The Hollow Men - Episode 13
VP Tanks isn’t the only game in town, Rick and Drew come up with a marketing campaign, and they help some friends celebrate graduating from college.
Last week in Episode 12 of The Hollow Men, Elizabeth's new boyfriend, years later a massive sense of deja vu, seems everyone wants a tank from VP Tanks, and avoiding the tax man every legal way we can.
If you like to read things from the very beginning feel free to start with The Cold Days of Summer, the first collection of not quite true tales of Texas. Each episode of The Cold Days of Summer and The Hollow Men contains a link to the previous and next episode so you can easily move through the story.
Shifts in reality
April 1980 was a month of shifting realities.
VP Tanks was doing quite all right, but we weren't the only ones who saw the opportunity. Other companies were popping up all over Texas and other oil states using business models similar to ours – just taking a little off the top. There was nothing wrong with that, for the foreseeable future there was more than enough business for everyone. The problem was that some of the shadow companies were more than a little shady. They popped up for a few months, made some quick cash, then disappeared, leaving people on both ends of the deal short on money and product. In other words, there were some grifters and con artists who were starting to make things difficult for those of us who were making an honest living.
We first noticed it when new customers wanted to make sure we were real and in it for the long term versus being a fly-by-night operation. Most times a new customer just wanted some assurance they would get their money's worth dealing with us and most times we could satisfy them by providing them with references from our existing customers. But sometimes a new customer would want more than a phone call or a letter from a satisfied customer, they wanted to see that we were real. To satisfy this type of new customer we came up with two solutions. The first is we used our rented shop and yard to store some inventory, particularly in the case where we weren't able to eliminate the float between two contractors working for us. By occasionally having some inventory in our shop and yard we could actually bring people to see “where things got done.” We also took pictures of the shop and yard and worked with a local publisher on marketing brochures and flyers.
The second solution was a little sneakier. Rick thought of the idea but I was the one who had to go sell it. The vast majority of our tanks were made by SouthWestern Tank and Rick had the idea of including snapshots of the SouthWestern Tank building, tank yard, rolls, presses and assembly lines in our brochure. On one hand, it wasn't entirely a lie, a good percentage of the tanks made at SouthWestern Tank were for VP Tanks. On the other hand, I felt that we really needed SouthWestern Tank's approval before we used the photos. Rick agreed, but left it up to me to pitch the idea.
I dreaded that meeting with Matt. I introduced the idea over lunch, a lunch that Rick conveniently found a reason to not attend. I'm not a salesman in the traditional sense and so the only way I could think of telling Matt about it was just to tell it straight out. We were about halfway through lunch when I brought up the topic.
“Matt, we're making up some brochures for VP Tanks, to help us acquire new customers. Some of these new customers seem a little hesitant to work with a company that does what we do. We don't make anything, we just make sure all of the pieces get together to the customer's satisfaction. Some of these new customers want to see a real business, with real products.”
I paused for a moment and Matt took advantage of my pause.
“I guess that explains why you have some inventory in your yard now. That's for those customers who want to see that you're real.”
“Yes, sir, that's one of the reasons why we have some inventory. We're keeping inventory in order to look more real. Problem is we can talk about our capacity, of how big a tank we can get made, of the rolls and presses you need to get the work done, but anyone who looks at our shop will know the tanks don't get made there. We want to include additional pictures in our brochure to help convince the stubborn customer that we are real and that we can deliver.”
“I think I see where you are going, Drew. You want to include pictures of our shop, our rolls, our presses, our yard in your brochure, isn't that it?”
I felt a little like a child caught in a lie by their parent.
“Yes, sir, that's what we want to do. We've thought it over. We won't really be lying and...”
“Drew, I understand what you're trying to do. And I agree with you, you won't be lying. I think we can work something out if you're willing to agree to a few things.”
I nodded my head, this looked like it might be going better than I had expected.
