Chapter 8: 1981, A ride with the devil and finding a job

In the meantime, Wayne had decided to take a trip of his own that summer. He had been itching to try out the metallic purple Corvette he had recently purchased on a road trip, and his desire to visit his step-brother Terrell and his wife in South Carolina would provide the perfect excuse for him to do so. So, he packed a few belongings and headed for Greenville.

2 After a nice visit, he announced that he would leave the following morning. “Which way are you going home?” Terrell asked. “I think I’ll head up through the mountains and hit 77,” he replied.

3 Terrell pulled out his atlas. “You’ll save a lot of time if you cross over here and take 75 instead,” he pointed. “I’ll try it,” Wayne shrugged.

4 A few minutes later, he was on the road back to Ohio. It didn’t take long, however, until his progress was hampered by a torrential downpour.

5 As he drove through the rain, he noticed a man walking just ahead. “He’s going to get soaked,” Wayne thought to himself. He pulled over and waited for the man to reach the car. When he opened the door, Wayne asked him if he’d like a ride. “Sure, thanks,” the man smiled.

6 He struggled to place a large bag behind the passenger’s seat, and then quickly crawled into the front seat and placed a smaller bag at his feet. He appeared to be a fairly young man. In addition to the fact that he was obviously very wet, Wayne could tell that he was tall and had a solid build.

7 He was quiet at first, but Wayne could see out of the corner of his eye that the man was looking him over. “Where are you headed?” Wayne asked. “Ohio,” the young man replied. There was silence again for several minutes.

8 “What’s your story?” the stranger finally asked. “What do you mean?” Wayne responded. “Are you from around here? Are you married? What’s your name?” his guest fired off in rapid succession.

9 “I’m Wayne; and, no, I’m divorced,” he replied. Wayne was beginning to get a little nervous by now. He could see that the man had removed something from the small bag at his feet and had placed it between his seat and the door on his side of the car.

10 “Any children?” the stranger continued. “Yeah, I’ve got two sons,” Wayne replied.

11 There was a rest area just ahead. “I’ve got to pull off at this rest stop and make a phone call,” Wayne told him.

12 “I’m afraid, if you’re headed to Ohio, this is about as far as I’m going to be able to carry you,” he continued. “At least you’ll have some shelter here, and maybe you can find someone here who’s headed in that direction,” Wayne finished.

13 He parked the car, and the man opened the door and pulled out his bags. “Thanks for the ride,” he said and turned to walk away. Wayne locked his car and walked toward the restrooms and the public phones. A few minutes later, he was back in his car and on his way to Ohio again.

14 Years later, he was watching a report on the nightly news about a serial killer from Bath, Ohio. His name was Jeffrey Dahmer, and Wayne instantly recognized him as the young man whom he had picked up on that trip home from South Carolina.

15 And the cosmic connections did not end there. A short time after that, Steven (who was then working as a correctional officer at a prison in Lorain County) would be present when Mr. Dahmer was brought there from Wisconsin as part of the process of holding him responsible for the first murder he had committed as a teenager living in Ohio in 1978.

16 Lonnie, however, was oblivious to what had happened to his father that summer. And, when he got back to Ohio, he began looking for work almost immediately. He put together a resume and started filling out applications at factories, health departments and water treatment facilities all over the county. Then, one day, the phone rang.

17 Doodle answered the call. “Lonnie, it’s for you,” she said as she handed the phone to her grandson.

18 “Lonnie, this is Gordon Richardson with United States Steel,” the person on the other end of the line began. “I’m calling about your application for a position with us as an industrial hygienist, and I was wondering if you’d be interested in coming in to talk with us,” he continued.

19 “Sure, I’d be very interested,” Lonnie told him. “Could you come in for an interview Monday morning at 10?” Mr. Richardson asked. “I’ll see you then,” Lonnie assured him.

20 As he drove up Highway 58 toward Lorain, Lonnie thought about the long commute that this job would entail. “Poppa commuted from North Ridgeville to Cleveland every day for almost twenty years,” he told himself.

21 “The economy is in a terrible recession right now, and they’ve been laying off their workers left and right,” he thought. “They wouldn’t have called you if they weren’t interested,” he reassured himself.

22 When he arrived at the plant, Mr. Richardson gave him a tour of the facilities. “You would be monitoring the air in here and helping to ensure that we provide the best possible working environment for our employees,” the man told him. The tour and interview lasted about an hour, and Lonnie was encouraged by everything that he had seen and heard. It really looked like he had landed a job.

23 Two days later, however, there was another ominous headline in the Elyria newspaper about U.S. Steel laying off more workers. The following Monday, Mr. Richardson called back. “Lonnie, we really liked you, but I’m sorry to say that we aren’t going to be hiring anyone right now.”

24 “Environmental and safety concerns are among the first victims of a bad economy,” Lonnie thought as he hung up the phone. “It is not going to be easy to find a job in this mess.”