Desperate Times Read Online Free PDF Page B

read simply: CASH ONLY! Jimmy
swallowed hard and signaled his turn. He hated the thought of
paying so much for fuel, yet it was now or maybe never. He stubbed
out his cigarette and turned the Mack onto the service road. There
was a long line of cars waiting at the gas pumps, the drivers
gripping their steering wheels tightly while waiting their turn.
Jimmy passed the cars and headed to the diesel pumps, which
thankfully were open on his side. A huge John Deere tractor
occupied the pump on the other side. An old man dressed in blue
work clothes and muddy rubber boots stood pumping fuel into the
gleaming green and yellow tractor. Jimmy set the brakes and shut
off the engine.
     
    “I’ve got to use the bathroom,” Bill
said.
     
    “Have at it,” replied Jimmy. “I’m going to
top off here. I don’t want to risk driving into Crown to find out
that the Co-Op is out of fuel. You want anything?”
     
    “I’m good, thanks. I’ll be right out.”
     
    “Okay,” said Jimmy as he got out of the
truck. He closed the door and was greeted by the strong aroma of
diesel. He smiled and nodded to the old man at the side of the
tractor.
     
    “Crazy, ain’t it?” asked the
stoop-shouldered, white haired farmer who looked to be well into
his eighties.
     
    Jimmy nodded as he twisted the cap off the
hundred gallon saddle tank. “We passed by here a couple of hours
ago, and the price has doubled since then. Who knows? By this time
tomorrow twenty bucks a gallon might be a bargain.”
     
    The old man spat tobacco and rubbed spittle
off his chin. “By this time tomorrow there ain’t gonna be any fuel.
I got that straight from the horse’s mouth. Lonnie Briggs, the
fella that runs this store, told me so himself. He said the last
tanker came through this morning and the driver told him that the
refinery’s shuttin’ down today. Just like everything else.”
     
    “No kidding?” asked Jimmy, glancing at the
farmer’s weathered hands.
     
    “Yup, we’re headed down a tough road, son, a
damn tough road. My family and me, we’re luckier than most. I saw
this coming over a year ago. I got most of my kids and grandkids up
at the farm, all except that damn fool daughter of mine in
California,” he said, shaking his head sadly. “Yup, we’ve been
putting up food for the past year. I’ve got over a hundred head of
beef and my barn’s full of hay. I’m ready for whatever comes. Looks
like whatever it is, it’s here now.”
     
    “I can’t argue that,” said Jimmy.
     
    The farmer finished topping off the big tank
on his tractor and replaced the nozzle on the hook of the pump. He
nodded to Jimmy and ambled his way inside the crowded station.
Jimmy returned his attention to his own humming fuel pump, shocked
that it already read over six hundred dollars. He knew that he had
about a thousand left in the envelope, but he hadn’t planned on
spending it all on fuel. Thankfully, it clicked off at just under
seven hundred dollars. Jimmy shook his head and walked toward the
station. Halfway there he stopped, turned around and returned to
the Mack to retrieve the keys and lock the door. Yesterday, he
never would’ve thought of such a thing.
     
    He loaded up on chewing gum, buying an entire
display box and half a box of candy bars. He noticed that others
were doing the same and that many of the shelves were already bare.
After standing in line for nearly ten minutes, Jimmy was finally
able to pay for his fuel and purchases. The old gal at the counter
stuffed the cash into the drop safe. She thanked him politely
without looking up, not bothering to offer to bag his purchases.
Jimmy felt for her, wondering if she was as worried as everyone
else. If she was, she certainly wasn’t letting on.
     
    Jimmy squinted in the bright sunshine,
wishing like hell that his sunglasses weren’t broken. He could see
Bill was standing next to the John Deere, giving the farmer an
earful. He shook his head and smiled.
     
    “C’mon, Bill, we’ve