Chuck
I checked on Lisa as soon as I woke up. Yesterday's encounter was too close to the confrontation on the island. This time it wasn't her adrenaline that got her, it was the cruelty of the men who had been dumped into the sea. It's hard to believe people could just kill the young couple and make the parents watch them get tossed overboard. It makes me shudder.
Then that poor older woman, about Missy's and Beth's age, just walked out and shot those men in the head. There could have been a hundred cops around and she would still have taken her revenge. Was it wrong? I think I would have done the same thing. Hopefully, she will recover from the horror of the experience.
Lisa had taken that incident hard and it came out when she began singing all of the Eva Cassidy tunes last night. Who knew that Lisa could do an entire album of those mournful blues ballads from memory? She came out of it a little when we sang together, and it did seem to relax her.
I had to think for a few minutes to remember that I didn't have to go back to the helm until noon. It was only six, but I needed to use the head and I really needed to get up so I wouldn't think of all of the bad stuff. At least Lisa looks like she's sleeping peacefully. Closing my eyes, I tried hard to think into Lisa's mind, but she was sleeping and I don't even think she was dreaming.
"What are you doing trying to look into Lisa?" Holy smokes, that was Mercy. I looked around to make sure I had heard that in my head, instead of out loud here in the cabin.
"Because I care for her; actually, I love her," I thought back, and hoped Mercy was tuned in.
"Good answer," Mercy whispered back to me.
I was up, showered, dressed, and in the galley ten minutes later. Mercy and Missy were beginning breakfast. I asked, "Mercy, weren't you on until four? Why didn't you go back to bed?"
She smiled, "Steve stayed up with me and I fell asleep on a couch. He was hungry when he woke me, so we came down when Dewey relieved me, or he actually relieved Steve. I fed Steve and he's taking a nap."
Mercy added, "You should know, Tiny and Henry passed us last night going all out. They radioed us that they were going to get that boat home so they could join the party to welcome us. They'll probably beat by over a day. Steve said he tracked them on the radar and GPS to figure their speed. They were doing almost thirt knots."
I said, "At that speed they'll be there at least two days ahead of us. Hope they don't burn out those engines. I suppose they'll find out if the boat has the guts they say it has. But what about their vacation?"
Steve said, "The two couples would head back out Sunday or Monday for their vacation. They really wanted to home to welcome us back."
Missy handed me two mugs of coffee and said, "Take one up to Dewey. He's about due for a potty break."
Up in the salon, I gave Dewey his coffee and we chatted a little. He showed me that the weather was going to be a little rainy and blustery later, and that there was no traffic near us. Dewey asked me, "What do you think, Chuck? Are we ready to get into some big time Caribbean luxury resorts?"
"I'm planning on it, Dewey. The biggest deal of all will be that my island people can prosper by raising most of the food we will serve at the resorts. There will be a lot of others employed at the resort as well, so it is an opportunity for the area to gain a significant employer. You and Steve are going to be honored guests every time you visit now. With your participation in this project, those people are going to think you two walk on water."
"That would mean you float over water, then," Dewey laughed at his analogy.
"It is going to be a good deal, Dewey. We can market a Caribbean resort vacation all over the Northeast and Midwest. I'll bet we will be swamped as soon as we advertise. Word of mouth will take care of it from there. We might even be able to get some cruise ships to stop by. We could build a bigger dock or pier that could support a big ship and if there is bad weather that could hold them up, we would provide a safe harbor for them."
"That's a good thought, Chuck, that might increase sales of tourist items at your planned shop," Dewey said, as he looked back over his shoulder."
He said, "Those guys on the motor yacht are sticking right with me. They are pacing us back about a hundred yards. It's almost time to drop sails and let them pull up to us for breakfast and to pick up their lunch. Go check on the folks below to see how they are doing."
In the galley, I saw that Lisa, the Asian sisters, Julie, and Gina were all up and helping with breakfast. There were already some kids sitting at their table with glasses of juice. I asked, "Is it time for us to tie up to the other boat yet? Dewey wanted to know so he could radio them and drop sail."
Beth looked at me and said, "If they want to get some breakfast, you better tie up. As soon as the kids are all up, food disappears fast. We need to make sure we save enough for our visiting couple. Hopefully, they will feel better this morning after a good night's sleep."
I went up to Dewey to tell him what Beth said. He radioed the other boat and began dropping sail. Dewey directed me, "Go out and make sure the fenders are still out and you might check how the sail is coming down to make sure it's being rolled up properly."
