My body alarm went off telling me it was time to get up. I sat up and turned off the alarm, then leaned over and kissed Bobby. She moaned, asking me to give her another fifteen minutes, so I slipped on my peg, a pair of shorts, and a T-shirt and went outside to relax before my day.
Before I even began my stance, Wanda was with me, followed by Marie and Jan. As we all began, Bobby came out, followed shortly by Angie who just stood looking at what we were doing. As we continued, she took a position near Wanda and watched her, trying to follow what she was doing. It took me almost twenty minutes to find the peace I was looking for and stopped to complete my session. Wanda had already stopped and the others followed me, completing their movements.
As we headed inside, Angie asked, "Do you do that every day? It's kind of like stretching, isn't it?"
Inside the cage, clothes went flying and we all jumped into the pool, swam hard for ten minutes, before winding ourselves and climbing out. Again Angie said, "You guys exercise a lot. No wonder you're all in such good shape. If I stay out here, I'll be full of muscles."
Jan said, "And you'll look really good with them too, Angie. You will feel great, as well."
Marie offered, "I'm taking a martial arts class on Monday evenings. Why don't you come with me? You'll enjoy forming all that much more after you begin learning other arts."
"I guess I could afford that now that I'm making decent money. My life has changed so much these last few months. I really need to go back to school in the evening, too. I guess I'll be as busy as you guys."
Marie added, "We'll go together. I'm taking classes again next semester."
We had a quick breakfast and all prepared to leave. I put on khakis and a shirt, with loafers on both my good foot and the fake one. After gathering a bunch of the calzones and some bottles of water in a large lunch box cooler with some frozen plastic ice packs, I headed out to the park.
John was waiting for me when I drove up. "I thought you weren't going with me?"
"I'm not. I'm just going to ride up with you and then one of your legs is going to be back here to drop me off. I might beat you up a little during your orals, but we'll see."
I did the preflight after putting my logbook and lunch box in the plane. Inside the plane, while John was buckling up, I went through the checklist right down to hollering "Clear," then started the engine. I was soon out of there and in minutes entering the pattern for Brooksville. The little airfield can be fairly busy as they have an Air National Guard unit there, as well as some commuter traffic. There are also a lot of private aircraft tied down and housed there.
The tower, and there really was a tower, directed me to park by the terminal building in slot number six. After shutting down, I chocked the wheels, and since I didn't know how long I would be on the ground, I brought out the tie down straps to keep the plane in place in case the wind picked up.
John told me to update the plane's log before going in and to bring it with me, along with my own logbook.
Within the FAA office inside the terminal, I met Stewart Hamel. He was a small, wiry guy, complete with bald head and glasses. I had to smile when he came around the desk to shake hands, Stewart had a fake leg too.
John said, "I thought a guy like Stew would be the perfect examiner for you, Chuck. You both have similar backgrounds, except Stew's was in Viet Nam."
After the pleasantries, Stewart asked me if I was ready to start.
He handed me a small binder saying, "There is blank paper in this for the calculations that you will do in a while. First let John and me fire some questions at you. If you need to calculate any of them, use the binder."
The two began asking question after question having to do with flying. John was hitting me with all the questions that I always had trouble with, but I fooled him as I had specifically studied them last night.
Stewart said, "Here's our itinerary and we will be carrying the three of us with another hundred and fifty pounds of freight to Daytona. Work up weight and fuel and fill in your planning worksheet. John and I will go for some coffee. We'll bring you back a cup."
"Hey, before you go, I need your weight, I know John's but not yours."
He gave me his weight and smiled, "You just got a point. Most people forget to ask me and either just estimate or wait till I get back. See you in a few minutes."
Doing the calculations was pretty easy. The itinerary listed that we would be doing some maneuvers when we were down near Sarasota, so I figured on my dead stick landing and banking in that area. At least there were lots of open fields around there to land in. Of course there were a lot of swamps in that area as well.
