Bobbie and I were in Downtown Greensboro at Zeto Wine and Cheese having Korean food from the Urban Street Grill with a potential customer when my telephone rang. It was Bobbie's first sale but it was looking like she pretty much had the deal in the bag so I stepped to the side and took the call. "You need to get back here now," Donny said.
"Has someone died?" I asked. You see, Donny never explains much, he just says do it much like I'm prone to do.
"No," he shouted, "nobody died."
"Well," I said, "If nobody died then you've probably got time to explain to me why I need to drop a potential sale and come running back to Burlington from Downtown Greensboro."
"There's reporters everywhere," Donny said.
"What do they want?" I asked.
"I don't know," Donny grumbled. "I didn't talk to them. I don't do reporters, remember?"
Donny has always been shy. He didn't want me to publish this story because he's so shy. Then he tried to get me to write him out of the story which I couldn't do and still write the truth. Fact is, had it not been for Bobbie the story would have never been worth writing but when she emerged as a leader that changed everything. "Well why don't you go ask them what they want?" I asked.
"I'm not going out there," Donny said. "I'll just stay inside 'til they leave."
"You mean until the next shift comes in so those guys can go home to their wives and families," I said. " 'Cause that's what they're going to do if it takes them a month."
"You think so?" Donny asked.
"If there's that many reporters then evidently they think the story is big enough to merit keeping crews on the ground 24/7 until they get what they want," I explained. "We'll be there as soon as Bobbie closes this deal, okay?"
"Okay," Donny said, "just get here as fast as you can.
It's strange what scares people. Some people are scared of dogs, spiders and snakes. Donny isn't scared of any of those things. Some people are scared of heights or being in tiny spaces but not Donny. Donny will stand toe to toe with anyone unless that someone has a TV camera. Donny is scared of flying and justifiably so as he once took control of the quality control department of a major manufacturer of airplane parts and discovered that tens of thousands of defective parts had previously been shipped to almost every airplane manufacturer in the world. But why Donny has a phobia of reporters and television cameras-- even he hasn't a clue.
I walked back to where Bobbie was standing just in time to see the customer getting in his car. "How'd it go?" I asked. "Did he make a deposit on a motorcycle?"
"He paid in full," Bobbie said holding up a check. "I hope I didn't come down too much on the price?"
"Baby girl," I laughed, "you're two grand higher than we were expecting."
"Really?" Bobbie asked, "You mean it?"
"You bet I mean it," I replied, "After things die down at the shop you should talk to the other partners about a bonus."
"What do you mean, after things die down?" Bobbie asked.
I explained the reporters to Bobbie and was guessing they finally got their hands on the police reports from the incident at the Asheboro Zoo and had figured out where she lived and worked. If I was right there would be more reporters at her home so we rode to my place where we dropped off the bikes and switched to my Dodge Ram as I didn't want to push my way through crowds on motorcycles. By the time we got to Burlington every television station in 5 states must have been there as was my old friend Stewart Pittman of Fox8 in nearby High Point, parked almost a block away on the side of the street in a long line of brightly colored media vehicles. I nodded at Stew, he knew what I meant. "That's Stewart," I said to Bobbie, "He's the one who will be doing your interview."
"How do you know?" Bobbie asked.
" 'Cause he's the only one we're going to let near you today." I answered.
"Why only him?" Bobbie asked.
"One," I answered, "he's a friend of mine and two, we can trust him not to hype the story just for ratings. Stew will do you right."
_________
Do I even need to mention local politics? Of course not. The tradirous Tall Whites, the Grey Aliens and a few token humans were still doing what they'd always done, just like they do everywhere. With the Republicans in charge of the house, senate and the govenor's office in Raleigh there would be no help from there either. And Washington? We'd have better odds of getting help from Moscow, Bejing or Tehran and their mutant rats.
Yeah, I know and locusts swarmed over Egypt and Israel. Well in case you didn't know, the corruption and greed forced on us by the Gray Aliens is a bigger plague than anything you ever read in the Bible and unlike rats and locusts, you can't eat Gray Aliens as their flesh and blood are poisonous to humans.
__________
Lemar and John had returned from lunch and were manning the gate by the time Bobbie and I turned into the driveway. "Where's Wooley and Steve?" I asked.
"Wooley is having lunch with his wife and Steve just called and said he'd be back with some parts in a few minutes," John answered.
"You and Lemar get both of them on the telephone and tell them to stay put right where they are while I get Bobbie inside the shop," I said.
"Too late," Lemar said, "Steve is coming down the street now."
"Plan B," I said, get Wooley on the phone and tell him to stay put until we call him."
I drove to the shop door, blew the horn, waited for Donny to open it and drove inside, let Bobbie get out then parked my truck outside and walked back in with Steve where we devised a plan to get Stewart and his camera equipment inside the shop without the throngs of cameramen and reporters who were bound to follow.
A few minutes later I walked out the back of the shop and disappeared through a gate most people don't know exists, walked around the block and made my way to where Stewart was waiting just outside his news van. "Long time no see," Stewart said extending his hand.
"Too long, Bro," I replied as I shook his hand, "How about I show you in the back gate?"
"You got a back gate big enough to drive in?" Stewart asked.
"No," I replied, "but I've got a car and driver waiting a couple miles away that can carry us right back in the front gate incognito."
"Sounds like a plan," Stewart smiled as he got behind the wheel. "Point me the way."
A few minutes later Wooley drove Stewart and I through the front gate and into the shop with a car loaded with Fox8 camera equipment. I then walked outside to the street where I explained to the reporters and camera crews there would be no interviews today. Upon hearing that the Burlington Police Department was happy to ask them to please clear the area though we had little doubt at least some of them would be back the next day.
