of the madness that is exceptional;
and it can be good or evil,
but exceptional is always,
not normal. As Jeff discovered
about his lifelong friend Chuck,
normal meant nothing to him.
"That's got to be the biggest crock I've ever heard."
"Why," Chuck asked, mildly, "because it doesn't
fit some presumption about how we're supposed
to live?"
"C'mon man, be real, there is no honor in what
you are talking about."
"But," Chuck smiled a bit, "there is a lot of
money, and isn't that just as well?"
Jeff had to admit, it made him think, he didn't
like it, but, it made him think.
Gene wasn't like Jeff, she wasn't like anyone
that Chuck had ever known, no two people
are the same, but they are in so many ways
similar; until, like Chuck, you crossed the
line; then suddenly, people like Gene became
so much more than precious.
"Chuck you've said some strange things before
but this one, I just don't know what to..."
"Gene I know how you feel..."
"Don't think so..."
"No I do know a bit of how you feel,
look, do you think I dreamed this up and
it was just all rosy?"
"Didn't say that..."
"But you must've been thinkin' it?"
Actually Gene was thinking, "he's lost
his fool head, and he thinks I'm supposed
to lose mine with him, it's nuts." But
she didn't want to say that, so instead she
said; "Chuck let's try to look at this in a
sensible way. You aren't a thief, and you
have no idea what to do with a lot of
money, you've never had it."
"That's for a reason you know..."
"Oh here we go," Gene had heard this
tale many times, "is it going to be that
you've never had an even chance to do
what others have?"
"Didn't say that..." Chuck could feel
his jaw muscles tighten.
"Well is it going to be the no father tale?"
Chuck felt hot, flushed.
"You know," she continued, "that's almost
buy able.
"Is it indeed?" It wasn't going to do him any
good to argue with her, it was obvious she'd
missed the main point entirely.
"Nobody has tried harder to become a success
than you Chuck, we've all watched you try
stuff, but nothing works, is it possible that
your lot in life is to just be normal?"
"I can't accept that, and this, well, it didn't
come to me out of the blue, it was worked
up to; I think that Cody knew exactly what
he was doin'"
"From what I've heard about Cody, that would
make sense, word out is that he's a flake."
"Nobody calls anybody a flake anymore..."
"Well you got me, maybe they didn't say
flake?"
"They?"
Gene had overheard the conversation more
than heard it, before she'd invited herself
into it, at the local Mom and Pops.
The tall guy said, "it's not that easy, if it was
it would happen all the time."
The shorter guy without the blonde hair
wasn't responding the way the tall guy
wanted him to, and the tall guys body
language gave that away, "and you think
you'd hear about it, they keep that stuff
super quiet man, c'mon. You talkin' about
the Casina's" (short guy lopped his o on
the name Casino- maybe he was from the
south?)
Tall guy wasn't amused at the going gray
shorter guys remark, "yeah I know that,
I ain' stupit you know." Tall guy clipped
his d's which was a dead give away to
being from somewhere besides the south.
He continued, which is where Gene's ears
perked up; "but if we was gonna try such,"
the smaller dark headed guy, Cody, got
steely eyed, Gene could see it, "would you
please cool it, quiet."
"Oh, yeah, sorry man..."
Then they left, but not before Gene had
seen his black truck, Ram charger, older
model, image of some cartoon character
peeing on something in the back window,
license JUT453; she was going to have to
find out what that whole conversation
was about, and that, would be Gene's fun
for the next few days.
Gene tried to find out without anyone being
aware of it, who owned that truck, she found
Cody, she found an address, well, she didn't
find it, her friend on the force did; which was
sort of, how friends helped friends in the south.
The address turned out to be one which was
lived at some months back, the current lady
said she'd heard they'd moved over onto a
country road 167. Said she'd know it was the
right place if she seen a black BMW rag top
and about seven other cars, said they called
it Cody's lot, because he took cars and worked
on them when he wasn't playing oil field trash.
Gene thought, "good info to have." That was
Thursday, Friday was going to bring much
in the way of understanding what it was that
Gene had walked into, which meant that
Chuck had walked into it, which meant that
some was probably going to get on Jeff as
well, no sense trying to hid what the wind
can do when it gets spinning.
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