329: And then along came ...
Herb ’n’ Lorna, Chapter 12 continues
AND THEN along came serious trouble: the stock market crash, bank holidays, business failures, unemployment, bread lines, declining Studebaker sales. Garth began letting people go: a mechanic, a salesman, the bookkeeper, two more salesmen, two more mechanics, the janitor, another salesman, until only he and Herb and Old Randolph were left. Old Randolph kept busy keeping old cars running, and Garth filled his time keeping the salesroom and the display cars tidy. Herb pursued potential buyers with undiminished fervor, but fewer and fewer bought. One day, Garth asked Herb to take a walk with him at lunch time.
“Herb,” he said. “We’re in big trouble.”
“Sales have been slow,” said Herb.
“Worse than slow,” said Garth. “I don’t know how long we can keep going.”
“It’s that bad?”
“I’m afraid so. We put a lot of money into remodeling the showroom. When cars were selling fast, we made a lot of deals that didn’t make us much but were — ”
“ — good for the future,” said Herb.
“Yeah,” said Garth, “good for the future. Well, the future’s here, and we need cash. We’re not selling enough cars to pay the mortgage, Herb. Hell, we can’t even pay the light bill.”
“I didn’t realize — ”
“The partners were going to close the place, Herb.”
“They — they were? How — why did — why did they keep it open?”
“May’s been paying the bills.”
“Oh.”
“I can’t keep going back to her again and again. It makes me feel — like a kid — like asking my mother for money for a show. I don’t know what to do.”
“Maybe I could help out,” said Herb. “Lorna and I have a little. We — ”
“No. I can’t take your money, Herb. You’ve got Ella to look out for.”
“You won’t be taking it. I’ll be investing it — to save my job.”
Herb and Lorna invested everything they had saved in Babbington Studebaker. Six weeks later, the Studebaker Corporation went bankrupt. The company was placed under the control of court-appointed receivers. The owners of the Babbington dealership locked the showroom doors, and Garth began spending his time at the beach, in Nosy’s bar. Herb cursed himself for having done a foolish Piper thing. Lying awake at night, he vowed that Lorna and Ella wouldn’t suffer for his foolishness. He would do what he had to do. He would design some new prototypes for coarse goods, and he would get Ben to let him have some goods to sell. Lying beside him, Lorna vowed that Herb would not suffer for having done what he had thought it best to do. She would do what she had to do. She would telephone Luther and tell him — ask him — to take her back.
[to be continued on Thursday, September 1, 2022]
In Topical Guide 329, Mark Dorset considers Reality: Real and Fictional from this episode.
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