your silly little ride with you. You need me, George. The
team needs me and if you get rid of me now, then you’ll
be driving your bus right off a cliff. So unless you have
something important to say to me, I’d like to get back to
doing my job.”
George’s shoulders slumped forward. He could feel
his body getting weak as if the energy was being sucked
out of him. He was wilting like a dying plant. He didn’t
know what to say and was shaking from head to toe. “So
why did you hand in your bus ticket?” George asked.
“I only handed my bus ticket in to you because I
want a front row seat when I watch your bus implode,”
Tom said with a big grin on his face. “You and I both
know it’s going to happen and when it does no one will
be happier than me.”
George put his hand passively into his pocket and felt
the rock that Joy had given him. He took it out and
looked at it as he tried to think of what to say next. He
had never expected to be overtaken like this.
“What is that?” Tom asked. “Your pet rock?”
As George looked at the rock he remembered what
Joy had said about finding the value in yourself. He real-
ized Tom didn’t believe in him because George didn’t be-
lieve in himself. He was allowing himself to be pounced
on and verbally assaulted by a grinning, arrogant, Energy
Vampire who had no interest in helping his team succeed
and certainly no desire to help George turn things
around. And worst of all he was taking it, just as he had
taken it the past few years from everyone and everything.
83
George Takes Control of His Bus