Very early the next morning, I was with a power company pole truck and crew that hurriedly planted a pole near the compound, but on the other side of the road, between the power lines and the road. We were making it look like we were a regular construction crew, complete with transit, sighting toward the open area between the compound and the Mosque. We dug a hole in the front and another in the rear of the Mosque in areas that were in a direct line with buildings in the compound. The surprise we added was a hundred pounds of explosives in each hole with a radio detonator. The antenna strung out of the hole and attached to the pole set on top of the explosives. As soon as the poles were set, the workmen all took a break, had a drink of water, and smoked a cigarette, like any crew would before taking off. The whole time we were working, I checked over the land separating us from the compound. I couldn't see any exposed mine triggers, but that didn't mean they weren't there.
The next step of the plan was to bring in the National Guard. Four Abrams tanks came lumbering up the road. As they neared the compound, the radio signal was sent and the two sets of explosives were blown. We had not considered that the poles would become projectiles but they didn't harm anyone or any property as they shot straight up and came back down to rest near two huge holes.
We made our announcement that anyone who wanted to come out should do so now, unarmed with their hands on top of their head. We kept repeating the announcement, escalating what would happen if they did not come out. I gave the order for the commander to blow up the sentry stations on the corners, then to blow holes in the walls and the gates. Eight mortar teams began lobbing explosive shells into the compound, eight rounds at a time.
As soon as we blew the sentry stations, heads appeared above the walls with rifles poking over. The heads all had turbans so they made easy targets. As soon as they fired the first round from the compound is when the mortars started.
The highlight of the day was the six big caterpillar bulldozers that I sent between the compound and the Mosque to dig as fast as they could to uncover the suspected tunnel. With three bulldozers in the front and three in the back it took less than ten minutes to break into the tunnel. We kept digging until we had opened a hole that exposed the full opening in both directions. We discovered that there were two tunnels where we suspected that one would be, and the explosives had completely collapsed the tunnels. This was good as that would mean most of the people from the compound would not have been able to escape to the Mosque.
I led some troops into one of the tunnels that headed toward the Mosque. We had traveled only fifteen to twenty yards when I saw what looked like a trip wire. I shined my light across it several times and told the men, "Let's get out of here before they have a chance to set it off remotely."
Having anticipated this situation, I took a satchel charge, set the timer for two minutes and we got out of the tunnel. When the charge went off, it set off the charge that had been waiting for us. The whole tunnel collapsed all the way to the Mosque. Some troops went up the other tunnel toward the Mosque and returned quickly to repeat the process, with another charge going off, and collapsing that tunnel as well.
I could hear sporadic rifle fire inside the compound, so we knew the mortars did not take out all of the suspected terrorists. The troops were cautioned not to attempt to directly engage the suspects, but to call in the tanks to put some explosive rounds into whatever building they were receiving fire from.
The National Guard commander had the bulldozers begin driving across the land over the open area to the walls of the compound. No mines went off, so he had the bulldozers start tearing down the compound walls.
While standing with the National Guard Field Commander, I caught a movement from the corner of my eye. Up high, on the roof of the Mosque, a man was raising a rifle to fire at someone. I quickly put a burst into him causing him to fall to the ground. I hollered for everyone to take cover as there were enemy on the roof of the Mosque.
The Commander said, "Guess that place isn't a protected place of worship any longer. Want us to take it?"
I said, "Why don't we blow the doors at the front and rear then announce that they can come out or perish within the fallen walls. That place is coming down, all the way. We have to find the explosives that were stolen from the construction company."
He sent a squad to the front and rear doors to set charges that would blow the doors completely off. When they were set, he issued the order and the doors were blown. He had a tank get up close, pointing its long barrel toward the door and they began playing the recording in English and Arabic to come out unarmed with their hands on their head. Amazingly the Imam came out alone clutching his Koran, walking tall, back straight, with measured steps. He was showing that he was proud of his position.
The man couldn't or wouldn't speak English, so we had to call for an interpreter in order to question him. Meanwhile, the fighting was still going on in the compound. This had been going on now for almost a half hour, an extraordinary amount of time for a firefight.
I found the Captain directing traffic and he said, "We're having trouble penetrating that one building. Apparently the doors are on the far side and we can't get through the other side yet. It looks like all of the resistance is within that building. Have any ideas?"
