Romance in a Ghost Town Page 8

  For Bob, the time seemed to fly by and before long he sat at his kitchen table holding a cup of coffee and toying with a one-way ticket to Nevada. His apartment was devoid of decorations and furniture except for the bed and kitchen essentials as it was his last night in Brooklyn. As had become the norm for the past few months, going to bed was step one of having his dream come back and visit him again.

  He took a sip of his coffee and shook his head at the disappointment he felt after feeling he had somehow gotten rid of them only to have them return. Chiding himself, he thought, And you thought they were gone? Ha! Not so fast, Bobby Boy. You and the dream are one! He was also feeling downcast over leaving his hometown and April was one of his favorite months as that’s when the trees in Brooklyn start to bloom.

  What’s up? he asked himself. You’ve finally got all the cards you need for a good hand and yet sit here mulling it over. Mulling over the fact that you own your own ghost town! How many other guys your age can say that?

  Say what? he asked himself as he took the opposite side of his mental conversation; Say that they’re leaving the city they grew up in? The place where all their friends live? Do they say that they’re nervous as all hell? Do they admit that at least in a big city like New York they can blend into the crowd and maybe not be seen as they limp along while in a small place they’ll stand out like a sore thumb?

  Bob reached for his phone as he thought, Stop it! It’s not moving that has you nervous, it’s calling mom and telling her. You just cannot put it off any longer! He took a sip of his coffee and dialed the phone. After four rings he cheered up thinking that he might be leaving a voice mail when a panting voice was heard from the other end:

  “Bobby? Hello son!”

  “Hi mom,” he answered, “You sound out of breath, are you alright?”

  “Yes. I was putting away groceries when the phone rang and saw your name pop up. How are you, son?”

  “I’m fine mom. How are you doing?”

  “We’re fine, Bobby. I was going to call you one day this week as I heard from your aunt Maryellen that you were thinking of moving? Is that true?”

  “Well, that’s what I wanted to tell you, mom. Yes, I am moving.”

  “To where? Queens, Staten Island, where?”

  “Actually, Nevada.”

  “Nevada? Bobby, that’s so very far. Isn’t that close to Canada?”

  He grinned, “Not that close, mom. But, we can still visit.”

  “Son, have you gotten into trouble or something? I mean, why not move to New Jersey…that’s pretty far.”

  “Mom, I already bought a place and am going tomorrow. I just called to tell you that and that, well, that I love you and I miss you.”

  There was a moment of silence on the other end and he was about to ask if she was alright when she said, “Bobby, I love you too and really miss you a lot. I’d be up there more often but dad…Carmine’s health can’t handle the chill so we have to plan a trip in the summertime.”

  Bob nodded and finding himself genuinely feeling bad over the news said, “I-I didn’t know he was sick. I’m sorry.”

  She laughed, “Son, he’s not that sick, it’s just that the doctor doesn’t want him catching a cold.” She hesitated a moment and said in a low tone of voice, “The lawyer says that you got that package I sent. Does it help you sleep nights?”

  Instead of being upset he said, “Yes, mom. It helps a lot and all I can say is thanks so much for being so persistent about my case.”

  “Ha!” came her response, “Persistent! You can’t imagine how much I hounded those taxi people! I called them every single day and told them off and if I couldn’t call, I had that New York Lawyer call. Boy, I bet they’re glad I’m out of their hair.”

  Bob nodded and grinned as he said, “I can imagine, mom, believe me I can imagine.”

  “Well, son, use the settlement anyway you wish and when you are settled, let me know and we’ll come and visit you out in…where was it again, Nova Scotia?”

  “Nevada, mom. Nevada, U.S.A. But don’t worry I’ll send you a postcard with my address. Now, I have to run as I’m out of here tomorrow morning and have a hundred things to tie up. Take care and I love you.”

  “We love you too, Bobby. Stay safe.”

  This time the airline got his seating request correct and after landing, the first thing that got his attention was the heat. Bob hopped a cab that took him to the Clayton Hotel where he had reservations, showered and called Edward Pushkin at his office.

