My wife Jody, had a close friend named Joan. We had known both her and her husband Mike for several years. Mike worked on one of the big farms in the area and Joan was a typical stay at home Mom. Jody would often visit Joan during the day that women folk tend to do. I had received a call from Jody asking to see me about something and said she would be at Joan’s and please stop by. I pulled up at their house and walked in the door to greet them. I approached Joan and placed my hand on her left breast, kissed her on the lips and said, “Hi and how are we both today”. Both of them cracked up in laughter. It was the sort of dry humor that I could sometimes get to work for me. Both of them enjoyed it. Luckily, Mike was not home although he would have seen the funny side of it too. I had no hidden desires for Joan as she looked the part of a haggard housewife dangling a baby on each knee. She did have this wonderful sense of humor
I drank a cup of coffee with them and turned to Jodi when Joan was out of the room. “OK, what do you need to see me about” “Nothing serious, just wanted to see if you would like to go see a movie tonight” she said I thought about it running through the things that I still needed to do and said, “Yes, that would be nice, find out what time the show starts and I can arrange accordingly”. A night out to the movies usually included dinner.
I took my leave of them and went back to the office. Pat handed me the usual pile of telephone messages and I got to work making the calls. Most were about work that someone needed, one was from Mrs Black and there was another from a Detective that I wasn’t familiar with. Mrs Black was all business and had a couple of changes to the work. We chatted a bit and then I turned my attention to the detective’s call.
“Detective Alsup”, I said when a man’s voice answered the phone. “This is Bob Morris returning your call. How can I help you”. “Do you have a Mike Jackson working for you? I have a few questions that I would like some help with. Do you have a minute”? I affirmed that Mike worked for me and the detective followed up by asking if I allowed my employees the use of the company trucks after hours. “It all depends on what they want to use them for” I said. “Do you have a specific date in mind” I said as my brain went into overdrive as I waited for the detective to answer. “I was referring to last Wednesday evening around 9:00 pm in the evening”? I thought about for a bit and then remembered that Mike had specifically asked to borrow a truck that evening. He said he had some furniture to move. I confirmed with the detective who thanked me and then hung up. I sat there a while thinking about the detectives question and decided I would talk to Mike later that day.
The day was Friday which for my men, meant pay-day. Pat had worked out the amounts each would get and had the checks ready for my signatures which I proceeded to sign. The men would have to come back to the yard to get their trucks that were parked there and would be paid then. I would take that opportunity to talk to Mike.
