Steve
Ah, Friday morning, the close of a busy, crazy week. As I slipped out of bed, Sue's eyes came open and she smiled at me. I figured she would sleep a few more minutes, so I used the bathroom, put on some shorts and a T-shirt, and went out to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee.
When I went out to the patio to see if the big pot was done, I turned the lights on, which is the signal. I heard Glenda's screen door slam and soon saw her coming across the grass in her morning robe attire.
There is something very comforting in having such a good friend as Glenda and to be able to start the day with her. We hugged when she came in, she poured herself a cup of coffee, and I followed by pouring myself one, and sitting with her at one of the small tables.
"Glad you're back, Steve," Glenda said, sincerely. "It scared all of us when we heard that you and Mercy were actually involved in a real gunfight. Martin said that it is a wonder you lived through all that stuff when you first moved here, and to now have to go through that stuff again. We're just glad to get you two back home."
"It was a fluke, Glenda. Some bad guys out there were using our company to deliver drugs to their dealers. We should be free of that stuff now."
Ruth and Tiny came in, poured some coffee, and sat with us. Ruth was wearing a fairly opaque robe, but it didn't hide anything, as it wasn't buttoned or tied, and gaped open showing all of her front. She said, "Nothing like being home. It does take a trip to make you appreciate how much you enjoy being home."
A cute little redhead leading some kids came to the patio. She had them all seated with cereal, juice, and milk before grabbing a cup, filling it, then sitting on my lap. Shawna said, "I sure am glad my lap is back. I do like to wiggle my bare butt on that thing every morning."
"So where's Charlie this morning?"
"Stump left early this morning. He had to go to Atlanta with Del to pick up a bunch of bikes. Sales are down, but Charlie said that with the price Del is buying the bikes for, he should be able to turn them fairly fast."
The patio was now rapidly filling with people. Glenda got up and I noticed that my ladies were all in the kitchen with lots of kids. All of my kids were soon eating, and the ladies were fixing something for the rest of us.
Kathy came out to supervise kids and came over to me, "Don't get involved in anything this evening. Remember that it's Chuck's big housewarming party. I don't know why Brandy insisted on doing it so fast, but she's ready. They actually finished moving in yesterday and stayed in the house last night."
I nodded, thinking that it was nice that Chuck was even closer now. His family and mine seem to have meshed very nicely. It was nice to have him live next door, or at least as next door as he could be.
The morning progressed until it was time for me to go into the shop and get caught up on everyday business.
At the shop, Debbie had a stack of messages for me that she said were all bullshit stuff and nothing radically important. Before tackling the phone stuff, I made a tour through the shops and buildings. Everyone was busy, with orders on their scheduling boards showing they had plenty of work.
Abe was working with his men as they were tackling some state-owned road equipment. The state had asked us if we could rebuild their heavy equipment cheaper than them buying or leasing it new. Abe wanted to give it a shot and was deep into dismantling a large front loader. They had a couple of graders outside with tents over them as they worked on them. This was good as it was another way to keep people working.
The big lift group was always busy and had several lifts outside waiting to be worked on.
Jeff's group was experimenting with some composite molds that Honeywell had spec'd out. These were pieces for their fighter that had a higher than usual structural failure. Honeywell would test the material to see if it would remain unseen for their stealth aircraft.
As I was finishing my calls, Tiny came in and said, "Come have a look at the T-shirt factory. Since they were going to be down while the build out was being done, I had a few changes made to make the place more appealing."
We walked down the street to the big concrete building and I could instantly see some major changes. In addition to doubling the size of the original plant, the old plant had wall surgery to install giant windows on both floors around the whole building. Tiny said, "This place always made me feel as if we were hiring people to work in the salt mines, but it's now open, airy, and at least, brighter. With the new ventilation and air conditioning system, it is now actually pleasant to work here."
We walked through the building and saw that every square inch of space was being used efficiently, from the weaving machines all the way to the screen-printing rooms. Tiny bragged, "You know this place is now going to produce about two hundred dozen T-shirts a day. I think we'll exceed that in time, but that's pretty good don't you think?"
I was amazed. You never really know what to expect from an entity if you're not really involved in the manufacturing process. I looked through some of the race day T-shirts, wondering if the plant could make enough of just those, much less the contract work that was coming in.
On the way back, we stopped in at the utility body shop. The shop was building a couple of big trucks that were slated for Nevada. If we were going to provide a welding service out there, we needed to provide our initial crew with a good work truck. The manager at this shop said, "Our sales of fiberglass pickup caps have increased very nicely lately. We have both the regular caps and the bed lids with the easy lift. It was very good of Jeff to come teach my men how to begin laying their mats to build our own caps."