  “Bensen Real Estate, Edward Pushkin here. How can I help ya’?”

  “Hi Edward, It’s Bob McKillop, how are you, partner?”

  “Hey,” Edward’s always happy sounding voice said, “Howdy, partner. Welcome home! Hope the trip was a good one an’ like I said yesterday, dinner is with Katey an’ me. I’ll pick ya up at seven. Good?”

  “Yep! And I’m at the Clayton.”

  “See ya then, partner.”

  Over a dinner of breaded pork chops and potatoes with corn and warmed butter over hot biscuits, the three recounted the last few months.

  “I’m really glad to be back,” said Bob, wiping his moth, “Every time I saw something like a subway I thought, ‘well pretty soon I won’t be seeing or hearing another one of these rattletraps’, and you know what? It gave me a boost!”

  Edward nodded, “I hear ya, partner. It’s gonna be darn quite out in Rattlesnake Haven compared ta where ya come from, that’s fer sure.”

  “Now, tell me, Edward,” added Katey as she placed her elbows on the table with her folded hands at her chin, “When can you take some of that vacation time you have coming to you so I can do the same and we can go and help this young man out?”

  “If you can, Edward,” interjected Bob, “the clock will be started for both of you.”

  Edward shook his head and said, “No charge needed, Bob. You did plenty for us both already.”

  Bob shook his head ‘no’ and said firmly as he crossed his arms, “Sorry, partner, but I insist on paying my way. Deal?”

  Edward grinned and said, “Okay. Deal, partner.”

  Declining their offer of a lift, the happy New Yorker walked over to the hotel with his mind going a-mile-a-minute as he made plans to bring his town back to life.

  Bob was up at five a.m. and as the cool stream of water from the shower cascaded down, it hit him: “I didn’t have the dream last night! I did not have that damned dream!” He grinned as he soaped up. This is the start of a new way of life, Mister McKillop and you better get used to it!

  After a big breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant, he enjoyed a second cup of coffee with Katey and Ed. The three sat around the Pushkin’s computer and went over the list of items needed to live in the ghost town. Both Edward and his wife took a few days vacation to help the man from the city get set up.

  “First off,” said Edward looking at the screen through glasses perched on the end of his nose, “we need to get you a car and it’s gotta be a nice sized SUV.” I suggest we head on over to Al’s All American Autos and see what they have on their lot. We don’t want to be waiting for a delivery to come in. Any color preference?”

  Bob shrugged his shoulders, “Naw!”

  “Next, a generator with fuel to keep it running.”

  “Bug spray. Lots of it,” added Katey as her husband nodded and typed it in. “And paper towels and soap,” she said going on as she ticked each item off on her fingers. “A propane cooker with a bottle of propane, a first aid kit, hot thermos for coffee, sandwiches, a cooler with ice, a few flashlights and batteries along with a lantern.” She hesitated and asked, “Where do you expect to be sleeping?”

  “Uh,” said a suddenly overwhelmed Bob, “in my car for the first night. After that, well, we’ll see.”

  “Well then best you start thinking about a sleeping bag. And remember, there are no communications out there,” she added.

  Nodding in agreement, Bob said, “Right. I need to go to a cell phone place in
Bransville.”

  “But,” said Edward, “as Katey said, there’s no cell phone service out there.”

  Again Bob nodded. “Yeah, I need to see if they can get me a satellite phone system.”

  Edward nodded as he typed, “We can go there on the way to Al’s All American Autos.” He stopped typing, looked at Bob and said, “Oh, hey, partner. When I was out there I checked the well and it looked dry to me. Of course, I’m no expert on those things, but there’s a water tower which means that the people of Rattlesnake Haven had water and the tower means that they somehow pumped it up there as a holding tank.”

  “Gravity-feed tank,” said Bob.

  “Gravity, what?” quizzed Edward with a shrug.

  “Gravity feed means that you pump water up to the holding tank and a flap prevents it from coming back down. When you need some water, you pull a lever, which opens the flap and gravity sends the water down and out a spigot. If you connect pipes from it to a house, you can have running water right in your kitchen. But first you need to get the water from the well up to the holding tank, so we’ll need a pump and I’d like to see if we can get a solar powered one and let the sun do the work for us.”

