work to help pay the bills. He had two projects that needed to be done by Christmas and there was no way he could do them by himself. We had to go out to a barrier island and that’s when I found out why Jay’s pick up truck was a four wheel drive... we got to the site by driving on the ocean beach. A coastal storm had washed away the stairs up to the front door of this ocean front home and the owners were planning on spending Christmas in the house. Up to that day I’d done very little in the way of carpentry. As I said about Jay exposing me to the world of computers, he was a very good teacher.

It was a two day job and, as promised, I got $25. As we left on Sunday Jay drove down the beach a little further to the West. He pointed to another beach front home with a porch that had partially collapsed. We stopped and after he gave it a good look asked if I wanted to work on it after the first on the year. $25 a weekend was far better than a maybe $10 on a Saturday at the park so I said yes. It was still daylight and as we’d talked a little about Jay’s racing experiences he asked if I’d like to see the one car he still owned. Never one to turn down an opportunity to see a race car, I said yes.

It was located at the back of his father’s property. If Jay hadn’t slowed down to make the turn off the road I don’t think I would’ve even know there was a house there. It seemed like nothing but trees. No grass anywhere. As we wove our way to the back I saw the house and a garage and three vehicles. I knew Jay was working on a ‘38 Ford pickup truck but there was also a Chevy ElCamino and a pre World War II GMC panel truck. But I didn’t see a race car. As we got out of the truck this little girl came running out of the garage which appeared to be converted to living quarters. She was headed for Jay until she saw me and then she turned and headed back. Jay waved me to follow him further into the trees. Finally I saw the racecar. It was a wreck. There were no wheels on it and the windows had been cut out much larger than on any other racecar I’d ever seen. By then it was getting dark and there really wasn’t much to see. Jay told me some of the people who’d driven it and I did recognize some names. In that sense I was impressed but disappointed with the car. I fully expected him to take me inside to introduce me to his wife but he walked straight back to his truck and got in leaving me no choice but to do the same. He then drove me back to where we’d met up and said he’d see me at work.

When I got back to the trailer I was somewhat surprised to see the ‘55 Chevy parked out in front. When I went inside Elle told me that Lance had been there and had left an envelope... and the keys to the Chevy. She still wasn’t too keen on the car being a part of the trailer deal but, thankfully, didn’t say anything. When I opened the envelope there was the check for the $2,000 and $420. It should’ve been $600. I was a little upset but didn’t say anything, especially to Elle. At least I had the ‘55.

Even though the next week was a Police Department payroll and a lot less stressful I was still under a lot of pressure. Dick had arranged for the bank loan for Elle and I to cover the difference between the cash we had and the cost of the new trailer. We had to go sign all the papers and I remember Elle being very nervous. So much so that even with wearing a “package” she managed to leak into her slacks. I spent every night, after work, preparing the pad for the arrival of the trailer. Because it was the last one created it had been too cold for grass to start growing. I got some stakes and rope to try and keep anyone from walking out into the mud in the yard. I also set up a new kerosene tank and rack and made arrangements for a new electric meter so that all I had to do was connect it and we’d be good to go. The manufacturer had let Dick know that the unit went on the road from Indiana on the 18th which meant it would arrive on the 20th and could be set in place on the 21st. Lance had told me that his wife was arriving on the same date so it appeared everything was going well... that is until the early morning of the 20th. Dick got a call that the trailer was stuck on the Pennsylvania turnpike caught up in a snow storm.

To be continued...