Wheels (43 page)

She shrugged. "Don't look
no different now
.”

Gropetti's voice. "Cut I"
Camera lights went out. The director moved in, whispering in May Lou's
ear once more. After several minutes, while the others waited silently,
the camera lights went on. Gropetti slid back.
May Lou's face was animated. "Sure they took our color TV
.”

She glanced
across the room toward an empty corner. "Two guys come for it, said we
hadn't made no payments after the first. One of the guys wanted to know,
why'd we buy it? I told him, 'Mister, if I got a down payment today, I
can watch TV tonight. Some days that's all that matters
.”

'Her voice
slipped lower. I shoulda told him, 'Who knows about tomorrow?'"
"Cut I"
Brett whispered to Leonard Wingate beside him,"What's this all about
.”

The Negro executive was still mopping his face. He said, low-voiced,
"They're in trouble. The two of them had some real money for the first
time in their lives, so they went wild, bought furniture, a color TV,
took on payments they couldn't meet. Now, some of the stuffs been re
possessed. That isn't all
.”

Ahead of them, Gropetti was having May Lou and Rollie Knight change
positions. Now Rollie faced the camera.
Brett asked, still speaking softly, "What else has happened
.”

"The word is 'garnishee,'" Wingate said. "It means a lousy, out-of-date
law which politicians agree ought to be changed, but nobody does it
.”

Wes Gropetti had his head down and was talking to Rollie in his usual
way.
Wingate told Brett, "Knight's had his wages
garnisheed once already. This week there was a second court order, and
under the union agreement two garnishees mean automatic dismissal
.”

"Hell I Can't you do something
.”

"Maybe. It depends on Knight. When this is over, I'll talk to him
.”

"Should he be spilling his guts on film
.”

Leonard Wingate shrugged. "I told him he didn't have to, that it's his
private business. But he didn't seem to mind, neither did the girl.
Maybe they don't care; maybe they figure they can help somebody else.
I don't know
.”

Barbara, who had overheard, turned her head. "Wes says it's part of the
whole scene. Besides, he'll edit sympathetically
.”

"If I didn’
t think so," Wingate said, "we wouldn't be here
.”

The director was still briefing Rollie.
Wingate, speaking softly but his voice intense, told Barbara and Brett,
"Half the problem with what's happening to Knight is our own attitudes-the establishment's; that means people like you two and me.
Okay, we help somebody like these two kids, but as soon as we do, we
expect them to have all our middle-class values which it took us years
of living our way to acquire. The same goes for money. Even though
Knight hasn't been used to it because none ever came his way, we expect
him to handle money as if he'd had it all his life, and if he doesn't,
what happens? He's shoved into court, his wages garnisheed, he's fired.
We forget that plenty of us who've lived with money still run up debts
we can't manage. But let this guy do the same thing"-the Negro executive
nodded towar
d Rollie Knight-"and our system
s all set to throw him back
on the garbage heap.
"You're not going to let it happen," Barbara murmured.
Wingate shook his head impatiently. "There's only so much I can do. And
Knight's just one of many.
Camera lights were on. The director glanced their way, a signal for
silence. Rollie Knight's voice rose clearly in the quiet, hot room.
"Sure you find out things from livin' here. Like, most of it ain't gonna
get better, no matter what they say. Besides that, nuthun' lasts
.”

Unexpectedly, a smile flashed over Rollie's face; then, as if regretting the
smile, a scowl replaced it. "So best not to expect nuthun'. Then it don't
hurt none when you lose it
.”

Gropetti called, "Cut I"
Filming continued for another hour, Gropetti coaxing and patient, Rollie
speaking of experiences in the inner city and the auto assembly plant
where he was still employed. Though the young black worker's words were
simple and sometimes stumbling, they conveyed reality and a true picture
of himself-not always favorable, but not belittling either. Barbara, who
had seen earlier sequences filmed, had a conviction that the answer print
would be an eloquently moving document.
When camera lights went out after the concluding shot, Wes Gropetti
removed his black beret and mopped his head with a large, grubby kerchief.
lie nodded to the two technicans. "Strike it I That's a wrap
.”

While the others filed out, with brief "goodnights" to Rollie and May Lou,
Leonard Wingate stayed behind. Brett DeLosanto, Barbara Zaleski, and Wes
Gropetti were going on to the Detroit Press Club for a late supper, where
Wingate would join them shortly.
The Negro executive waited until the others had passed through the mean
hallway outside, with its single, low-wattage light bulb and peeling
paint, and were clattering down the worn wooden
stairway to the street below. Through the hallway door, the odor of
garbage drifted in. May Lou closed it.
She asked, "You want a drink, mister
.”

Wingate started to shake his head, then changed his mind. "Yes, please
.”

From a shelf in the miniscule kitchen, the girl took a rum bottle with
about an inch of liquor in it, which she divided equally between two
glasses. Adding ice and Coke, she gave one to Wingate, the other to
Rollie. The three of them sat down in the all-purpose room.
"There'll be some money coming to you from the film people for using
your place tonight," Wingate said. "It won't be much; it never is. But
I'll see you get it
.”