"Have your sharpshooters shoot at the rifle ports. I'll go along the wall until I find the door and blow it from the outside. I should find it and we might have to make another plan, but let's find out where you get in and out of the building first."
I went across the open area then slid up against the wall and began moving around the building. I was behind the building in the narrow passageway between the building and a reinforced outer compound wall when I finally found a steel door that didn't have any handles on the outside. I set a charge with a five minute timer on it, but didn't think it would do much good since it was a small charge, only a pound of explosive material.
After making it back to cover where the command center was, I explained what I seen and checked my watch telling them that the satchel charge should go off soon.
We heard it go off, but the sound was muffled by the buildings being close together. The rifle fire from the firing ports kept right on coming. That's when I remembered how we got through a few well fortified buildings in Iraq. I had them bring four tanks up and begin firing at the base of the building. Actually blowing holes beneath them. The walls may be strong but the floor was probably just four inches of concrete. My plan was to blow some holes deep enough then use a charge to take out the floor all together.
Eight rounds of tank shells opened a huge hole beneath building. You could now see a large crack in the concrete of the structure. I suggested, "Give them one more shot of the give up speech, then let these tanks give that cracked wall a shot."
Again after a full two minutes of the recorded announcement, the commander gave the signal to fire. Thank goodness everyone was down behind something to keep from getting hit from the rifle fire, because when the third tank round hit the building, there was an explosion so huge that the tanks were rocked backwards from the force. Debris rained on everyone.
"Holy shit!" Yelled the National Guard Captain. "Christ, that must have been some kind of storage bunker. I guess there's no sense in looking for survivors. Let's mop this place up and then tear it down."
I said, "Caution your men, there could still be men hiding throughout the compound who haven't given up. You can bet they are armed. Tell them to be careful."
I walked to one of the buildings that had housed the entrance to the tunnel and when I went in, you couldn't tell where the tunnel entrance was. One of the troops with me found it beneath a table and cautiously opened the trap door. As the door was opening, several rounds came flying out. I pulled a grenade from a troop's vest, pulled the pin and dropped it into the opening. The other troop dropped the door and we crouched down to keep the shrapnel from hitting us.
The force of the blast blew the door off. I looked down into the tunnel to see several bodies strewn around. At the bottom of the stairs were three doors. I went down in the carnage and unbolted the center door. This went to the main tunnel. A troop that came with me opened the door to the left. We both were ready with our rifles and found what looked like a bunk room. We opened the door to the right and found it full of rifles and ammunition. There were cases of what looked like old issue C-4 crates and two full cases of detonators. I left a troop there to guard the booty and went for the Captain so we could get some demolition people to remove the old C-4 and detonators.
Once that was done, I checked on the other tunnel entrance. The men were still hunting for the entrance. We continued to look until we tried to move a bookcase and found it was fixed to the wall. Some men brought in axes and crowbars and soon had the bookcase torn away. I found a demo guy with a satchel charge and we cleared the building while I set a two-minute charge. I told all the troops to be ready, as there could be armed men behind the door.
When the charge went off, I stood to put my rifle through a blown out window. Four men came out of the hole in the wall, firing AKs in front of them, not caring where they were shooting. I put all four down with bursts from my MP5 and waited to see if there were any more men coming out. We cautiously went down the stairs and unbolted the only door there. It led to the tunnel going to the Mosque and you could see daylight a short distance from the door.
Knowing the compound was now almost completely cleared, I went back to the front of the Mosque to see how they were doing there. The Commander and the FBI Agency Chief said there had been no more people come from the building. There was only one thing to do. I went back to see the Captain of the men around the compound. I asked him, "I need five or six really good, experienced men to search an unknown building, some urban troops."
"I have a squad trained in, and experienced in, Special Forces activities, let me get them."
When he brought them back, they stood at attention in a line as if being inspected. I looked at the six men and their gear and asked, "Do you have sufficient ammunition or do you need to pull some more. A sergeant said, "We are ready, Sir."
