Moving Cars - Part 2

Normally you could laugh this off as banter; when I say normal, I mean normal for the world of car sales which is like another planet stuck in prehistoric times. This time though, Frank was looking around the table and assessing who he was going to stab, all the while his right hand was clenching and unclenching like he was plunging a knife in and out of someone in a frenzied attack.

Throughout my time there, I had never seen him like this. Something, or someone, had seriously disturbed the fragile grip on reality and rationality that allowed him to pass amongst normal humans and only be given a wide berth as opposed to the police being called. I saw him doing a deal with a customer once but that is another chapter and not for today. He raised his right arm and swivelled it around to point behind him out of the window, all the while those black coals that served as eyes continued to maintain contact with us.

‘Just what the flip is that abomination?’

We a looked over his shoulder, some of us making a real show of looking extra hard by squinting or craning their necks, desperately searching for something that matched the description of an abomination. Failing to see this and therefore failing to provide Frank with the information he was looking for (this apparently had not been a rhetorical question) we all looked back to him for further guidance. He feigned a look of surprise, but his eyes had started that familiar turmoil of storm clouds. It was like watching a washing machine filled with black clothes start a very slow spin. Sam chose this unfortunate moment to find the situation funny and letter out a squirt of laughter. Just a peep. He had been slightly late to the meeting and was sitting in the strike zone of Frank. Lightning fast, Frank had his lapels in his clenched fists and his face was inches away. Flecks of spittle were being ejected out from between Frank’s tombstone teeth like a power washer and were peppering Sam’s face so rapidly that he could hardly blink fast enough.

‘Do you find something funny you useless tub of lard?’

This was somewhat ironic considering that Frank was no lightweight himself.

‘No Frank.’ That was a blatant lie by Sam

Frank pushed him away with a grunt. He put most of his bulk into that push as Sam’s seat was propelled to the other side of the room where is bumped against the wall. Sam sat there dazed and not knowing if he should paddle back to the table or stay where he was and remain relatively safe. He chose safety. Frank had dismissed Sam from his mind before the chair had even hit the wall and returned to address the assembled array his employees, all of us staring with open mouths. He had tipped over into a new kind of crazy and this was getting slightly dangerous. I remembered the stabbing threat and wondered if this was the time. Over his shoulder I could see the support staff like secretaries and so on looking through the glass panels of the office and then muttering to each other. Which one of them will call the police? Or were they thinking it was probably better for some blood to be visible before going to that length. Frank was indeed a legend.

‘Which one of you fools is responsible for that flipping mess out there?’

Judging by the sudden change in colour from red to deathly pale, it was possibly around this time that it was beginning to dawn on Roddy that the mess in question was the cars arranged in a different pattern from how Frank had left it the previous day. Frank continued,

‘Come on.’ He turned his head around and there must have been a very slight movement from Jaz that marked him out. ‘ Jaz, you’ve normally got so much to say you can’t keep your big ugly gob shut. Did you move my cars?’