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"Has someone died?" I asked. You see, Donny never explains much, he just says do it much like I'm prone to do.
"No," he shouted, "nobody died."
"Well," I said, "If nobody died then you've probably got time to explain to me why I need to drop a potential sale and come running back to Burlington from Downtown Greensboro."
"There's reporters everywhere," Donny said.
"What do they want?" I asked.
"I don't know," Donny grumbled. "I didn't talk to them. I don't do reporters, remember?"
Donny has always been shy. He didn't want me to publish this story because he's so shy. Then he tried to get me to write him out of the story which I couldn't do and still write the truth. Fact is, had it not been for Bobbie the story would have never been worth writing but when she emerged as a leader that changed everything. "Well why don't you go ask them what they want?" I asked.
"I'm not going out there," Donny said. "I'll just stay inside 'til they leave."
"You mean until the next shift comes in so those guys can go home to their wives and families," I said. " 'Cause that's what they're going to do if it takes them a month."
"You think so?" Donny asked.
"If there's that many reporters then evidently they think the story is big enough to merit keeping crews on the ground 24/7 until they get what they want," I explained. "We'll be there as soon as Bobbie closes this deal, okay?"
"Okay," Donny said, "just get here as fast as you can.
It's strange what scares people. Some people are scared of dogs, spiders and snakes. Donny isn't scared of any of those things. Some people are scared of heights or being in tiny spaces but not Donny. Donny will stand toe to toe with anyone unless that someone has a TV camera. Donny is scared of flying and justifiably so as he once took control of the quality control department of a major manufacturer of airplane parts and discovered that tens of thousands of defective parts had previously been shipped to almost every airplane manufacturer in the world. But why Donny has a phobia of reporters and television cameras-- even he hasn't a clue.
I walked back to where Bobbie was standing just in time to see the customer getting in his car. "How'd it go?" I asked. "Did he make a deposit on a motorcycle?"
"He paid in full," Bobbie said holding up a check. "I hope I didn't come down too much on the price?"
"Baby girl," I laughed, "you're two grand higher than we were expecting."
"Really?" Bobbie asked, "You mean it?"
"You bet I mean it," I replied, "After things die down at the shop you should talk to the other partners about a bonus."
"What do you mean, after things die down?" Bobbie asked.
I explained the reporters to Bobbie and was guessing they finally got their hands on the police reports from the incident at the Asheboro Zoo and had figured out where she lived and worked. If I was right there would be more reporters at her home so we rode to my place where we dropped off the bikes and switched to my Dodge Ram as I didn't want to push my way through crowds on motorcycles. By the time we got to Burlington every television station in 5 states must have been there as was my old friend Stewart Pittman of Fox8 in nearby High Point, parked almost a block away on the side of the street in a long line of brightly colored media vehicles. I nodded at Stew, he knew what I meant. "That's Stewart," I said to Bobbie, "He's the one who will be doing your interview."
"How do you know?" Bobbie asked.
" 'Cause he's the only one we're going to let near you today." I answered.
"Why only him?" Bobbie asked.
"One," I answered, "he's a friend of mine and two, we can trust him not to hype the story just for ratings. Stew will do you right."
_________
Do I even need to mention local politics? Of course not. The tradirous Tall Whites, the Grey Aliens and a few token humans were still doing what they'd always done, just like they do everywhere. With the Republicans in charge of the house, senate and the govenor's office in Raleigh there would be no help from there either. And Washington? We'd have better odds of getting help from Moscow, Bejing or Tehran and their mutant rats.
Yeah, I know and locusts swarmed over Egypt and Israel. Well in case you didn't know, the corruption and greed forced on us by the Gray Aliens is a bigger plague than anything you ever read in the Bible and unlike rats and locusts, you can't eat Gray Aliens as their flesh and blood are poisonous to humans.
__________
Lemar and John had returned from lunch and were manning the gate by the time Bobbie and I turned into the driveway. "Where's Wooley and Steve?" I asked.
"Wooley is having lunch with his wife and Steve just called and said he'd be back with some parts in a few minutes," John answered.
"You and Lemar get both of them on the telephone and tell them to stay put right where they are while I get Bobbie inside the shop," I said.
"Too late," Lemar said, "Steve is coming down the street now."
"Plan B," I said, get Wooley on the phone and tell him to stay put until we call him."
I drove to the shop door, blew the horn, waited for Donny to open it and drove inside, let Bobbie get out then parked my truck outside and walked back in with Steve where we devised a plan to get Stewart and his camera equipment inside the shop without the throngs of cameramen and reporters who were bound to follow.
A few minutes later I walked out the back of the shop and disappeared through a gate most people don't know exists, walked around the block and made my way to where Stewart was waiting just outside his news van. "Long time no see," Stewart said extending his hand.
"Too long, Bro," I replied as I shook his hand, "How about I show you in the back gate?"
"You got a back gate big enough to drive in?" Stewart asked.
"No," I replied, "but I've got a car and driver waiting a couple miles away that can carry us right back in the front gate incognito."
"Sounds like a plan," Stewart smiled as he got behind the wheel. "Point me the way."
A few minutes later Wooley drove Stewart and I through the front gate and into the shop with a car loaded with Fox8 camera equipment. I then walked outside to the street where I explained to the reporters and camera crews there would be no interviews today. Upon hearing that the Burlington Police Department was happy to ask them to please clear the area though we had little doubt at least some of them would be back the next day.
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