Dirk let off the throttle as his bike cruised into the exit lane. He scanned the lot to see if there were any cars at the shop. There were none except for Daisy’s small pick-up tucked neatly in the corner of the long, narrow lot. Dirk’s bike sputtered and cracked across the lot and then coasted to a stop in front of a wooden sign that read “Boss.” He killed the engine, knocked down the heavy kickstand with the heel on his leather boot and hopped off his bike. He slid off his wrap-around sun glasses, stuck them in the side bag on his bike and then elbowed his way through the front door.
Daisy was watching him as he came in.
“We got anything to eat around here?” he groused.
Daisy dropped her pencil and leaned back in her chair, “What have you been doing for the past hour and a half?”
“Talking.”
“Talking?”
“Yes, talking.” Dirk gave her a stare that said no more questions.
Daisy paused. She wanted to say more and she felt that she had the right to say more, but she had a lot of work to do and arguing with Dirk would be a waste of her energy. So she quietly leaned up in her chair and went back to work. Without looking up from her work, she said, “There’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the fridge. I made it this morning, but I don’t have time to eat it. Besides, I’m on a diet so I’ll just eat some crackers.”
Dirk strolled deliberately toward her desk, “One more thing.”
“What is it?” The feisty secretary didn’t look up.
“Tell me more about our money situation?”
Daisy continued jotting down figures on a spreadsheet, still avoiding direct eye contact.
He slammed his fist on corner of her desk, “Did you hear me?”
Daisy stopped writing and tossed her pencil. It bounced on the desk top and ricocheted off her coffee cup. She looked at the pencil for a moment as if pondering whether to apologize to her boss for the angry display. She decided not to. Then, without speaking, she leaned to her left and pulled open the large bottom drawer on her desk. She lifted a thick file folder from the drawer and plopped it on her desk. She finally looked at Dirk; she had an agitated, perturbed look on her face, “Where do you want to start?”
Dirk looked puzzled, “How should I know? Do we still have that loan with Sun Trust?”
Daisy shook her head disgustedly, “You couldn’t pay me enough for all the shit I do around here.” She peeled the cover back on the file and began sifting through the papers. She paused and examined a printout for a moment and then lifted it from the file. She looked it over again and then handed it to Dirk, “This is the most recent past due letter from Sun Trust concerning your business line of credit.”
Dirk snatched the letter from her and quickly scanned it. After a few seconds he tossed it on her desk. “I don’t understand all of this legal mumbo-jumbo stuff. Just tell me what it says.”
Daisy rolled her eyes and grabbed the sheet off the desk. “It says, that you are ninety days past due on your payment and that if satisfactory arrangements are not made to bring this loan current within the next thirty days, foreclosure proceedings will begin.”
“Those bastards can’t foreclose on me! It’s just a line-of-credit!”
“It’s a line-of-credit backed by this business, Dirk. They sure as hell can foreclose.”
Dirk was very agitated, “Whose side are you on?”
Daisy took a deep breath, “It’s not about whose side I’m on, Dirk. It’s about the facts. You signed over a mortgage on this property when you took out this line-of credit five years ago.”
Dirk dropped down in the chair next to Daisy’s desk and stretched out his legs, “How much to we owe them?”
“Your payment is just over twelve thousand a month, and with late charges and so forth, we owe them just under thirty-nine thousand dollars.”
He grimaced, “How much do we have in our checking account?”
“Twenty-seven hundred dollars-just about enough to make payroll.”
“Hell, we’re broke!” the gnarly biker growled.
Daisy’s eyes went to the ceiling, “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you for the last couple of months, Dirk. We have serious problems and they’re not getting any better.”
“Who else do we owe?”
“We owe Harley Davidson thirteen thousand dollars for parts and Gateway Bank thirty-two thousand for our floor plan, and to top it all off, we’re behind on most of our other bills, including our phone bill and utilities.”
Dirk nervously twisted the Sturgis ring and murmured, “So, how much do we owe total?”
“About ninety grand, give or take a few thousand.”
“So a hundred grand would make us well?”
“Yes, but we’re all loaned up-we can’t get a new loan. Nobody would touch us with a ten foot pole right now.” Daisy’s expression softened, “The economy is horrible around here and I heard on a cable news channel the other day that it’s not going to get better any time soon. Maybe it’s time to cut your losses and get out of this rat race. Maybe it’s time to try something new.”
Dirk stood up, walked over and stared out the window at the heavy traffic whizzing past on 27 and then, in almost a whisper, he said, “Nobody’s gonna take my business away from me. Nobody!” His eyes darkened into a defiant expression. “I’ll get the hundred grand.” He walked over and opened the small refrigerator next to the coffee maker, grabbed Daisy’s peanut butter and jelly sandwich and headed back to the garage area.
Daisy’s eyes followed him across the room and into the garage. She shook her head and went back to work.