END OF SUMMER... September (Part 90e)

Elle had called to ask me if I could get some corn for supper. It was my intention to race on Saturday night and I wanted to get the car prepped that night. To go up to Rick’s family farm stand and home would take over a half hour. Now that it was September it was getting dark earlier and earlier. I thought about telling her that the corn season was over but thought better of it. Once I pulled in I was glad I’d not done that. The only one there was the cute girl I’d seen that night when Eric and I had gone to see Rick’s race car. With more light to take in her features I was really “taken”. A little plumper than I really liked but it helped to fill out her shirt and shorts... and the shorts were really, really short. I’d been told that she was Rick’s sister so I was on my best behavior. She didn’t recognize me probably because I still had on a tie. I asked for a half dozen ears and when she bent over the bin where the corn was I got a completely different type of peek... two very nice white half moons sticking out from the leg openings of her shorts. (Oh, for a camera phone!) As I paid for the corn I started thinking of reasons to come back sometime soon. As I got in my car I realized that I had a soft bulge.

I’d talked with Jay a time or two during the week but he wasn’t ready to “unload”. He did say that he’d be at the track and would have something for me. As I drove home I was also thinking about the fact that Saturday night would be the first time I’d be starting in or near the front of my qualifying race. All the races I’d driven in I’d started in the back. I’ll admit I was starting to get nervous about it.

By the time I got home, changed and eaten it was starting to get dark. Jim had come by and as we waited for Eric we walked over to Lil’s mobile home. The “boys” (Dick and Ben, the park owners) had secured the damaged area of the patio room. I asked Jim if he knew anything more about Lil’s plans. It was easy to see he was in the middle of this whole situation as he still worked with and was friends with Andy. I remember him putting his hands up and shaking his head. I “pushed” him a bit and got him to admit he knew Andy wanted “out” of the payments on the unit so hadn’t made any since he had split from Lil. I didn’t like what I’d heard but there was nothing I could do so kept my mouth shut. When Eric showed up we went on up to the where the race car was parked. We didn’t talk all that much so we got done what we needed to do quickly (for a change).

That night I lay in bed sort of worrying about starting in front of a whole bunch of cars. There was also  the thought that the motor wasn’t all that good. I’d watched Eric drive it and he’d started in the front and struggled to get it qualified in the last chance races. He was an experienced driver and was struggling. What was it going to be like for me, a novice. By the time morning arrived I decided to take a bold step.

We got to the track early and managed to take a pit stall near Rick. I knew Eric would like that. I encouraged him to talk to Rick about the suggestion he’d told me about. I had my eye out for the dark haired girl I’d see the night we went to see Rick’s car but didn’t see her. Rick’s sister wasn’t there either so I was “bummed” about that. Eric finally made his suggestion to Rick. It was for a rear end gear change. Because the faster cars had three warm up periods Rick said he’d try it on the second one so he could see if it made a difference.

It was while Rick was on the track that Jay and Jo showed up. He had a sheepish grin on his face and was all apologetic for not talking with me during the week but explained that the Controller had made it clear that anything to do with the messed up payroll was not to be discussed and when word was out that Leo was gone it was reiterated, “in spades”. Basically, it was Jay that gave Leo the “push” out the door. When Jay was called into the Controller’s office to tell his side of the story he lay the blame on Leo because Leo had taken all control away from Jay. Leo had interviewed Charles and had hired him with no input from Jay at all. When the Civil Service review of the department was done by Vi it was determined that the minimum requirement was two years of Data Processing experience. Charles did have that... and more... as a janitor in the Data Processing department of a large publishing company. His total experience operating any equipment was about six months on a sorter. Unfortunately, when Jay discovered it and wanted to tell the Controller the Controller was on vacation.

Then Jay turned the tables on me. He said that he was sure there was still something going on and wanted to know if I knew anything about it. I knew I had to tell him something but I was afraid to tell him what the secretary to the Board of Supervisors had told me. I hesitated a bit and then told him that I’d been interviewed about my firing. I told him I didn’t know why and he seemed to accept it. The conversation ended as I had to go warm the car up on the track.

To be continued...