Frank also plonked himself down in the chair,
‘Fuck me Terry, this has come out of the blue, when did you decide on this?’
‘I’ve been thinking of it for a little while now. The kids are long gone and Connie’s been pretty poorly the last few years with a bit of a dicky heart and I’ve been feeling a bit wound up meself for a month or two. I think you know why eh?’
‘I did wonder how long you would be able to keep it up for Terry. I think you’ve done pretty good. There’s a lot of stress mate when you’re hauling those boxes, sometimes, I think its better not to know what you’ve got on the back eh? It’s not all about money mate; some things are more important Terry. You’re a rich man if you’ve got your health eh?’
‘Appreciate you understanding Frank. I won’t leave you in the lurch; I know how important everything is. I just wanted to flag up the idea to you and give you a bit of notice of what I wanted to do.’
‘Okay, when are you looking at going then?’
‘Well, I’ll have to sort out my pension and a few other things with the office, so it’ll probably be about a month or so. Will that give you enough time to sort out another driver for the special boxes?’
‘Yeah, don’t you worry about that mate, go home and get your head down for a few hours. I’ve got someone else in mind. Will you be back tonight to sort out that box for Yorkshire?’
‘Yes, no problem Frank, I won’t let you down or leave you struggling at all. I can do tonight’s job OK and I can easily do the next few specials. Could certainly do with the extra money before I finish.’
‘Okay. Leave it with me and I’ll sort something out. Now, I’ll have to love you and leave you. Stockie will whinge at me for being late if I don’t get to town in the next twenty minutes. Come on, I’ll walk down with you. We’ll have to get together for a pint before you go. You really got me out of the shit a few months ago mate and I owe you one.’
‘Thanks, Frank. Listen, you go on, I’m going to have a quick chat with J.J. before I go. Thanks for being so understanding. Like I said, I won’t let you down until you’ve got the right man for the job.’
‘Right, see you later. What time are you driving over to Leeds?’
‘The box needs to be in their yard by about 4 in the morning so to make sure I’ve got plenty of time, I’ll get back here for about midnight.’
‘Okay, I think most of the lads will be well gone by then. Jock Burns should be back before ten o’clock and he’s due to be the last man for the day. Just make sure you’ve got your keys with you to lock up when you go.’
‘Cheers Frank, see you in the morning. I’ll be in sometime after mid day seeing as I won’t get back from Yorkshire till late on.’
Frank jumped into his three litre BMW coupe and did a swift exit from the yard. Mr Stock, the MD would not take kindly if he had to wait for his subordinate.
Terry went wandering into the garage and found his old friend in the mechanics pit under one of the wagons and crouched down to speak to him.
‘Well, that’s me J.J. Just told the boss that I’ve had enough. Jacking it in mate and taking my pension. Must say, I’m glad that I’ve made the decision after wondering about it for a couple of months.’
J.J. put down the torch that he’d been using to get a good look at the brake drums and wiped his hands on an oily cloth as he climbed out to greet his old comrade. Every time Terry saw him, he seemed to be wiping his hands on something or other.
‘Good for you Tel. About time you old bastard. Will you manage okay?’
‘I think so mate, might have to make a few adjustments and savings here and there; maybe sell the car and get a cheaper one, but you know how Connie is. She won’t get any better and so I think its time I looked after her a bit more eh?’
‘Give her a month Tel, and she’ll probably fuck you off from under her feet mate. She’ll probably tell you to piss off out of the house and stop moping about. Tell you to take up gardening; get an allotment or something.’
They both grinned. ‘You’re not far wrong there J.J. Might fancy a spot of gardening or something. Anyway, talkin about pissin off, I’d better do just that, I’ll be back later to take that box to Leeds. I’m going home for a few hours’ kip, see you in the morning.’
J.J turned back to climb down the short ladder into the pit and Terry walked out of the garage and drove home. He certainly felt better leaving the yard than he had done a short time ago when entering. Now that he had made the decision, he knew he would sleep better.
It was pitch black when he got back to the yard. It was a bit later than he had originally planned, just after half past midnight but he still had plenty of time. There wouldn’t be a lot of traffic on the roads on his way to Yorkshire at that time of night. He quite enjoyed doing the odd night run from time to time. Made a pleasant change to have quiet roads instead of wall to wall traffic which was becoming the norm for day time driving on any of the Motorways. He knew he had made the right decision. He’d had enough of driving. Easy street was not far away now. Couple of months would see him sorted.
Everywhere was locked up and even Frank had gone home earlier. The lights from the office windows would usually help any of the drivers using the yard at night as it shone down from above but there was no light tonight. A heavy, cloudy sky didn’t help matters as Terry pulled up outside.
Leaving the engine of his car running, he used the headlights to help him get the key in the padlock. After taking off the heavy chain from around the gateposts, he swung the gates open and drove inside. He parked his car alongside the container and gave the wagon the once over making sure all the lens covers were in place on the back of the trailer. Quite often other drivers would ‘borrow’ a brake light cover or a bulb from another trailer, he had done the same himself on other occasions, and the last thing he wanted was to end up with a couple of points on his licence if he got pulled up at night because one of his lights was not on or he was showing a white light instead of a red one. He would check that they were all working properly once the engine was running, but it all seemed ok up to now.
He unlocked the cab and climbed onto his seat. Frank had sorted the paperwork earlier and left the delivery notes and the police gate pass under the seat. A few glances and everything appeared in order. Right box number, right registration and all the details on the pass sorted. He drove the wagon and the trailer out of the yard and pulled up just outside the gates. Leaving the engine running and his drivers door open, he climbed out of the unit and walked back to close and lock the gates once more.
He had his back to the trailer as he was padlocking the chain in place. The gates were made of heavy galvanised steel and took a little bit of getting together, but he had managed ok, same as he had done a thousand times before. Job done, time for the off.
He never heard a thing, but just as he was about to turn back to get into the lorry, he felt a slight pressure from behind in the middle of his back just below his shoulders blades pushing his chest onto the gate. It wasn’t a sudden pressure, but he didn’t have time to get out from behind the wagon and he was becoming pinned between the gate and the back of the trailer and he couldn’t move. He tried to turn around but the pressure was too strong and he could feel his chest and ribcage becoming constricted, pressing more and more into the gates and he was having difficulty breathing. Suddenly, the pressure stopped. He still couldn’t turn round, but the pain in his chest remained constant, at least it wasn’t getting any harder to breath. He tried to look around but it was impossible. He could only turn his head one way, slightly over his left shoulder, but he couldn’t move at all.
He suddenly realised that the wagon was on a very slight slope and that he must have forgotten to put the handbrake on when he jumped out. He was positive he had put the brake on. That would explain why the pressure had built slowly, the very slight camber of the roadway had meant that the lorry had rolled back very slow. Maybe, as the pressure had eased, the wagon had levelled off and wouldn’t move back any further. He might be able to squeeze down and climb under the trailer. His arms were trapped just in front of him, maybe if he could free them, he would have a little more room to move. He tried to breathe out as much as possible to shrink his chest a bit more but it was no good. His breathing was becoming more and more laboured as the life was being slowly squeezed out of him.