"Will ya be at ease? I'm not a "sir" and we're going to go into that Mosque because we were fired upon from it. The Imam is out so any personnel we find will probably be hostile. Be ready, this is as dangerous as being back in the sand. The Captain will have troops at the back door to block any escape and we have to go search two floors. We were fired on from the roof so we have to get up high, so look high when we're on the second floor. Split up the sightseeing. Not only left and right, split up high and low. I'll go point and perhaps draw fire. Let's go."
We went into the building cautiously. It took fifteen minutes to clear all of the little prayer rooms along the side of the main prayer room. There were two stairways going upstairs, so instead of splitting up, I went to the doorway and called in four regular legs (ground troops) to watch the front stairway while we went up the rear one.
At the top of the stairs, I cautiously opened the door then slid into the shadowy room. The only light came from a small window at the far end of a long narrow room. As there was no furniture, there was no place to hide, so I scanned the ceiling and did not see any tiles out of place.
We went through the first door and looked down a corridor that led to rooms at the far end. Through the other door, we entered a large room with doors to small rooms all around it. We stayed against the walls and cautiously went to each door, opened it, and shined our flashlights around the room, making sure there was nothing important, especially personnel.
Since there was no outlet from this room, we went back to the corridor and began checking the doors on each side. When we looked into the last room, we saw a ladder under a large opening. One of the men went up the ladder and poked his flashlight up and turned it in all directions.
Three separate rifles fired at the flashlight but didn't hit it. We knew there were at least three men up there with rifles. I hollered and said, "Give up, come out, you will die if you do not give up at this time. We will not kill you if you come out now. This building will be torn down in a few minutes. Please come out."
When there was no response, I put a fresh thirty round magazine into my rifle and sat on the ladder, huddled over. The troop who had shined the flashlight thought all the fire came from a single direction. I poked my rifle through the hole and fired, sweeping the area where the rifle fire came from. When the bolt locked back, I pulled my rifle down and slid another magazine in and repeated the sweep. As I loaded my third magazine, a troop climbed the other side of the ladder and when I began to fire he used the flashlight and tried to see in the direction I was firing.
When I pulled back down he said, "I think you got em all. There's a walkway that goes in that direction and there are downed men in a pile on a platform over there."
I told the man to come up with his flashlight as I went up. I put my fourth magazine in and poked my head above the ceiling. The troop swept around a full three hundred sixty degrees to make sure there were no other walkways then focused on the walkway and the platform with the men. Four men followed me up above the ceiling and down the narrow catwalk to the platform. One of the downed men was still alive and groaning. We put a compress on his gut wound then pulled him down the catwalk and handed him down to the men below. We pulled the other four men to the opening and dumped their bodies to the second story floor.
After recovering the suspects' rifles, I noticed the ladder to the roof was right there. I told a troop that I had to check the roof since that was where we had been shot at from before. When I started up he grabbed my arm and patted his head and said, "Helmet." I shrugged my shoulders and went on up. I pushed the trap door all the way then slowly raised up to look around. The trap door shielded me in one direction so I looked in the other three quickly. It looked clear so I peeked around the trap door and didn't see anything there either.
The roof had several large air conditioner units on top so I had to check behind all of them. I motioned the troop up the ladder and used hand signals to indicate we needed to check out the available cover. I pointed at myself as the bird dog and he was to be my cover. He nodded.
My left shoulder was sore but I don't think I hurt the collarbone. I think I was just straining it a little. I cautiously approached each big unit and quickly peeked behind it. I was down to the last two units and almost letting down my guard when I heard some scraping. I waved and pointed to the unit that I heard the noise from. The roof was tar and gravel, so I picked up a handful of gravel and tossed it high and lifted my rifle pointing that way.
The gravel hit and a turbaned man jumped up and tried to fire his rifle. The troop and I fired at the same time. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a movement to the right of the troop, turned and fired automatically. Another robed man in a turban staggered back from the force of the three quick rounds I put in him.
I proceeded to clear the rest of the roof then went back to the troop. He let out a big sigh and said, "Thank God you saw that guy, I didn't. I saw you turn, and for a second it looked as if you were firing at me, then I realized you were looking past me. That's as close as I've come in two deployments."
"Let's get down and get out of here. I'm done with this place. We'll let someone else clean this up."
We got down off the roof, dropped out of the ceiling, walked back downstairs, and out the front door. I reported to the National Guard Commander what we had found in the ceiling and the roof then left him to look for the corpsmen.