“I need to see any photographs you plan to use. I also want to review any marketing materials you create. I want to make sure whatever you and Rick come up with represents both VP Tanks and SouthWestern Tank in a good light. Can you live with that?”
I could and told him so. The rest of the meal went well and we scheduled a meeting at SouthWestern Tank for later that week to get started.
Friday afternoon Rick and I met with Matt, Ned and Jim. Rick brought his 35mm camera and we walked around the shop for a good thirty minutes. Rick shot a full role of film. We all gathered back in the shop office and talked for another thirty minutes about the next steps. Rick would get the prints developed and we would all review them with the goal of picking out the best 5-10 photos. I would write up some sample text for the brochure and put together a paper mockup of the brochure for Matt to review. Once Matt, Rick and I came to a consensus on the brochure and any other marketing materials we would make a small print run, pass it through one last round of reviews, make any needed changes, print off the initial run and send the materials out.
While we worked on getting a good mockup of our marketing materials we focused on our next biggest problem: finding enough good contractors to handle our workload. That was a little challenging because whoever we worked with had to be reliable, otherwise it caused too many problems down the line. We started new contractors off small, giving them a chance to prove they were organized and reliable. Over time we would increase the workload that went their way.
Other than those two problems, things were good. The money just kept flowing in. Cash was not a problem, we were paying ourselves well, we each were putting in a good amount of money into six month and twelve month certificate of deposits, which were paying over 11% a year.
In mid-April we received several reminders that time was moving on, the world was changing and reality was shifting. The first reminder had a postmark from Austin.
Rick walked into the office waving an envelope one weekday morning.
"Shit, did you see this? We got our first graduation announcement. Some of those bastards are graduating from college this year, this one's from Jason."
He handed the envelope to me. I opened it and pulled out the announcement. It had a lot of words, but the ones of interest were Jason Morris Kline, Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering, Magna Cum Laude, May 24, 1980.
"Our boy Jason is graduating from UT. Looks like we have a trip to get ready for."
It had been four years since we graduated from Permian, and it was time for some of us, those who hadn't gotten off the higher education track, to graduate from college.
Jason's was the first graduation announcement we received, but it wasn't the last. Kate Blessing's invitation arrived later that week. In her invitation to me there was a short note from Jack informing me that he would kill me if I didn't show up for the graduation. I had to laugh at that. Jack was in Austin, working for the HEB grocery chain part time and going to UT Austin full time working on a BBA in Management. He expected to graduate no later than the fall of 1980.
We already were planning to go to Austin for Jason's graduation, but with a death threat casting a shadow on my future I firmed up my travel plans.
People evolve. They really do. I know, I know, so many think people can't change, that what you were when you were born is what you will be when you die. I've never liked that kind of thinking, it just seems so damned hopeless, too much predestination for me. After all, if all the decisions have been made for me before I ever showed up, if I have no choice, if it makes no difference, if the stones have been cast, what's the point of any decision I make? No, can't agree to that.
Let me give you a great example of change: Jack Blessing. First few years I knew him he was the meanest bully I had ever come across. If you managed to not piss him off he would be your friend, but he was unpredictable, you never knew what would set him off so you never were really safe with Jack. He could blow at any moment and you did not want to be around when he blew. I don't know why he was like that, I'm guessing his Dad had something to do with it, but I don't know, I'm not Jack. What I do know is that Jack changed, a lot. He went from being trouble, probably, definitely destined to a hard scrabble life, and that was if he didn't wind up in prison, or to something else. This new Jack did his work, only occasionally spoke out or caused trouble, sure, he still could raise hell on the weekend as good as anyone, but he seemed more relaxed in his own skin. He seemed, dare I say it, content with who he was. And, a Jack Blessing content with who he was made life better for everyone who knew him.
The next week two more graduation announcements arrived in the mail. Sue and J.T. Billings were graduating from Texas Tech on May 17th. Sue was completing her BA in Education while J.T. was completing his degree in Civil Engineering. I asked Elizabeth if she wanted to go along for that trip and before I knew it Rick and I had agreed to drive up to Lubbock with her and Bud.