It took just a second to check the fenders. The sail was being collected very evenly, which was a lot to do, considering how much sail we had out. I stood and waited for Jack, who was standing on the bow ready to toss me a line. As soon as I had the line, Dan disengaged the props and the stern of the boat gently swung into the Lucky Lady. Jack had made his way aft and threw me another line. I heard Dan cut the engine as I pulled the boat into us. Almost as if we had planned it, the stern and swim or dive steps of the motor yacht were right at our boarding platform and ladder. I'll have to remember what cleats I used to tie them down so they will always be able to easily use the boarding platform.
The two men came on board, stretching and asking, "You have any of those wonderful Bloody Marys made?"
I smiled and said, "No, but I'll make you one. Do you guys think you should drink this morning?"
Jack said, "I do, because sleepyhead just woke up. He slept all night. I'm going to eat and sack out until this afternoon."
We entered the salon and I made a couple of Bloody Marys for the two guys. As usual, as soon as you make one or two, a dozen people are up at the bar wanting one. The rest of the band came up to the bar for their wake me up, as well as Ben, Sheila, and Sheena. Barb from the band went over to the controller and fiddled around there for a couple of minutes and came back. She handed Jack a CD and said, "You have to listen to this. This is Lisa. I think you guys should release an album of just her. She is terrific."
Jack took the CD and went over to the controller and punched some buttons. We heard the snap and pop of the speakers, and shortly after, we heard Lisa's voice singing "Ain't No Sunshine When He's Gone." Jack and Dan listened to that while they drank their Bloody Marys. Before the next song began, Jack went over and pulled the CD. He asked, "Do you have another of these, Barb?"
She said, "Sure do, three more of them to be on the safe side. I think I pulled everything down correctly, or at least the way you taught me on our controller back home."
Dan said, "That sounded pretty awesome. I can't wait to hear what else she sang. Come on, Jack, let's go get some breakfast."
The two men finished their drinks and went below. The rest of the folks migrated below and I told Dewey, "Go on, go below to eat and I'll stay up to make sure we don't drift off."
Dewey grinned and said, "Put the radar back up to fifty miles for early warning. No sense in having a collision avoidance system and not use it."
While I waited, I checked the weather again and could see how we would see some rain in a couple hours. The forecast was for three to four foot seas, so it was going to be smooth for us. I don't know how well the little boat handled weather.
While I was sitting in the captain's chair, Mr. Mitchell, the man who we had rescued yesterday, came up. He said, "Before they take off, Millie wants to get our clothes off that thing. I think that boat will be up for sale as soon as we get back. Neither one of us wants anything to do with it; it has too many bad memories. We had some good times on it, but a terrible experience ended it."
I told him, "How about waiting for Jack and Dan so they can help you. I'm sure you'll feel better having someone with you."
He nodded and looked at the bar, "You wouldn't think ill of me if I had a drink this morning, would you?"
I smiled, "If you're going to drink a Bloody Mary or Irish coffee, you'll just be a regular. There's mix in the big jug behind the bar, glasses in the tray, and ice under the lid at the end of the bar."
When he was building his Bloody Mary, he said, "You folks live right. This is a magnificent boat. You all must be doing all right to have something like this."
I told him, "Just lucky. All three of us have made some good deals and this is one of our benefits."
The man smiled and waved a welcome with his hand toward the stairs. As the older woman came up and hugged her husband, she said to me, "We never did introduce ourselves last night. I'm Millie, and this guy with an early morning drinking problem, is Bob. We're the Mitchells."
I said, "I knew your name was Mitchell, but that was all. Would you like a Bloody Mary too, Millie?"
She grinned, "That would be nice. I need to keep up with the lush here. It seems as if all we've done is drink since we boarded yesterday. We ate something, but everything else after a glass of water has been booze."
I smiled as I handed her the drink. She sipped some then took a couple of big gulps. "That's good, why didn't we have some of this on board? If we get another boat, we're going to be sure to have some of this for the mornings."
Bob asked his wife, "So do you think the best thing is to sell the "Afterlife?"
Millie hugged his arm as she said, "I think we should do that. I want to paint over the name so we can use it on our next boat. It will seem more fitting now than ever. I know another thing we will have is enough guns around on the boat so that if anyone tries to do something to us again, we will have something hidden away to use on them. I love the water, Bob, but I hate the way some people can be."
I offered, "You know that is not common. If you talk to the Coast Guard, they will tell you when there has been a problem in the area. Just stay away from some of the South American ports and you'll do all right. Always dock at a yacht club that has a good rep and you should be able to avoid problems like that. I'd bet you didn't dock at a resort but went to a public dock."
