I Woke Up 312 by M.P. Arsent
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The price per barrel for oil jumped nearly $70 in ten minutes.
"That's not good. Anybody spot a reason for it?"
"News report just coming in boss. Looks like the pipelines out to the Gulf stations have been disrupted."
"Keep an eye open for anybody claiming responsibility and any further reports of damage."
"For the price to jump like that before the news report came across, somebody was expecting this."
"Or they have really good resources, or they've been sitting on the story."
"I see long lines at the gas stations this weekend."
"At the very least. What do we do come Monday morning Dennis?"
"Think that might depend on whether this is a mechanical failure of some kind that will be fairly easy to repair or if it's more serious than that. I think we need to keep our eyes open for opportunities in alternate energy come Monday morning and maybe even in the aftermarket trading tonight."
"Think I'll be calling home tonight."
"Want company?"
"No, as memory serves, you have things to do tomorrow."
Patrick came walking over at that point.
"You still making your run tomorrow boss?"
"Yeah, I made a commitment to Alex for the whole summer."
"I'll have him ready at 9."
"Anything major happens tonight give me a yell."
"Sure thing Dennis."
I headed home, but not before filling up the tank.
Karl had beaten me home tonight and already had the all-news station on.
"You heard."
"Yeah, Dad and I caught it on the way home and I knew you'd want to keep an eye on things."
"Damn right."
Supper tonight was had right in front of the TV, much to Mrs Ohanlon's annoyance.
As much as I wanted to keep an eye on things, Karl and I crashed out at our usual time.
Saturday morning and we got our running in with the guys and then it was over to pick up Alex.
"Morning Dennis, Karl. Any idea what had Pat up half the night?"
"Yeah, I do. Oil took a big jump just before closing yesterday. I imagine he was keeping an eye on the news. Did he have anything to say this morning?"
"He didn't say anything to me about it."
"Then I guess that means they're still investigating."
The drive to Edgeton was uneventful and Coach Mathews was right there waiting on us.
Alex and I both stretched out and he and Coach got right to work. I was once again over to the floor mat and doing tumbling runs to work in the extra triples. After about an hour of this, I went and started to run my other routines and tried a few of the moves that Coach had suggested last week.
When I took a little break and went over to Karl, he had noticed.
"Those few little changes are messing with your timing love."
"I know. It's just a matter of practice to get the "flow" going again."
"Good thing you've got the rest of the summer to work on that."
It wasn't much longer before Coach came over to him.
"Well, let's see where we are at Dennis. Pommel first."
I moved on over to the pommel horse and did my routine, Coach didn't even have to remind me to point my toes.
I moved on through the rest of my routines, adding the minor changes Coach had suggested.
I finally came to my floor exercise and threw in all of the added triples. I landed them all better than I had last week, but they could stand some improvement still.
"You're looking damn good Dennis. You keep this up all summer and I'll sure as shooting be seeing you at the all-state again this year."
"I'm thinking you'll be seeing me and Alex this year Coach."
"I have little doubt."
We were finished for the day and Alex and I headed for the showers. One of the other patrons recognized me and stopped me to give me his congratulations on the gold medals. Which gave Alex time to get to the showers ahead of me.
I got into the showers just in time to see Alex deliver a punch to a guy's stomach that damn near doubled the guy over. The guy tried to swat Alex, but I grabbed the arm in mid-swing. It was the same guy who had been eyeing Alex up last weekend.
"Leave....NOW."
The guy turned and left without a word.
"What happened Alex?"
"He wanted me to go with him to a dark corner somewhere and I said no. He grabbed my arm and I punched him. That's when you came in."
"Ok, let's get showered and get out of here."
When Alex and I got back to the locker room we could see the guy speaking to Jason Denton, the owner of the facility.
"That doesn't look good. Go get dressed Alex."
Jason came towards me at that point.
"Your side of the story?"
"When I got into the shower Alex had just punched that guy in the stomach. I stopped a return blow and suggested he leave. I did spot the guy giving Alex the eye last week."
"And what does Alex have to say?"
"The guy wanted to take him off to a dark corner somewhere and Alex told him no and was grabbed. Alex reacted."
"I don't suppose there was anyone else in the shower to confirm or deny?"
"I didn't see anyone."
Alex came around the corner at that point.
"Mr Denton, if it helps matters, you can see where he grabbed me."
Alex rolled up his sleeve to show a clear hand-shaped bruise on his arm.
"Thank you, Mr Greene."
Denton turned around and went back to the guy. I didn't hear what was said, but the guy was none too happy about it. He turned and gave me an evil look.
"I think from now on you had better wait for me before going to the showers."
"I think you're right."
We were shortly on our way home after hitting a drive-thru for lunch. We dropped Alex off and were back to the house a few minutes later.
For me, it was back to the news channels and there didn't seem to be any kind of information coming out of the Gulf region.
Karl eventually brought me something for supper and I still was glued to the news. Stan hadn't called me, so I figured that there just wasn't anything being said anywhere.
We eventually crashed out for the night.
Sunday morning was soon with us and we were up and out.
"Dennis, any idea what the hell is going on in the Gulf?"
"If you've been watching the news, you know just as much as I do Aaron."
"Gas prices are going to skyrocket aren't they?"
"More than likely if this is going to be a drawn-out situation, and that will raise all of the other prices as well."
"What is your short-term advice going to be?"
"Until we know more, I'm saying to sit tight, and not do any frivolous spending."
We went and got our running done and once Karl and I were back to the house, we got cleaned up and headed over to his house for breakfast with his family.
"Well now there you guys are. So, what do you think is going to happen tomorrow Dennis?"
"Honestly, I don't have any idea. I think it is going to come down to finding out just exactly what happened. If this was terrorism or sabotage, It could keep the price high for a long time. If it was a simple maintenance problem that could be fixed fairly quickly, I expect the price to come down slowly. I'm hoping for the maintenance problem and fearing the other."
"So then, what are you boys going to be up to today?"
"Hadn't given it much thought Stan. I was probably going to stay glued to the news stations again today."
"Get out of the house Dennis. Watching won't do you any good and will likely just frustrate you, and really there's nothing to be done until tomorrow is there?"
"I suppose not. Even at that, I think I'll be hanging around the house just in case something turns up. That way I might a least be prepared for tomorrow."
"You're going to make yourself old before your time Dennis."
"Maybe Stan, but I've got to do the best job I can for my clients."
Stan just shook his head.
"Guess I'll just save my breath."
It wasn't much longer before Karl and I were back over to our house.
"You really think anything will happen today Den?"
"No idea, but I need to be ready, like I told your dad."
So it was back in front of the TV and a day of talking heads. They naturally all had their own opinion on what was going on, and damn few facts.
Karl and I had lunch and then eventually went over to his family for supper, and then to bed no better off than when we had gotten up.