Wheels (37 page)

"No, it isn't," Adam said. Without raising his voice he let it penetrate
the conversation. "A voter doesn't have any right on the Senate floor,
but a shareholder has rights at an annual meeting, even with one share.
That's what our system's all about. And the critics aren't all cranks.
If we start thinking so, and stop listening, we'll be back where we were
five years ago
.”

"Hey
!
" Brett DeLosanto shouted. "Listen to those entrance lines, and
look who got here
!
" Brett was wearing an exotic outfit in magenta and
yellow, clearly self-designed, and resembling a Roman toga. Curiously,
it managed to be dashing and practical. Adam, in slacks and turtleneck,
felt conservative by contrast.
Several others who knew Adam greeted him, including Pete O'Hagan, the
man who had been speaking when he came in. O'Hagan represented one of
the major national magazines in Detroit, his job to court auto industry
brass socially-a subtle but effective way of soliciting advertising.
Most big magazines had similar representation, their people sometimes
becoming cronies of company presidents or others at high level. Such
friendships became known to advertising agencies who rarely challenged
them; thus, when advertising had to be cut, the publications with top
bracket influence were last to be hurt. Typically, despite Adam's blunt
contradiction of what had been said, O'Hagan showed no resentment, only
smiles.
"Come, meet everybody," Hank Kreisel said. He steered Adam around the
group. Among the guests were a congressman, a judge, a network TV
personality, two other parts manufacturers
and several senior people from Adam's own company, including a trio of
purchasing agents. There was also a young man who offered his hand and
smiled engagingly as Adam approached. "Smokey told me about you, sir. I'm
Pierre Flodenhale
.”

"Of course
.”

Adam remembered the youthful race driver whom he had seen,
doubling as a car salesman, at Smokey Stephensen's dealership. "How are
your sales
.”

"When there's time to work at it, pretty good, sir
.”

Adam told him, "Cut the 'sir' stuff. Only first names here. You had bad
luck in the Daytona 500
.”

.Sure did
.”

Pierre Flodenhale pushed back his shock of blond hair and
grimaced. Two months earlier he had completed a hundred and eighty
grueling laps at Daytona, was leading with only twenty laps to go, when
a blown engine head put him out of the race. "Felt like stomping on that
old car af ter," he confided.
"If it had been me, I'd have pushed it off a cliff
.”

"Guess maybe I'll do better soon
.”

The race driver gave a boyish smile;
he had the same pleasant manner as when Adam had observed him
previously. "Got a feeling this year I might pull off the Talladega
500
.”

"I'll be at Talladega," Adam said. "We're exhibiting a concept Orion
there. So I'll cheer for
YOU
.”

From somewhere behind, Hank Kreisel's voice cut in. "Adam, this is
Stella. She'll do anything for you
.”

"Like getting a drink," a girl's pleasing voice said. Adam found a
pretty, petite redhead beside him. She was wearing the scantiest of
bikinis. "Hullo, Mr. Trenton
.”

"Hullo
.”

Adam saw two other girls nearby
and remembered Erica's question: Does "stag" mean no women or merely no
wives?
"I'm glad you like my swimsuit," Stella told Pierre, whose eyes had been
exploring.
The race driver said, "Hadn't noticed you were wearing one
.”

The girl returned to Adam. "About that drink
.”

He ordered a Bloody Mary. "Don't go 'way," she told him. "Be back soon
.”

Pierre asked, "What's a 'concept' Orion, Adam
.”

"It's a special kind of car made up for showing in advance of the real
thing. In the trade we call it a'one off
.”

'
"But the one at Talladega-it won't be a genuine Orion
.”

"No," Adam said. "Me real Orion isn't due until a month later. The
'concept' will resemble the Orion though we're not saying how closely.
We'll show it around a lot. The idea is to get people talking, speculating
on-how will the final Orion look
.”

He added, "You could say it's a sort
of teaser
.”

"I can play that," Stella said. She had returned with Adam's drink and one
for Pierre.
The congressman moved over to join them. He had flowing white hair, a
genial manner and a strong, though pontifical voice. "I was interested in
what you said about your industry listening, Mr. Trenton. I trust some of
the listening is to what legislators are saying
.”

Adam hesitated. His inclination was to answer bluntly, as usual, but this
was a party; he was a guest. He caught the eye of Hank Kreisel who seemed
to have a knack of being everywhere and overhearing anything that
mattered. "Feel free," Kreisel said. "A few fights won't hurt. We got a
doctor coming
.”

Adam told the congressman, "What's coming out of legislatures right now
is mostly foolishness from people who want their names in the news and
know that blasting the auto industry, whether it Ynakes sense or not,
will do the trick
.”

The congressman Rushed as Adam persisted, "A U.S. senator wants to ban
automobiles in five years' time if they have internal combustion engines, though he hasn't any notion what will replace them. Well, if it
happened, the only good thing is, he couldn't get around to make silly
speeches. Some states have brought lawsuits in efforts to make us recall
all cars built since 1953 and rebuild them to emission standards that
didn't exist until 1966 in California, 1968 elsewhere
.”