Bob said, "Yeah, we did dock at a public dock because we thought it would be cheaper."
Millie said, "It was my fault, Bob, you wanted to dock at that one resort, but I nixed it. I'll never do that again."
Bob said, "What do you think, let's trade that boat for one a little bigger, say forty to forty-five feet."
After thinking a few minutes, Millie said, "Probably a good idea. We could have used more room on the boat and we did need more fresh and grey water storage. I think that if we do get another boat, we're going to stay around the Gulf and up the east coast for a while. We might even want to go to England for a look around. What do you think, Bob, want to go to England?"
Lisa had come up and heard Millie talking. She said, "You know, we just came back from visiting Europe. We went to Ireland, on to Italy, and back to the Riviera. It was a great trip, except we could have spent more time sightseeing everywhere we were."
The sweet lady said, "My goodness. You two are pretty young to be able to do all of that. How do you do that?"
Bob said, "The man here said he and his buddies have been lucky in business and this boat is one of their rewards."
Lisa said, "So you know us, I'm Lisa, and this guy is, Chuck. When the other guys come up, we'll introduce you to everyone. You two are the Mitchells?"
Millie said pointing to the man, "This is Robert – Bob, that is, and I'm Mildred, but I prefer Millie."
Lisa said, "Go down and have some breakfast. The kids aren't devouring the world this morning, so you should be able to get something."
Bob said, "I want to get our stuff off the boat. Don't let those boys take off without us getting our clothes and things."
As she headed down the stairs, Millie said, "You get everything, Bob; I don't even want to look at that boat."
Lisa gave me a hug and a kiss. "Thanks for letting me get that out of my system last night. I was so overwhelmed with how terrible that was, and the look on that sweet lady's face when she shot those men, was just too much for me. The music and singing got it out of me."
I told her, "Jack and Barb think the recording they made of your singing is good enough for an album. You may be re-recording some of that to mix in. I thought it was good myself."
Lisa said, "You really made it nice listening to that bass behind me. It was sweet that you played that big thing with me. We'll have to practice some ballads together for some real blues feelings. I'll bet we can put together some music that will be good listening."
Dewey came back up and said, "Better go get breakfast, it's beginning to disappear."
After Lisa and I ate, we checked on Jack and Dan to find that they had completely cleared the couple's personal possessions from the boat. All that was left was some bed clothes, towels, and the food in the fridge and lockers. Lisa and I helped the two guys cast off and move away from our boat.
Steve walked out and said, "If you look back there, you'll see the Irish Bell closing on us. According to Dewey, the Bell is moving along at about twenty-eight knots. Dewey says they want to tie up to say hi."
I said, "With all of these stops, it's going to take us a week to get home."
Steve said, "How about we send those two guys ahead with the Irish Bell and they can dock at the yacht club. They'll beat us by a day or two, but if we don't have to stop, we'll be there faster."
I went into the salon to have Dewey radio the Afterlife. I told the two guys what we thought and they agreed that would be good as they felt they were not using the fuel efficiently by idling along behind us. I had them come back to tie up so they could get whatever food they will need.
Lisa and I tied them up again before going across the deck to throw out more fenders to join the Irish Bell as they motored up to us. We had experience tying up to this boat and were quickly joined with a gangway between the two decks.
The Irish kids were down the ladder hunting for their friends before the first adult put their head over the rail. Michael waved and came down. He asked, "What's the story with the boat?"
Steve took him into the salon to give him the scoop. Lisa asked me, "When we get going again, let's get the kids up and do some Tai Chi or perhaps a little defensive training. When something like this happens I always feel the need to practice and learn."
I helped the ladies of the Bell down the ladder and showed them into the salon. When the captain came down, he asked the same question Michael did. I told him to go into the salon where Steve was explaining it.
Lisa said, "Damn, it's like we have to be damn near assassins one day and a couple of days later we have to fight off a bunch of bubba pirates. You got all of the IDs I pulled off those guys, right? We can turn them into the Coast Guard in case someone tries to locate them. Did you look at any of them?"
"No, I really didn't think it would be important," I answered. "I suppose we should go through them; they are down in the office. If they have any money, we'll give it to the Mitchells."
It took another hour for the folks from the Bell to get done visiting. All of the kids came running up the stairs to beg the Irish parents to let them stay on board with us. Michael laughed and called us Pied Pipers, "You guys are going to end up keeping them if you don't watch out."