May Lou gave an unsure smile. Rollie Knight said nothing.
The executive sipped his drink. "You knew about the garnishee? The
second one
.”

Rollie still didn't answer.
"Somebody tol' him today at work," May Lou said. "They said he don't get
his paycheck no more? That right
.”

"He doesn't get part of it. But if he loses his job there'll be no more
checks anyway-for anybody
.”

Wingate went on to explain about gar
nishees-the attachment of a worker's pay at source by court order, which
creditors obtained. He added that, while auto companies and other
employers detested the garnishee system, they had no choice but to
comply with the law.
As Wingate suspected, neither Rollie nor May Lou had understood the
earlier garnishee, nor was Rollie aware that a second one-under company
union rules-could get him fired.
"There's a reason for that," Wingate said. "Garnishees make a lot of
work for the payroll department, which costs the company money
.”

Rollie blurted, "Bullshi
t!
" He got up and walked around.
Leonard Wingate sighed. "If you want my honest opinion, I think you're
right. It's why IT try to help you if I can. If you want me to
.”

May Lou glanced at Rollie. She moistened her lips. "He wants you to,
mister. He ain't been himself lately. He's been . . . well, real upset
.”

Wingate wondered why. If Rollie had learned about the garnishee only
today, as May Lou said, obviously he had not been worrying because of
that. He decided not to press the point.
"What I can do," the executive told them, .and you must understand this
is only if you want it, is have someone look over your finances for you,
straighten them out if we can, and try to get you started fresh
.”

He went on, explaining how the system
devised by Jim Robson, a plant
personnel manager for Chrysler, and copied nowadays by other companies-worked.
What they must do, he informed Rollie and May Lou, was give him, here and
now, a list of all their debts. He would hand these to a senior Personnel
man in Rollie's plant. The Personnel man, who did this extracurricular job
on his own time, would go over everything to see how much was owing. Then
he would phone the creditors, one by one, urging them to accept modest
payments over a long period and, in return, withdraw their garnishees.
Usually they agreed because the alternative was pointed out: that the man
concerned would lose his job, in which event they would receive nothing,
garnishee or not.
The employee-in this case Rollie Knight
would then be asked: What is the
minimum amount of money you can live on weekly?
Once this was decided, Rollie's paycheck would be intercepted each week
and routed to the
Personnel Department. There, every Friday, he would report and endorse the
check over to the Personnel man making the arrangements. The Personnel
man's office-Wingate told them-was usually crowded with fifty or so
workers who had been in financial trouble and were being helped to
straighten out. Most were grateful.
Afterward, the Personnel man would deposit Rollie's paycheck in a
special account-in the Personnel man's name since the company took no
official part in the arrangement. From this account he would issue
checks to creditors for the sums arranged, giving Rollie another
check-for the balance of his wages, on which he must live. Eventually,
when all debts were cleared, the Personnel man would bow out and Rollie
would receive his paycheck normally.
Records were open to inspection and the service operated solely to help
workers in financial trouble, without charge of any kind.
"It won't be easy for you," Wingate warned. "To make it work, you
’
ll have
to live on very little money
.”

Rollie seemed about to protest, but May Lou interjected quickly, 'We kin
do it, mister
.”

She looked at Rollie, and Wingate was aware of a mixture
of authority and childlike affection in her eyes. "You'll do it," she
insisted. "Yes, yo' will
.”

Half-smiling, Rollie shrugged.
But it was clear that Rollie Knight was still worried-really worried,
Leonard Wingate suspected-about something else. Once more he wondered
what it was. "We've been sitting here," Barbara Zaleski said as Leonard Wingate
joined them, "speculating on whether those two are going to make it
.”

Barbara, the only one in the group who was a Press Club member, was host
to the other three.
She, Brett DeLosanto, and Wes Gropetti had waited at the bar. Now, the
four of them moved to a table in the dining room.
As press clubs went, Detroit’
s was among the best in the country. It was
small, well-run, with an excellent cuisine, and membership was sought
after. Surprisingly, despite an exciting day-to-day affinity with the
auto industry, the club's walls were almost bare-self-consciously, some
thought -of mementos of the tie. The only one, which greeted visitors
on entering, was a downbeat front page from 1947, its headline reading: FORD DEAD
Dies in Oil-Lit, Unheated House War and space travel, in contrast, were represented prominently, perhaps
proof that newsmen sometimes suffer from hyperopia.
When they had ordered drinks, Wingate answered Barbara
’
s question.
"I wish I could say yes. But I'm not sure, and the reason is the system.
We talked about it earlier. People like us can cope with the system,
more or less. Mostly, people like them can't
.”

"Leonard," Brett said, "tonight you've been sounding like a
revolutionary
.”

"Sounding isn't being one
.”