cigarettes. Smog billowed out to greet me. He’s a big guy, with a unhealthy grayish complexion and prominent incisors. The combination gives him a Dracula-at-sunrise sort of look. He thoughtfully opened his window and tossed the latest butt into the street as I fastened my seat belt.
“I’m a smoker,” he said needlessly. “Do you mind?”
“ ’Fraid so,” I told him.
“Then we’ll leave the windows down.”
It was not yet Labor Day, but the air was cool enough that ten minutes into the drive I was chilled. Not so Bob, who had his own little firesticks to keep him warm. After the next cigarette I asked how the preparations were going.
“So, the paint’s all done, the shelves are in, the carpet’s installed. We’re going to be stocking the shelves after Labor Day, and cranking up the cappuccino machine. You’ll be ready to start work?”
“All ready.”
“I hired two women besides you, and two guys. All part-time.”
I was sure we would all stay that way. I bet Bob didn’t want to pay benefits. “You’ll be barraged at first,” I predicted. “I don’t know why the chains never targeted Emerald Springs, but the town needs something more than what the college bookstore can offer.”
“Yeah? The way some people are attacking me, you’d think I was opening a peep show.”
“You could dispense with the adults only room.”
“You know, most booksellers keep all this stuff under the counter. Every reader knows they can get it if they ask. So I’m just putting it out where people can look and find what they want. Nothing crude. Good stuff. I just don’t get it. No kids will be going back there.”
Clearly he didn’t get it.
“Where did you live before you came here?” I asked. It seemed relevant.
“L.A., Chicago. Detroit for a few years.”
“City people have different expectations. They don’t see every store as an extension of community values.”
“The people doing the complaining are a bunch of hypocrites. The same ones kicking up the sand will be sneaking to the back of the store next month to check out my stock.”
I was sure he was angry, but I wasn’t sure he was right. At the very least, he didn’t seem to understand the people to whom he would be selling books. I tried again. “Why Emerald Springs?”
“I used to have family here. I visited as a boy and liked it. I was tired of cities after I retired from my job at IBM. I thought I’d give Emerald Springs a chance and see if I want to live here. But I’m too young to twiddle my thumbs.”
I was beginning to wonder how long my job at Book Gems would last. The idea was solid. The choice of location was excellent. But I doubted Bob had the experience or insight he needed to make a go of this.
“Why books?” I figured I needed all the bad news up front.
“Because I read all the time. My second wife left me because I read so much. I don’t know anything the way I know books.”
This, at least, was in our favor.
We were fifty miles and three cigarettes closer to Cleveland before the conversation turned back to the prudery of the good folks of Emerald Springs.
“You know, I’m skating on the edge with the store,” Bob said. “I thought I’d have a lot more money to put into it. Then the stock market took a dive, but I was already committed. So I started with less than I expected. Now this tempest in a teapot is going to cost me.”
“It means that much to you to include an adult room? You could just do what everybody else does and keep the stock the protestors object to out of sight.”
“I’m not going to let those right-wing, Moral Majority bigots dictate to me. We have freedom of speech in this country.”
I thought there might be other compromises Bob could make that would satisfy everybody, but I knew better than to suggest it. On this subject he was sure he was right.
“Church people are bad enough, but it’s really the fault of that bozo Frank Carlisle and politicians just like him,” Bob
“I’m a smoker,” he said needlessly. “Do you mind?”
“ ’Fraid so,” I told him.
“Then we’ll leave the windows down.”
It was not yet Labor Day, but the air was cool enough that ten minutes into the drive I was chilled. Not so Bob, who had his own little firesticks to keep him warm. After the next cigarette I asked how the preparations were going.
“So, the paint’s all done, the shelves are in, the carpet’s installed. We’re going to be stocking the shelves after Labor Day, and cranking up the cappuccino machine. You’ll be ready to start work?”
“All ready.”
“I hired two women besides you, and two guys. All part-time.”
I was sure we would all stay that way. I bet Bob didn’t want to pay benefits. “You’ll be barraged at first,” I predicted. “I don’t know why the chains never targeted Emerald Springs, but the town needs something more than what the college bookstore can offer.”
“Yeah? The way some people are attacking me, you’d think I was opening a peep show.”
“You could dispense with the adults only room.”
“You know, most booksellers keep all this stuff under the counter. Every reader knows they can get it if they ask. So I’m just putting it out where people can look and find what they want. Nothing crude. Good stuff. I just don’t get it. No kids will be going back there.”
Clearly he didn’t get it.
“Where did you live before you came here?” I asked. It seemed relevant.
“L.A., Chicago. Detroit for a few years.”
“City people have different expectations. They don’t see every store as an extension of community values.”
“The people doing the complaining are a bunch of hypocrites. The same ones kicking up the sand will be sneaking to the back of the store next month to check out my stock.”
I was sure he was angry, but I wasn’t sure he was right. At the very least, he didn’t seem to understand the people to whom he would be selling books. I tried again. “Why Emerald Springs?”
“I used to have family here. I visited as a boy and liked it. I was tired of cities after I retired from my job at IBM. I thought I’d give Emerald Springs a chance and see if I want to live here. But I’m too young to twiddle my thumbs.”
I was beginning to wonder how long my job at Book Gems would last. The idea was solid. The choice of location was excellent. But I doubted Bob had the experience or insight he needed to make a go of this.
“Why books?” I figured I needed all the bad news up front.
“Because I read all the time. My second wife left me because I read so much. I don’t know anything the way I know books.”
This, at least, was in our favor.
We were fifty miles and three cigarettes closer to Cleveland before the conversation turned back to the prudery of the good folks of Emerald Springs.
“You know, I’m skating on the edge with the store,” Bob said. “I thought I’d have a lot more money to put into it. Then the stock market took a dive, but I was already committed. So I started with less than I expected. Now this tempest in a teapot is going to cost me.”
“It means that much to you to include an adult room? You could just do what everybody else does and keep the stock the protestors object to out of sight.”
“I’m not going to let those right-wing, Moral Majority bigots dictate to me. We have freedom of speech in this country.”
I thought there might be other compromises Bob could make that would satisfy everybody, but I knew better than to suggest it. On this subject he was sure he was right.
“Church people are bad enough, but it’s really the fault of that bozo Frank Carlisle and politicians just like him,” Bob
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