Luckily, that was it for the graduating class of spring 1980 as there weren't any more free weekends in May. Mark was doing well at UT in Austin, but didn't plan to graduate until the summer or fall of 1980. Barry was still at SouthWest Texas State University and expected to graduate the summer of 1980.
A hard May
It was a hard month. A busy month. But, hell, we had a lot of fun. Rick and I poured it on the first two weeks of the month, closing up as many deals as we could, getting as much work lined up as we could because we knew our productivity would be down once the graduations started.
Early in the month the pictures Rick had taken at SouthWestern Tank were developed and we spent a Saturday afternoon mocking up a tri-fold brochure for VP Tanks. We used three pictures from SouthWestern Tank, one a long shot of the interior of the shop, another of the tank rolls as an 8 foot wide piece of steel was being rolled and a third of the pressure vessel bay, where if you knew what you were looking at you would see the brothers Nat and James welding a three phase separator tower. Once we had everything laid out, the photos, the text, and our contact information we took the mockup over to SouthWestern Tank on Monday for Matt to look at and hopefully approve. He liked it, only had a few small comments but gave his approval for us to use the photos.
Tuesday we took the mockup to a local printer and by the following Monday we had two proof copies, one for us to keep, the other the printer would keep. Everything looked good with the proof and we placed an order for two hundred copies. Thursday afternoon the order was ready and we picked up our first order of brochures. I pulled five brochures and brought them home that evening. I gave one to my Dad and I explained to him that while the words and the address was ours, three of the four photographs were taken at SouthWestern Tank. The only photo that was “real” was one that showed our office, shop and yard. He smiled at the joke and slapped me hard on the back.
Friday, May 16th we packed in the morning all we needed for our trip to Lubbock. Our plan was to work a full day until 6:00, then drive to Lubbock for a late dinner and some beers with Sue and J.T. Elizabeth bailed on working that day, she said her and Bud had too much to do before the trip.
The day went well. We spent an hour placing brochures in envelopes to send to our top customers and to about fifty new potential clients in New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma. We saved out ten brochures each for Matt and Uncle Bill.
Bud and Elizabeth showed up around 5:30 pm ready to go. At 6:00 Rick and I closed up the office and we all loaded up in Rick's car for the drive to Lubbock. A little over two hours later we pulled up to Sue and J.T.'s apartment.
Once we got past the hellos and hugs we could see Sue had prepared for us. She and Elizabeth would sleep in the bedroom while in the living room cots and sleeping bags had been set up for the four guys. Sue and Elizabeth were well on the way to becoming close friends while J.T. made sure everyone had a beer and that enough pizza was ordered to keep everyone happy. The only problem I saw was that the beer supply did not seem sufficient to last very long. I stood at the refrigerator with the door open, counted eleven beers and called out to J.T.
“Got a problem here, J.T. There's not near enough beer here for the night, hell, not even the next hour. I think we need to make a beer run unless you've got other plans for us.”
“Nope, no other plans. I figured you all would be a little tired so I thought we would hang around here tonight. Tomorrow night we can hit the town.”
“Then we definitely need to make a beer run.”
J.T. laughed and said “All right, all right. Rick, Bud, you stay here in case the pizza arrives before Drew and I get back.” He grabbed his keys and we walked out the door.
I was surprised by two things about Lubbock. The first thing was that I didn't see a liquor store on the way into town and J.T. drove by several convenience stores. All we needed was beer, I didn't know why he didn't stop at one of them, so I asked him why.
“Lubbock is part dry and part wet. This is the dry part of town but we're about to cross over into the wet part of town.”
Up ahead I saw the familiar Pinkie's sign. J.T. pulled up in the parking lot and said “I'll wait for you in the car. Here's twenty bucks, buy what you think we need.”
I took the money and walked into the familiar environs of Pinkie's. I bought plenty of Coors, I figured that with six of us total we needed to buy two cases to have a chance of lasting the night.
