The Hollow Men - Episode 24
Drew visits Rick and wonders why he is now the sane one. He is not the only one who wonders this.
Last week in Episode 23 Rick isn't any better, Drew decides to close down VP Tanks and knows the process of breaking things down will be slow at first.
The Hollow Men is the second collection of not quite true tales of Texas. If you have recently subscribed and 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 line.
The sane one
After the initial shut down lunch with Uncle Bill it was a quiet afternoon at work. The phone rang once at 3:30 pm. Mary Ann was faster than me. She listened quietly, said yes a few times, then hung up the phone.
“Who was it?”
Mary Ann looked sheepish. “My Mom, she wants me to know if I can come over to dinner tonight and pick up some things on the way home.”
“Whew, sure glad to hear she didn't want to buy some 500 Bbl tanks from us. I would hate to tell her no.”
“She's saying the roads could get iffy this evening. They're talking that it might snow tonight.”
“Mary Ann, if you need or want to leave, go ahead. I can take care of things here this afternoon. Hell, just go ahead and leave, don't worry about the hours, I'll count this as a full afternoon.”
“Thanks, that would be great. There are a couple of things I need to take care of. Do you need me to come in tomorrow?”
“No, don't worry about Saturday. I'll see you Monday afternoon.”
Mary Ann gathered up her things, waved goodbye and left.
Once again it was just me. As The Clash played in the background I went through all of the open bids. For the last year and a half, all of our bids were good 30 days from creation. Of the remaining bids still good and out on the street, $21,000 of the bids expired the next week, while the remaining $24,000 would expire by February 16th.
As the rain turned to sleet, then to snow I opened up a beer and my mind rambled over this week. It had only been two days since I had seen my closest friend break down. I needed to get some sense of understanding of what had happened. By 6:30 pm I had finished off six beers and realized I had no enhanced understanding. In fact, I had less. Rick was the strong, sane one. He shouldn't have broken, if anyone should have broken it would have been me. Yet, here it was. Rick was on the fifth floor of the medical center. I was the crazy one, always have been. Been hearing voices all of my life. Hell, I dream of the dead, of skeleton man and skeleton dog and yet, I'm the sane one?
I drove slowly home as the snow fell.
On Monday I called Mr. Anders. He said I could visit Rick at the hospital, but he warned that Rick probably wouldn't be responsive. I was at the office at my usual time and kept busy. If I wasn't trying to close VP Tanks down it would have been hard to stay busy. There were no calls that morning, no bids to work on. I spent my time assessing our current backlog plus all of the work in progress. I had a good set of notes and would spend my afternoon checking up on every piece of work in progress, talking to all of our subcontractors and following up with customers whose work was within a week or two of being finished.
At a little after 9:30 I drove to the hospital. Once there I went up to the fifth floor. I had to sign in and I asked the nurse where Rick Anders' room was. She pointed me down the hallway. I walked slowly, a good part of me not wanting to see how Rick was. His door was open. It was a semi-private room, but he had the room to himself. Rick's bed was on the far side of the room, nearest the window. A chair was turned towards the window. Rick was sitting in the chair, looking out on the West Texas morning. I walked in.
In my most optimistic voice I said “Rick, how you doing, man?”
Rick turned around, looked at me, looked beyond and through me, said nothing and turned back to look out the window.
I sat down on the edge of his bed and looked out on the horizon.
“Damn, it's a beautiful day, isn't it?
It was, a typical West Texas winter day. Over night the temperature had dropped to in the low twenties but the day was warming up as the sun rose higher into the sky. The high was expected to be in the mid-50s and there was not a cloud in the sky.
Rick had no comment about the weather. In fact, Rick had no comment about anything.
I talked about the weekend's playoff games, the NFC and AFC championship games. Dallas had been hurt and eventually humbled by the Washington Redskins 31 to 17. It had been a close game until the final quarter where the Redskins outscored the Cowboys 10 to 0. On Sunday, the Miami Dolphins beat the New York Jets 14 to 0.
Normally, talking about the NFL would spark a flood of comments from Rick. Today he had nothing to say.
I talked about work, Rick said nothing. Hell, it didn't matter what I said, Rick said nothing. I'm not that much of a talker and by 11:00 I was done. Rick had said nothing the entire time, just staring out the window. I stood up, told him I was leaving, no response. I walked over to him and placed my hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me, no sign of recognition on his face. I said goodbye and walked away. At the door I looked back. Rick was looking out the window. I'm not sure if he heard a word I said or if he knew who I was.
I definitely didn't feel like going back to work. I drove around town for a few minutes and found myself in the parking lot of the University and Grandview Pinkies, James' store. I walked in. James was behind the counter.
“Drew, how the hell are you? What are you doing here on a Monday morning?”
“Seeing if you would like some lunch.”
“Well, I'm working, can't leave.”
“Figured as much. What do you want? I'll go get it and we can have lunch here.”
“Hmm, that is tempting. How about some Jo-Jo's? Not too far away, great burgers, great onion rings and that lime coke always goes good with a little gin?”
“I agree, Jo-Jo's it is. If I remember right you like yours all the way with mayonnaise, right?”