The medics had a truck set up with a tent and were treating some of the people we had captured. I caught the eye of one of the corpsmen and brought him to where we were out of sight. I pulled up my shirt and showed him a compress I had put over a grazing wound I had received when I was trying to get to the bunker building in the compound. I didn't tell anyone about it as I wasn't finished yet, and I knew most of these people panicked at the sight of blood.
The corpsman frowned at me and said, "That could have been bad, you might have bled out."
"I looked at it. That's why I tore off my T-shirt and used it as a compress. Patch it. I don't think I need any stitches. I was leaning way over, so the vest rode up, exposing some skin."
The corpsman went out into the workroom and returned with an older guy in a white coat. "So you've got a scratch, huh? Let's see,,, ah, okay, you don't need any stitches, clean it up corpsman, put some antibiotic cream on it and put a big bandage over it. Make sure you get his name for a heart. It looks like he's our only casualty."
The corpsman got me cleaned up then asked me for my name, rank, and unit. I told him, "Forget it. I'm not military. I'm one of the government guys out here."
"I have to have a name and unit, Sir."
"I'll give it to you, but lose it. Don't turn it in, or at least forget and turn it in a couple of weeks from now."
The corpsman frowned. I pulled my badge and ID card. He wrote the information down and smiled. He said, "You can go now. Clean that daily and put a fresh cover on it."
When I walked out into the main workroom, the troop that had gone up to the roof cornered me, "Were you hurt? I thought I saw a dark spot on your side. Were you hit? You were already hurt when we went up there, weren't you?"
The doc and the corpsman were listening while I was trying to shush the guy. "Come on, let's get out of here. I'll tell you all about it."
The doc hollered at me, "Hold it there, soldier, ah, you in the jeans. Let me look at that leg."
Shit, this is too much.
"Look, I've got a prosthesis because I lost a leg in Iraq. That's ancient history. My leg has no problem."
The doc said, "Let me see, I want to see how it looks after your experience today. That's an order, Son."
He wasn't my boss, but I didn't want to belittle the guy. He was a doc and did help a lot of people. I sat on a gurney and pulled up my pant leg. He asked me to unbuckle the leg then looked under my sock at the stub. He nodded and said, "Doing good. What is it, two, three, four years?"
I nodded, "A little over three now."
He was looking at my prosthesis and pointed at it. "Well, well, this guy's been in a scrape before. He's got a round buried in the metal. I'll bet that showered you with little metal splinters. Did it?"
I nodded again.
"Talkative aren't you. He showed the crowd that had now gathered around to look at my leg and the round buried in it. Handing it back he asked, "How'd you lose the leg?"
"RPG, didn't hide good enough."
He wouldn't give up and asked, "That the only time?"
"One other minor wound. Didn't lose any time."
"I'm sure you didn't. Put this back on."
The troop that had been with me said, "Jesus, you were hit already and on a peg leg going up on that roof. Christ, you saved my ass on a fake leg."
"The leg doesn't mean anything. I lost one, they gave me another."
The doc was so smart, "Yeah, but it took you almost a year to learn how to use the new one."
I was being a smart ass, "It takes kids a year before they learn how to stand too."
"Get out of here. You've shown these guys that you aren't a cripple. Thanks for watching out for one of ours."
I nodded.
The troop wasn't going to let me alone. I finally had to say, "Look, you have a squad, go to it. They may need you to do something. It was good working with you." I stuck out my hand. We shook and he reluctantly left to find his squad.
I finally found the Marshal Service and FBI group. I had a bottle of water and a sandwich while we went over what had been done. The FBI had a stenographer with us to take down our reports as to the actions we had participated in. I gave them brief accounts of each of the actions I had been involved in with my name and badge number.
The Deputy Station Chief said, "It's time to get out of Dodge. We've found seven total escapees. Sort of too bad though, as they were all casualties."
I asked the FBI Chief, "Did you get anything out of the Imam?"
"Yeah, he says he doesn't like Hawaii and that he would appreciate us shipping him back to Iran. I don't suppose we can hold him, so we're going to box him up and ship him UPS." He was laughing as I turned toward the helicopter the Station Chief was trying to pull me toward.