The captain of the Irish Bell said he would monitor a channel for the little boat as they were going to follow. Jack and Dan were loaded and ready as we helped the big boat get underway. The Afterlife idled away from us, picking up speed behind the Irish Bell.
No sooner had the two boats departed than Lisa had all of the kids on the rear deck. They got out the pads and we did some Tai Chi with the Asian sisters, Barb, Carolyn, and this time, Carlos and Ramona. It took over an hour to get some of the energy out of the kids, so they were not as eager when we told them to run the deck a few times. Again, the boys ran and the girls walked in a big cluster talking about whatever girls talk about.
The days became routine. Morning exercise, doing some planning for the islands, lunch, practice some music with the band and kids, supper, and more music in the evening, but fun stuff that we picked out of the fake book. Lisa and I did some more ballads together that sounded pretty good, but not anywhere as good as what she had done.
About the third day out, Lisa came to me and said, "You need to go below and talk to Gina. She is down there almost in hysterics. She thinks that now that we're in the States, we're going to send her back. I couldn't convince her, but you probably can."
Women, they can be so uncertain and misunderstand things. I knew Gina was acting funny, but I thought it just woman stuff. She hadn't been as warm at night as she had been, but again, all I could think of was that is was woman stuff. When I reached our cabin, Gina was laying on the bed with her face buried in the bed clothes.
"Hey, Italian princess, what's going on, what is the matter?"
I pulled Gina up and hugged her to me as she began sobbing. She choked out between sobs, "Oh, Chuck, we're almost to your home and you will probably send us all back to Italy. I want to stay with you and all of the women."
I said, "Where did you get that idea, Gina? I thought we talked about it and you were going to see how you liked it here."
"I know you said that, but you may have meant that after we were here a little while, you would send us back. I don't want to go back, please keep me."
Wow, how do you get it across that you are not going to do something like that. I told her, "Gina, you have become a part of us and everyone loves you. Your kids have become mine too, you know. They come to me with questions and for me to do things for them. They will enjoy being here just as you will."
"I do, I do enjoy being here, being with you. You are a man I want to be with. I now know you have money, but I don't care. My father has money and it doesn't make him happy. You don't act that way. You act just like an everyday man. I want that. I want to be with a man who is a good man, a common man, a man who likes his neighbors, and who is respected by his friends. Gio is afraid of the same thing, but she's different because she has been alone longer than me."
"Get up, Gina, let's go up on deck and enjoy some sun to dry your tears."
I gave her a kiss that turned into some urgency to get our clothes off. We were soon practicing the beast with two backs, but also receiving lots of kisses. As we rolled to our sides, still connected, Lisa began kissing us both and the two little Asian girls were equally as loving. Taiying soon claimed what Gina had been enjoying, and we were all making love to Sing a little while later. Before Lisa could get away, we all smothered her with kisses as I plugged into her to enjoy our special connection. When the two of us had collapsed, Gina rolled me from Lisa and attacked her center as if what I had left was special to her. Taiying and Sing spent the time kissing and hugging me.
All of us were laid back, nearly drifting off to sleep, when Julie came in and pounced on me, "It's not fair to have the rest of your women without me. I need some of you too, you know."
That was an invitation for the other girls to strip our mature lover so we could all make her feel good. It took a while, but she received another big donation from my overworked system.
On our fifth day, as we were passing the channel for Tampa Bay, four small aircraft flew over us. Not in formation, but circling us at about a thousand feet. They stayed with us flying back and forth, chatting with Steve on the radio. Everyone was going to be happy we were home.
I listened to the voices and identified Star, Brandi, Tank, and, son of a gun, Wanda, who kept asking if I was near the radio. When I said, "This is Chuck, go ahead," Wanda came right back, "Look who's learning to fly. John is pushing me through and I'll be doing my instrument training in another week."
I said back, "That'll be neat; you can fly me around instead of me doing all of the flying."
John came on the speaker, "It'll be awhile before she can fly the Citation, probably another thousand hours or so."
Before John unkeyed his microphone, we heard an "Ompff" from Wanda swatting him.
By the time we were passing Clearwater Beach, everyone on board was out on deck. The outdoor helm was open and we were moving along pretty well. A big fishing cruiser came up near us, and Tiny hailed us, "Welcome home, you guys. The world travelers have returned."
This was going to be a real nice welcome home.
It seemed like it took forever to get around and come down the channel to the yacht club. We were going to have to do something about that; the yacht club location, that is. It was fine for fishing boats and small day sailors, but not for our big boats.
