Big Johnson Trucking - Prologue

He reluctantly told the guy the place was absolutely perfect. That is if the tenant was going to be a single person who was the outdoorsy type and not dependent on technology. He suggested the guy put that on the listing. He might have it rented by the end of the week. The guy agreed.

Yeah, this place was perfect. However, for a college student who needed the internet, not so much. Plus there was the safety factor. All alone out here with no way to contact anyone should anything happen? No way in hell would he allow his daughter to live here, no matter how perfect it was for their budget. He shook his head again, thanked the guy for his time, and left.

The whole drive home he thought about what to do. He would have loved to have a solution today but it just wasn't happening. Then it hit him, almost literally, like a stack of bricks. He had to pull over a mile from home; the thought hit him so suddenly. He has four bedrooms he's not even using!! He had had their house built for her about a year after they got married. She had always wanted a big family with lots of land for the kids to run and play. She never got to see that dream come to fruition. He choked up again but stifled his grief and continued home. He had Thomas to deal with, after all, and it wouldn't do to be out of his mind as he dealt with that.

Just as he was about to walk in the front door, he heard the tell-tale sound of a diesel engine in the distance. He looked at his watch. Only five forty-five. He rolled his eyes. Thomas was early. Rig knew where Thomas was when he was stopped for lunch and he also knew exactly how long it took to get home from there. Even though Thomas had told Rig he'd be there at about six, Rig knew if he was going the speed limit and didn't stop he still wouldn't be there till about six-fifteen. Thomas was speeding again. He'd have to make a point to talk to him about it.

The yard was about a hundred yards down from the house and as Thomas pulled in and parked, Rig could hear the revving of the engine. Thomas knew he liked that sound. Rig smiled slightly as the engine was shut off and he waited for Thomas to come to the back door. The back door was more convenient for the drivers to get to the house than the front because of where the yard was in relation to the house.

Rig didn't mind his drivers being in the house. It was where his office was, after all, but he wanted them to feel like family. He paid them well. Well above the industry standard. He wasn't in this business to make money. He was in the business to make a difference in people's lives, one driver at a time.

All four of his drivers were hand-picked from a stack of resumes three years ago when he started this company. They were all clean drivers with records that reflected their integrity. Clean as a whistle. Well, until now.

Rig sighed. He really didn't like what he was about to have to do. It was necessary, though, and he liked the idea of firing Thomas even less. He pulled up his email and selected the one from his insurance agent, then printed out all the necessary forms to complete their requirements.

The documents had just finished printing as Thomas walked in. Thomas was a big man with coal-black skin and a bald head. Standing tall at six-five he was only a couple inches taller than Rig, but with muscles seeming on top of muscles, he outweighed Rig by at least sixty pounds.

Rig's phone chose that exact moment to ring, startling him. "What the fuck?" He exclaimed. Rig wasn't going to answer it as it was technically after hours but the number that came up was the same one as earlier. It was Lance. He answered with the same embarrassing greeting he always did, with an added twist this time. It was after hours, after all.

"Big Johnson Trucking. This is Rig, and if you start laughing again, Lance I'm hanging up the damn phone." Lance didn't laugh, but Thomas sure did. Rig grinned knowing Lance couldn't see it.

"So serious all the time, Rig," Lance retorted. "Seriously, if it bothers you that much, get it changed." He adopted a more serious tone then. "We have a problem, Rig. That's why I'm calling so late. Sorry for that, by the way."

Rig's expression immediately turned into concern. "Oh? What's going on?"

"So it turns out that my darling little girl either purposely withheld the truth or was kept in the dark all along. I'm not sure which," Lance started. "The short version is that she has to be out by Friday, two days from now. Apparently, the Dean of Students had been let go on Monday due to budget cuts and whoever is replacing him is saying that Jasmine can't stay the extra week because the entire dorm is being sanitized from top to bottom and no one can be in the building for that."

"So why this Friday instead of next week?" Rig asked. "Aren't finals next week?"

"Normally they would be," Lance answered. "But all of her professors have decided to give out finals early. She finished her last one today. She's pretty pissed about the whole situation so that leads me to believe she really was kept in the dark. She already got her grades back for her other exams. She just has to wait for the one she took today, which she'll get tomorrow. She called me crying because she's afraid she'll have to quit her job and move back home. I told her to hold off on that and to let me see if I could perform a miracle."

"And I'm your miracle," said Rig, dryly.

