A STITCH IN TIME
CHAPTER 1
When you can stand and look at the rolling hills and deep flush valleys of North Carolina, I believe deep down in my heart you have reached a piece of heaven and in my opinion, there is no place more beautiful or a place so steeped in history. It is down in those flatlands that our story begins to take shape and what a story it is.
I had just moved into the town of Ramseur, or should I say, moved back to Ramseur. My parents had moved us to Florida when I was no taller than a young corn stalk and I had been waiting ever sense to move back. When I heard a buddy of mine was headed that way, I figured it was now or never. I collected my paycheck, emptied my bank account and gathered up what few clothes I’d need and I was out the door, having no plan or idea, of what the hell I was going to do.
After getting to North Carolina, I stopped off in Asheboro for a couple of days to see an old friend I had met in college. Spending time with him gave me the chance to check the job market and local housing without spending a lot of money, which I was getting short on!
My second day in town found me sitting at an outside café table having my morning coffee and thumbing thru the want-ads. I guess I’d said a cuss word cause the next thing I heard was, “that bad, huh.” “I’m so sorry I told the guy sitting there, guess I was thinking out loud.” He looked at me and waved his hand as if to say, no problem. “New in town,” he asked. “Two whole days,” I said in reply. He picked up his coffee and asked if he could join me. “Sure,” the more, the merrier I said, and we both laughed.
After getting comfortable, he gave me the once over and asked if I was job hunting. House hunting too, I added. “Ever do any heavy equipment repair or painting,” he asked. “Not a lot,” I said, my face starting to get some color back. As he locked his eyes with mine, he slid over a business card. “You know your way around this area,” he asked. I guess it showed on my face as I told him no, my head starting to hang a little. “That’s ok,” he told me. “It’s just up the road a few miles,” he told me, as he pointed his finger. “Got any idea if there’s any places to rent, cheap!” I asked.
Now I’m not generally a very funny guy but this guy laughed so hard, I thought he was going to have a heart attack. As he started to get his breath back, he put his hand on my shoulder and told me there was a trailer park across from the work place. “I believe there’s always one or two empties from the amount of time the cops spend over there.” Now it was my turn to laugh, only not quite as loud.
We were standing there looking at each other when I realized he had never asked my name, so I extended my hand and said, “I’m Dave Powers.” He took my hand and said, “hello Dave Powers, I’m Stan Upton.” We ordered another coffee and sat there quietly, sipping the hot liquid. As we sat there immersed in small talk, I could tell Stan was sizing me up and I was doing the same to him. After awhile he asked if I needed a ride to the trailer park. I looked at him and said, “you sure you want to spend your afternoon driving me around?” He looked at me and said, “my young friend, it will be my pleasure to help you get settled in,” and he did.
That afternoon started more than we knew and Stan became a friend that to this day, I’d trust my life with. We went to my buddy’s house so I could grab my thing’s in case I found a place. I told my friend I’d catch him later and off we went, the start of a new adventure. Stan had been right the trailer park sat right across from Gordon’s Heavy Equipment. Stan saw me checking it out and said, “check on a trailer then I’ll take you over and show you around.” Mrs. Romp, the owner of the park, looked me up and down as I stood there telling her about myself. “Got a job,” she asked followed by “you ain’t one of those funny boys, are ya .” By the time I could say no she was asking why I talked funny. The gist of it all was that I’m in town two days and I not only had a place to live but I got a job too, now don’t that beat all.
After unloading my things, Stan drove me over to the heavy equipment office. As we walked in, Stan headed towards a gentleman coming out of what looked like the print room. “Got a minute John,” he asked, leading me towards the open office door. “Go on in Stan,” I’ll be right back. As we stepped into the office my eyes went directly to the montage of awards and degrees hanging on the wall behind the mahogany desk. I turned and looked at Stan for a moment, then asked with a grin, “who are you people?” Before he could answer the big man stepped back into the office and said, “what’s up and who’s this young man?”
Stan put his hand on my shoulder as I extended my hand out for a shake and said, “I’m Dave Powers and I have no idea why I’m here.” Taking my hand, he gave me a very enthusiastic shake and replied, “John Gordon and it’s a pleasure to meet you Dave Powers.” Sitting down Mr. Gordon asked if we needed a drink, and as he asked, he was reaching into his desk drawer from which he pulled out a bottle of Crown. “Straight or on ice,” he asked waving at the bottle, “after all were closed,” he. said picking up the bottle.