The beer was good and cold. The pizza was hot, fresh and good. The company and conversation was even better. Sue and Elizabeth were the first to quit for the night at a little past midnight. Bud lasted until 1:30. Rick, J.T. and I kept going, but we kept it fairly quiet so the others could get a decent rest. Sometime around 4:00 we ran out of beer and decided to call it a night.
10:00 am Saturday morning, even with the smell of bacon frying, came too early for the three of us. I woke and stumbled into the kitchen where Sue and Elizabeth were fixing scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. Bud, for all I knew, was on his second or third plate of food.
“Whew, don't you look handsome. I knew there was some reason I chose J.T. over you.”
“Thanks, Sue. That's exactly what I wanted to hear this morning. It is morning, isn't it? And, for what it's worth, I believe your husband is still among the dead.”
“Not dead, just not alive. But I'm sure that a plateful of my lovely wife's cream cheese scrambled eggs will be all I need. That and a large cup of coffee.”
J.T. walked in and sat down at the table next to Bud. Sue brought him a full plate and a cup of coffee. After a quick kiss, J.T. set down to the task of coming back to life. In between bites he said “Drew, there's some tea in refrigerator, I know you don't drink coffee.”
Elizabeth handed me a glass of iced tea.
I was dehydrated and drank the entire glass in one long take. That did some good, but I could tell it would take a little while before I felt human. Rick walked in about that time and we sat down with Bud and J.T. and ate breakfast quietly. By 10:30 we were done, the kitchen was cleaned up and the dishes were put away. It was now time to head out in the grand city of Lubbock. Graduation wasn't until 4:00 pm so we had time to kill.
By 11:45 we were all showered, cleaned up and ready to go. The late breakfast did us well, we were all willing to wait until dinner for our next meal. We saw the local mall, got a brief tour of the Texas Tech campus. Elizabeth and Bud were particularly interested in the campus tour, we all bought a Texas Tech t-shirt of some sort. I looked for something that said “my sister goes to TT and all I got was the bill” but the stores didn't have anything like that. Around 2:00 we headed back to the apartment to get ready for the graduation. We let Sue and J.T. go first as they would have to leave before us. Around 3:00, Sue's and J.T.'s parents came over. They had driven up that morning and had checked into the Holiday Inn down the road. Sue, J.T. and their parents left for the ceremony at 3:15 and we left at 3:30, locking the apartment behind us.
Texas Tech is a big school and the spring graduation was big, several thousand students. We expected we would have a long wait, but the graduation ceremony itself was very efficient. By 6:15 pm it was all over. We heard both of their names, saw them walk across the aisle and now had two friends among the graduated. By 6:45 we were all at the best steak house in Lubbock, with the parents picking up the tab. It was a good, loud, fun dinner as everyone told stories from the past. It was a damn good time, one of the best I had in a long time. By 9:00 the parents had excused themselves from the festivities and it was just us friends out for the night. J.T. and Sue took us on a tour of the best college nights spots in Lubbock. At 2:00 am the clubs closed and we headed back to the apartment. Rick, Drew and I took it much easier that night, still feeling a little weak from the long night before. This time around, Sue, Elizabeth and Bud probably had a little more to drink than they should.
I woke up around 9:00 feeling good. I moved quietly and got a pot of coffee started as I expected Sue, Elizabeth and Bud would need the caffeine. Rick woke up while the coffee was brewing. We went out on Sue's and J.T.'s porch and welcomed the day.
By 10:00 everyone else had woken up. Neither Elizabeth or Sue were interested in eating anything, not until they had some coffee in them. Bud made do with a peanut butter sandwich. After the first pot of coffee had been consumed Rick and I offered to buy everyone brunch, sort of a graduation present for Sue and J.T..
