Tuesday, June 18, 2019

INTO THE SUMMER... a busy time (Part 173w)

INTO THE SUMMER… a busy time (Part 173w)

Betsy and Ra had brought plenty of food and beer for the after race celebration… and it was needed. The promoter required that everybody be out of the pits by midnight so, in anticipation, Cliffy drove the car right up the ramps and onto the hauler. The winning car always got a lot of attention especially when the gates to the pits were opened to the public after all the cars were off the track. I had one big surprise when that happened… Bret (from the bank) showed up. As I’ve written, at the picnic Bret had the job of running the merry-go-round which put him in contact with just about anybody who had kids. A couple of his old friends from school happened by and told him they were going to see C J (a classmate of theirs) race and, as he told me, “twisted his arm” to get him to go along. He said he knew his wife would be upset but decided to tag along. It was the first time he’d seen Cliffy race since I’d become a part owner of the car. Of course I’d kept him up to date on our trials and tribulations but I got the impression he was impressed with what he saw. C J and his father “Seeg” stopped by to congratulate Cliffy. Freddy and his wife, Gerry, also paid us a visit. Gerry worked in the scoring tower with Beth but seldom came down into the pits after the races. She had young kids at home so she’d often take off as soon as her job was done. But, on this night she was still there and accompanied Freddy as he stopped by. I’ve written about C J and his fan club (mostly girls and young women) who wore white pants and, white polo shirts with C J’s car number (1) printed on them. Basically, Freddy’s fan club amounted to his wife and sister in law. Since his own car color had been white with red numbers the two women were wearing basically the same combination and looked like they were part of C J’s entourage. However, even though Gerry was only around 5 feet tall she was more filled out than most of C J’s group… and didn’t mind showing it. As soon as I saw her I ducked behind the group talking with Cliffy to get a ‘rear view’… and was somewhat rewarded.

Gerry had sat on something that was dirty (fancy that, at a race track) and the result was a highlighted VPL. The arc of the crotch stood out significantly. Not as big a a pair of Van Raalte panties or even Kayser, it was still larger than most. Of course I was ’stimulated’ and would love to have known what kind of panties she was wearing. But, she had her shirt tucked in so a DP was out of the question. There were a few other visitors that offered a bit of interest but with the poor lighting in the pits, the looks were fleeting. When the security guys came by to tell us pack it all up, Cliffy, Dick and Alan were in no shape to drive. That left me. I’d never driven any truck and this one was a big F600 cab-over Ford with a race car on the back. It looked daunting to me when I realized that I was going to have to steer this monster some 50 or so miles. Another problem for me to overcome was that the transmission, although standard, had more gears to go through than I’d ever handled. A four speed in my car was about it. Dick said he’d do the shifting for me, choosing the right gear at the appropriate time. It was a little after midnight when we pulled out of the pit gate.

About the only positive thing I can remember is that we made it back to the shop. Numerous stalls (poor footwork with the clutch pedal) and a fear of going too fast. I quickly found out that the steering box had some ‘play’ in it which meant it took a second or two for the truck to react to my turning the steering wheel. I was certainly glad to climb out of the cab back at the garage. The next obstacle was in getting home. Beth had dropped Ra and her two boys off and I’d driven right past my house on the way to leave Dick off. Alan lived just a short distance away so dumped him (almost literally) off at his house as well. Cliffy was out cold curled up on the seat beside me. But, Beth was ‘on the ball’ and showed up to get Cliffy and willingly took me home as well. It was after 2am when I walked into the kitchen.

The was a note taped to the kitchen door window telling me to get in touch with Rex. He was the property manager at the sailing club and I was puzzled why Elle would leave me a note knowing I wouldn’t be home until after midnight. It certainly didn’t make me very comfortable as I tried to go to sleep. I was awake when one of Elle’s alarms went off to get her up for a bathroom visit. She was no help as to what was so important which made my efforts for sleeping even more difficult. I was up and dressed by 8am and called Rex. What he had to tell me was ‘mind-blowing’. It seems that the guy who harassed me at the club and had taken a swing at me the previous week had sued the club. He was also suing the township since the incident had taken place on either their beach or the beach owned by the sailing club and he was covering all bases. Rex added that I could expect to be sued as the two men who’d come to my defense had already been served. I stood there holding the phone and not believing what I was hearing.

A little later, at the club, I was able to get some details. Someone knew something about the guy and his family and the message I got was they were nothing but trouble. They lived in the city and rented a cottage during the Summers. They’d applied to be members the previous year and been turned down. I was told that he had been to law school but hadn’t passed the bar exam but considered himself an attorney. None of it explained what his real ‘beef’ was. It was just something else to add to everything else I had going on. One thing it did do was to upset me enough that I decided not to race. Elle had already made that decision after two women had tried to make trouble for her during the week. I wondered if they weren’t connected to the guy who was doing the suing.

That pretty much meant spending the day at home. When I returned and told Elle she seemed happy and suggested that we get together with Mattie and Martha and possibly expose them and their kids to some of the ‘sights’ of the area. We’d enjoyed the time we’d been able to spend with them at the picnic so I thought it was a good idea and it got my mind off the lawsuits. I left it up to Elle to make the arrangements with them. As it turned out, when she went next door to ask Martha had a request. Without her husband there that weekend their garbage hadn’t been taken to the landfill and she wanted to know if I could do it for them. Mattie was at church and it was still before noontime which seemed to give me enough time to make the trip and return so I said I would. When I drove up their driveway I was greeted with the sight of one of my favorite things… panties on a washline…

To be continued…


No comments: