by Linda Ellen
Feeling helpless, Louise slumped in the passenger seat, agitated and fuming over the entire incident. She could hear Jimmy in the back, fussing and crying as he sat on Lilly’s lap. Turning on her seat, Louise reached over the backrest. “Here, I’ll take him,” she murmured, motioning for Lilly to hand the baby up front.
Pulling the sniffling child onto her lap facing her and smoothing his damp hair back off of his forehead, Louise pressed her lips to the crown of his head. He was hot and sweaty and probably miserable. They all were. Angling the vent window toward them for more airflow, she allowed him to settle against her with his head facing the open window.
A mile down the road, Vic reached to turn the dial on the radio. When the next song came on, the happy tune by Patti Page, “How Much is that Doggie in the Window,” filled the small interior of the car with cheer. With a wry half smile, Vic leaned forward to turn the volume up a bit.
Jimmy sat up and clapped his hands, the tears of moments before beginning to dry on his sweet face. “Doggie Mama! Woof woof!” he giggled, mimicking the words to the silly song.
Allowing the carefree song to wash over her like a balm for a few minutes, Louise felt herself begin to relax. As she sang the words and smiled into her little boy’s face as he giggled and barked, she marveled at the capacity of children to let go of tension and allow themselves to enjoy simple pleasures.
Finally glancing over at her husband, she watched as he concentrated on his driving. The only evidence of his thoughts and emotions was the muscle flexing in his jaw as he clamped his teeth.
She reached over and laid a hand on his tanned arm, feeling the strong warm muscles under her fingers. He shot her a glance and reached over with his left, to pat her hand in acknowledgement, but his expression told her he wasn’t in a talking mood yet. He was working things out in his head. She knew he was probably picturing the myriad of other things that could happen before the station could open.
As the car rolled along, she turned her head with a soft sigh to look out the window at the businesses and houses lining Shelbyville Road, her hair blowing softly in the warm summer wind. Worries and anxieties fought for dominance in her thoughts, and won.
What else would go wrong? Bad luck and hardship had been a part of their lives so often – would it be still?
‡
CHAPTER 32
Vic’s Bold Venture!
Opening day had finally arrived, and it was going quite well.
Despite Vic and Louise’s worries and anxieties, nothing else untoward had happened to the work site, as the construction boss, Sam Wilkins, had taken extra precautions. So, as the calendar neared the end of July, the days were finally accomplished that Vic’s Bold Venture would truly commence.
The Saturday morning of the Grand Opening, Tommy couldn’t wait to get out to his father’s new station, as Vic had told him more than once that he would be relying on the boy for help until things smoothed out and he could hire someone. Tommy took his responsibility very serious, and was up at the crack of dawn that morning, before Louise and Vic even started their day, already dressed in a uniform identical to the one his Chief would wear. Louise had hemmed the pants and taken in the shirt to fit.
Lilly offered to stay home with Buddy and Jimmy, and had packed a large picnic basket full of goodies to last all day.
Several hours into their momentous Grand Opening, Louise stood back from a customer’s car, waving to the nice family inside as the father drove out of the service station and back onto Shelbyville Road. As the tires ran over the line powering the driveway bell and it performed its double ding, the driver tooted his horn, sticking one hand out the window and waving back. Tommy had scrubbed their windows and checked their car’s fluids while the pump filled the tank with gas as Louise had given them free opening day gifts. They had catered in this way to every customer who had stopped in. This latest family of impressed patrons had promised that the new station would have their business from then on.
With a contented sigh, Louise turned and walked back into the cool confines of the office. As she glanced through the connecting door to the bays, she smiled at her husband as he scrubbed a customer’s automobile. He was humming along with a song on the station’s radio – Tony Bennett singing, “Rags to Riches.” The lyrics, about a man telling his girl that if he won her love, his golden dreams would come true, seemed to be written for them. Louise stood in the doorway and just gazed at her handsome husband for a minute. A feeling of such profound pride and love washed over her, her eyes burned with the emotion. She loved to watch him work, his arm muscles so strong and powerful, his skin so tan from endless days working out in the sun. As she watched, he reached up to scrub the top of the car and paused as he caught her watching. He grinned and sent her a wink, chuckling as she sent him back a kiss.
“Wanna help?” he called across the two bays, flashing his special smile and acting as if he would toss her a wet soapy sponge.
She squealed and shook her head, as she put up both hands in a defensive posture. “Don’t you dare toss me that and get my new outfit wet!” she called back, trying hard to put a fussing tone in her voice.
“C’mon girl, sit down. Quit flirtin’ with your man,” Fleet teased from across the office. “Take a load off before the next car comes in. Here, have a sandwich,” she offered as she and Ruth rummaged around in the picnic basket.
“You know, Lilly really packs a good feed,” Ruth contributed between bites of a deviled egg.
Louise chuckled at her pregnant friend, who had only just begun to show with her third child, and shook her head fondly. “I’m glad she did, or you’d eat us out of our lunch and supper,” she teased as she walked over and accepted an egg salad sandwich wrapped in wax paper. Ruth, not offended in the least, chortled in amusement and snatched up another delicious egg concoction.
Fleet plopped down in the swivel chair behind Vic’s desk and propped her feet up, a plate of goodies on her lap. “Business has been good so far, huh, Lou?” she stated as she brought a pickle to her mouth. “As many as Vic hoped?”
Louise nodded as she perused the confines of the basket. “More. I’m thinking at this rate we’ll probably give away all of the free gifts by the end of the day,” she agreed, speaking about the lovely little white orchids they were presenting to all of the female guests, as well as the tickets for a free lube job or car wash and a small green windshield scraper they were giving out to the men. The latter was personalized with the words, “Matthews Service Center,” and the address and telephone number of the location. “Vic figured we’d catch a lot of Saturday shoppers coming in from those subdivisions out Lyndon Lane, and I think he was right,” she added as she made herself comfortable in a guest chair.
“I didn’t even recognize Ger’ and Dee. Oh my stars – seven kids packed in the car like sardines,” Fleet mumbled, speaking of Gerald and Delores, a couple from the old gang, who had stopped by earlier with their family.
“Oh, I know! And she’s pregnant again,” Ruth snorted in a rather unladylike manner as she helped herself to a sweet pickle.
“You’d think they’d have learned by now what causes that malady, huh?” Fleet joked as the three ladies chuckled.
The driveway bell dinged again a few minutes later and Tommy trotted out to meet the car from the wash bay where he’d been helping Vic, immediately yelling into the office, “Hey Mama, look who’s here!”
Louise got up to investigate and her face transformed into a happy smile as three of her dearest friends waved from the open windows.
“Irene! Doc! Florence, thank you all for coming out,” Louise gushed as she reached the car, Vic not far behind as he walked up, drying his hands on a small towel.
Doc climbed out of the car, his gaze roaming over the newly built service station and the family that was so dear to his heart. His face beamed with pride as he gazed at Vic and Louise, and nodded his approval.
“It’s a fine station, Vic. Just fine,” he murmured as Vic circl
ed the pastor’s car and shook his hand. The two stood together perusing the layout and the empty fields beyond and chatted about details of the opening.
“I’m so happy you came,” Louise told the ladies, as she handed Doc’s wife, Florence, a complementary orchid. “And here’s one for you,” she added as she leaned in to give Irene a quick kiss on her cheek before presenting her with the free flower. “Thank you for coming,”
“Oh, these are lovely,” Irene murmured happily as she pinned hers on her dress. “Oh honey, we wouldn’t have missed your grand opening for the world! We just had to come out and see how your first day is going,” she added as she looked up at Louise, whose hair was blowing gently in the hot breeze, and noting how happy and fulfilled she looked. She smiled at her young friend.
“Where are those rambunctious boys of yours?” Florence asked with a fond smile as she finished fiddling with her orchid.
“Oh, Mama’s watching them at home, they’d get too tired.”
Irene reached over to pat Louise’s hand. “I’m so happy for you. God is so good. Vic finally has his Bold Venture!”
Louise eyes twinkled at that, a bit surprised, but yet not, that her husband had shared his deepest dreams with their wonderful friend. She knew Irene had always been like a surrogate mother to Vic.
“Yes, he sure does,” Louise acknowledged, glancing over at her husband and observing him as he stood next to Doc. Both men had assumed the classic man stance; feet braced apart, arms crossed on their chests. Once again, pride and love swelled within her heart as she watched him.
“Bold Venture?” Florence asked, confused about the reference. Louise smiled and explained the significance of the phrase, taken from the Derby winner in 1936 and how much that win had meant to a very young Vic Matthews.
A horn honked just then and the driveway alert dinged again as everyone looked over to see a hand waving out the window of a dark gray ’52 Desoto. The wide friendly smile on John Womack’s face as he leaned out the window made Vic flash an answering one at his friend.
“Well, well. I was gonna come and help direct traffic, but it looks like you’ve got everything under control here, Chief,” John called as he maneuvered the car to a stop at the second pump.
“I’m givin’ it my best,” Vic returned, adding with a chuckle, “You gonna buy some gas, or just takin’ up space?”
“What’dya think, man? Fill ’er up,” John answered, laughing as he emerged from the car. “And you, young man, don’t forget to check my oil, too,” he instructed a very busy Tommy, who was at that moment wrangling a stubborn dipstick under Doc’s hood. The boy just laughed good-naturedly and shot right back with a crisp salute, “Yes sir! No problem, Wo!” using the nickname his father sometimes called their detective friend.
Leaving the men to themselves, Louise invited the ladies to come inside the cool shady office. Making a slight detour to the space between the bay doors where a large chest-type soda machine rested on a concrete base, she offered the ladies a free bottle of pop, which they both readily accepted.
Irene and Florence greeted the ladies inside and stood with Louise as she related how many customers they’d had thus far and showed them the box of orchids, which was already three-quarters empty.
“God has surely been good to you both, working everything out like He did,” Irene commented.
Louise agreed wholeheartedly. “Yes, He has. You might say He works in mysterious ways,” she added with a twinge of guilt, thinking about the incredible favor John Womack had done for Vic so that he could get the loan with no problem.
“And that Tommy, he has surely grown into a fine young man, Louise,” Irene complimented as the ladies all watched the teen dash from one job to another between the two vehicles.
“Thank you. I’m lucky…he’s a good boy…and Vic’s been such a good influence with him. He loves him so much…” she added softly, thinking for a moment how different things would have been if Vic had never come back into her life…if she had been forced to raise Tommy alone, without a male influence. A good male influence, that is.
For the next few minutes, the four ladies exchanged small talk until Vic headed to the office to retrieve several items Doc had purchased.
“Vic, you’ve sure got a good helper out there. You should be proud,” Florence commented as Vic searched a shelf for the right tail light bulb for Doc’s car.
Vic grinned at her, and then his eyes met Louise’s. His twinkled as he answered, “That, he is. I’m thinkin’ ’a keepin’ him outta school so he can work here with me full time.” As Louise’s mouth dropped open in surprise, he chuckled and winked at her before meeting Florence’s eyes again. “Thanks. It helps that he’s got such a great Mama.”
Finding what he came after, he grabbed the bulb for Doc’s car and gave Louise a quick kiss on his way out.
*
A tired, but satisfied Vic lifted one hand in a wave as his last customer of the night left the station. The vehicle’s wheels rolled over the line and made the driveway bell ding. Swiftly calculating in his head, Vic marveled that he’d had so many customers on his opening day, he had all but run out of gas! It was a good thing the Phillips 66 tanker was scheduled to arrive bright and early Monday morning.
Louise and the girls had long since given out all of the orchids. Alec had come by to pick up Fleet and Ruth and had generously offered to drive a very tired Louise home. My sweet wife, Vic mused, she worked so hard all day, greetin’ customers and makin’ everybody feel welcome. All in all, Vic was very pleased with the turnout and the day in general. As if blessed by God himself, everything had rolled along like a well-oiled machine. For a moment, he closed his eyes and offered up a silent prayer of thanks that every need had been met and every prayer answered regarding the grand opening. All of his worry had proved for nothing. He flexed his tense muscles and reached up to rub the back of his neck.
Turning then, he made his way into the office to close up shop and store away, in the floor safe, the money he’d made during the day. Glancing over, he smiled fondly at his teenaged helper, nearly asleep in one of the guest’s chairs, his feet propped up in another. Nine o’clock and he ain’t stopped until now. Been goin’ full throttle since six this mornin’. The boy sure worked hard today – and not one complaint. I hate to think what this openin’ day woulda been like if he hadn’t helped out.
Vic stepped into the open bay area and shut both overhead doors, securing them for the night, and flipped off the big bright lights. Then walking back through the office, he stood for a moment leaning against the doorjamb. Slipping his left hand into the pocket of his pants, he unconsciously grasped his good luck charm, his father’s lighter, as his eyes slowly surveyed his new domain. He’d been so busy all day, he hadn’t taken the time to just stop and enjoy the accomplishment. Now, however, he allowed his gaze to roam over the smooth new concrete of his station, the gleaming new Phillips 66 sign out at the road that boldly displayed the price of his gasoline, twenty-two cents, and the shiny new gas pumps. Overhead, two lines of multi-colored streamers drawing attention to their grand opening, gently flapped in the warm evening breeze. Everything was so bright and clean.
It’s all mine. My very own service station. I can hardly believe it. Wish I could yell it to the world – Vic Matthews owns his own Phillips 66 station! What’s Jackie Gleason always say? How sweet it is…
For a few moments, Vic allowed his mind to travel back in time to the rocky years of his childhood. He had been shuffled from relative to relative starting at age twelve when his father had died. He’d never felt at home with any of them…always felt like a fifth wheel. During the Depression when he couldn’t find a job and no one would give him a break, his future had seemed dark and bleak.
Then came that wet dreary day in January of 1937 when he had felt like he was at the end of his rope, no job prospects in sight, and the rain coming down in sheets merely magnified the misery. He remembered clearly the afternoon he had slouched, forlorn, in a bo
oth at the White Castle downtown with no hope and no one to love. Staring out into the rain-drenched street, he had wished with all his might that he could prove to the powers that be that he had what it took – all he needed was a chance. How he had longed for his very own Bold Venture.
Many times since that day, he had marveled that the worst disaster Louisville had ever seen had been for him a blessing in disguise. Through the tragedy, he had met his mentor, Doc Latham, and the woman who would become like the mom he’d never had in his life, sweet Miss Irene. He had also met his wonderful Mary Lou during those turbulent days, and now she was his wife, and so very important to his life. She had given him three wonderful sons.
Well…it took a lot more years than I ever dreamed it would…but I finally made it. I’ve pushed off from the dock and into my Bold Venture. I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. As Jackie would say…And awaaaaaay we go! Closing his tired eyes again, he let out a soft snicker at the thought.
Just then, Tommy stirred and yawned as he stretched tired muscles. Rising slowly, the teen crossed the office to stand by Vic’s side. Vic threw an arm around the boy’s shoulders as the two looked out over the Matthews’ realm. After a moment, Tommy turned his head to look up at his beloved Dad.
“I’m tired, Chief. Let’s call it a day.”
Vic chuckled softly and brought up a hand to mess with Tommy’s hair, mumbling, “Sounds good to me, son. Sounds good to me. I’ll give you the honor of dousin’ the lights and closin’ the curtain on this opening night.”
So with a flick of a master switch, the driveway lights went out and two weary men made their way to Vic’s Oldsmobile – a satisfying end to an amazing day. One of the best days of his life, second only to the day he married his Mary Lou.