“Yep, be sure and get fries and onion rings. I'm feeling hungry today.”
“Give me twenty minutes and I'll be back.”
Jo-Jo's was a very short drive. I placed our order, waited a bit then drove back with a full order for both of us.
James was working the store on his own this morning. He had a couple of people coming in around 3:00 to work the store until closing. Monday during the day was usually slow for Pinkie's so most of the time we had the place to ourselves. As we ate, we talked and I caught James up to speed on VP Tanks and Rick. I didn't give him all of the details, just enough to get him up to speed.
“Damn, he just snapped?”
“Yep, I saw him today and I don't think he knew who I was. Least ways he didn't act as if he knew me.”
“Geez, you know, if someone asked me to place a bet on who would go crazy first, I would have placed my money on you.”
“Thanks, that's a nice compliment for someone who bought you lunch.”
“Well, I did supply the gin.” With that James topped off both of our lime cokes with a more than generous splash of Tanqueray gin. “What I meant was Rick was like a rock, very stable, dependable. You, well, you have always been a little more edgy. I trust you, no doubt of that, but if I had to rely on someone driving me home safely one night after a good carousing I would have picked Rick, not you.”
“Can't blame you. Many a night I relied on Rick for the safe ride home. That's what makes this so strange.”
About 12:45 we had talked things through, at least as far as we could see. I had to get back to work so I told James goodbye.
Back at the office I went back to work on a thorough detailing of our backlog, all work in progress and every customer who had outstanding bills. I talked with all of our customers who either had work in the backlog or works in progress. Everyone still wanted their orders, no one was backing out. I also talked with our subcontractors about works in progress. That didn't take too long at all since we only had one assembly line up and running. By 4:00 pm I had a thorough understanding of the state of VP Tanks. Tuesday I would call all customers with outstanding bills, just to see where things were at. I wanted to get accounts cleaned up and closed up. A little after 4:00 I called Uncle Bill's office and told his secretary that I could meet with him any day this week. She checked his calendar and said he was free Wednesday at 10:30 am. I told her I would see him then. I then called our accountant, Kevin and gave him an update on things. Turns out Uncle Bill had called him and let him know I was shutting down VP Tanks. I told Kevin that I would be meeting with Uncle Bill on Wednesday to go over the state of VP Tanks. Kevin suggested we get together the following Monday to lay out his part of the exit plan.
This day was done, it was 5:30, Mary Ann had left a few minutes before. I opened up a beer and listened to some music. None of this made sense at all.
The Wednesday meeting with Uncle Bill went smoothly.
I brought all of the data I pulled together on Monday, plus an update from talking with customers on Tuesday. All but one customer told me that the check would be in the mail this week. The one sort of hemmed and hawed about needing more time to pay. I asked him what about Net 30 did he not understand. Knowing I was going to shut down VP Tanks freed me up a lot. I didn't have to be courteous, I just wanted my money. I got blunt with this customer and before I was done he said he would cut the check immediately and put it in the mail Wednesday morning.
Uncle Bill looked through everything, mumbled to himself a lot and wrote down some notes. Once he was done he spoke to me.
“From what I can see you've got nearly everything under control, save for this one galoot.” He was waving an invoice.
“Talked to him yesterday. Had a sad tale, but before I hung up the phone he said would cut the check and get it in the mail.”
“Good, keep on him, there's no need to give anything away at this stage. When will you seeing Kevin?”
“Monday.”
“Good. What did your dad say?”
“About what?”
“Rick, closing VP Tanks?”
“Haven't mentioned either one to him yet.”
“Why not?”
“Didn't seem to be a point of conversation, at least not yet. It's not like we have this rich, deep dialogue. It will come up when it comes up. Right now I've been too busy on all this crap to have much time to talk about it. I did talk about it with one friend, didn't really change how I feel, so I don't see much of a point in talking about it with anyone else, unless they have a direct dealing with the situation. I told Mary Ann, that she needn't worry, we'll treat her well, offered to pay for the rest of her degree at UTPB.”
“Drew, your Mom and Dad deserve to know. Have you even mentioned to them about your plan to move to Austin and go back to school?”
I shook my head.
“I do not understand you, but I won't tell them. That's your job. Do it soon. I don't like keeping secrets.”
Uncle Bill was rarely firm, at least to me, but I could tell from the timbre of his voice he was serious. I nodded my head in response.
“I hear you, Uncle Bill. I'll tell them. I'll try this weekend but I promise I will in the next few days.”
“I can live with that. I don't like it, but I can live with it. Let me know when you tell them.”
We wrapped up the meeting. He had a lunch meeting with some of the other bank managers so I had to fend for myself. I grabbed some food from Whataburger and headed back to the office.
They say bad news travels fast. Maybe strange bad news does too. That same Wednesday, around 5:30 Mike Garrett walked into our office. Mary Ann had already left for the day. I had just opened a can of beer.
“Got anything for me?”
“Sure do, plenty of beer in the fridge, help yourself? What brings you here, Mike?”
“Rick, or what I heard about Rick. James called me yesterday. I didn't get a chance to break away until today. What the hell happened?”
