TNP 12 "DOOMSDAY"

A Chapter by dw817

My time and life in working for the government during the Savings & Loan Crisis of 1990 with a beautiful woman who took care of absolutely everything for me in my employ. And I mean EVERYTHING.

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THE NANCY PRINCIPLE

My time in working for the government during the Savings & Loan Crisis of 1990 with a beautiful
woman who took care of absolutely everything for me in my employ. And I mean EVERYTHING.

© August 2013 Written by David Wicker
Please do not reprint without permission

CHAPTER 12 - DOOMSDAY
* * *

This chapter is Rated: EVERYONE

It was my final day of employ at BBI ...

Now, before I met Rose I met Wayne. Now I really don't see the difference between dating a guy or a girl as long as you both get along great with each other.

I remember once asking my gay friend Chris whether he thought I was gay or straight, but he just smiled and said, "David, you're thoroughly confused and always will be so don't worry about it."

So, that was fine with me. I think I was 17 when I met Wayne. He was 48 at the time but he was very nice to me and we did stuff, but he was very kind about it. Anyways, we met on a BBS years ago.

I was going by the alias of Nymph at the time because I was fascinated by the stories of forest fairies and pixies and hoped maybe I would be called to live with them someday. Or a UFO would come by and pick me up to leave this world. I felt I never really fit in so these were my options for the future and no others.

In any case, Wayne had time for me when my real Dad didn't. I know that's sad, but my Dad worked so very hard for General Dynamics and my sister wasn't there either, she left at 17. She had her own place. And I was still living with my Dad, cause I hadn't moved out yet.

(I'm going to cut some things out here and while they actually happened they - may not be appropriate for you readers. If someone asks I will answer, but only in Private Message). Continuing back to the story.

The MAIN reason I am mentioning Wayne is cause he wore BLACK a lot. Either black pants or a black shirt, one or the other. When I met Rose years ago, it was obvious she wasn't going to let me date both him and her. She was 36-years old at the time to Wayne's 49 and I was 18-years old.

So I knew Wayne for about a year. And Rose said choose, me or him ... Wayne told me that if it was too difficult for me to decide, he would make the decision for me, and I appreciated that as I was really getting upset trying to think about it.

It was a terrible decision for me. But ultimately I chose Rose. And there was a reason for this. I chose her instead of Wayne cause he said he NEVER dreamed, ever, in his entire life. That was scary for me and I didn't know if I wanted to spend my life with someone who never once dreamed, ever. We all need dreams. All of us.

He was also not paying his income tax, and while I still today don't know very much about that sorta thing, I knew he was gonna get in trouble with the law eventually cause you gotta pay bills and junk to go through life.

So, back to the black outfit. About a year prior to meeting Rose, me and Wayne both went 50/50 paying $100 together for a Nintendo game system. When he showed up at my place at 4100 and Rose was there cause I invited her cause I was scared and it was my last day to see him he wore SOLID black, and I mean everything.

I asked why, he said offhandedly, "Don't you usually wear black to a funeral ?" and slapped the side of his pants.

I asked him if I meant that much to him, and he said yes. I gave him a hug. He said he wanted me to have the NES unit and that I needed to pay him $50 for his part of it, which I did, and that was the very last time I saw him.

But those words stuck with me, "Don't you usually wear black to a funeral ?"

So, on my final day of BBI, I hunted down a solid black shirt and black pants and a black baseball hat and showed up. Trudy in the cubicle behind me, curious as to my attire asked why I was wearing all black ?

I said, just as Wayne did to me those 3-years ago, "Don't you usually wear black to a funeral ?" and then I reached down and slapped my pants for emphasis, just like he did. Her reaction was odd.

Now Trudy has always been nice to me to this point, but right then, she looked fearful. I was concerned and confused besides by the way she looked right now.

I asked if everything was okay and she said fine but that she needed to get back to her work. I said okay.

She got back in her cubicle and made a phone call but turned her chair around so I couldn't hear it. I didn't know what it was about. But 10 minutes later two "Gray Suits" showed up.

That was the best way to describe them. You remember the agents from the movie Matrix ? Yeah, sorta like that, but go scarier.

One approached me and said, "David Wicker ?"

I replied, "Yessir ?"

He said, "You are ordered to come with me."

I got really scared. What did I do ? The other "Gray Suit" was opening up my briefcase and rifling around my Conan The Barbarian comics looking for something, I didn't know what he was looking for.

He emptied out my case shaking it and my comics fell over one another along with a half-eaten twinkie I had forgotten about and one of my lucky teddy bears I always carried to work. I always managed to carry a Teddy Bear wherever I went.

The agent picked up my Teddy Bear and examined it closely like it might be vital evidence for something, running his finger along it's arms and back, I guess to see if there were any switches on it or something that might activate it.

But no, it was just my lucky Teddy Bear that I carried to work with me. I always do that wherever I work.

This was too crazy so I finally asked, "What's going on ?"

The other guy seemed friendly but firm and said, "All will be explained, but you need to come with me. Now, Mr. Wicker."

He was REALLY scary so I nodded and went with him. I noticed we took the elevator and bee-lined to Mr. Sunder's office, the guy who originally hired me, remember ?

The chair that used to be against the wall was moved so it was in the center like for a presentation for him. He sat behind his desk and looked, of all things, afraid ?