“John, I wanted Dave to meet you,” Stan tells him. “He starts tomorrow,” Stan added and I expect production too go up sharply. I didn’t know what to make of that last statement but it sounded important. “Oh well,” I said to myself, shrugging my shoulders, guess I’ll find out soon enough. We were sitting there talking when in walks the gentleman I had saw earlier. “Good timing,” Stan say’s standing-up, beckoning me to join him. “Jackson Knight, I’d like you to meet Dave Powers, he will be joining your team tomorrow,” he tells him. Taking my hand, he gives me that sideways look that I’ve gotten use to. It’s that look of someone who’s sizing you up. “Pleased to meet you,” I said shaking his hand. “Like what you see?” I asked quietly. “So far,” he says just as quietly, call me Jackson.
After the shaking of hands, Stan looks at Jackson asking him to show me our work space. Jackson smiles and says to me “let’s go.” As we walked to the exit Jackson started asking me questions about my work history and by the time, we reached the Paint area he looked at me and says, “in other words you have no idea of what we do here.” “Nope,” I said smiling, “but I’m looking forward to you teaching me.” He looks at me smiling as we reach the staging area. “This is where the equipment needing to be fixed is brought too,” he says, waving his hand in front of him. “What have I gotten into,” I think to myself, seeing the rows of equipment. “Oh well,” I say to Jackson, “a job is a job.”
I was up at six the next morning. I knew I still had two hours so as I was getting dressed, I started thinking about the day ahead, truly looking forward to it. Once dressed I walked to the front of the trailer park looking forward to a cup of hot coffee. As I was going back and forth yesterday, I noticed the diner setting next door to the trailer park. As I walked the ramp up to the door, I was checking everything out. I saw the little bell hanging on the door, dinging each time it was opened. Inside was as rustic as you’d expect here in the sticks. It had 12x12 ceiling beams with ceiling fans attached to them. All-in-all its atmosphere was fantastic, I fell in love as soon as I got inside.
Grabbing a stool at the counter I sat down just as the waitress walked up “coffee,” she asks. I shake my head yes as she pours me a cup. “New in town,” she says, sliding a menu in front of me. “Shows that much,” I say to her with a smile. “Not really,” she says, “I’ve just never saw you around here before.” I hold up two fingers telling her how many days I’ve been here, laughing she pulls out her pad, “what’ll it be” she asks. As I tell her my order the door opens and in walks Jackson and another guy. He takes my hand saying good morning and then introduces me to the other guy, “Dave Powers meet Richard Bagwell. He takes my hand and tells me to call him Dicky. “Pleased to meet you,” I say. “Dicky,” this is the guy I was telling you about, Jackson tells him. I laughed and told him it was all lies, which sent all of us into fits of laughter. Joining them at a table we ate and laughed till it was time to start our day.
The first thing done was to get me fitted for a suit. I would use this suit for when I painted or sand blasted the equipment. I also received a hand spray gun and hoses. By having my own equipment, I would be able to work on my own projects. By the end of the first day I had a very good idea of what I would be doing and I must say, I loved it.
I had been working for about a month when Dicky came to me, telling me about a trailer he was going to get soon. He asked if I’d like to see it, so I agreed to look but no promises. So, when we got off work on Friday his girlfriend picked us up and off, we went. It turned out that the trailer was only about twenty miles from the Florida, Georgia line and had a pond right there by the trailer. It was a great looking place and I would have my own end of the trailer including a living room, with a shared kitchen. I had to admit it was better than what I had and cheaper to. The only problem I worried about was Dicky’s car and I said as much to him. He told me not to worry he was getting another one in two weeks. With that fear taken care of I agreed to move in and all things looked bright.
Dicky, Lisa (his girlfriend) and I got along pretty good. We would do things together on weekends like have a barbecue or go to a flea market but after awhile I noticed that it was getting harder, for them to take me anywhere. They seemed to have lots of friends in their age group and most weekends they would not be home. It got to the point that if I needed anything, I’d better get it on the way home on Friday or book them a week or two in advance. The one thing I did notice, was on Friday’s they had no problem sticking their hand out for money and it got to the point that it didn’t need to be Friday.
As the days flew by, I was learning how to paint those big rigs as well as bang out any dents and I was loving it, being at work anyway. Living with Dicky and Lisa was a whole different can of worms. It had gotten to be that the drive to work was nothing more than a bitch session. If Dicky wasn’t complaining about not being paid enough, he was complaining about the people we worked with or that the jobs were getting bigger. I do have to admit though, Dicky was an equal opportunity complainer. If it wasn’t work, he was complaining about it was Lisa or her mother. I didn’t mind him complaining about home that much because I had already figured out that if it wasn’t for her getting pregnant, they wouldn’t be together and I didn’t figure it was going to last very much longer.