With five grand closer to my goal and no more oil wells to tap on the list, I took a break. I had a short film to edit and some other corporate jobs to finish to keep up my proper reputation as a media company. Wade was lost. He had emailed me one night but the thpe was so unreadable in its word structure that I chose to ignore it. I had planned at that point in time not to say anything else to him or Cutter about the movie. I was just going to wait until after I scored the rest of the money and was a week away from shooting. I wanted them to think I had given up so I could throw it in their face when it actually happens.
Cutter and I still stayed in touch, three or four times a week. We just didnt talk about the business venture anymore. He had moved on to his next project. He had for many years spoken of a concept he wanted to capitalize on, which of course, I blew off every time. He wanted to get a loan and start up a Party Bus business. A Party Bus Business is a simple concept with only a few legal obstacles to go through and a location where it would be needed. He wanted to go to Myrtle Beach with it. These Party Buses would be rented out for Bachelor Parties, Frat Parties, Dances, Bands, etc and in most cases, would be stocked with booze and entertainment. The bus would drive you around to the bars, sites, wherever your group needed to go and the bonus was, you could all party together instead of having to flag a cavalry of cabs. I thought it to be a good idea but never offered my assistance for the simple reason that I didnt have time to go to Myrtle Beach and back, nor did I know where to begin on a venture like this. I told Cutter I would help him in anyway I can, but he would have to know which direction to go.
As he began making calls and connections he met the Owner of the Crazy Horse Strip Club down there. They were chit-chatting back and forth and of course if it meant a strip club owner investor for Cutter, he was dropping our name for the porn. The Owner was not so interested in the Party Bus idea, but as it just so happened, was looking for video work. He was rebuilding his website and wanted to shoot every dancer he had in these little tease set ups where they talked to the camera fully clothed, teasing the horny men of the world, inviting them to come see them on the nights they were set to work.
That was something I had never thought about, but was ecstatic about. This would be some good tape for me to have and if he had ten to twelve dancers, that would be a nice chunk of change. Cutter scheduled a meeting with some prominent investors for his bus endeavor and planned a meeting between the Owner and I. They were all to be conducted on a Saturday, due to the hectic schedule of all of our real jobs. Mandi was not happy, obviously, because she did not trust Cutter to keep a basketball out of a busy road when he was not even dribbling it. She could not go to keep an eye out on me and neither could his wife. They worked in the service industry, so missing a Friday night could be detrimental to ones paycheck. She finally agreed that if we were just going to be one night she would be OK with the road trip. I promised her we would not get in any trouble. She did not believe me. I finally comforted her and the trip was set. We were to leave Friday after work and return Saturday night the following day. I actually began to become excited on Thursday. I had not been anywhere since I ventured to Rhode Island to see Ryan, so an escape to even the next town would have been OK. I had not been to Myrtle Beach since I was twenty-one and that last trip had been a great one. Granted, I was without child, girlfriend or the amount of bills I had garnered today, but nevertheless, I withdrew a hundred and fifty bucks, left my credit cards and packed a bag.
Cutter picked me up from the house at about dusk. I kissed Mandi good-bye and headed to the car. I looked back to reassure her. She had a look on her face like she was never going to see me again.
I hopped in the car and Cutter of course exited in his normal fashion by throwing gravel all over my yard as he peeled through the driveway. The music was loud and Cutter had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face I had ever seen.
What is it?
What, he asked.
Dude, I know you. What are you thinking?
Cutter pulled a box out of the backseat and demanded I look in it. I opened the top and my heart sank Mandi never trusted Cutter and she had always been right. The box contained a half gallon of Jose Cuervo, an ounce of shwag, and a vile, probably a sixteenth of coke.
He looked over at me and I swear I saw, John Candy in the devil suit laughing sadistically, as he did in Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
FUCKIN MYRTLE BEACH, DADDY!!!! He screamed as he dropped his Mercedes into third and peeled down the road.
Oh dear God, was all I had time to say before I lost my breath.
TO BE CONTINUED.
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