As big a guy as this was I was pretty surprised that ANYTHING would frighten him. I knew he was frightened though cause he had that biggo cigar in his mouth again and this time the oarsman was paddling as if his life depended on it. Left and right, left and right, every second.

In any case Mr. Sunders didn't say a word and the two Gray Suits sat me down, rather hard I might add, in the chair and to make sure I wouldn't get back up they each put a hand on my shoulder and pushed down firmly. I was apparently in big trouble, but from what I didn't know ?

Mr. Sunder's looked at me and whatever fear was on his face was erased by anger now as he clenched down noisily on the cigar, "Son you've got exactly 5-seconds to tell me what you mean by, 'Don't you usually wear black to a funeral ?'"

"Sir ?" I squeaked totally confused.

He nodded, giving me permission to explain. I shifted my feet uncomfortably and the two Gray Suits thought that was a suspicious move so they pushed down harder on my shoulders. I winced in pain and looked at Mr. Sunder's with a frightened look, it was obvious I wasn't gonna do anything ! Lemme go !

He nodded to them and they both stepped back giving me a little breathing room but showed me their teeth, they looked like they flossed in their sleep. Pretty frightening looking really.

"Well !?" he demanded after a moment of silence.

I wanna pause here for a moment. I remember talking to Rose about it later. She had received an interesting lighter cause Jimbo smoked and when you hit the button on it, it lights up like something out of James Bond with all kinds of pretty flashing lights.

After this event, I thought about the lighter and said WHAT IF I had reached in my pocket and instead of answering Mr. Sunder's question, held up the lighter and made it flash lights and laughed maniacally like it was a bomb switch.

Rose was not amused and said, "They woulda killed your a*s."

"Yeah." I said, but I still think it woulda been funny. Especially since I was being let go of work there.

Anyways, in truth, I didn't have the fancy lighter at the time, no, I answered him in a timid voice, "Sir, it's a joke really. It's my last day here. I knew a friend of mine who wore black and - "

But he cut me off, "Son, I fail to see the humor in this, especially with the Waco situation we had recently." he paused as if thinking of what to say next.

"This is your last day." he said in a final tone. I nodded. And he said it as if by perchance it weren't, then because of my "stunt" it WOULD be now. I was FIRED from work, not dismissed. That part was clear now.

I felt tears brimming to my eyes cause I had hoped maybe I could stay longer but because of me wearing all stupid black to work, it apparently frightened the company into thinking I brought a bomb into the building cause I was mad or something.

This is what Dad explained to me later cause I was so confused by what happened.

Mr. Sunders continued, "You are to go home NOW. Do not pick up your personal effects. They will be mailed to you after they are examined. You will be paid for the day. You are not to reference us in future job applications. You are not to return here EVER again. Do I make myself clear, son ?"

"Yessir." I said and blinked back the tears.

"You're dismissed." he said, and maybe, or maybe it was just my hope, that perhaps, he understood that I really did enjoy working here because I fit in so well, I just didn't know.

I started to return back to the elevator but one Gray Suit stood in front of me.

"I wanna say goodbye to Nancy ?" I offered and felt tears falling on my black shirt now.

"We'll tell her for you." he offered neutrally, his expression hidden completely behind the mirrored sunglasses and his flat neutral face.

"What about my comics ?" I said.

"We'll send them to you." he said a little irritated now. "You need to go now." and pointed to the exit door behind me.

Well, I turned around and left. I sat in my car a minute and saw the two gray suits standing by the front door I guess thinking I was gonna bring in a bazooka or something. But no, I wouldn't be returning.

I started to drive home but noticed I was being followed in a truck. It was those two damned gray suits from earlier !

And they were talking on big phones (cellphones didn't exist back then you remember) and apparently they were making sure I wasn't going to U-Turn or something back to the building. When I finally got out of my car to go home, they were about a half a block away and parked.

I looked out my window to watch them and they sat there on their phone and talked for several minutes before finally driving away.

A few days later my personal effects arrived at my Dad's house cause I used him as an emergency address, name, and phone number.

It was so odd, all of my items were individually wrapped in brown envelopes and coded with stuff like DET-8293 and codes like that on it as if somehow my comic books and stuff in my briefcase were vital and of national government importance to them.

They returned my lucky teddy bear last. I wondered if they gave him an anal probe cause my bear looked so distressed and his was all ruffled when I finally got him back - and he smelled like cigar smoke too.

When I was at my Dad's and we were opening up the envelopes and boxes and he said, "The government is weird and paranoid. You certainly frightened them with that statement and outfit of yours. You'll have to be more careful in the future."

And you know what ? Dad knew that I wasn't seeing Brett but Wayne but he would rather I was with him than Rose cause Rose was married at the time. Crazy huh ?

And ... that's when I finally got my job for Star Telegram. Which is a different story.

I'm sorry this was a short chapter. I told myself each chapter I write would be 15-pages but maybe this isn't really a novel cause it's my life which can't always be exciting.

But NOW I want to turn it into fiction - and as much as I'd like to change my name to Dev, my alter-ego, I - just can't. So even though I use my real name, it will still be a fictional story.

In the next chapter, I rewrite what happens on my final day of work, much like we'd like to do in our lives when we make the wrong decisions about things and it haunts us forever, and I don't wear all black.

Instead, I am encouraged to stay working for BBI but under unusual circumstances and a new contract set by Nancy herself - but before that happens Barbara is going to get what she asked for ...