"You're my miracle," Lance said. "Please, for the love of God, tell me you just happened to have found a place? I don't want to twist the knife any more than it has already been to her heart."

Rig sighed deeply. "Well, I was hoping for a nice relaxing weekend," he said, sounding defeated. "But it looks like I'm getting a new roommate tomorrow."

"Wait, what?" Lance asked, sounding utterly confused.

"I've got four rooms that are collecting dust." Rig told him. "Might as well make some sort of use out of them since we can't find a place within your budget."

"Are you serious?" Rig couldn't tell if Lance was angry or relieved.

"Sure," he said. "Besides, it'll be good to have someone else in the house again, I think."

"Rig," Lance said. "I can't tell if you're purposely being vague, or if you're busting my balls."

"Yes, yes," Rig said. "She's staying with me."

Rig heard Lance shout on the other end of the phone. "YES! OH, MY GOD, YES!!"

"Lance," Rig said, matter of factly, interrupting his reverie. "I'm busy with a work matter at the moment so I'll need you to email me her contact information and let her know who I am. The whole kit and caboodle. Don't. Hide. Anything. About who I am from her. I'll be dealing directly with her from here on out but you call me first thing in the morning, seven AM sharp with her on three-way and we'll discuss the details then. Okay?"

"Er, do I have to tell her about, you know..." Lance began.

"No. Of course not," Rig started. "Make up something if you have to about how we broke up and you got together. Just make sure she knows who I am. It'll be better and more comfortable coming from you."

"You got it, Rig." Lance practically gushed. "Thank you so much!"

"Bite me, asshole," Rig said then hung up.

Thomas raised an eyebrow. "Well, that was interesting."

Rig fixed him with a flat stare. "Don't ask, because you really don't want to know."

Thomas raised his hands in surrender. "I've already forgotten about it. Now, how bad is it?" He asked, looking at that small stack of papers in front of Rig.

Rig handed him the stack. "Read and sign. Every single one."

"That's it?" Thomas asked, incredulously.

"Oh, don't think it's as easy as that, Thomas," Rig said, a sour taste in his mouth. "Just read and sign. And FYI, this is the absolute BEST deal I could get and still be in the best interest of all parties involved. The first page outlines the details."

As Thomas read, his eyebrows slowly climbed higher and higher into his forehead. As he finished, with wide eyes he looked at Rig. "Two weeks!? a TWO WEEK SUSPENSION!?"

"Now, calm down, Tho.."

"How the hell am I supposed to be calm with this bullshit!?" Thomas interrupted. "It'd be better to be fired and draw unemployment than to be out for two fucking weeks!!" Thomas sat down, defeated. "How am I supposed to live? I've only got a little money saved up. I just bought a new truck and a new car for Tracy. I'm gonna have to give one back."

"Now hold on, Thomas," Rig said, sternly. "This is not all that bad if you'll let me..."

"Not that bad?" Thomas looked like he'd be struck across the mouth.

Rig was losing his patience. He never had that much to begin with and he didn't want to get into a shouting match with Thomas, but it was getting to that point. He said through gritted teeth, "If you will shut up and let. Me. Finish." Thomas sat back in his chair, subdued for the moment. "Thank you. Now, as I was trying to say, what have I always told you all about why I'm in this business? That I'm here for you, right? Not my company. Not the brokers or shippers or receivers and certainly not the fucking blood-sucking insurance companies. You." Rig raised an eyebrow. A silent ascent for Thomas to answer.

"Yeah, boss," Thomas said, feeling even more the fool for letting his temper get out of hand. He knew, deep down, that this wasn't Rig's fault. It was his.

"Good," Rig said, a note of finality in his voice. "Now, read and sign those papers and we'll talk about everything else as you go along. Provided you still want to work for me, that is." Thomas nodded in acceptance and turned the page over and started reading as Rig went on. "The first page is the acknowledgment that you're suspended for two weeks starting tomorrow. The second is a write-up that includes all three citations and an acknowledgment that you are on a probation period of one year. If you so much as get a ticket for farting in the wrong direction, you'll be immediately terminated. On-site."

"On-site?" Thomas asked, incredulous. "As in, if I'm two thousand miles away I'm stuck?"

"On-site as in no matter where you are," Rig corrected, "I come to you, we'll clean out the truck and you drive my pickup home and I bring the rig home. However, I'm not going to have to do that, am I?"

"No, boss." Thomas agreed.

