Chapter 2.B

Soon his house was swarming with police, and investigators were interviewing him as paramedics worked on his chest. A cute paramedic female let him know that it was a clean through and through, and she slipped her number on a piece of paper into his hand when her colleagues weren’t watching. They told him he needed to go the hospital, but Hank would drive himself later. The last thing he needed was a giant bill from riding in an ambulance, especially when his truck worked just fine. When the investigators got to him, he kept his mouth shut mostly. No need to self-incriminate, even though Hank wasn’t particularly sure he had even done anything illegal. One of the investigators was a pretty woman in her late 30’s. She had kept a neutral face throughout Hank’s explanation of events of the night. Once she had basically ruled Hank’s actions as self-defense in her own mind she dropped her “all-business” facade and asked Hank more about the part of the story that had been nagging at her.

“So let me get this straight. You killed the first guy with your bare hands, and the second one you stopped with a coat rack?”

“No mam, the gunman shot the first one, I was just holding him in front of me at the time. Not sure if that was on accident or on purpose on the gunman’s part, but yes then I proceeded to throw the coat rack at the second one.”

“How did you know that would work?”

“I didn’t mam, but I use to throw some of the bigger rocks here in the gravel yard when I was a kid. I invented accuracy games with them to see how far and how straight I could throw some of the smaller boulders. The coat rack seemed light in comparison.” The police detective shook her head, she couldn’t believe how calm this hulk of a man was being after stopping two armed intruders without even being armed himself.

“Stop calling me mam, you are making me feel old.”

“Old? You look about perfect to me.” The police detective felt her cheeks flush at the compliment from the strapping younger man. She wrote her personal number on the back of one of her business cards and handed it to him.

“When the investigation is closed, call me.”

“I need to get shot at more...” Hank mumbled with a smirk on his face as he pocketed the card with the one from the paramedic.

Once the police finally cleared out of his property, and the coroners drove away with the corpse, the sun was fully up in the sky. It was sometime mid-morning. He went and sat at his father’s side once more, and waited for him to stir.

“Son tell me why those men came to kill you, don’t bullshit me.” So Hank did, he told his father everything about Jimmy, their relationship, how Jimmy had paid a lot of his father's hospital bills, everything.

“Son, this Jimmy fellow doesn’t sound like a bad guy, but he is a criminal. Those two things don’t always run side by side if you catch my drift. I’ve known lots of good guys that were technically criminals. All of that is beside the point, you don’t need him, and being around him brings death to your door. I’ll be dead soon, and the gravel yard will be yours to run. The people who work here will depend on you to keep this place open and running right. If you are mixed up with criminals... That could endanger everything. I realize the money was probably really good working for Jimmy, but it’s time to hang that up now, count your blessings, and run the business. Will you do that for me son?”

“Yes father.”

It was an easy request really, and truth be told Hank didn’t want the trouble. He respected and liked Jimmy, but getting shot in the chest hurt. Hank spent that whole day sitting by his father’s side, conversing when his father was up to it, but mostly just sitting in silence trying to remember everything his father had taught him. He knew he should go to the hospital, but he felt his father’s time was short. Unfortunately Hank’s assumption was right and his father died later that night. Hank was stricken with grief and wasn’t really sure what to do after hospice moved his father and their equipment out of his home.

Hank felt vulnerable and sad like never before in his life. This was a problem that his enormous strength couldn’t get him through. Jimmy stopped by the next day and forced Hank to finally go to the hospital to get his bullet wound looked at. While Hank was being treated Jimmy somehow managed to arrange and pay for Hank’s fathers funeral. Hank wasn’t sure what to say to Jimmy so he just hugged him for a long time. After that Jimmy told him he had to leave town for awhile, Hank understood.