We headed out for brunch at 11:00 and by 1:00 pm all were extremely satisfied with the day. Once we drove back to the apartment, the Odessans among us started getting ready for the drive back. Sue and J.T.'s lease on the apartment was good through the month so they planned on enjoying a brief vacation before coming back to Odessa. J.T. had accepted a job as an engineer for Shell Oil in Midland. Sue had several interviews lined up with Ector County Independent School District, Midland Independent School District and Andrews Independent School District. They planned to live in Odessa, but if Sue wound up teaching in Midland they would consider living there as well.
The drive back was uneventful. Elizabeth and Bud filled the time by talking about living in Lubbock and being Red Raiders that next fall. We stopped by the shop where Bud picked up his car and I picked up my truck and we went in three separate ways, Bud and Elizabeth in one car, me in my truck and Rick in his car.
We worked hard that week, all of us. Elizabeth worked every day. Bud had an after school job at the Texas Department of Transportation Odessa office. Friday morning Rick and I came into the office with our bags packed for the trip to Austin. We worked right up until 6:00 pm and closed up shop. I told Elizabeth that if she wanted to come in Saturday morning and work she could, but she didn't seem all that interested in doing so. I think she was hoping to spend more time with Bud with Rick and I going to Austin.
At 6:15 pm we drove out of the parking lot. For this trip the good old truck would be our transportation. Our bags were lashed down in the bed as was our ice chest. On the way towards Midland we stopped and we iced down a case of Coors. Twenty minutes later we stopped on the side of the road and pulled out two beers. Man, they were nice and cold.
Seven and a half hours, 11 beers and two hamburgers later we pulled into the parking lot of Jack's and Kate's apartment. That was our sleeping pad for the weekend. They had a two bedroom apartment and had more room than either Jason or Mark had. Anyway, Barry had driven up that afternoon and was staying at Jason's apartment. Kate was asleep, but Jack had been waiting up for us. We walked in, talked for about a half hour then all three of us went to bed. It had been a long trip for Rick and me and there would be plenty to do and talk about in the morning.
We all woke up around 9:00 am. Rick and I were in good shape. Kate looked great and Jack was, well, Jack was Jack. It looked like a beautiful day and it was good to be in Austin. Around 10:00 everyone else showed up, first Jason, then Barry and finally Mark. It had been awhile since we had all been together so we decided to plot out our day.
The University of Texas, or as Jason kept referring to it, the University, was big, damn big, with nearly 50,000 students. That meant the school was too large to have a single graduation ceremony. Kate's graduation ceremony was at 2:00 pm and Jason's was at 5:00 pm. The good thing is that that the two ceremonies were within walking distance so we would be able to make both. The Blessings and the Klines were in town and had agreed to take everyone out to dinner at The Magic Time Machine on Riverside after Jason's graduation. The time was ours until 1:00 pm when Kate would leave for her ceremony. We decided to get something to eat and maybe, maybe have a beer or two.
We settled on Matt's El Rancho, one of the classic Mexican restaurants in town. Absolutely delicious food and plenty of cold Tecate. Kate refrained from drinking too much but the rest of us did not. By the time we left Matt's around 12:20, several of us were feeling quite well. We headed back to Jack and Kate's apartment and while she got ready we kept drinking. Kate left at 1:00 pm, we waved good bye, drank another beer and started getting ready ourselves. We were out the door by 1:35 and in our seats for the ceremony by 1:55. The Blessings had saved seats for us. Mr. Blessing slapped me on the back and seemed genuinely happy as did Mrs. Blessing. Janey looked good and was doing all right. She had graduated from Permian, was working in Odessa and going to Odessa College. She planned to transfer to Texas A&M the next fall. I sat next to Jack, Rick sat next to me, then Mark, then Barry. We tried to not seem too drunk but we cheered loudly when Kate walked across the stage. The Blessings seemed like a proud, happy family, something I hadn't seen before.