"Good. Now, the third page is the agreement that you'll take a defensive driving course while suspended that is approved by the insurance company, I have no say in that matter, and the list of available courses in the area is on the page directly behind the agreement. The fourth and last page," Rig sighed "is an agreement that when you come back, I have to ride with you for a week for retraining."

"Wait, what?" Thomas started to protest but Rig put a hand up to stop him.

"I'm well aware that you have 15 years more driving experience than I have and can no doubt drive circles around my ass backwards. However, as CEO, CFO, and more importantly, in this case, the ONLY Safety Officer, I'm stuck with this just as much as you are. Do you agree?"

Thomas signaled his agreement by signing the paper, albeit reluctantly. Rig took the paperwork and scanned it in at the copier and immediately shot it off to his insurance agent. He'd call in the morning to make sure he got it.

"Now that that's done, let me get this out of the way before we get to the real heart of the matter. Simply put, you were speeding again on your way home, weren't you?" Thomas just sighed and nodded. "I know, and I also know you just effectively had your ass handed to you so I'm not going to say anything else on the matter other than the fact that you don't need to speed, man. I pay you well enough and make sure you have good enough loads that as long as you get to your shippers and receivers on time you don't need to worry about anything else. So, what's going on? You're not normally this careless. Are you ok?" Rig asked, truly concerned.

Thomas sighed again. "Truth be told, my oldest daughter and her husband just miscarried for the fourth time. It's taking a toll on them and me. But, it's taking a toll on Tracy even more. I don't know why but it's hitting her hard and I guess I just feel like the faster I go, the quicker I can get home to be with her and try to help her cope."

Rig was taken aback. He noticed Thomas discreetly wipe a tear from his cheek. Rig ignored that as he composed himself. The next words out of his mouth probably came out a little harsher than he intended. "Thomas, man, what the fuck? Why didn't you tell me? FOUR miscarriages!?"

Thomas's eyes hardened for just an instant before becoming subdued again. "Yeah, boss. Four. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to burden you with my problems. I should have said something. Probably could have avoided all this." He said as he gestured to the stack of papers.

"Probably could have," Rig agreed. "In any case, as far as this is concerned," he tapped the stack of papers. "what's done is done. Let's see what we can do about making sure you're taken care of financially while you're off work." Thomas's eyes shot up to Rig in surprise. "I know you're not a man to take charity, as it were, so we'll call it a loan. You can pay it back little by little personally, or I can have it deducted from your weekly paycheck. Sound good?"

Thomas stared and nodded, dumbly.

"Good, how much do you need? About your weekly average? Yeah, that sounds about right. You can forfeit a week's vacation, right? That'll still leave you one week. You never take a vacation anyway so it shouldn't be that big of a deal. I'll take care of it and it'll be in your account by the end of next week."

Thomas seemed to by hyperventilating. "Boss, seriously, this is too much."

"You know what, don't worry about the cost of the defensive driving course. The company will eat that," Rig said as if he hadn't heard Thomas. "Lastly, when you get back, I'll make sure to start giving you loads that are closer to home, so you can get back a bit more quickly if you need to. Might even see if I can find something that will get you home every night, or every other night until things calm down a bit and you can get back on a normal routine."

Thomas stared, flabbergasted, at Rig. When he finished talking, Thomas broke down into tears, no longer ashamed for a man to see him cry.

"I told you, Thomas," Rig said gently, attempting to comfort the man, "I'm here for you. Not anyone else in this business." He stood up and walked around the desk, helping the man to his feet. To Rig's utmost surprise, Thomas wrapped him up in a big bear hug. Rig froze stiff for a moment. Then awkwardly, but tenderly, put his arms around the other man and patted his back gently.

"Thank you," Thomas whispered, huskily.

"It's what I'm here for, my friend," Rig replied, releasing the man. He grabbed Thomas's copies of the paperwork and handed them to him then gently ushered him to the door. "Go get your stuff and get home. Tracy needs you right now."

Thomas nodded and shuffled out the door. Before closing it, however, he popped his head back in and asked, "What about the truck?"

"Truck's paid for Thomas. Don't need to keep it running for that. I'll get it in the shop while you're out and have a complete service done on it so it's ready to rock and roll when you get back. And who knows? I may get a wild hair up my ass and decide to go out for a week myself. Now git on home, old man," Rig said with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.

"Ohhh, you'll pay for that, asshole. You'll pay for that one." Thomas laughed and disappeared.

Rig shook his head and chuckled. He did like the man. He liked all his drivers.