Checking the weather was some concern, as it was already nearing ninety, and with three of us plus an extra hundred and fifty pounds, it was going to take a lot of runway to get off the ground. I had never taken off with a heavy airplane, so this would be interesting.
When they came back, Stewart gave me my coffee before checking over my worksheet and looked in the binder at the calculations. He asked me if I had any questions.
"We might have a density altitude problem. According to the logbook specs, we should be okay, but we are going to be heavier than normal."
Stewart said, "I see you did the runway calculations, that's good. Not many new pilots will do that. What made you think about it?"
"I plan on flying a passenger that's about three hundred and fifty pounds. She's like two people, so I have to take that in consideration when we go up."
"Ah, good thinking."
John said, "You should meet this lady. She's almost seven foot tall and gorgeous. She's just really big, all over, and I mean all over, really well proportioned. Chuck says she has four sisters that are almost the same size and her mother is as tall and large as his lady is."
"I guess you won't be flying the whole family anywhere unless you get a 747," Stewart joked.
It was getting toward lunch time, so I went out to the plane and brought in the six calzones. I asked if they had a microwave so we could warm them up a little and was shown to the break room area. As we savored calzones with some Coke, John was telling Stewart that I had a lot of my hours in a 206.
Ding! I remembered the auction so I asked Stewart if I could use his PC a minute. I kind of held my breath, as I was afraid someone would have bid up the plane until they bid over my maximum.
When I clicked on the airplane bid award, son of a gun, I now owned a 206. I was grinning so big Stewart asked what the deal was. I explained that I had bid on an airplane and had won it at a great price.
"So what did you buy a 172 or something like that?"
"No Sir, I just bought a 206 in decent condition. It only needs an annual, some rubber, and some interior carpet."
Stewart asked, "Why the carpet?"
I had to explain the bloodstains and such. "Oh, and it has some bullet holes to patch, but no internal damage."
John said, "Want me to call and have it ferried over here? I'll bet for the price of a plane ticket, one of the pilots over there will be happy to fly it here so you can get it worked on."
"Think so, John?"
"I know so. Wait till you want to fly and your pocketbook is skinny. You'll fly anything anywhere just to get up in the air. You'll become a real airplane junkie."
John called and within fifteen minutes he had someone who was going to fly the plane to the air park here in Florida. That guy was lucky, getting to fly the plane already because I wanted to fly it. I called the number at the air station to get the plane released and spoke to a couple of people. The lady said my credit card had already been debited, so the airplane was mine. They would give the pilot picking it up the paperwork for me to re-register the plane.
With the phone calls made, I asked Stewart and John if they were ready. Both smiled and said, "Let's go flying." Stewart explained that today would be a longer than normal check ride as my mission would have multiple legs. First we had to take John back to the air park, Stewart wanted to do some maneuvers down around Sarasota and we could get fuel at the small airfield we were dropping the cargo off at in Daytona.
Stewart watched me go through the preflight inspection, but that was easy as I had been doing it a lot, and I of course used the little card. I asked Stewart about the hundred fifty pound package and he turned around and waved. A tall lady came out of the terminal and walked up to the plane. Stewart said, "This is the package going to Daytona. Let's get in and get started."
Before going through the startup checklist, Stewart asked me how I would usually file a flight plan. I said if I had a PC, I would do it that way, but I could do it over the phone and could even do it over the radio and initiate it at the same time.
We finally were directed to a runway where I went all the way to the beginning marker before turning onto a totally calm, very hot, runway. Since the runway was over twelve thousand feet, I wasn't worried, but it still seemed like it took forever for the 172 to become light enough and to go fast enough to pull back on the yoke and lift off.
When we leveled off at forty-five hundred feet, Stewart had me go through a couple of stalls to see how I handled the plane. There was barely any time before I was calling in to the air park tower. At least the wind had picked up a little so our takeoff should be easier after losing John. Stewart had me do a complete shutdown, preflight, and startup, probably to make sure I would still use the cards to run down the list. John had ingrained that into my head.
