He had no time for congratulating himself, however, because as he again pressed on the accelerator pedal, he could see the tach needle rising rapidly again, and he knew he had to get ready for fifth gear.
That gear was straight down from fourth, so he began putting downward pressure on the shift knob, all the while watching the tach gauge. Again, he felt a slight give in the gear shift knob and, again, he caught it at just the right RPMs, letting off the accelerator and slipping it easily into fifth gear.
It was only then that Hugh thought to look up to see where they were. He figured he still had room to get it into sixth gear before running out of parking lot.
Here we go, he thought to himself, as he wound up the RPMs and got ready for sixth gear. This was a tricky one, he knew from watching James. He knew that sixth gear was all the way back over into the first gear position, and that James did something different with the gear shift knob to get it there.
At what he figured were the right RPMs, Hugh pushed the shift lever out of fifth but, try as he might, he could not get it into sixth gear. All he got for his effort was more of the train wreck that he had caused earlier.
He finally gave up and brought the truck to a stop—this time remembering to put the gear shift in neutral, and to pull the parking brake knob.
“Why on earth is that so difficult?” Hugh asked. “I’ve driven stick before. It isn’t anything like this.”
“The main reason is because, unlike cars and other manual shift vehicles, a big-rig truck does not have synchromesh transmission,” James answered, as he folded the ten-dollar bill back into his pocket.
“As I said before, in order to shift smoothly you have to find that perfect sweet spot where RPMs and road speed match. And, that range is only a couple of hundred RPMs wide … right there in that 1200 to 1400 range, depending on conditions.
“But, the thing to remember in particular about going from fifth to sixth gear is to flip up the range switch,” James said, reaching over and demonstrating for Hugh.
Hugh nodded that he understood. “You had a bit of cash riding on this,” he said.
“No problem. I knew my twenty dollars was safe,” James said. “You did better than most, but nobody can shift one of these things first try. It’s just too darn tricky.”
“So what’s the purpose of all this? To humiliate me? To teach me a lesson? Revenge for me calling you ‘old man’?” Hugh asked.
“A couple of reasons,” James said. “I wanted to know if you had the desire to try to do it.”
“What was the other reason?”
“I wanted to see if you had the coordination to do it. I figured you would. Like I said, you are a capable young man. But, there are those who just never get it. So, it’s not worth the time and effort to try to train them.”
“So, I passed the test? You’re going to train me?” Hugh asked.
“Yep.”
“Great! When do we start?”
“We just did,” James answered. “Welcome aboard.”
“Just remember what I said earlier today. ‘Murder and mayhem,’ like what we experienced, doesn’t happen every day. If you want to drive truck thinking that’s what it’s all about, you need to rethink it. OK?” James said.
“OK! Let’s do it!”
Chapter Ten
Present Day
Hugh had gotten so wrapped up in his story he had forgotten who he was talking to, and he hoped that Jenny hadn’t caught the part at the very end where he mentioned what James had said about murder and mayhem at the truck stop.
He was dead wrong.
“Murder and mayhem?” Jenny asked. “You’ve heard more stories than the one I told you about with my father?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard of a few incidences,” Hugh replied, hoping Jenny wouldn’t pursue it any further.
She let him off the hook. “So, did you go on to train with James and get your license? Dumb question. Obviously, huh.”
“Yeah, we had a fun, wild ride for a couple of months,” Hugh said. “It was a great time, and there are lots of stories to tell about those days. Remind me to tell you about the first jug experience I had with James. And, there’s the hot seat swap we did on my very first day as a hitchhiker in his truck.”
“Hot seat swap? What’s that?” she asked.
“Be thankful you’ll never have to find out,” Hugh answered, laughing.
“Your James sounds like an interesting character. I’d like to hear more about him, and maybe even meet him some day.”
Hugh’s spirit did a flip-flop at that last statement. He was not considering, nor did he want to consider, that there was a “some day” in their future. He was simply too much of a loner truck driver to think about a relationship. He’d already been there, done that, and it didn’t work out.
And then Jenny’s next question was like a nail in his coffin.
“Hugh, do you have a wife or a girl back home?”
She was moving way too fast for him. But, he knew he had to answer her question.
“There is no ‘back home,’” he said. “And no wife or girl.”
“Where do you live, then?” she asked.
“Here.”
“Here? You mean, in Nevada?”
“No. Here,” he said waving his hand at the sleeper compartment behind them. “As in, here, in my truck.”
“You’re kidding!” she