Steve and I were at the helm as we turned to back into the slip. Some yacht club attendants were out on the dock to tie us up, along with some of our crewmen from the other boats, all of the Irish Bell folks, and half the trailer park, the Fab five, including Brandy, Maria, and tall Lena were all there.
When we were tied up and shutdown, Steve put the gangplank out and people from the dock were streaming onto the boat. Everyone was hugging everyone. Glenda and Martin were there, as well as John and Wanda, who had landed with Brandy to meet us.
Jack and Dan came aboard to retrieve the other band members, their luggage, and instruments. They were off the boat and gone in minutes. Kenny had told me that he would talk to me tomorrow or the next day.
I didn't realize it, but the girls had gotten our clothes together to take home. After we made several trips, all of our clothes and instruments, even the big cello, were in two big vans from the airpark. Steve and all of his people were carrying stuff out to a big bus and storing the luggage and things underneath.
Steve and I made arrangements for the big boat to be thoroughly cleaned, but were told that it was already planned on, as it was going back out in two days for a month's charter. Good thing we were back.
The two of us walked around the deck and through the salon. Steve said, "Almost sad that we're getting off, isn't it? I want to get home, but I want to keep sailing too."
I had to agree with him, and as we were going to get off the boat, I remembered and ran down the stairs to the office. I punched in the combination to the desk safe and pulled out the box of rings that were left. I think I would have need for another.
Steve
Home at last. Everyone was giddy to be home. The kids were bouncing around and talking to the Italian kids about how much fun they were going to have at home. I hoped that Chuck's family would spend more time at our place now as the two Italian kids become involved with all of the park kids.
Depending on how long Michael and Chanda stayed, the Irish kids were going to be indoctrinated into the fun had by all of the local kids.
As soon as the bus stopped in front of the patio, kids were running from the doors to greet all of my kids and all of the new kids. There's always those moments of hesitancy as kids meet each other for the first time, but in mere moments, the kids found some kind of common ground and were running off to do something. Gio's kids came to me to ask if they could go to the park with all of the rest of them. I saw Gina's kids talking to Chuck before all of them headed for the big park. I didn't see any ball gloves or bats, so they must just be exploring.
As soon as Ben stepped off the bus, he was on the phone for a taxi to take him to his office. The man had at least relaxed a little and sailed back with us after meeting us in Costa Rica.
The women were busy hauling things into the house, with my help, of course. Tiny and Phil were already trying to corner me about things, but Tiny had the right idea, he pulled a beer into a frosty mug and waved at me, pointing at the mug.
After a big drink, I belched, "Ahh, great to have draft again. I drank some more, then asked Tiny, "Okay, what's going on."
Tiny was going to begin talking, but Chuck came in the patio with Gina. He introduced her to Tiny and Phil, and pulled two frosty mugs for Gina and him. Tiny said, "Good, some of this is about you, Chuck. Steve, Mark has gone nuts over stuff down in Costa Rica. He's bought another barge and tugboat. I think the man has leased half the open water tugs in the gulf. He's shipping things down there as fast as he can find them to buy. What's going on?"
I was going to answer, but Chuck put his hand on my shoulder, "Tiny, as luck would have it, I bought a couple of more islands to go with the one Julie gave me. They are all three close together, almost joined. The big news is that Dewey, Steve, Ben, and I are going to build some resorts on the islands and create a paradise for people to go to. Mark has been involved in helping me get the main island ready, and now is planning on overseeing the construction down there."
Tiny looked at Chuck, almost disbelieving. "So Mark is going to be sort of permanent down there?"
I told Tiny, "I can't tell you that. Carolyn really likes it down there, and you know that Mark will give her anything she wants."
Tiny was still anxious over the deal, "Well, he's shipping nearly half of our wind generator production down there. He wants to triple the output of the solar panels too. Every time I ask him who is going to pay for all of the stuff he is shipping, he waves a card at me. Should I take it?"
Chuck laughed, "Take it, Tiny, that's my card and it should have enough for everything he's buying, and then some. When that runs out, I have another. The money is going to be inconsequential right now, Tiny. So don't worry about it."
Tiny was shaking his head, "Darn, you sound more like Steve every day."
Phil leaned over and asked Chuck and I, "Is this something I should start selling?"
Now it was my turn to laugh. Tiny was worried about the money, and Phil was worried about not being able to sell the project.