In the helicopter, I turned over my rifle and the mostly empty magazines and requested they set me down on the golf course nearest the hotel. They ended up setting down in the parking lot on the side of the hotel. I waved as they took off, hoping that was the last of the favors that I needed to take care of here.
I went down to the docks to get on the boat and get out of these clothes before someone discovered some blood. Before I could get there, a short person came up on one side of me and another short person with gargantuan boobs came up on the other. The one with the smaller boobs said, "Trying to sneak in? I know you were hurt and have been trying to hide it all day. It must not have been bad, so give, Buster, where are you hurt?"
I just shook my head as I stepped down into the dinghy. Both girls jumped into the dinghy with me and Sue said, "You're not getting off that easy. Come on, tell us. We're gonna see anyway."
"It's just a little cut on my side. No big deal."
Mercy said, "It wasn't a cut. You were shot again. I know, I felt it when it happened. You were leaning over and your vest was pulled up. I saw people coming at you. I saw a lot of people coming at you today. You even shot someone who was going to shoot another soldier."
"Since you know all of it, you don't need me to tell you."
"Oh, come on, brag a little. You're the soldier in combat. You need to embellish it and brag about it."
I looked at Sue and said, "I'm sure you've heard Steve brag about his activities many times."
"Well no, I haven't," Sue said. "He should though. He's a real hero sometimes."
We had reached the Mercy Mercy and I went to my cabin with the two following me. I stripped and stepped into the shower as they watched. I took a two minute shower and stepped out to be dried by the two ladies. I pulled off the wet bandage, opened my toiletry bag, put some goop on the cut then put a big Band-aid on it. The two girls were watching, so I said, "See, no big deal, I barely bled."
Sue asked, "Is that why your T-shirt bottom was torn off?"
"It is."
I dressed quickly then headed back topside with them following me. I asked, "Can I fix either of you ladies a drink? I think I'd like a very tall one."
The two laughed and Mercy said, "It's all over, isn't it? You're not going to talk about it and we'll never know. That's just not fair. I can't see and know everything you do. I try but you're too busy and your mind is all serious and focused on what you're doing."
They both settled on rum and Diet Coke while I had a drink, relaxing. I asked, "Where's everyone?"
"The ladies and kids are at the clothing optional beach. Juanita has decided she likes that now, and the kids love it. Barb is strutting up and down the beach, attracting young men like flies. She blows them off as fast as the come in to score. She is a real tease."
I said, "I'm glad Juanita is enjoying the beach. I know Kathy seems to like to be nude too. Where are the men?"
"They are making some kind of deal with contractors at the airport. They even said they wanted you to be there today."
"Well, come on, Ladies. Let's go see how the new managers are doing at the hotels. I'm curious to see how the manager's office and quarters are coming."
The rest of the afternoon was nice. We went over to the clothing optional resort and collected the kids, Dewey's ladies, the four Irish ladies, Barb, Juanita, and Kathy. Little Bonita was all bubbly that I was back and would have time to give her more guitar lessons.
I was thinking it was too bad that Serene had become a lady in waiting to the nutty Irish couple, since she was such a good piano teacher, much better than me. I promised myself to go into a Borders bookstore to find a book on the correct way to teach piano.
Steve, Dewey, and Michael returned in great spirits. It seems that the materials for the new hangars had arrived and Steve was able to see the forms being readied for the concrete to be poured. Steve got me aside and said, "We spent some more of your money today. We ordered four Cessna Skyhawks and a couple of used 150's for trainers and purchased two used 172s. That will be our start. We found some retired airline pilots that want to become instructors. I think I will send Star or DeDe over here to help get Bear and Crystal started."
I congratulated him, "You did have a good day. Sounds like great fun."
Dewey said, "We're having a special dinner tonight over at the resort dining room. The chef has already promised a special meal. He said anything for his favorite G-Man that saved him from the terrible gangster."
"So what are we celebrating?"
Steve smiled and said, "We're celebrating how great it is to be alive. You know they have a piano over there. I think you need to play for us a little tonight, as well. Kind of like a piano bar."
"Yeah, sure, we'll see."
We went over to the resort where, Julie, the manager, greeted us and escorted us into the main dining room. The chef was waiting for us and ran up and hugged me. He said, "If it were manly I would kiss you, but my lovely wife would object. If you see the chef next door, he will kiss you."
We all laughed. The chef said, "Please, everyone be seated and let the lovely native ladies serve you. We have new native waitresses all dressed in beautiful native garments to serve you tonight. You are their first customers."
The waitresses all had the grass skirt and tops made of leis. You kept thinking something would peek out at you, but nothing ever did. Julie came by while I was watching closely and said, "I have a lei that you would love. A lot of me shows when I move around."
I blushed brightly and it was noticed by most of the women at the table. Mercy said to Julie, "You should shanghai this guy for the evening and demonstrate true island hospitality."
Julie said, "That would be exciting. I think he's responsible for my job here, anyway."
We had just sat down when a bunch of men showed up. It was the FBI and Marshal Station Chiefs, the Commander and the Captain of the National Guard unit from today and the Sergeant that had been with me up on the roof. This wasn't good.
When we had all been served drinks, Steve stood and said, "I had a strange request today that started with a young guy asking his commanding officer, who in return asked his commanding officer, who talked to these Station Chiefs. I didn't know exactly how to handle it until the young man called me personally and asked again. I agreed and here they all are."
Steve raised his glass and said, "A toast to the men of the National Guard, the FBI, and the U.S. Marshal Service."
Everyone raised their glasses into the air and took a drink, then Steve said, "This is Sergeant Raford Maitland. He has served two rotations in Iraq and is due for another tour in Afghanistan. I wish you luck, safety and God speed. He has a story to tell. Sergeant."
Sergeant Maitland stood up and began, "Today we had an operation that could have been bloodier than any I've ever seen. Our group could have had losses that would have numbered into the hundreds. We lost no one. No one was injured. I'll get to that later. I was assigned to follow some guy in jeans as he went into tunnels then pulled us back out and went in by himself to blow them up. I had to follow him as he tried to blow up a building that must have housed thousands of pounds of explosives. He didn't know it at the time, but it did. He directed men as to how to keep firing tank cannon rounds at the building until it exploded. I had to follow him as he found the entrances to the tunnels and fought with some crazies that came out shooting."
"Then I had to follow the guy into a building that had to have enemy. When we found them, he wouldn't let anyone try to take them until he had neutralized them."
"Lastly, I had to follow him up to the roof of the building, where while we were taking one man, another raised up and was going to kill me. I'm not dead, as you can see. Chuck shot the man first and I'm still alive. I've been in combat many times but have never had to watch as a man leveled on me. I've never been that close to having some one shoot me point blank. I saw the man raise his rifle and I saw his finger squeezing the trigger. But then I saw the man pushed backwards from the force of the fire and his rifle never went off, and I didn't die."
"I willingly followed Chuck down and he told me to go back to my unit. I kept following him and he went to the medic's tent. I watched and there he was, having the corpsman, then the doc patch him up. He had been shot somewhere during that time I was with him and no one knew. He had torn his T-shirt off to use as a compress and I didn't even see him do it."
"The doc saw something and made him take his fake leg off. The man who had saved my butt has a fake leg. The man who had led my squad through a whole lot of danger has a prosthesis. You know what the doc found? He found a round buried in the fake leg, amazing."
"Anyway, I'm here to tell the world what this guy did for me and for his country. He won't tell anyone, so I'm here to do it for him." The Sergeant raised his glass and said, "To Chuck Johnson, one hell of a soldier. Thank you. Thank you for saving my life."
There were a lot of "here, here" and a lot of cheering. The Colonel, the commander, stood up and said, "Today, when my men gathered to do what needed to be done, Mr. Johnson had made a plan that sounded silly to begin with, but worked out wonderfully. We captured a terrorist facility that housed over three hundred radical, militant, extremists that wanted to kill us. Mr. Johnson's plan was to protect my forces and to destroy the enemy. We, he, accomplished our, and his mission. My unit did not suffer a single hang nail. Not even a toothache. Mr. Johnson had my men and me ducking when appropriate and shooting when they should."
"Now the important thing. Mr. Johnson and I were standing at the side of a building and all of a sudden he pushes me hard enough to fall to the ground while he swings his rifle up and shoots a man trying to shoot me. The man was above us, on a roof. If Mr. Johnson had not been there, I wouldn't be here right now raising my glass to him. I thank him and honor him tonight."