Hank took over running the gravel yard full time when things settled down following his father’s funeral. He hired people who were in need, and fired people who didn’t deserve the job. Hank was a fair and understanding boss and his employees loved him for that. He didn’t tolerate any harassment on the job site either. He once caught an employee stealing someone else’s sandwich out of the shared work fridge so he carried the thief off of the premise and literally threw him out into the road. People stopped stealing food from the work fridge after that.

When Hank had the extra cash he even hired a night watchmen to walk around the gravel yard. He didn’t need the security, but it was his way of giving back to the community. He only hired people who desperately needed the cash. He also figured it wouldn’t be good for his public record if he had to kill more night prowlers with his bare hands, things like that tend to piss the local constabulary off if you repeat them too often. Once Hank got over the loss of his father, things got better. His mood brightened, not that you could tell. Hank was as stoic as ever on the outside, but he had reached his own “Hank Brand” of inner-peace once again. He was the master of his domain, his employees loved him, he was right with the law, and the gravel yard was doing good business. The local women loved Hank even more than before, especially now that he was a thriving businessman with the body of a professional weightlifter. They knew Hank wasn’t looking for a serious relationship yet they seemed to try and take that as a challenge. To them Hank was like trying to hold fire in your hands, beautiful and bright, but eventually you would have to let it go.

All of that peace was shattered though, when Eugene had come back into his life. Eugene who had taken Suzie Q. from him. That coward, that piece of filth. Hank would make him pay. Saul had said Eugene had security at his house, that was fine. Hank wouldn’t hit him at his house. Eugene had corrupted everyone, he had to have paid off half of city hall to have them overlook the shit he was pulling. That’s fine, they could be punished too. Hank broke the coffee cup in his hand, he was squeezing it so hard without noticing it.

His lawyer Saul scooted back in his chair probably not wanting to get coffee on his expensive Italian suit.

“Hank I can see that look your face, I know what you are thinking,” said Saul.

“That’s not your problem Saul. Do me one last favor though, make sure my will is up to date please” said Hank.

“Why would I do that Hank?” asked Saul.

“Just humor me,” said Hank.

Hank had thrown together a quick and dirty last will and testament a few years back after he had been stabbed in a bar fight. The will basically said half of his assets should go to whatever employees he currently had, and the other half should go to charity. The thought of the state taking his stuff made Hank physically ill. Just in case he didn’t survive what came next it would be good for him to know that he would still be helping people, even from beyond the grave. Besides dying an extremely messy death while your will is in litigation would be sure to fuck up Eugene’s plans, a win-win you might say.

“Both of y’all get out!” said Hank.

“Whaaa?” said the Lot Lizard who was picking up the pieces of his broken coffee cup. She dropped her sheet she was so surprised at Hank’s sudden outburst.

“Saul would you drive this woman home please.”

“But Hankey baby, what about breakfast?”

“Saul can get you breakfast. Go ahead and put it on my tab Saul, and thank you for telling me… everything.”

Saul seemed to be in indecision about what to do, on one hand he wanted to stay and instruct his client to be calm and rational, on the other hand he was staring at a naked woman’s tits. In the end, the boobies won out.

“Miss I would be delighted to escort you safely home and I would be honored if we could have breakfast together,” said Saul, while holding out his hand as an open offer. The Lot Lizard gave Saul a once over, taking in everything from his $500 dollars shows, his expensive suit, to his Rolex. If she had been any more obvious in her appraisal you would have seen her pupils turn into little dollar signs.

“Sure, just let me grab my clothes and my purse,” she said, as she jogged back to Hank’s bedroom letting all the right parts jiggle now that she knew Saul was watching.

“I think I’m in love,” said Saul. Hank could see the impending train wreck coming, but he decided to mind his own business, besides he had his own problems to worry about. The young woman came back out wearing more clothing… barely, and her and Saul left in short order, but not before Saul warned Hank one more time to play it cool and wait for the money that the town would have to pay him to make the whole eminent domain business look quasi-legal.

As soon as Saul and the Lot Lizard left Hank was making moves, he first called his second-in-command at the gravel yard, one of the old timers who had been there since his father’s time, his name was Frank.