I told Tiny, "Chuck is going to be taking a bunch of people to work down there. Terrell is going to be busy, so I want you to help him find someone as his assistant, or maybe assistants. This is really going to be a big deal. We'll get Chuck to fly us down there so you can scope it out. You'll love it."
Frieda, one of Chuck's pregnant women came through the door. She hugged Chuck and Gina and said, "Come home for a few minutes, then we'll come back. Glenda said there was going to be some kind of a welcome home party."
Gina said, "The children are in the park playing. Shouldn't I be here for them, or should we get them to take them to your home."
Frieda said, "Your home too, Gina, the kids' home, and our home; all of us together."
Gina hugged Frieda enough to squeeze her babies out. Frieda suggested, "I'll have one of the moms go over and watch them, and when they come back for some snacks, they can tell them where you are."
Frieda left for a minute and was back. She tugged at Chuck, "Come home for a few minutes now. We have lots to show you."
I watched them leave in one of the vans, knowing Chuck was going to be overwhelmed by all of his friends. Thinking that, and who should come through the door, but Michael, Chanda, Lucille, Margaret, and Serene. Chanda asked, "Do you know where the kids are?"
I told them, "All of the kids, including more from here, are over in the park. They are safe and will be back soon for snacks and drinks. How about a nice cold mug of beer?"
The women all rubbed their bellies and shook their heads. "In that case, how about some fruit juice?" That brought smiles, so I served them some juice, and Michael a cold Bud in a frosty mug.
Tiny said, "The tent should have been here by now. I wonder what's keeping them. The caterer is going to beat the tent."
I said, "Kind of going overboard just for us getting back, aren't you, Tiny?"
He and Phil both laughed, but it was Tiny who said, "Not a chance. We'll make some announcements that will curl your toes."
Phil said, "The economy might be in the tank, but we have had the best two months company wide ever. Even Canada is so far in the black that they could stop selling for a year and still be ahead. All of your European production is full out and not keeping up. I don't know where the orders are coming from, but product is going out the door. Tiny's worried about the demand for wind generators. That's why he's concerned that Mark is taking them all. Hell, he ain't taking them, he's buying them."
I nodded, "That's good, glad the place is still working without me."
Tiny smiled, "Whenever you go somewhere, we get orders whether or not you actually talk to someone. This time has been no different. Europe has gone nuts, and poor Hans is batty after tripling the size of his plant and is still way behind on orders. I keep telling him to just build what product he can with quality so that our sales will continue."
Sue came from the house and excitedly told me, "You're not going to believe this, but the fatigue market has gone berserk. We have orders from just about every South American country. I think we could even set up another factory just for that market. What you're not going to believe is that the girls have come out with an entire line of clothing, with lightweight cloth, featuring our fatigue print."
I asked, "So how are you at getting our share of the U.S. market?"
"We are probably getting better than twenty-five percent of it right now, but you know we received the main order for the new hats that are now becoming standard issue. That is worth a ton. We are the sole vendor right now, since no one else wanted to bid on hats. We were the only U.S. company to bid. Can you imagine not wanting to bid on a couple million hats? There's a girl over in the legal and bid office, Sandy Flowers, who was responsible for us bidding on the contract. She saw it after someone else had thrown it out. She put the bid together with the help of the factory pricing people and submitted it. We're already known, so when no one else bid, we got it. We can do hats for a while."
I was thinking that I had heard that name before, and asked Tiny, "Isn't Sandy Flowers working with Dennis in R&D? That's the guy that Dennis was so worried about."
Tiny grinned at me, "You're gonna love this. About the time you took off, right around Valentine's Day, these two kids applied for work. Both are golden and hard workers. But both are named Sandy Flowers. Honest, it's true. They're not even related, but met each other at the employment office. They went out looking for jobs together and came out here. We liked them both and hired them individually. Well, they got together and now live in Carolyn's old trailer."
"Both are named Sandy Flowers? How are you going to keep them separated?"
Tiny said, "Easy, she works for Quality Wear, and he works for S&S. The two companies don't share mainframes or file space, so with two different Social Security numbers the two should remain separate without a problem."
I had to laugh at how confusing that must be when people are talking to them. All someone had to do is call out Sandy and both would turn. Around here, you would also get one of the "Andies" to look at you.
A big truck pulled up and about a dozen men jumped off. Poles were put in place, and the tent was erected while I had another beer. The men hauled tables, chairs, portable bars, and fans into the tent, filling it for the coming party. They had left the sides up so it was open air. As a nice touch, they put a half dozen bug eaters around the tent and plugged them all in to keep the mosquito population down. The leader or foreman came in for Tiny to sign for the tent, and they were gone. No sooner than that truck left, two vans pulled up and the caterer began unloading food.