Takeoff was a lot easier as the temperature was down to around 88 degrees now. When we did the maneuvers east of Sarasota, I was in a pretty steep bank when Stewart did the thing with the throttle knob. I was only at three thousand feet, but since it was so damned hot, I may not glide as well, and I didn't know the answer to that. There were two good looking fields but one likely target was the seventh fairway of Manasota Country Club. As soon as I made a pass, turned, and lined up, Stewart said, "Take us back up. That was a good decision. The fields would be good too, but the golf course was perfect."
We did a touch and go at the airport, then headed north, going around the busy Orlando air space instead of having to play in the pattern. The Daytona airport John had listed indicated a grass runway, but it did have fuel facilities. I called but there wasn't a response so I made a pass to check the windsock, and looked in every direction for other aircraft, then turned while announcing on the airport frequency that I was landing.
I was just about to touch down when one of those kites with motors buzzed right over the top of me setting down on the grass where we were heading. I poured on the throttle gently lifting the plane and climbed out to circle the field. Once again I announced my descent while looking everywhere for even a trace of anything moving near the ground.
This time, I did land on the grass strip and headed toward a small building with some people standing outside near some cars. Upon shutting down, and doing the checklist there, I helped the lady from the plane. Stewart got out, gave the lady a very nice kiss, and introduced her as his wife.
"You're pretty trusting to let your wife go along on an exam ride."
"Not really, my hands and feet were with you all the way. You reacted perfectly when the idiot damn near flew into you. I have his aircraft number and he will be receiving a citation."
They had a fuel island that was only about twenty feet away so I pushed the plane over to the island and hooked up the ground straps, brought the step ladder out, and dragged the hose to the plane. After fueling up, I turned the plane around so it was facing out then went into the little terminal to pay for the fuel. A lady inside the little air conditioned building said, "That's an S&S plane; we bill them.
Stewart and I used the bathroom and went out to pull the wheel chocks and go through the preflight and startup. Taking off was even easier with a decent wind, except that the grass strip was a little bumpy. When we took off Stewart said, "Take me back to your air park, I have my plane there. I have to go get my wife."
Once down with the plane in front of the hangar, Stewart said, "I'm happy to tell you, you passed. You're now a real pilot. Get lots of hours and always do everything by the book and you will enjoy safe flying. You did real well today with some adverse conditions. The heat was tough and the ultra-light incident was scary, but you did everything you should."
I had to write a check for the exam and he updated my logbook and gave me a copy of my license application with his signature on the bottom. I breathed easier now that the initial training was over. Now I had to go on to the next step and learn instrument flying.
Inside the charter office, I asked the lady there if she could sign me up for instrument classes. She congratulated me on passing my exam and asked me, "Are you the one bringing the 206 from Houston?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"That plane has a history. It used to belong to Sue Sharp of S&S Industries and was stolen from here right after she had all new instruments put in it. Her insurance company paid her for it and I already checked; they don't want the salvage as they thought it was damaged too much. We'll give it an annual and go over it real thorough. The bullet holes are not a big deal and should be done in a day. I'll order you some tires and after you check on the carpet, I can order a new set of carpet if you want. Most airplanes get all kinds of crap on the carpet, so a little blood won't hurt anything."
She continued, "You'll have a real nice plane. If you let us charter it when we need it, we can probably make enough to pay for your hangar fees and some of the maintenance. You might have to put in some communication gear, but that will just make the plane more valuable. That's a real nice plane as you know, since you've been flying in one."
"I'm excited about buying an airplane," I said smiling. "I wonder how long it will take the guy to get here."
"He'll be in about ten tonight. We'll put him up and get him on a ride going home in the morning. We have a charter going to Houston so we'll just ferry him home for you. That will save you plane fare."
"Thanks a lot. This is really a big day for me, getting my license and now an airplane. I can't wait to see it."
"Don't worry, it'll be here in the morning. Oh yeah, I see you're using the rental 172 on Sunday. Can't wait to use your new license can you?"
