Chapter 3, State214 Road Project - rewrite

The gymnasium in the county high school was littered with metal folding chairs, the once uniform rows now distorted as the crowd dispersed and small groups chit chatted together. The meeting had been pleasant enough, more so than the organizers expected. The engineer in charge of the State15 road project laid out the path of the new Intrastate highway that connected what had previously been called Happy Valley Road to the new network being planned, promising to ease the burden of commercial transport traffic to and from West Virginia's major cities. The benefit to the residents of Happy Valley? Increased revenue from the traffic being shunted down State15 until it connected with I14 some thirty five miles down the new roadway.

The state engineer said his piece, pitched his best salesmenship then sat down quietly. Of the fifty people who made the twenty five minute trip to the county school only three asked questions and from then on an awkward silence answered the moderator of the town hall meeting. Recognizing the obvious benefits the road project brought for commercial venture the group of buisnessmen who'd arranged for the meeting but now stood about the platform scratching thier heads.
"Not what I expected George," said Benton Shields as he figited in his suit coat. "I'm not sure everyone showed up."

"There's not that many people along the roadway, I wouldn't be surprised if we took a count if that wasn't everyone." George Pembrook replied. "I'd say they just don't have much to say on the subject Benton."

"Well, Mr. Stevens, thanks for making the drive from Charleston, though unfortunatly I don't know that it did what we'd hoped," George said to the Chief Engineer.

"Oh, I don't know, most people have come to regard the laying out of state roads to be highly boring stuff," Mr. Stevens said with a chuckle. "They probably have come to accept that it is happening. Progress has a point of just happening whether you want it to or not," he said as collected his coat and hat from the chair behind the speakers podium.

"We're about to awaken a smallish community otherwise untapped by much in the way of intrusions. I'd have expected a more sour response all the same," Benton Shields added.

"People are funny that way, ain't they? Who knows what response we'll get from them as time goes on, but the road is going to be expanded and connected to the whole network in such a way as to make getting the goods to the markets faster and cheaper than before, I'm frankly surprised it hadn't been done before under other administrations in Charleston, but what do I know." Mr. Stevens folded his coat under his left arm, shook the hands of Benton and George, exited the platform, and walked out the gymnasium.

"Well, once that road does connect to State50, this new State15's going to catch the flow of everything headed to Charleston and back. This whole roadway is going to need services to feed that traffic and I'm not sure these people really get that," Benton drew his finger along the small two lane track on the map soon to be re-christened State15.

"Oh, I doubt they'll fuss much," George said as he slapped Benton's shoulder. "What they got to say to against making some scratch from all of this? All that farm land can spare a few acres here and there; people are going to want to buy or lease up that land to build gas stations on, soda fountains, repiar shops, houses; why, convincing Petro-Chem to come an' scout out this place will bring folks from all over if they can buy enough acerage to build a plant on."

"'scuse me," a man said behind Benton," what you got to do with all of this?"

"Pardon," Benton replied.

"What you got to do with all of this? You two ain't residents. Why you botherin' wif all o this?"

"Becuase there is opportunity to be had, of course. I'm George Pembrook and you are?"

"I am not intereseted in who you is, I's interested in why you is," the man said. He was in his late forties and well rounded in build, as all the farmers were from endless hours riding the combine's up and down the rows of wheat. Rough in facial features and even rougher looking at this moment with a permanent scowel etched upon his face, the man stood before them with his hands on his hips chewing on a wad of chaw that he moved around his gums rhythmically.

"Well, Mr. Interested," George said with a grin,"we is looking to help establish the kinds of services that this roadway will make essential, you know gas stations, soda fountains, repair shops, and houses to live in etc; all will go up all along this area here," George said with a quick wave at the map, "provided the land can be bought. That can only mean one thing, Mr. Interested: money for you an' me."

"We're just a few folks looking to make a life for ourselves, no different from you and yours," Benton said to the man.

"I see," the man said and quickly turned on his heels and walked away.

"Queer bird," George said as he watched the man walk out the door. "Probably the only one of the bunch who sees any negative to all of this."

"Let's hope so, would hate to deal with a whole lot of Mr. Interested's," Benton said with a laugh.

"He's probably the loan nay sayer in that whole valley. People tend to shout and holler if they are against something and be quiet if they are for it. I'm actually glad the meeting went as quickly and smoothly as it did, means we've got our work cut out for us. We've got people to pitch too to buy up what land we can along this whole route and sell Petro-Chemical on the plant idea. I think the plant is going to be the crux of all of this, an' there's land to be had all along this route, it'll invigorate the economy in an arc of about thirty miles in all directions." George folded his arms and stared at the map, imagining all of the little things that would spring up along the roadway.