I told him. After I was done he just shook his head.
“Not right, that's just not right... James says you're closing VP Tanks?”
I nodded my head.
“Going back to school in Austin?”
Again I nodded my head.
“You ever going to talk again?”
“Someday, maybe today, not sure.”
“Good, I get tired of hearing you ramble on all the time.”
We laughed at that. It was good to laugh. We had a few more beers, talked about a few more things and around 7:00 locked the doors and went our respective ways.
Thursday evening J.T and Sue walked in the office around 4:30 pm. Sue was pissed.
“Drew, where do you get off not telling us about Rick?” Actually, she said it a little more colorfully than that but it just didn't seem like what Sue or a teacher at Nimitz Junior High would say.
J.T. just nodded his head. It looked like Sue was going to do all of the talking. Several minutes later, after Sue had calmed down and had run out of things to say I spoke. I told them the same story I had told James and Mike. Mary Ann, who had been sitting quietly to the side the entire time I was reamed by Sue, added in some details from her perspective.
No one really had anything new to say. Everyone was sorry, everyone was worried about Rick. The strange part was having someone mad at me because I hadn't felt like talking to them about this whole thing. I'm not sure why James was the first person I told about Rick, outside of Uncle Bill, maybe it was because I knew James would just listen, nod his head, say a couple of things, but would largely just let it go. Somewhere along the way Sue was no longer mad at me, or it may have been the effects of the third beer. As soon as she started talking I opened the first beer, drank that, started on the second beer and finished it before she stopped talking. I drank the third beer while Mary Ann and I were filling in the gaps of their understanding of the situation. The meeting ended with Sue giving me a hug, J.T. slapping me on the back, they both saying don't be a stranger and a promise from me that I would go with them to the hospital on Saturday to see Rick.
On Saturday the three of us visited Rick. The visit went the same as my first visit. Rick was staring out the window when we got there. He looked at us for a moment then proceeded to stare out the window again. I talked, J.T. talked, so did Sue. I don't think he heard a thing. Finally after about thirty minutes I suggested we leave. Sue didn't want to.
“Come on, Sue. Let's go. I don't think he knows we're here at all. What's the point?”
“To give him comfort” said Sue in between sniffles.
“He needs his rest, his quiet. We can come another day.”
J.T. stood up and walked over to Rick. He placed his hand on Rick's shoulder and said “Rick, we have to go now, but we will be back soon. You get some rest. You're looking good. In a little while you ought to come out to the house, see how the trees you and Drew planted are doing.”
Rick looked up at J.T. then looked back out the window. It was time for us to go. Sue sobbed, walked over and gave Rick a hug. He seemed to stiffen for a moment but other than that didn't react at all.
For a moment I was lost in time and space as I watched the scene in front of me. There was a tenderness between J.T. and Sue that moved towards Rick, but then it stopped, as if blocked by some invisible force. It was a hard thing to watch and then in the back of my mind I saw my Dad holding my Mom tenderly as she cried for the loss of her first son the night I met Stan, the Skeleton Man, in a field dream. I began to realize, maybe even accept, that tenderness was all around me, but like this new version of Rick I had somehow managed to block it from touching me for so long. I was tired, tired of all this. I wasn’t sure how much more of it I could take.
We left. No one really felt like doing anything so J. T. and Sue went their way and I went mine. Only problem was I really didn't have a way so I just got in my truck and drove. I drove to no place in particular until I find my way back to East 11th Street and the house where my family lived.
Sunday was one of those rare Sundays that Dad didn't feel a need to go out to the oil fields. Mom made a big breakfast for her boys, including Kaiser. While we ate I told them about Rick and VP Tanks. Mom stifled a sob. Dad just stared at me while he finished chewing his food.
“You mean he just broke? Just broke down? That doesn't seem like Rick.”
“No, it doesn't. But that is what happened.”
Dad didn't have anything more to say. Kaiser enjoyed the extra scrambled eggs and bacon Mom had made for him. While I helped Mom clean up the kitchen she decided she would bake a cake for the Anders. Not really sure what that was supposed to do, but some people just need to feel they've done something. Later that afternoon I went with her to deliver the cake to the Anders. Everyone was polite and optimistic. Mrs. Anders insisted we have a slice of cake before we left and I will admit it was delicious, a Hines 20 minute chocolate cake. As we said goodbye I saw something in Mr. Anders eyes I wasn't used to seeing and didn't care to see: acceptance and defeat.
Monday I met with Kevin. He looked through everything, didn't see any real issues, suggested I keep a close tabs on all outstanding invoices and meet with him again in about two weeks. We went closely over the insurance paperwork and he suggested to keep the name of VP Tanks alive for awhile, keep a shell of the company running with some amount of capital to continue paying the health insurance premiums for both Rick and myself, at least until we had another form of coverage in place.
Author’s note: Drew has a solid plan for shutting down VP Tanks and has started executing it. That might be the only thing that’s keeping him sane as he tries to figure out happened to Rick.
Next week, in Episode 25, the final days of VP Tanks, Matt Johnson might have an insight as what happened, and the first days of an unemployed Drew.