LAMPSHADE
. This story takes place in Tuscon Arizona about seven years ago. I was contracting for Protel, a company bought up by Mastec. (LMAO) I got a call from Eli McCay, he was Vice President of Protel at that time. He said, hey Jerry ,do you want to go to Tuscon? I'm like Dam. thats a long ride, four days from where I live on the East Coast. I tell him I need some up front money if I'm going that far. He sent me six hundred. I leave N.C. going through the mountains of Tenn. My dually blows a tire . .UCK you Firestone, this is just prior to the big recall. I remember it like yesterday, I was on the downhill side of the Mtns. I felt a little vibration in the rear of the truck so I pull her over and check things out , everything appears fine. I get back in and ride, about five minutes later, all smell breaks loose. The Cap comes off and rips my fuel fill for my rear tank loose, hose and all, fuel is pouring out, the tire cap is wrapped around my rear end, My fender is hanging half off, I get the truck pulled over to see this and I'm thinking to myself oh my God. I had to take a knife and cut the tire cap off. Then I took out my portable drill and pop a hole in the fender and through the truck and used a bit.ch clamp construction bolt to hold the fender on and limped the truck on to Tenn. I called Eli back and told him I'm not coming I don't trust these tires, he says go to a Wall Mart pick you out some tires and call me back and I will put it on a credit card, I'm like ok, that will work. I get new rubber all the way around , once again I'm rolling, three days later I reach Elpaso Texas, The cash is getting low, I call Eli, tell him the Cash is getting low, so he wires me another six hundred. On the fourth day I finally reach Tuscon. God what a drive. I get a motel room, get some sleep. The next day I go to the office , which was a construction trailer, in Comcast's fence. I meet with Jim Schendledecker, he's the project mgr. I come to find out I'm the first splicer there, and the project isn't ready to start yet. I'm hot , so I call Eli back, I tell him whats going on and he calms me down, He didn't want me to leave , so they advanced me a grand a week, just to set there for two weeks until Comcast had their warehouse stocked up. In the meanwhile other splicers and line crews are arriving in town. In that two weeks I got to know Jim, his daughter the secretary and office mgr. John Kelly pretty good, they became my friends. Well work finally started and weeks went by. Then I come in one afternoon and I meet this new splicer , a black man , named Larry, he was thick, big arms, tough looking man. I really didn't like him from the get go, he tried to intimidate people with his size. Well about a week later I come in about five pm to turn in my paper work, when I walk into the office John Kelly is all upset as well as Jims daughter. John says to me Larrys been in here, I'm scared of him , and he's been hitting on Jims Daughter. Well, the hell flew in me, You see I'm 6'3" 270 at that time, I ask John where is he, John says he's over there in the map room. So I go over into the print room and here is Jim, about six splicers and Larry, I walk up to Larry and get in his face, tell him to stay away from John and Jims daughter, he's like f.uck you. I said mother focker I'll make a lamp shade out of you, he's like what, I said you can't hear niggr I go get my skinning knife out of the truck and I'll skin your a.ss. and use your hide for a lampshade. Jim who is not a little man either, jumps in between us and tell us knock it off, he isn't putting up with no fighting on his project, knock it off or you will be fired. We settle down and I left, the next afternoon I'm leaving as Larry is pulling into the warehouse, I put my window down and call him the n. word, he says fu.k you. I go ahead and leave. Two days later he's coming in as I'm pulling out, he stops me and says, you stole the sign off my truck. I said fu.k you I didn't take your sign. I pull on out . It starts pissing me off so I turn around and go back to the warehouse. Larrys in the print room along with other splicers and Schendledecker. I walked up to him and tell him fu.k you I didn't take you G.D. sign. I said you've been pissing me off for days. I said I started to catch three rattle snakes and duct tape two to your visior, and one to your seat belt in your van , then I was going to hit the side of the camper you stay in. You figuring someone had been in you van stealing something, you would jump immediately into your van. I slapped each side of my face and then my side. I looked at him and said wap, wap , wap , you would be dead. He looks at me and grins holds out his hand to shake mine and says I like you , your one crazy mother folker. We shook hands. That week end Larry throws a big party in my honor, all kinds of food and drink all the cable dawgs came. At the party after we had a few drinks in us, Larry and I were talking, he says to me, you know that first day when we were getting ready to fight, I said yeah what about it. He said I was thinking in my mind, I was going to hit you with every thing I had and if you didn't go down, I was going to run. I broke out laughing, we became good friends. I haven't seen him any more after Tuscon. If anybody knows the man tell him I said hello.
Thanks for Reading
"WHITFIELD"
