Nick the Stick
we didn't know what the fuck to think when the coke vial fell out of nick the stick's vest pocket and rolled, rolled almost off the boardroom table and then SNATCH! his long thin bony hand curled around the vial, scooped it up
- and it was gone
half of us sat there stunned
the other half not just quite sure
of what it was we thought we saw
some of us though,
we knew
but the meeting, it went on
ten men
and just two women
it was 1991
seated around the boardroom table
nick kept up with his preso
never breaking stride
not once
a brilliant, bravo
performance
and when the meeting ended
the clients, they went home
while the rest of us
we scratched our domes
and later retired to the nearest bar
drinking away the day
talking about the client
meanwhile, secretly, just an hour later
after the meeting, skillful
nick was called up
by him the man
the man
in the executive suite
in the corner
office
big chuck, seated there behind his
sparkling desk
river scenes and clouds
floating behind chuck's head
mirrored in smoke glass window colors
blue, and ochre lemon yellow reds
now, nick
nick
what was that?
chuck?
come on nick, that looked like, like -
wait, chuck, this suit
it's not mine
swear to god,
chuck
what? it's not yours?
it's, it's
borrowed from my friend
your friend?
see
you just hired me, right
and, and my
suits are all back in new york
he's your size?
oh yes, yes chuck
see that's why
i asked him if i
could borrow it
um, nick
yes chuck
nick, sounds like, like...
yes?
your friend has a problem
he does, he really, really does
well, *breaking into a grin* now that presentation of yours
yes?
it wasn't too bad, now
the strategy was right
but the execution
it was everything else
right, chuck
now, nick, don't let this happen again
it wasn't too long, one day after that, that nick right in the middle of an internal meeting of account executives, staggered shaking nervous up to full height, waved his arms, stopped and then he spoke
hey dudes, i gotta blow
so then nick left, he left the meeting right there in the bubble bowl where everyone could see, craning necks and all and Nick walked down the hall, touched the elevator button
and he was gone
man, we never ever did see him again. but
about two weeks after that, the mailroom boy got pulled over
son
yes sir
son, you know you're missing a back plate
back plate?
yep, yer license tag, now step out of the car and come back here
so the two of them proceed to the rear of the vehicle. the mailroom boy shrugs his shoulders while the cop notices now
hey son, your trunk is open
the cop lifts it to give the trunk a good shutting when he halts in midair and his face
his face
it freezes
there in the back of the company car, driven by the mailroom boy on the way to the post office, was an awesome
remnant dispay of twigs and marijuana seeds that could line a two ton truck
obviously, this was contraband
the cuffs slapped on
when big chuck arrived at the police station, the lead detective sperling, he was hot
so mr. curtis, can you please explain this?
chuck did his best, and bailed the hugging mailroom boy out
it was six months later, when a minnesota trooper called chuck up
sir, we have found a license plate that is yours, except it apparently came from a banana yellow caddy convertable at a gas station here in mankato
the clerk said the man was tall and lanky and in some type of distress
officer
yes, mr. curtis
which way was he going?
west, on county 224
officer
yes sir
do us both a favor
let him keep on going
somewhere
i sometimes
imagine in
my freeze dried
birds-eye
semi-normal mind i see him
out beyond the outside edge
of the last western highway
drives there a man
a lanky man
a nervous man
a stick of man
driving a banana yella caddy
straight into the sun
and totally fried