I checked my watch to see it was just before five. In seconds, carts were sliding to a stop out front. Instead of all trying to park at the curb, they were parking two deep, and still left enough room for Martin to pound the horseshoe stakes and set up the boxes.
Kathy came out and hugged me, "Sure is nice to get back home. I'm going to miss the boat, but this is nice too."
Juanita and Mickey came out. Juanita made a Cuba Libre and poured Mickey some juice. Juanita said, "You know we are going to love going down to the island, but I really did miss home and our friends."
This was becoming the common thread. Kids began coming through the door and into the kitchen, looking for snacks and something to drink. Glenda shooed them out to the tables and began pouring lemonade. Gio, Beth, and Missy were helping as there was a real pile of kids. One of Gina's kids came up to me, "Do you know where my momma is, or maybe Chuck?"
I told him, "They went over to your new house for a few minutes. They will be back soon."
"Can you show us how to get there? I should take my sister to be with momma." The little boy looked worried.
I told him, "Come on, I'll give you a ride in one of the carts. Watch how I get there so you can ride your bike over here whenever you want to."
The two kids were excited to ride in the cart and had a short conversation in Italian. The boy asked me, "We don't have bicycles. Is there one we could borrow? We can ride together."
I told them, "I'll tell Chuck when we get to the house, and getting you both bikes will be the first thing he will do tomorrow."
Something looked different when I pulled into Chuck's driveway. I couldn't tell and led the kids through the family room door. They were both doing the swivel head routine, looking at how fancy this new home would be. Most of the people from the house were there inside the big family room attached to the kitchen, with Chuck and the girls who had just returned. The kids ran to Chuck and Gina. Gina wanted to immediately take them off for a tour, but Tiani said, "Let me, I'm a little people and we will get along just great."
I told Chuck and Gina, "I guess those two were worried you guys would leave them." I paused and looked around, "What's different? I know something has changed, but I can't put my finger on it."
Chuck laughed, "You know how these women are if you leave them alone for a minute. They build something. This time, they felt they needed more room for babies and rooms for the two new kids. They built on, but not only did they build on to the house, they built up too. The whole addition is two-story like the rest of the house. There is now another big apartment upstairs. It's not totally complete yet, but will be soon."
Brandy said, "We wanted our new children to have their own rooms, so we made it happen. We could have put them down the hall, but I thought they might want to be near us. Terrell had his best men over here doing it for us. See, you can get something done if you want to."
Gina was glowing and hugged Chuck, saying, "You really do want us, you really do."
That made me think that I should reassure Gio that she was here with us for as long as she likes. I told Chuck and the ladies, "The caterer is there with the big tent, so it's going to be party time. Tiny has some announcements, so come over soon."
As I left, I could see the two excited kids come running back to their mother. Chuck was organizing everyone to get ready to come over to the patio. I drove back to the patio and found the whole street clogged with carts. Cars were being parked over in the park since there were so many people. I guess our homecoming meant something to a lot of folks.
When I walked into the patio, I was swamped by S&S people. Everyone was in a good mood, having a beer and enjoying themselves. The kid population had grown, with more kids coming with their parents. I looked out at the tent to see two additional bars set up, and two huge cookers smoking. Dewey shoved a Beefeaters into my hand and said, "We'll be leaving in the morning, but I wanted to tell you how much fun I had. As usual, you and Chuck were lucky for all of us. We've done a deal in Amsterdam, Sue did a deal in Ireland, and from what I've heard here, her people have a place picked out in England. I have a new deal, a better deal with all of the properties on the Riviera, and we're going to open a tropical resort in Costa Rica. I think I'm going to stop trying to expand and just wander around checking on our holdings. I'm going to begin doing like Chuck does, and see what kind of benefit I can bring to my surroundings."
Tiny was there and said, "You're way behind. Chuck has five hundred houses being built for wheelchair vets. He's moving people into the first hundred, and the second hundred is in the process of slabs and plumbing. He's built cart paths to the shopping plaza, and Steve, you'll want to hear this, Dennis has a new cart for these guys. They roll right up on these carts and use hand controls to get around. When they arrive, they roll right off and do what they want to do. Chuck is building a gym and swimming pool for the families in each area, so these villages are going to be really special."
I said, "I suppose Chuck already authorized a couple of hundred carts?"
