Dead Peasants Read Online Free PDF Page B

claim. He started doing his own television commercials at a time when he couldn’t afford an actor or announcer. Back then a much thinner and very handsome Allison would be featured, dressed in a coat and tie with one foot on a truck bumper, his Nocona boots glistening in the morning sun. He always ended his commercials with the tag line, “Where deals are done.”
    He had started his empire when he learned that a small Chevrolet dealership was in trouble and for sale in Euless, a small town northeast of Fort Worth. He marched into a bank down the street from the dealership that Beauregard Quillen had inherited from his father. Quillen reluctantly agreed to loan him the ten thousand dollars he needed for a down payment.
    It turned out that Allison had a knack for selling cars. He was front and center on the sales floor every morning and stayed there until the store closed. If a pretty woman came in, he would look at her and tell her he had just the right blue to match her gorgeous eyes. If a farmer came in, Allison could take one look at him and know what size pickup he wanted. Usually, he managed to up-sell the farmer. Soon he was buying more dealerships. Beau Quillen started opening more banks, primarily to service the business brought to him by Allison’s success.
    Along the way he married. He and his wife had two sons, each of whom now ran a dealership, one in Oklahoma and one in Louisiana. He’d lost his wife to breast cancer several years before. In hindsight he was glad she did not have to witness the downfall of Allison Southwest.
    By the time Allison had a hundred and twenty-five stores, Quillen had fifteen banks and had proudly changed the name to Quillen Bank and Trust. They both moved to mansions in Shady Oaks, a newer golf course community for the ultra rich just a stone’s throw from Rivercrest. They often golfed on weekends and toasted each other’s success in the Shady Oaks men’s grill.
    Then came the great recession. Overnight, people quit buying cars. Many were no longer working. Others found no bank would loan them money. Car dealers around the country shuttered their doors and passers-by discovered weed-filled, empty lots that were once overflowing with shiny new vehicles. Allison had no choice but to consolidate some of his dealerships. Now he was down to sixty-five, and that number getting smaller by the month.

10
    Allison gave his Cadillac to the valet and walked into the Fort Worth Club to meet with Quillen. He knew what Quillen wanted. The son of a bitch wanted money that he didn’t have. He took the elevator to the sixth floor dining room. As he stepped from the elevator, he threw his shoulders back, ready to do battle with the person who had become his worst enemy, his banker. He spotted Quillen at a corner table. Quillen rose as Allison approached. Quillen was taller than Allison, with short gray hair and prominent gray eyes. His mustache managed to offset a slightly prominent nose. Unlike Allison, his waistline was still trim. His personality was one that could dominate any board room. Even on Saturday he was dressed in a dark, custom tailored suit with a red tie.
    “Thanks for coming, Dwayne,” Quillen said as they shook hands. “I figured a Saturday meeting away from either of our offices would be best. Have a seat.”
    Allison sized up Quillen’s demeanor and didn’t like what he saw. Still he joined in small talk until the waiter took their orders. When the waiter returned with their lunch, they ate in uncomfortable silence. After he had cleared the table and brought coffee, Quillen spoke.
    “It’s down to this, Dwayne. I’ve got customers at every one of my banks who are behind on their notes. I’ve got people just walking away from mortgages. I’ve had to put repo men on as full time employees to repossess cars when people just quit paying. But, by far my biggest problem is you, and that’s because you’re my biggest customer. The interest on your notes alone is near