More "here, here" more clapping and cheering.
The Captain stood and said, "At first, I was put off that I had been instructed to follow the direction of this civilian. But as I followed his directions and watched his relentless pursuit of the enemy, I learned what being a soldier is all about. This man is truly a warrior, a true a soldier. I wish to salute him as well."
The FBI Station Chief stood and said, "I didn't get to see all of the action up close because I was hiding from all of the small arms fire. I did see Chuck everywhere, yelling and pointing as he had men doing what needed to be done, but still keeping them safe. I did see him push the Colonel down and thought, 'Oh shit.' But then the guy fell from the roof and I realized what had happened. I'm here to salute Chuck as well." He raised his glass and drank.
"It's my fault Chuck was involved in any of this," said the Marshal Station Chief. "We had some escapees that went into that place and we were supposed to go get them. I knew what had transpired up in Alaska and this was similar, so I thought this would be easy. It was for Chuck, but it was really hair raising scary for me. A round hit a truck just above me so I know they were flying. I also saw Chuck running all over the place, back and forth between two attacks. I saw him shoot the man from the roof, but I didn't see him knock the Colonel down. I'm sorry, but I didn't know Chuck was wounded until the National Guard told me. I don't know how many medals Chuck has, but I'm going to put him in for a dozen more. This night is in honor of a Deputy U.S. Marshal, Charles, Chuck, Johnson." He raised his glass and drained it.
More cheers and applause.
"Speech, speech, speech, speech," the people were yelling.
I stood and scratched my head then my eyebrow and looked around. I finally said, "We all have different jobs and have all been trained to do certain things. God gave us all abilities and protects us all in different ways. I know I'm not totally indestructible, but I know that bad guys will never get the best of me, even on a bad day. Right and the truth will win out. That's why I'm a deputy. I did, and do, only what's necessary. These men with me are the heroes. They are the ones who have fought and are fighting for our freedom. I just do my job to keep our country a little better, free of bad people. To all those that serve." I raised my glass then took a big drink.
Steve stood back up and said, "Now we're going to eat, drink, and be merry. Glad you're still with us, Chuck, you've become an important member of our family."
As I was sitting, drinking my ever full glass of Beefeaters, Julie said to me, "So you were part of that thing over on the big island today. The news is just reporting that a bunch of radicals had been disarmed. Sounds like a small war."
"Just a little operation about some pesky radicals. Not to worry."
Julie said, "If you keep downing those Beefeaters the way you are, you won't walk out of here."
"You're probably right, I will slow down. Perhaps an ice cold beer."
"Or a cup of coffee." I looked at Julie and it wasn't her voice. I looked around and saw Missy looking at me grinning. She mouthed, 'coffee.'
"Or perhaps some coffee."
As if by magic, a waitress poured me a cup of coffee.
The meal was great. We had messy ribs that were delicious. Everyone enjoyed them. When we finished eating, Steve and Sue begged me to play the piano for them. The little kids were saying, "Please, please, Chuck, play for us, please."
How do you refuse?
I played a variety of ballads and sang a few long songs. I had my best girlfriend, Bonita, sitting with me on the piano bench. She wanted "Georgia," I played "Georgia." She wanted "I'm sending you a big bouquet of Roses," I played it. She kept naming songs that she knew I could play and I did. Then Mercy said loud enough for everyone to hear. "It's time for us to go home. Play us a lullaby, music man."
Bonita said to me, "Oh goody, sing "Summertime," please."
I did the tune with a lot of blues and jazz before and between the phrases of the lyrics. I liked it and hoped everyone else did as well. Little Bonita, laid her head against me while I played and sang, and fell asleep. I didn't realize it until I finished and then just looked at her, so precious. Steve came over and picked her up and said, "Thanks for taking care of my youngest. This one is special isn't she?" I just smiled.
Julie made an offer, but I said, "I am in kind of a relationship. I think it best we just remain great friends."
After giving me a kiss, she said, "When you come back, find me, you and I may not be in a relationship then. Find me anyway."
On the way back to the hotel, Mercy was sitting with me and said, "So you're in a relationship, huh? Does that mean the girls and I don't get any more loving?"