"Nope, I need to take my girlfriend up to Panama City. The airplane will be perfect."
As I got ready to leave she asked, "You coming to Steve's and Sue's party tonight? Steve said to remind you. He's looking forward to you and your group coming."
"We'll be there. I guess I'll see you then."
I was floating out to the car, thinking of my own airplane on its way here. This was a real fairy tale. I wondered how much it was going to cost to keep a plane like the 206 in good condition. I definitely wanted to keep it as perfect as possible. It was a big investment.
When I called Wanda, she said, "You're out for the day, so stay out. Go home and put together what you want to take to the naturist park. Angie is about to bust her buttons thinking about going with us."
After a pause, Wanda asked, "Ah, what's this about a plane being ferried over here from Houston? The station manager from Houston said you stole a plane from a local dealer and he was making the storage facility hold it until they had proof of insurance. I called your agent that you used for the motorcycle, house, and the Mustang, and they insured it. The lady said it was a good rate but you'll have to compare. So what's the deal with an airplane?"
"Remember the plane we flew to St. Louis, then up to Chicago?"
"Yeah, I like that little plane. It wasn't as quiet or as fast as the jet, but it was very nice."
"This plane is just like it. I found it on auction after it was confiscated. Surprisingly, no one outbid me. I think the guy that was mad figured he was just going to steal the deal for himself."
"Will you be flying us around then?"
"Sometimes, but I have to go to instrument school before I do that. I have a lot of learning to do first. Let me get some experience and knowledge, then I'll fly us when it's convenient."
Wanda said, "I know some guys that use their own planes instead of commercial. I don't think they make money on the deal, but they get to fly their airplanes and can follow their own schedule. Just not having to wait for baggage would be worth it."
"That and going through security," I said. "That's always a hassle."
"You shouldn't have any trouble with security anymore. Just flash your badge and you're through."
"You're right, Wanda, I don't have to worry about that as long as I'm with the service, do I?"
"Is Bobby coming home first or did you guys pack for the nature park this morning?"
"Everyone is packed. Why don't you just leave your car here and we'll ride out to the trailer park together?"
"I'll do that. I'll go home and be back by five."
"Don't be late, we're excited about going to see Sue and Steve and their friends."
I was home and packed quickly. I was bringing my peg, sandals, and toilet gear. I really didn't want to go out there, but Bobby and the girls really seemed to like it. I would miss not having Millie, the twins, the boys, plus Maxine and Bobby's dad, Ted. They were a lot of fun and added to the experience. I had a feeling Bobby wanted to get a little wilder than usual. We would see.
I pulled up to the back of the office building at four fifty-five. Perfect timing as Jan came out first, followed by Marie and Bobby who were followed by Wanda and Angie.
Seven of us easily fit in the Escalade and we were off. It was right at five twenty when we pulled into the trailer park. The gate guard waved us through as if he was expecting us. I guess Cadillacs get preference over an unknown motorcycle.
There was no big tent tonight, but there sure were a lot of people. The younger kids were at the tables eating hot dogs and hamburgers, with potato salad and baked beans. The first person to greet us was Mercy. She came out to hug all the girls, was introduced to Angie, and then gave me a hug and a very warm kiss. It was almost a warm up for Sue's greeting. She was bouncy happy to see us and Bobby was equally as happy. She forgot that Sue didn't know her and her family that well and scooped Sue up into a hug squashing two sets of 40 plus Hs (for humongous) together. Sue wasn't even flustered and returned the greeting equally.
Kathy came up to us a little warily, after seeing the ease with which Bobby picked Sue up. Kathy was very warm, greeting each of us and remarking about Angie and how nice looking she was. Angie noted some little dark kids mixed in with the brood, so she knew the greetings were genuine.
The girls were all spirited away by the women of the park, but Juanita handed me a tall Beefeaters, telling me that Steve had just returned from a charter and was showering. We talked a few minutes before Tiny boisterously glad handed me and pulled me toward the bar to help cook the ribs and chicken. He had a section of one of the grilles cordoned off, grilling specially marinated wings. The hot pepper smell coming from them made my eyes water. Tiny told me about his latest coup of buying another confiscated sailboat this past week to bring their big sailboat inventory up to four. He was almost apologetic that the new boat was almost new and that it was only a hundred foot. He kept saying that it was already set up as a charter party boat so the company wouldn't have to spend a lot of time or money before renting it out. This boat was going to have to take up the slack while Steve, Sue, and the family were on their big summer trip.
Steve came out in shorts and a T-shirt, with a string of kids following him. He sat in one of loungers and had a few words with over a dozen kids, then as fast as they came, they were back outside doing something else.
Juanita handed Steve a Beefeaters as he made his way to me. "What's this I hear about you buying a bullet riddled 206 at an auction. I think I misheard the price. Someone said you bought a decent 206 for twelve five? The other thing I heard is that it was our 206 that was stolen right after we bought it. Sue put some very nice gadgets in it for instrumentation. She spent almost three times what you paid for the plane to put electronics in it. When is it supposed to be trucked up here?"
"It should be flying in this evening. The time estimate was about ten."
"It's airworthy? Shoot, that's a hell of a deal at any price around seven hundred fifty. What all does it need?"
I said, "I'm told it needs an annual, along with a thorough inspection, tires, and possibly some floor carpet for bloodstains. Oh and of course it has sixteen bullet holes that have to be patched."
"I can't wait to see it. I bet you can't either. This party is just for you. Every time one of our friends gets their license, we like to have a party. This is yours."
Steve was quiet for a second, and then pointed at my tattoo, "Is that Marine Special Ops?"
I nodded.
Steve turned and hollered, "Bear, get your butt over here."
The huge hairy guy that had the big chick came over to us and Steve pointed to my Tat. "You know what that is?"
"I've only seen one like it before on a guy that I know who stayed in after I left. He was in Special Operations." Bear looked up at me then back at the tat then back at me, "Semper Fi."
"Ooorah!" I exclaimed, to be heard by just us.
"That's something isn't it, Bear."
"Motherfucking right it's something. Is that how you fucked up your leg?"
I nodded.
Bear said, "Steve here got fucked up over there during Desert Storm, but he didn't lose a leg, thank goodness. You're special man, we're all real special. Charlie isn't here right now, but that lady over there with the little girl is his ole' lady. She's a good woman. You'll like Charlie. He was over during the Storm like Steve, but as he says, he spent all his time counting grains of sand."
Bear put his monster arm around me and gave me a hug. "Semper Fi, my friend, Semper Fi."
We clinked glasses and finished our drinks. I said, "I think I'm ready for a beer and a couple of those killer wings I smell."
Juanita said, "Be careful Chuck, they are almost too hot to eat. I like hot, but those are too hot to enjoy."
After I had a mug of beer, Tiny gave me a couple of wings on a paper towel. Juanita was right, the wings were killer hot. So hot my eyes were watering, but I didn't grab for my beer. They were just the way I love them. "Wow, I can't ever get wings hot enough for me. These are almost there."
Juanita called, "Mercy, Kathy, come here. You have competition for your wings." Juanita turned to me, "Those two spend a lot of time preparing them so they are hot enough you could eat them raw. They are the only ones who can eat them."
Mercy and Kathy came over and looked at my bones from the wings. Mercy asked, "Did you really eat some of our wings? Did you like them?"
"I sure did. Can I have some more, they're almost hot enough. I just love hot foods and can't ever get enough."
The two girls gathered up the hot wings on a big platter and told me to follow them. They went to one of the tables and sat. Both had a beer but began eating the wings. Kathy said, "Better eat up, Mercy and I just love these and we're the only ones who can eat them. Next time we'll make more so you can get your fill. We'll try to make them hotter too."
The three of us were enjoying the killer hot wings with red faces and tears streaming down our cheeks. When the last wing was eaten, the three of us drank our beer and headed for the tap for more after dumping the bones in a waste can.
Steve said, "Oh no, not another hot food freak? Those two will work all week to make something so hot you won't be able to eat it. They even put habanero sauce on their eggs in the morning."
Marie came up to me with a young man and said, "This is Steve's nephew, Dennis. We've met before in high school and out at HCC. He's in grad school now, finishing his engineering degree."
I shook hands with Dennis and the two vanished back to where ever it was they were before. Steve said, "Dennis had a girl friend that decided to go out west to try to get into movies. Who knows, maybe she'll be more than a waitress out there. Dennis is a good kid, worked hard for me and still does when he has time. He's going to be in our research and development area. I sure hope we can keep coming up with new things to keep people working and money rolling in."
The familiarity seemed to be alright, so I asked, "How have you been able to keep your people working? You have a lot of employees, so I know it takes a lot of orders to keep people busy."
Steve didn't frown, but he wasn't laughing. "A few of our groups aren't doing as well as they could. We build utility bodies and toppers for trucks. Orders are down there. We build big truck bodies that are less wind resistant and those orders have stayed fairly steady. Our heavy equipment rebuild departments are doing well, with only a little drop off in repair orders. New product orders are way down, but we have so many products to sell now that we are just capitalizing on whatever is selling."
"We have a group that manufactures special tools. We're making about three hundred tools for specific jobs within the mechanical and trades industry. This has been a good ongoing business, but it isn't very large. Star kind of looks over that business part time."
"The new RV sales are way, way down but repairs to older RVs is way up, and so we've swapped some people from the main building to the RV area."
"Then there is our scooter, or golf cart, business. We're steadily increasing our sales to municipalities for our three wheeled scooter and our new semi-enclosed cart for city and shopping center patrols. We're coming out with an air conditioned model for warm air climates and a good heated model for up north."
"Since we're running out of housing construction projects, we've begun bidding and winning road construction jobs. So far we've been able to convert our skilled labor to equal paying jobs on road and bridge work. If we can keep getting new work, we won't lose our core group of people."
I asked, "Steve, what about all those clothing plants?"
"Those plants are all doing well. We manufacture or sew a lot of basic blouses for all the major stores including Wal-Mart. We don't want to become totally dependant on Wal-Mart so we expanded our manufacturing facilities just to make product for them. If they were to drop us, they would owe us a big forfeiture payment. But they won't, as our quality is first rate and we make sure the quality of the cloth is the best we can get for the money."
"The rest of the clothing manufacturing is always committed to be sold long before we even buy the material. Once again, the quality of the product is keeping the plants busy."
"Sue's fashion stuff for big girls is still her business love. She makes a complete line of clothes for especially hard to fit women like your lady. She's working with some design engineers for a line of foundations that she says will initially be exclusive to her big girls' line. She really feels it will be a big seller."
"Steve, doesn't it scare you to be responsible for all these people?"
"Scares the shit out of me, Chuck. We have the plant in Ireland and we opened another plant in Italy. So far they are both doing well in rebuilds of large lifts, and we're building our own design of large and standard fork lifts at both locations. To offset some of the costs, we've set up cart manufacturing in both locations so we're doing well there as well. We might pickup some subcontract cart manufacturing from a huge manufacturer, but that is yet to come."
Steve paused a minute then asked, "So, can you look over my security group and possibly give them some pointers as how to protect us out here even better? I want to begin including security at the large multi-family units we've been building. The cost is being built into the condo fees so we need to have it available for them as fast as possible."
"I'll look over your security and use one of our FBI agents who is a law enforcement academy graduate to make suggestions. Jan's also starting flight training, so you're going to have some federal law friends helping you out."
Sue had come up to us, and after listening she said, "The park has been perfectly peaceful for years now and we all want to keep it that way. If we can continue to keep our plants and businesses protected, along with the residential areas, we will be extremely happy. That's where Bear and Hap come in. They have been running our security for a long while now and we have never been as safe."
Bobby was sitting with me now and asked, "How long have you and Steve been together now?"
Sue said, "Ten years, Mercy, and Juanita, too. Kathy is a few years less, but Steve actually knew her first. Kathy's husband was killed during Desert Storm. We have some stories you'll learn about over time. How long have you and Chuck been together?"
"About a year," Bobby said. "I lost a husband in an incident with the U.S. Marshal's service five years ago. The service hired me to man a safe house for them and that's how I met Chuck. When this house became compromised, Chuck decided to buy it and we live there and rent out some of the suites in it. That's how the other girls live with us."
Sue asked, "Are you two going to get married?"
Bobby said almost flippantly, "Maybe. If we do, it's a ways off for us. I'm still getting over losing my husband. I don't know whether I can deal with losing, or potentially losing, another."
Well, what the fuck? This is the first Bobby has ever said anything like that to me or that I've heard her tell someone else. We need to talk.
Sue asked, "What about kids, don't you want some?"
"I would, but I can't have any. Millie and I are alike in that way. Our sister Michelle has kids, but there's something wrong with Millie and I that we don't produce eggs or something like that. Later, if we want kids, we'll adopt."
Marie and Dennis came up to us, and Marie asked, "Dennis wants to take me to see some of his friends. Do you mind if I don't go with you guys to the park? He'll take me home later. I can even call your cell if you want to know I'm safe."
I smiled at Marie, "That would be perfect, Marie. Have a good time."
Angie was sitting with a black lady name Deanne finding out about the S&S racing division. Angie brought Deanne over to us and said, "This girl knows everything there is to know about NASCAR racing cars and trucks. She's in charge of those big fancy trucks that you see on TV at the car races all the time. She works where Steve's office is."
"What all do you do in the racing field, Steve?"
Sue started the answer, "Steve began his entire business building racecar frames for a NASCAR team owner. That owner has moved his shop farther north to be closer to the races, but we still get all his business."
Steve picked up where Sue left off, "We build motors. Our motors are second to none, and we stand behind them one hundred percent. We also supply both fiberglass and sheet metal for the cars. We worked hard to make some of the toughest fiberglass panels available on the market. Our fiberglass division is special. Our research and development department is working on some composite materials for everything from boats to airplanes. The composite material for boats is being designed to shed barnacles so you would never have to have the bottom scraped. If that works, we'll be busy forever."
"You guys sure do cover the spectrum. I'm really impressed. I'm surprised you don't have some defense department contracts."
Sue said, "We do, we do. We make camouflage fatigues for all branches of service. We have almost half our production facilities sewing military garments three shifts a day. If we can continue, I want to begin manufacturing our own materials. We have room behind the business park to build plants for manufacturing and I'm trying to put together what it would cost to start up our own material plants."
"You two sure do spread out, don't you? On one hand, Steve is concerned about keeping his construction and mechanical people busy, and at the same time you're both planning on increasing your manufacturing."
Steve said, "It's the opportunities, Chuck. Whenever we find an opportunity to make something, we do it. We now know how to start a facility, and know how to teach employees to work within it. All we need is the opportunities and enough room to build a plant to make it."
Tiny was sitting with us and said, "Just like the opportunity to buy the sailboats we have. Each one was an opportunity that we were able to take advantage of. From what I hear, you took a chance and took advantage of an opportunity to buy an airplane. It's all the same thing, but as time goes on, there just seems to be bigger and bigger opportunities."
The ebb and flow of the conversation was interesting as Bobby and Wanda became more a part of the group discussions. Sue, Mercy, and Kathy remained with us as the evening grew late. When it was getting toward nine, I said to all, "It's time for us to go. Seems we plan as many activities for the weekend as we have during the week. This has been a busy week too."
There were hugs and kisses all around with Bobby, Wanda, and Jan becoming closer to more and more of the trailer park and S&S folks. The super large extended family seemed to just suck us in, seemed to make us a part of them. It was very relaxing, very nice to be around them, to share the time with them.
