Dwight's Dilemma

Dwight Wilson was a Car Man of slight stature. About 5’ 5”, a buck forty soaking wet he was hardly an imposing figure. So when the trouble started, he felt ill equipped to handle it. That’s why he went to my brother, Danny, for advice.

Dwight had a wife named Janet. Their marriage was a stormy affair: on again, off again. This went on for years. The last time I saw Dwight they were still together, well over twenty years, but it had been a rocky ride all the way.

At this particular time in the mid-80’s they had broken it off. Janet had found another man and moved in with him for a time. But it didn’t last. You see Dwight and Janet were meant for each other and it wasn’t more than a few months that they’d kissed and made up. That’s when the trouble began.

You see the man that Janet had been living with didn’t like the fact that Dwight had won her back, and he began threatening Dwight with violence. To put it bluntly, Dwight was scared to death.

My brother knew a lot of people, especially true when you were running a successful car dealership. One of his friends was a guy named Walt Angelo. I won’t go into details but Walt was a guy who could get things done. You needed something, you had a problem, he’d find a solution. So when Dwight went to Danny’s office that day pleading for help,
Danny called Walt.

To give you little insight into the dynamics of this situation, let me tell you a little story. A guy I worked with, Bill Cola, used to call me Fredo like the troubled brother in movie “The Godfather”. He was implying that I had the same relationship with my brother as Fredo had to Michael Corleoni in the move. He used to say to me, “David, when your mother dies, don’t go fishing with Walt Angelo”. Get the idea?

Anyway, Danny called Walt. The next day Walt shows up with a member of a motorcycle gang known as the Hells Angels. Maybe you’ve heard of them. Dwight is called into the office and is asked to give the name and address of his harasser. Danny was a little concerned about the possibility of impending violence, but the Hells Angel assured him at this point violence wouldn’t be necessary. “Let me handle it,” the man assured him.

A few days later, Walt and his friend came buy the dealership. Danny asked him a little nervously what happened. The Hells Angle told him that he and about a dozen buddies took a little Saturday morning ride over to the guy’s house and parked up front. He went up to the door and knocked on it, and when the guy answered the door he politely suggested to the guy, “Stay away from Dwight and Janet.”

Apparently having a dozen Hells Angels parked in front of your house made a lasting impression. Dwight never heard from the guy again.

Moral of story? Don’t mess with Car Men. We have ways of getting things done.


Talk to you later,


David