NBA Dramatique, Prelude 8

Joe was all business. He ran the largest factory in the land, and was proud of the product that his factory manufactured. That didn’t mean he was a happy man. Quite the opposite, really. Joe was a man who was never quite satisfied. He knew that to remain competitive, you always had to be one step ahead of the other guy, or at least be ready to catch up quickly. Joe was always trying to find that extra something that was going to put him over the top.

Joe had fired his foreman. The Factory had not managed to out-produce the other warring nations last year (or the year before) under that guy, and as a result their armies had not suffered the attrition and failed supply lines that he had been hoping to force. Joe had a lean army that he drew from the ranks of The Factory’s workers, ensuring cost-effectiveness and reliability. They were a hard-working crew that he felt he could count on. Yet they hadn’t been focused to a sharp enough point on the battlefield, so the sharpener had to be replaced. The new foreman would be arriving any day now.

There were mumblings and rumors that maybe the worker-soldiers grew weary as the war stretched on. People suggested that Joe and/or the old foreman worked the men too hard and expected too much from too few. Joe thought that was a load of crap. He thought about his best guys and the drive of those men. Rip was fast and efficient. Chauncey was a capable and effective team leader. Max was a powerhouse – full of hustle. Wallace was a firecracker that strangers tended to dislike and distrust, but Joe knew that grew out of Wallace’s inner perfectionist. Prince was a go-to guy who always did exactly what you needed him to do. The descriptions in Joe’s mind for these men were true of their roles both in the factory and in a fight. They were solid and consistent. There were other guys, of course. Grunts. Second and third shift guys. He would probably need to lay a few guys off before things really got underway this year. Keep things tight and efficient.

Joe was up early. He was always the first man on the job. It was just about time to flip on the lights.