"Those are extremes," the congressman protested. His speech slurred
slightly, and the drink in his hand was clearly not his first of the
day.
"I agree they're extremes. But they're representative of what we're
hearing from legislators, and that-if I remember-was your question
.”

Hank Kreisel, reappearing, said cheerfully, "Was the question, all
right
.”

He slapped the congressman across the shoulders. "Watch out,
Woody! These young fellas in Detroit got sharp minds. Brighter'n you're
used to in Washington
.”

"You'd never think," the congressman informed the group, "that when this
character Kreisel and I were Marines together, he used to salute me.,, " If that's what you're missing, General
Hank Kreisel, still in his smart Bermuda shorts, snapped to rigid
attention and executed a parade ground-style salute. Afterward he
commanded, "Stella, get the senator another drink
.”

"I wasn't a general," the congressman complained. "I was a chicken
colonel, and I'm not a senator
.”

"You were never a chicken, Woody," Kreisel

assured him. "And you'll make it to senator. Probably over this industry's
corpse
.”

"judging by you, and this place, it's a damn healthy corpse
.”

The
congressman returned his gaze to Adam. "Want to beat any more bell out
of politicians
.”

"Maybe a little
.”

Adam smiled. "Some of us think it's time our lawmakers
did a few positive things instead of just parroting the critics
.”

"Positive like what
.”

"Like enacting some public enforcement laws. Take one example: air
pollution. Okay, antipollution standards for new-built cars are here.
Most of us in the industry agree they're good, are necessary, and were
overdue
.”

Adam was aware of the size of the group around them
increasing, other conversations breaking off. He went on, "But what
people like you ask of people like us is to produce an anti-pollutant
device which won't go wrong, or need checking or adjustment, for the
entire life of every car. Well, it can't be done. It's no more logical
to expect it than to ask any piece of machinery to work perfectly
forever. So what's needed? A law with teeth, a law requiring regular
inspection of car pollutant devices, then repair or replacement when
necessary. But it would be an unpopular law because the public doesn't
really give two hoots about pollution and only cares about convenience.
That's why politicians are afraid of it
.”

"The public does care," the congressman said heatedly. "I've mail to
prove it
.”

"Some individuals care. The public doesn't. For more than two years,"
Adam insisted, "we've had pollution control kits available for older
cars. The kits cost twenty dollars installed, and we know they work.
They reduce pollution and make air purer-anywhere. The kits have been
promoted, advertised on TV, radio, billboards, but almost nobody buys them. Extras on cars-even old cars-like whitewall tires
or stereo tape decks are selling fine. But nobody wants antipollution
kits; they're the least selling item we ever made. And the legislators you
asked me about, who lecture us about clean air at the drop of a vote,
haven't shown the slightest interest either
.”

Stella's voice and several others chorused, "Spare ribs I Spare ribs I"
The group around Adam and the congressman thinned. "About time,"
somebody said.
"We haven't eaten for an hour.-
The sight of piled food, now on a buffet at the rear of the sun deck
presided over by a white
capped chef, reminded Adam that he had not had
breakfast, due to his fight with Erica, and was hungry. lie also
remembered he must call home soon.
One of the purchasing agent guests, holding a plate heaped high with
food, called out, "Great eating, Hank
!
"
"Glad you like it," his host acknowledged. "And with you guys here it's
all deductible
.”

Adam smiled with the others, knowing that what Kreisel had said was
true-that the purchasing agents' presence made this a business occasion, to be deducted eventually on Hank Kreisel's income tax return.
The reasoning: auto company purchasing agents, who allocated millions
of dollars'worth of orders annually, held a life or death authority
over parts manufacturers like Kreisel. In older days, because of this,
purchasing agents were accustomed to receive munificent giftseven a
lake cruiser or a houseful of furniture
from suppliers whom they
favored. Now, auto companies forbade that kind of graft and an
offender, if caught, was fired summarily. Just the same, perks for
purchasing agents still existed, and being entertained socially, on
occasions likes this or privately, was one. Another was having personal hotel bills picked
up by suppliers or their salesmen; this was considered safe since neither
goods nor money changed hands directly, and later, if necessary, a
purchasing agent could deny knowledge, saying he had expected the hotel to
bill him. And gifts at Christmastime remained one more.
The Christmas handouts were forbidden annually by auto company managements
in memos circulated during November and December. But just as inevitably,
purchasing department secretaries prepared lists of purchasing staff home
addresses which were handed out to suppliers' salesmen on request, a
request considered as routine as saying, "Merry Christmas
!
" The
secretaries' home addresses were always on the lists and, though
purchasing agents allegedly knew nothing of what was going on, somehow
their addresses got there, too. The gifts which resulted-none delivered
to the office-were not as lavish as in older days, but few suppliers
risked failing to bestow them.
Adam was still watching the purchasing agent with the piled plate when a
soft, feminine voice murmured, "Adam Trenton, do you always say just what
you're thinking
.”