  “Sounds like a plan, partner,” quipped Edward as he went back to his typing.

  They sat there for lunch and finally feeling that they had covered most of what they needed, Bob and Edward went to Flinn’s Cell Phone Palace before the car dealer.

  Growing up in the same town, Edward knew Flinn and they spoke a few minutes about their days in the local high school before Edward said to the slim, balding man, “Mel Flinn, this is Bob McKillop. He’s in from New York City and needs some sort of a cell phone system.”

  “Mighty pleased ta meet ya, Bob,” said Mel as he offered his hand.

  Bob shook hands as he said, “Pleased to meet you, Mel.

  “So, what sort of cell phone are ya looking for? I have most in stock and can order anything and have it delivered in a day or so.”

  “Actually, Mel, I’m looking for a satellite communications set up for my laptop and cell phone. Do you stock them?”

  Mel shook his head slowly as he turned to a thick catalog and said, as he opened it, “No. But I can have one here in a day or two.” He ran his finger down a list and went on as he looked up, “Do you have a cell phone and laptop now?”

  “Yep!” answered Bob.

  “Well that’ll save you some money, but you’ll need the gear to hook them up to the satellite system.” He drifted his finger down the page and said, more for himself than for them as this was a first for him too, “A Flash 2, Mercury Terminal which is about half the size of a typical laptop computer, provides voice, e-mail, messaging and high speed data services over the Inmarsat-4 satellite Network.” He looked up again and asked, “Silly question but if you need a system like this, and I imagine you’re going to be out of cell phone tower range, right?”

  “Right,” answered Bob.

  “Well, wherever it is that you’re going to be at, will you have a power source, because that’s the key to the system after about five hours of using the battery?”

  “I’ll have a generator.”

  He nodded, “That’ll do.” He took out a pocket calculator and did some figuring before saying with an arched eyebrow, “It’s going to be expensive, Bob. On the order of fifteen hundred and if I were you, I’d buy an extra battery.”

  “Fine,” said Bob taking out his credit card and passing it to him.

  As he was making the transaction, Edward asked, “Hey, Mel. How does this thing work without a cell tower? I mean I figure that a satellite has to be involved but don’t they keep going around the earth so you’re not always in range?

  “Geosynchronous orbiting satellites”

  “Geo what?” asked Edward.

  Mel grinned as he said, “Edward, you should have paid more attention to Mister Gelardi in Earth Science class. The air force put satellites in orbit about 22,000 miles out in outer space and they orbit the earth in the same direction that the earth rotates so there is always satellite reception.” He grinned and winked at Bob as he passed him a notebook and pen, “Bob, leave me your cell number and I’ll call you when it’s in.”

  “Will do,” said Bob as he wrote his number on a pad and passed it back to the owner. “Nice meeting you, Mel.”

  They hopped back in Ed’s SUV, put on the air and drove to Al’s All American Auto. The lot was large and filled mostly with SUVs. Edward brought Bob into the showroom and Al came out of his office with his right hand outstretched as he did his best to tuck his white shirt into his waistband with his left hand. It was a losing battle as his large belly just slid back over his waist, bringing the shirt back out with it. He wore a large western hat and the usual boots and sunglasses. He seemed to be sweating even though he was in the air-conditioned showroom.

  “Edward Pushkin, ya ol’ cowboy, what can Al do fer ya, partner?”

  “Hello, Al,” said Edward as the tall, heavy-set man pumped his hand. “This here’s Bob McKillop from New York City and he needs a four-wheel drive vehicle to get him out to the desert.”

  “And back,” added Al with a smile and an outstretched hand as he turned his full attention to the possible buyer. The two men shook hands as Al started his pitch, “If yer lookin’ fer any of them foreign cars out here, Bob, ya best leave right now cause in Al’s All American Autos we only sell stuff made right here in the good ol’ U.S. of A.”