We were in the car heading toward the park when my cell went off. Marie was calling to tell me she was home so not to worry about her. Bobby took the phone and spoke with her a minute then hung up. The phone rang again almost immediately. It was John from the air park.
"Hey, I was just getting back from an Angel flight and your plane landed. I took a quick look at it and it is a beauty. It's been painted since Sue had it and it even has a data and voice communication system on it. Must have been an important drug guy to have had this one. The inside is a little different than our 206, as it's only set up for three passengers. The seats are extra large so it may be perfect for your girl's family."
"I'll come out and look at it tomorrow morning. I'm dying to see it too. Thanks for calling, John."
When we arrived at the park, the guard had us go straight to Tom's house to park. As soon as we parked, Lisa came out to meet us. She said, "I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but Tom and Zena aren't here. Betsy and Maggie were in an auto accident and are at University hospital."
I asked immediately, "How are they, what can we do, is there anything we can do?"
Lisa said, "I don't know how bad they are yet, as they are still in emergency. No, you can't do anything, but if you're going toward the hospital you can give me a ride. I stayed here to be here when you guys came. Let me get my purse and come with you, okay?"
University Community Hospital wasn't on our way home, but it was not that far out of the way to take a friend. It took us about twenty-five minutes to get there. We found Tom in the emergency waiting area, where he told us, "Both have some broken bones, but are in decent shape. Zena is with them right now. They will be here overnight at a minimum while they do some more tests and watch them. Lisa, you can probably go in to see them real quick. They are in area seven next to each other. You'll see Zena, Shannon, and Joanie."
When Lisa left, Tom got a hug from Bobby, Wanda, and even Jan. He said, "Sorry to have this happen to you guys when you were coming out for the weekend. We'll do it again soon, but the girls are family."
We assured him we understood and would remain with him until he was confident of the girls' recovery and safety.
Jan, Angie, and Wanda went to find us some coffee and while they were gone, Zena came out to see us, giving Bobby and me hugs. She repeated what Tom had told us and said they would call us to let us know how the girls were doing. She said both were about to be taken to a room, so they were out of any immediate danger. Betsy had a broken arm, while Maggie had a broken wrist and a lot of bruising from the air bags. She said, "Betsy said that a car came across the median and hit them head on. Thank goodness there was heavy traffic on both sides of the road so neither car was going that fast."
Wanda, Angie, and Jan returned with coffee that was immediately accepted by Tom and Zena. Zena took the extra two cups intended for Bobby and me back for Joanie and Lisa. We said our good-byes with assurance that Tom would call us if we could do anything for him.
We were on our way home when Bobby said, "You know, we should probably call Marie to tell her we're on the way home. Dennis may still be there and they may need to get into her room."
Bobby called and it took a long while before Marie picked up. Bobby told her we were on our way home and why. Marie thanked Bobby for calling and told her that Dennis might stay the night.
At home, the five of us sat in the kitchen talking quietly of how quickly something like this could happen. We decided we needed some liquid libation and were soon enjoying some rum and Diet Coke with lime. If we had some mint we could have Mojitos, but a Cuba Libre was good enough.
After a couple of drinks, Bobby said, "What we need is the hot tub. Let's make another round and relax in the bubble bath. The water's been changed since the snake fest, so let's get naked and enjoy ourselves."
We did relax for about twenty minutes in the tub. Because I shouldn't be in a hot tub for a long while so my stump callous wouldn't become soft, I got out leaving my one foot and leg in the water. We did enjoy ourselves and all were relaxed when we went inside.
Jan and Angie headed toward their rooms and Wanda asked, "May I join you two this evening? I feel the need for some closeness to others tonight."
Soon the three of us were snuggled in bed, with Wanda between Bobby and me. We did our best to give her the assurance that she was a valued part of our home. Surprisingly there was no sex, just loving. We drifted off into a comfortable sleep.
Primary editing by Pepere
Proofing by Sagacious