New Business
by
Agnes Wall
The transport vehicle must be obtained first. One morning little Wiens approached JH, owner of Summervale Ford.
"Have you a truck or some sort of covered station wagon for sale?"
"What do you want it for?" JH wasn't one to beat about the bush.
"It doesn't have to be new. In fact, it might be better if it were a few years old."
"I asked you what you want it for. Stop hemming and hawing, why don't you?"
"Sometimes you buy used cars in Winnipeg, so you know where one can get the best deals. You're a good mechanic and can test out the motor as well." Little Wiens' voice became hushed and almost mysterious. "Next time you go to the city, take me with you and help me with my purchase. You'd get a good commission, of course."
"WHAT DO YOU WANT IT FOR, DAMN IT?" JH wasn't one to beat about the bush, even on his good days. "OUT WITH IT, MAN!"
"I need to get a ......hearse." Wiens' last word came out in a whisper.
"YOU WANT WHAT?
"A hearse. I want to buy a hearse."
"THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT YOU SAID. GET OUT OF MY GARAGE!
Little Wiens went.
"A death wagon he wanted. It's to wonder how much shit fits into that little brain," JH remarked to Drugstore Falk just coming in the door.
The next day, Wiens took the early morning train to Winnipeg. He found a pitch-black hearse standing on a lot just off Portage Avenue. Streamlined and with purple upholstered interior, it had a dignity all its own. Here was the answer to Wiens' prayer, and before long it was his to drive home. Though he was proud of his machine, he lingered in Morris over a hamburger, timing it so that it would be dark when he arrived home.
Then he drove the vehicle through the double doors into the warehouse of his General Store.