  “Al, I’m looking for a Chevy four-by-four that can haul anything I need to haul, and have a great air-condition system. I hope it has a hitch so I can find a two-wheel trailer to carry more cargo in. Got anything like that?”

  Al’s smile never changed except to grow bigger as he turned to his old friend and said, “Ed, its nice ta see that ya got some good friends that know what they want.” He turned back to Bob and said, “Just follow me, Bob and wait til ya see what I got fer ya.” He stepped away and headed towards another section of the lot with both men following.

  The big man stopped in front of a large, white four door Chevy SUV and continued his pitch. “This is the Suburban Three Quarter Ton. She seats up to eight, has 137.4 cubic feet of maximum cargo space and a powerful eight-cylinder engine that gives you 352 horses. The air-conditioner is the best available and she handles like a Corvette. The hitch at the rear of this beautiful beast allows ya to pull up to 9,600 pounds. Oh, and if ya need it, heated front seats. So, what do ya think, partner?”

  “Well…” said Bob as he slowly walked around the large vehicle.

  Thinking that he may be losing a sale, Al quickly added, “I can let her go fer forty-three five.”

  “I’ll take her,” answered Bob and for a moment the dealer was struck dumb. Finally recovering, he stammered, “Ah, right. Ya said ya’ll take it, right, partner?”

  “Yep! How soon can I take her?”

  “Well, if we sign the paperwork right now and your bank says okay, well, maybe a day or two the most.”

  “Then let’s sign the papers.”

  Al stepped towards the office looking back to see if Bob was following him and when he was satisfied that he was, he smiled and held the door for them, never once losing his big salesman smile.

  Edward asked as they were doing the paperwork, “Al, can ya lend ol’ Bob here a loaner til his is ready?”

  “Ed, ol’ friend, anything you an’ Bob want from Al’s All American Auto dealership, you two guys get.”

  Bob drove the 2011 white Chevy SUV loaner off the lot and followed Edward in his Dodge as they went to Gerry’s Hardware.

  Once again the owner of the store was an old friend of Edwards and greeted him with a smile and handshake. “Ed, how ya been, boy and how’s Katey doing?”

  “Gerry, all’s fine with us and I hope all’s well with you and yours.”

  “All’s good, Ed. What can I do fer ya?”

  “Gerry, this here is Bob McKillop from New York. He’s a friend of Jim and mine and has a need for som
e sort of generator and I told him this is the place to come. Am I right, partner?”

  “Darn tooten, ya are,” he turned and addressed Bob, “Pleased ta meet ya, Bob. What’s yer need?”

  “Hello, Gerry. I’m looking for the most reliable generator you have.”

  Gerry nodded and motioned for them to follow him as he stepped towards an aisle. He stopped in front of a red and yellow machine sitting on a platform with other generators.

  “The best seller we have is,” said the owner as he removed the specifications card and read, “the Sportsman 4000 Watt generator with a simple pull cord. At 106 pounds she’s light and with her traveling wheels she moves real easy. She has a 6.5 horsepower gasoline engine and a four-gallon tank that will run for nine hours at half power. Don’t know how you’re gonna use her but, if it’s just to watch TV and have some lights on, you won’t need to even run her at half power so you get a nice package for your buck. She has 2 outlets and one charging port so that’s a lot of TVs, hot plates, cell phones, computers and lights you can run for nine hours, gents. And, it’s so quiet that you won’t know if you ran outta gas, plus if you buy one now, it’s on sale for three hundred dollars. It’s usually three hundred and fifty bucks.”

  “Fine,” said Bob passing him his credit card, “Let me ask you: do you carry solar-powered, well-water pumps?”

  With a nod, Gerry answered, “Got a few in my storage unit. How deep is the well you want to pump from?”

  “Not sure, I’ll need to check it out.”

  The storeowner finished the bill and passed it to Bob, “Sign here and wait one minute.” He went to the back of the store and returned with a roll of twine. He tied a nut around the end of the string and said as he passed the roll to Bob, “When you get to the well, drop the nut end down and after it hits bottom, rewind and measure off how deep she is and let me know and I’ll set you up. Okay?”