"That will draw a lot of folks from all around to this spot for sure. If it progresses as we think it will, all of those services will need people to work them and those people will come from this whole area and attract others from even further away to take up residence near thier employmnet. I'd say that we've got a town in the making," Benton added.

"A town for sure, a city maybe later if it really takes off. All it needs is some corporation to start something and others will follow. This place will grow and grow 'till it grows to the size of it's own imagination," George said with a satisfied smile.

The gymnasium suddenly seemed quiet and Benton noticed that he and George where the only ones remaining. Taking his leave of George, Benton gathered his coat and hat and headed for the door. His thoughts turned to the quiet and peacefull lane that was now Happy Valley Road as it drove in a straight line towards Muleshoe creek and the rolling hills that hedged this part of the valley for miles to the right and left. What had been a quiet county track was to become a larger roadway. Across this valley dotted the farms of those who called Happy Valley home and had called it home for generations. Benton and Theresa had driven the length of it a few months back after George discovered the plans for the creation of the new road network. It had been a serene drive, the endless waves of ripening wheat had created a sea of sameness on either side of the road and rippled in waves as the wind drove its surface. The newlyweds had stopped and pulled off to the side somewhere down in the valley and sat to day dreamed of the possibilities.

Benton had met George when they both where active in Kappa Gamma, an Engineering fraternity at West Virginia University. Unbeknownst to both of them, they had found employment with Petro-Chem, George in the state office in Charleston and Benton in Raliegh, North Carolina. George had tracked Benton down and driven to Raliegh to sell him on the idea of getting Petro-Chem to scout for a processing plant in Happy Valley. George had always had a way of selling someone on something, and in this instance it was no different. They met at a diner near the office where Benton worked and talked over lunch.

Capital was going to be his biggest problem, George had said. He didn't see a problem wtih convincing Petro-Chem to jump on the new plant opportunity, for any place that offered land and a good road network to feed the plant's shipping and employee access was a no-brainer. It was the other intangibles that went along with it: the land along the new road. Farmers would have to sell it to someone, the state had already demanded of them an acre along both sides to expand the county road, why not capitalize on that and buy up a further few acres all along the route?

Benton had done well for himself at Petro-Chem, but the capital needed to speculate on land was not something he could just pull out of thier joint bank account. Nor was it something he was sure that Theresa would allow for either. As they sat in the car that day off the side of Happy Valley Road, they talked it over.

"George thinks that if we jump on this now, we can be in a position to lease or sell the land to other interested parties that'll want to come and cash in," Benton had said.

"How are we going to raise that kind of money? You haven't been at Petro-Chem for that long and we just opened up the flower shop in Raliegh, that loan isn't going to be easy to pay off as it is," Theresa had replied.

"I'm sure we can find someone to buy us out. We'll just use the profit from that to establish ourselves a new buisness in what I'm sure is going to develope into a town eventually. Your buisness degree, I'm sure, will keep us on the level," Benton said with a grin.

"Are you really sure about this? It just feels a little sudden after we've just barely gotten settled in Raliegh. You didn't think you'd get relocated in Petro-Chem for at least five years. We made plans on that," Theresa complained.

"I know, but this just seems to good to let it pass us by. The land will be cheap if we move on it now, it will only get more expensive once the state road is established and others get there before us. Look around, this place is so peacefull and serene; isn't this what we've always talked about?"

****

Benton drove the two hundred miles from the county school to Raliegh in silence. George had driven seperately and had found an icey recepton from most of the farmers he'd intruded upon. No one seemed too keen on selling even an acre of thier land save for one. The man, a Mr. Hilcock, appeared willing to entertain the idea and even showed George the spot that he might part with. It lay astride Happy Valley Road after it turns to the right to skirt the foot hills of the valley border as it rises into the greater Appilachian Mountain chain. The spot would be perfect, George had told Benton, as it would easily be seen by anyone traveling the route to Charleston and the Petro-Chem logo would announce that yet another important conglomerate had taken up residence in the sticks.

Benton was surprised that a path to a better future had opened up so soon after he had begun his life's journey. Married and holding a low but important position in the company he suddenly beheld the grand possibilities of a quick rise in influence. He'd finally gotten Theresa to agree to the scheme on the proviso that they hold on to thier fledgeling buisness for two more years to build up enough equity in the flowershop for a greater return at the time of sale. There were buisness debts to cover in the mean time and she would not countinance any other arrangement in the end. George hadn't been to happy when Benton confessed he would not be able to contribute much in the way of capital to the land speculation, but would try to grease the wheels as much as he could from his end in laying the ground work.