"Oh yeah," Tiny said, "The plant has turned out about sixty or seventy and will continue to build until we have taken care of all of the residents out there."
I asked, "You did him a deal, didn't you?"
Tiny said, "He wouldn't let me. He said I should figure out our best retail deal and he would prepay. He's already paid for two hundred. The man is giving back."
I was shaking my head, sipping my Beefeaters, and enjoying the crowd.
Chuck, with all of his women and entourage showed up. His two new kids joined the others and instantly had a conversation with their cousins. One of Gio's kids came over to me, the youngest, and asked, "Are you going to keep us and make us a room too?"
I didn't have a chance to speak as Sue grabbed up the girl and walked into the house with her. A few seconds later, the little girl came running out and began dragging her brother into the house. Sue came back smacking her hands together in a dusting off motion. She said, "That's taken care of. I suppose we should have shown them their new rooms right away. We'll work on better decorations tomorrow."
I mentioned to Sue, and to Chuck, who had joined us, "They four need bicycles. Tomorrow we need to take them to get bikes like our kids have. I'll probably have to pump up tires in the morning since our kids' bikes haven't been used in a while."
Martin said, "No, you don't. I have all of the kids' bikes in good shape, new tires where necessary, and everything greased and ready."
I smiled at my aging friend, "Martin, you are the best. Thanks."
He said to me, "That's what a grandpa is for, isn't it?"
Sue hugged the man to her mammoth chest just as Glenda came up. "What are you doin' with my man, getting him ready for me? I saw you squash him with those triple Zs and him taking a gander down at all that cleavage. You're just nothing but a hussy."
At that instant, a little redhead and a big burly guy came in the door. Charlie waved over the top of the many people, but the redhead was flying through the crowd to climb up and kiss me like a long lost lover. She said, "Glad you're back, you asshole. Do you know how long you guys have been gone? We were about to give up on you." The little girl reached over and pulled Sue to her while still hanging on to me. "And you, you hardly even called anyone the whole time you were gone. Christ, our kids have all grown over an inch and from what I've heard yours are all rock stars or something like that. CJ showed me an MTV show that had pictures of all the kids with a big name blues band."
Charlie came over and gave me a bear hug. "I missed you, guy. Man, it's nice to have you back. We have enough buddies not to get too lonely, but we sure did miss all of you. I think the kids missed all of your kids, and the extra moms and grandmas the most. Now it will get back to normal."
Charlie was eyeing the dark voluptuous lookalike beauties. He elbowed me, "Did you bring me some hot tub treats?"
Not knowing what he was referring to, I looked around until Sue pulled my head down and whispered, "Italian pussy."
I had to laugh, and I did, loud and long. Sue was whispering the same thing to Chuck and he broke up as well. I told Charlie, "Sort of, but I think we have to feel them out a little."
Kathy commented, "If you feel her out any more than you already have, you're going to have to get a gynecologist's table. She's been all over you and all of us like white on rice."
Charlie asked, "Well, is she? Can Shawna and I sample some dark beauty?"
Shawna reached up and grabbed my longer hair again, "Come on; tell us, I want some of that." She let go of me and pinched Sue on one her protruding nipples, "How about it, sweet stuff, is that for all of our fun?"
"You are a little slut, aren't you, Shawna? Leave you for a month and you become a real tramp."
Shawna said, "Month, my ass, you guys have been gone over two months. At least, I think it's been that long. It seems like years." She looked at Sue, "Tell me the truth, I'll bet you've given her the taste test a lot more than once. As a matter of fact, I'll bet all of you girls have given that beauty a taste test."
Sue blushed and said, "Well, you don't expect me to be unfriendly to my husband's new Italian toy do you?"
"You dog, Steve, you got another one? Where are you going to put them."
Mercy said, "Only one is ours. The one with the bigger tits is Chuck's. They both come with two kids, so Chuck is finally among the parent group around here.
Chuck was taking the folks from Irish Bell around to meet people from the park. He had Michael at the bar plying him with some of our beer in frosty mugs.
Speaking of Chuck, Tiani had come to get Chuck who had left our group with her.
I could see some commotion near one of the doors. I saw Chuck and his girls half carrying Frieda out. I said, "Something is wrong with Frieda. We should find out."
Shawna said, "I'll bet she's going to pop. She's been acting funny for a couple of days. I think it's past her time."
I tried to push my way through the crowd and when I got outside, I saw the taillights of Chuck's big cart going around the corner.
Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
European tours, by Rotorhead
Another set of eyes – Knight6
Last one through - Deenara2000