by Focus
© 2000 Focus, all rights reserved
Friday morning, like every morning as they pulled into the parking lot, Ted and Gary smiled.
Ted was nineteen, wiry, pimpled, fresh out of high school. He had hated high school, but he loved this job. At high school he had been a loser, never popular, barely passing. But here he felt successful! Ted loved this job, working in a factory where sleek racing boats were custom built. It made him feel as if he were a part of the glamour. It made him feel macho, too. He was a grown man, now, working in a factory - and he made racing boats! Of course, mostly he did the simple boring tasks that other guys didn't like. But that was to be expected. It was his first job, after all! Even when he just pushed the broom across the floor he felt like a big shot, working here. All day long, he felt like grinning from ear to ear.
Gary was the owner. Forty-seven years old, still athletic and handsome, Gary smiled because this factory was his dream come true. He loved designing boats, building boats. He had worked very hard, he had studied, he had taken risks to create this business. And now it was thriving! He had folks working for him now. People respected him. And racers knew that if they wanted to have a chance to win that race, they had better order their boats from Gary's Custom Racers.
The business was a long sprawling warehouse/factory combination. At the north end was the office, with a receptionist/secretary and an accountant. Next came the showroom, walls hung with photos of boats they'd built - and the proud owners holding up trophies. There was a shelf for Gary's own trophies, too. When he got a new design idea, he always tried it out on his own boat first. His own boat usually sat in the center of the show room, along with two or three other boats that were for sale. Just south of the showroom was the factory, where fiberglass was applied to streamlined frameworks, then painted to create slick beauties. The south end was the warehouse, where supplies were stored.
Gary was owner, manager, salesman, and troubleshooter. But Friday was not an ordinary work day. This Friday Gary was planning to participate in a race.
He helped Ted, Steve, and Jack heft his boat onto its trailor, and supervised as they rolled it to the factory from the show room, to fuel it. Jack and Steve went back to sanding fiberglass, but he gave Ted the task of fueling the boat. "Fill it within two inches of the top," he said, "but be careful not to let it run over."
"Sure, Boss." Ted grinned. Gary walked over to talk with his foreman. Ted stood there holding the nozzle in his right hand, listening to the gurgle and splash of fuel filling the tank. With his left hand, Ted stroked the cool slick surface of the best racing boat made. Daydreams floated in his brain, daydreams of himself at the controls of such a boat, the motor roaring behind him, wind and spray in his face.
Then he noticed that the sounds of the fuel were changing. "Uh oh... I bet it's almost full." Ted pulled out the nozzle and peered into the tank to see how much more fuel was needed. But it was too dark to see.
Then Ted made a fatal mistake. To get a better look inside the fuel tank, he pulled out his cigarette lighter, and flipped it on.
There was an immediate explosion! Ted was thrown back, down on the cement floor, with the cigarette lighter knocked out of his hand. Flames started licking around the boat!
Gary heard the explosion, saw the flames. Quickly he turned and ran for the fire extinguisher. "Everyone out!" he yelled. "Get out - and call 911!" He got to the fire in time to see Ted scramble for safety. He started spraying foam - but he was not in time. The flames had reached the main fuel tank already. It exploded. Then something else exploded.
By the time rescuers pulled Gary from the structure, he had been severely burned over 90% of his body surface. They wrapped him up, and medivacced him to the Fresno burn center. News crews televised pictures of the burning business, pictures of the helicopter carrying Gary away. They did an interview with an employee, shell shocked by the instant loss of his job and his boss. The young man had blisters across his face, and bandages on his hands. He looked to be near tears. "I just hope Gary will be okay," Ted said.
But four hours later, Gary died.