In the end, George could do nothing but accept it. The meeting in the gymnasium had been the first step of the plan put into execution. Benton, unbeknownst to Theresa, secretly taken out a second mortgage to put up the cash to cover some of the expenses needed for the surveyors and the start up of the Happy Valley Real Estate company. The company was a shadow company for a group of investor realators in Charleston who were also interested in cashing in on the State15 project. They would provide the certified realators and the two men would provide the infrastructure and the money to pay for thier services until the company began making its own money. Benton was not as happy with this arrangement, but George assured him that it was the only way they could control the use of the land after the State had finiished expanding the roadway.

The state had already "puchased" as George would often emphasize since it was really the state buying the land at pennies on the acre and selling the remainder afterwards to land speculators in the guise of legitimate companies. The famers would not see a return on thier sales other than an empty promise of being eligible to purchase the leftover land back at discount. What they had already lost in the original sale would not make up in the interim increase in value of the property afterwards. This isn't what bothered Benton, to him it was just how the game was played. What bothered him was how deep the scheme was getting as more and more people became involved. It was getting too complicated for him to keep up with, and Theresa's two year stipulation made it all the more.

George's latest bombshell had also unsettled Benton. From his contacts in the WV Petro-Chem state office George drew up a plan to assume the leadership of the as yet nonexistent chemical plant by pitching the idea and offering favors to men in various positions of management throughout the company. It was a game that seemed to suit George well. He'd lined up how he would wrangle for himself the position of COO (Chief Operating Officer) of the new plant and Benton, and this was the bombshell, assume the chief engineering spot if he followed up with a list of people on his end in Raliegh. Benton would have to promise something to one person, pledge this favor to another, and work to undermine any competition once the announcement was made of the creation of the new plant. It was a sharp game that he was not fit to play.

As if the laundry list was not enough, George was predicting that they could start construction as soon as that summer provided the land was nailed down before Christmas. It also meant a kick off of operations in a year, one year shy of his being available to move there. The alternative was to sacrifce any position of importance in the new plant and wait. Or, as George suggested, play the game as he had lined it out, put in for the transfer and do the weekend commute until Theresa was ready to move. Either way, she would not be happy.

Benton met Theresa while he was finishing up his engineering degree at WVU in the spring of 1958 as she was starting her acconting degree. She was shorter than he, at five foot five inches to his six foot one. With auburn hair that glistned in the sunrise or sunset and a smile that set anyone at ease Benton was in awe of her ability to gather a crowd. When Benton graduated he landed the Petro-Chem job as an engineer working for thier petroleum division and was transfered almost immediately to Ralliegh, North Carolina. It came as a shock to him later when he found George was also working in the same office building in Charleston where Benton had been for six months. The transfer put a temporary stop to the budding romance but Benton determined to not let Theresa slip through his fingers. Taking each and every opportunity to "make trips to the head office" in Charleston, Benton was often able to pay for his sweetheart visits via the company nickle.

Deciding it was inappropriate to marry before Theresa graduated given the distance and the trouble in making the visits, Benton waited for 1960 to roll around and the fulfillment of thier promise to tie the knot. It was not a huge stretch to make, as his work would often take him all over North Carolina and to the surrounding states for weeks on end. Graduation came and so did their special day. Benton found a home and Theresa found a desire to put her skills to use and fell into a deal after brief lark working the books for a small flower shop. The owner found himself with an ailing wife and poor health himself and offered Theresa the opportunity to take over the shop. The shop had kept the older man busy in his retirement but it was becoming more than he could manage any longer. Eager to spread her wings, Theresa took to the challenge and putting her knowledge to the test began to turn a little profit.

But as any enterprise demands, a little money was needed to make more money and a loan was taken out to underwrite the services of an advertising agency and a few employees. Benton was proud that Theresa had found something she was good at. Though Benton was the official owner of the buisness and signer of the loan, it was Theresa who managed and ran it, his own responsibilities still taking him away for long stretches of time. Theresa had the buisness sense and accumen and he had no reason to worry about his own name.

That was life up until six months ago when he met with George in that diner. Now Benton had to cope with the fast charging George and his own committments to the project. George said it would be a piece of cake, Benton thought as he wearily reached the outskirts of Raliegh in the early morning hours.

"He didn't say I'd have that cake all over me before I was done," Benton said to himself and yawned.