With the ceremony over, we all waited for Kate to make her way to us. We stood around for a few minutes, making small talk, the Blessings told us that they would see us later at The Magic Time Machine and then our group (Rick, Mark, Barry, Jack, Kate and me) walked across campus to where Jason's graduation would be held. The Klines were already there and had saved seats. We were in our seats by 4:30 and spent the next half hour talking about the future. Jack had every intention of graduating in the fall and was already accepted into a management training program at HEB. Kate, with her degree in accounting, was going to start her five year stint in the U.S. Army as a procurement officer. Mark was also working on his accounting degree and at this point didn't have any firm offers but had interned in the spring and would continue working in the summer at a local radio station. Barry would be completing his degree in Broadcast Journalism this summer and had a line on an entry level sportscasting job for a television station in Corpus Christi. Jason's parents told us he had accepted an offer with Exxon Production Research Company in Houston, Texas and would be moving there in early June. Rick and I were the only ones without any solid plans for the future, we were too busy with the present. The Kline's wanted to know if we planned on going back to school or keep running VP Tanks. We told them we would be running VP Tanks for the foreseeable future. Alex, short for Alexandria and Jason's younger sister, asked about Elizabeth's plans. She was a junior at Permian, a Peppette and knew Elizabeth, but they weren't close friends. I told her that Elizabeth was planning to go to Texas Tech in the fall.
And then the lights dimmed, the music played and our attention turned to the stage. The engineering class was smaller than the business class so things moved a little quicker. Once again we hooted and hollered when Jason walked across the stage, but much of the beer and the intoxication from it had gone away so we weren't quiet as boisterous as we had been at Kate's graduation. Jason gave us a bow and a wave as he walked off the stage, diploma in hand.
After the ceremony we all met at The Magic Time Machine. The atmosphere was a little crazy, we were seated in a Roman Empire themed area and the servers were dressed in decadent Roman Empire style. I'll admit I liked the food at Matt's better, but I've always had a preference for good Tex-Mex. Despite that the food was good, so were the mixed drinks, which I'll admit I had more than a couple. With the adult Blessings and Klines picking up the tab it was a great night. Once dinner was done, Jack, Kate and Jason took us down to Sixth Street. I was interested in hearing some local live music so we went to a couple of clubs. Around midnight we all headed back to Jack’s and Kate's. On the way back we bought plenty of beer for the night. Once there Jack turned on the stereo, starting with a superb stack of The Animals, The Rolling Stones, Van Halen, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. He kept the music playing all night and kept serving up a nice eclectic mix of music, but never playing it too loud to drown out the conversation.
It was a long night of good music, beer, conversation and friends. Similar to Lubbock the week before Rick and I were the last to “turn out the lights.” But this time we had a crowd with us. Kate was the first to give up around 1:30 but everyone else (Jack, Barry, Mark, Jason) stayed up with Rick and I to 4:00 am. It was a good night and no one stirred until 12:00 noon Sunday.
Once we were all awake Rick and I offered to take everyone out for brunch or lunch, their choice. We wound up at Kirbey Lane, had to wait a good thirty minutes before we were seated but had some delicious home cooked food with lots of ice tea. We didn't get back to Jack and Kate's until 2:30.
With a seven hour drive facing Rick and me, it was time for us to go. We packed up our belongings, said our goodbyes and by 3:30 were on the road back to Odessa.
Different city, different graduations, different people, same results.
A little after 11:00 pm we pulled into Odessa. Versus stopping at VP Tanks to drop Rick off at his car we had decided that I would drop him off at his house, then pick him up in the morning for another week at work. I was home by 11:15 and in bed by 11:40, after taking a shower to wash away the road sweat and making a couple of peanut butter sandwiches for Kaiser and me.
Kaiser was ready to run the next morning, I was not, but Kaiser is a task master so we ran.
Next week in Episode 14 Elizabeth and Budd leave for Lubbock, Robert (Rick’s brother) leaves for Corpus Christi, Sue becomes a member of the Pinkie’s parking lot gang, a new employee joins VP Tanks, Mike explains the meaning of “seven minutes to heaven,” Jack Blessing graduates from college, and Uncle Bill talks of “suitcase oilmen,” and “tomorrow men.”