“Frank, it’s Hank”

“What’s up Hank?”

“Things with this whole eminent domain business have picked up. I’ll need you to take over the yard for me until I get this situation settled, it could be a few days.”

“Is there anything I could do to help? Your father was like a brother to me. If you need anything you tell me.”

“No, it’s fine. Me and my lawyer are going to be wheeling and dealing for a few days and I won't have time to come to the front. Please just keep the place running smoothly for me until I’m back.”

“I can do that. Anything else you need, just call.”

“Cya Frank.”

“Cya Hank.”

Even though Hank still lived in the back of the gravel yard he didn’t want to be bothered at all. He was far enough back away from the business that there would be no reason for his men to come back here, plus his house was blocked from line of sight thanks to the towering gravel piles scattered about. He needed complete privacy to get this next part done. Hank got on some work pants and boots and one of his signature yellow tank tops with his company name on it “Steel Gravel.” Then he headed out to the large work prefab metal shed that his father had put together shortly after he had bought this lot. The shed was pretty massive as far as sheds went. It was wide enough to fit five cars side by side with space between them, and about as tall as a two story house.

His father had originally built the shed as a place to keep his cars and trucks clean and dust free, since the gravel yard generated so much debris. Over the years the large metal shed had slowly turned into the family’s private gym, workshop, and gun safe. Only one vehicle rested inside of it now, his father’s pride and joy: The Bulldozer. A fully customized Komatsu D355A that had been completely revamped and rebuilt ten times over since Hank’s father had bought it upon returning home from Vietnam. You see when Hank’s father had bought the plot of land that the gravel yard sits on now back in the 70’s it was little more than a sparse forest on the outskirts of town. A sparse rocky forest. Hank’s father needed a way to make the giant square a level lot so he could start collecting gravel and selling it. So he bought the Bulldozer.

He had used it to literally carve out their families livelihood, smashing away and shifting the large boulders and trees. Before he had died he had been in the process of replacing a few engine belts on the old thing, they sat nearby on a table. Hank hadn’t so much as touched the bulldozer since his father had died. The giant loyal machine felt holy, like it carried part of his father’s spirit in it. Hank reached out hesitantly to grab onto one of the handles that would lift him up into the cab. His hand slowed and he waited for just a second before pulling himself up and opening the door to get inside, he wasn’t quite sure why he has to wait, but it was almost like he was asking his father for permission. He sat down in the operator’s chair and inhaled deeply, it even smelled like his father in here. Hank sat quietly, not moving, contemplating everything he had to do and the gifts his father had given him.

In this place, his father’s shed, in his father’s bulldozer, it was like his father was sitting right there next to him, trying to push through the curtain of death to put a hand on Hank’s shoulder and say something encouraging. Hank couldn’t help it, he had to say something in this… place.

“Hey dad, I know you are listening to me now. I’m sorry about this mess with Eugene. It looks like I might lose the yard over it, and that would be a shame because I know you worked hard on this place, and you worked hard to get it. I’ll never forget the things you taught me and the things you did for me, but it looks like I won't be able to fulfill my promises to you, especially the one about having kids. There is one promise I’ll be able to keep though. You told me to stand up for the little guys, to not let evil reign, and I won't. Eugene is out there now and he has corrupted half the town. I don’t know what he is planning but if he is willing to attack even me that probably means he will hurt lots of innocent people as well to finish whatever sick mission he is on. Someone has to stop him… The problem is, he is connected dad, like real connected. Police, the local government, hell even the local media, he has them all paid off, he is basically untouchable. If I try to stop him at his house I’ll probably only end up killing a whole mess of people just trying to get a paycheck, before his security shoots me to death. Which is why I have to use this… This bulldozer will be the instrument of justice. You can stop a man, but you can’t stop a bulldozer. Wish me luck dad, I might be seeing you soon.”