"Shhhh, Mercy, don't be broadcasting. I just don't think it's a good idea to go outside our family or, ah, our group. I am sort of committed to six or seven ladies back home. You five or six ladies have been a shock to the system."
"More than five, Chuck, what about Sheila and Sheena. Then there are all the ladies on the Irish Bell. You've been spreading your seed around like Johnny Appleseed. Chanda says you were chosen to father children for Lucille and Margaret and that you've done a good job. She says you need to fix Serene up before we get home, as well. They will let you know when. Sheena was talking about another, but I think she reconsidered."
"Thank the Lord for small favors."
"Oh, I know you love us all, and I know we make you feel as good as you make us feel. So what's the beef?"
I said, "Mercy, I still feel guilty sometimes when I'm with you ladies. You're all Steve's. He loves you dearly, and you love him too. I feel as if I'm an interloper, like I'm using or stealing something of his."
"Well, you're not and he knows and approves. He's even said it's too bad one of us can't have another baby that would be yours just so we have a little bit of you. Sue and I would love to, but we've both had a bunch and we shouldn't have any more. Watch out though, as Barb wants to get started soon."
"I'm not having any kids outside the Fickle Five with anyone that I'm not married to. Well, I guess the Irish screwed that up, but I want to be a dad and a husband."
"Don't worry, Chuck," Mercy smiled, "all of us will watch out for you. I just think it's sweet the way you turned down Julie. She is cute too. Perhaps you should invite her to join us instead of you joining her."
"Mercy, you're as bad as all those women in my house. Every time you turn around there are women chasing women into that place."
"You don't seem to be deprived," Mercy said, with a leer.
"You're right about that. It's difficult to go to bed alone there, that's for sure."
Mercy hugged my arm and said, "We'll get you thinking right. You'll be fine. You still aren't over big Bobby yet, but she's fading. Think about her, get into her head so you know she's where she should be."
I looked down at Mercy and heard Missy say, "Listen to her. She knows best."
Back in the hotel, where we opted to spend the night, we had a few more drinks before Dewey and his ladies left, followed by Michael and his four Irish lasses. Steve and I were having our last drink of the night when Sue came into the living room area, nude, to kiss Steve and say, "Isn't it time for bed, Honey?"
She leaned over me and kissed me, rubbing a monster mammary on my shoulder and said, "You should come to bed as well."
Sue had disappeared when the erotic Juanita swung her full luscious hips into the room and said, "Come, Steve, come to bed." She kissed him, then me and whispered loudly, "Come, Senor, it's getting late."
Long, tall, Kathy with her reddish hair and freckles came strolling in, showing her large saggy motherly chest and kissed Steve. She said, "Come on, Steve, I still need to practice how we brought Greg and Bonita into this world."
Kathy kissed me and said, "You should come to bed and let me show you how it's done."
Steve looked at me, smiled and raised his glass. He said, "Wait for it, there's just one more."
My head was filled with Mercy and her very luscious body. She was lying in bed waiting for Steve and me. She said, "Come and get me, boys. I need you both."
Steve put his glass down and stood, then said, "I guess we've been told. Come on, this will be a first, but probably not the last. I think we've been invited to participate."
I went into my room and brushed my teeth quickly. I stripped and went into the big bedroom. There was no light, but a hand took mine and led me to the side of the bed. I was pulled down and put between two ladies that I found to be Mercy and Juanita. This was very sensuous. There was lots of kissing and loving, then I was later magically loving Sue and Kathy. We continued until I had made love to all four. Sue was facing me, kissing me, still connected as we fell asleep.
Sometime in the night, Kathy slid under me to have me one more time. It was slow and sensuous until I released into her. I fell asleep again but was awakened again by someone on top of me putting me inside them. My mind was filled with erotic thoughts of Mercy. She kissed me and said softly, "Listen."
We made love with our bodies and minds for what seemed like hours. I had two, that's right two giant orgasms with her impaled on me while our minds made love to each other. As I was drifting off to sleep, Missy came into my head and said, "Next time, it's my turn." Mercy then said in my mind with a laugh, "Not if I get him first."
What a night, I slept soundly.
Primary editing by Pepere
Proofing by Sagacious