Back at the shop, Tiny went over figures for various entities of the company. What was nice was that he had a different man come to show figures for each entity, letting me know that Tiny was delegating, as opposed to trying to do it all himself. As we went over the figures for the factory in Ireland, he said, "Sales are down over there, but the lift plant is rebuilding at a record pace. The new lift sales are down, but not bad, and all that is happening is that we are slowly catching up on a huge backorder condition."
Tiny continued, "When you visit those plants you should keep your eyes open for cheap property. This recession won't last, and when it does break, we'll be right back to a large backlog of orders. You could probably nearly double your size and presence over there and remain profitable. Talk to your Irish friends and see if they can help."
Tiny said the Italian plants were filling orders, but still had a little backlog. He did say, "I think we can begin shutting down half of the cart plant as employees turn over. If we don't rehire for retirement and people leaving for whatever reason, we can get down to half our existing size. That way the unions won't bitch, and we realistically won't be laying anyone off."
Lunch time meant a quick trip home to enjoy lunch with my ladies, kids, and a lot of folks from the business park. All of Chuck's ladies were at lunch, promising a fun time tonight.
After lunch, all of my ladies and I went to the gym, then joined Glenda at the pool for some sun. My lunches are the best, as I'm fed, then wonderfully pampered. After my extended lunch break, I went to the airfield to see how Wes was doing.
Wes was putting together all of his aircraft to show at Sun and Fun out over at Plant City. We had reserved a large area and some huge tents to show off our aircraft and kits. Wes was going to have his two men put together a biplane kit at Sun and Fun. He hoped to be able to fly it the last Sunday of the air show.
Mark was in the hangar working with Wes' men, who were finishing up a camper that was also going out to the show. Wes said, "Mark commissioned that thing just for him right now. He wants to fly around for a month and thought it would be neat to be able to sleep in the aircraft. Wait until you see the tent he had made to attach to the aircraft. He's close to max weight when full of fuel, but he said if he loads it too heavy, he'll just have to stop for fuel more often."
The Sun and Fun is going to be our introduction to the industry. There have been industry rumors, but no one from any of the industry magazines have been out to look at our product yet. When people see what they can buy, for the price they can buy it for, we'll have to build new hangars to build airplanes.
Wes took me into his office to show me his newest design. It was an aircraft that sort of resembled the Cessna 162 Skycatcher or a Tecnam 92, but looked a little sleeker. He had a second model that was a normal four-place aircraft. He had some figures handwritten in what looked like a wish list. He was planning on a service ceiling of over 15,000 feet so he was going to have to have auxiliary oxygen, but that could be done with bottles. He had a note that said, "Retractable gear for speed." Another note said, "Should be able to get about 180 kts." This was going to be a very fast, very healthy machine.
Wes pointed at the drawing and said, "If I do this right and the engine Abe says he has is as good as he says, this can be a reality for around a hundred grand or less. Imagine that, a fully equipped, fast four seater for a hundred grand."
He flipped a few sheets of drawings and showed me his four-place, low wing design. With a smile, Wes said, "This one is going to fly at around two hundred ten to two hundred twenty knots. With some winglets, retractable gear, and the right prop, this baby is going to be a winner."
I looked at Wes and asked, "How many different aircraft are you going to build?"
He looked up at me innocently, and said, "As many as it takes to make S&S aircraft a place in the industry. I haven't even shown you my ideas on twins yet. I've been researching various designs for all types of aircraft to find out what has worked and what hasn't. Everything is very straightforward to make the aircraft airworthy, easy and fun to fly. Want to build a jet? We could do that, you know. A single engine rocket or if you like the safety factor, a twin turbine speedster. I'll bet we could build something faster than most commercial aircraft and as safe, if not safer, than anything out there. With the materials we have available to use, we can damn near build a space shuttle."
I laughed at Wes' exuberance. "You're too much, Wes. Let's slow down and smell the daisies as we rush by. Let's start on the high wing next, then you can build your four-place machine as an experimental so we can begin working on approval."
Wes said, "I've incorporated all of the paperwork and paid attention to every regulation every step of the way. We have an attorney that knows the FAA rules inside out and he reviews everything for us. He's the one who helped set up all the product liability stuff. Tiny and your father-in-law, Ben Phillips, found him."
I guess I didn't have to worry about Wes and his people. I figured that I would hear from him any day, asking for more room to build aircraft commercially. He does have some interesting aircraft planned.
I checked in with Jimmy, who had a Tampa Police helicopter torn down. Tank and Jimmy were discussing what to do about some worn parts that the city didn't want to replace. Tank said, "Hey, I'm the certified man on this bird and I say it isn't flying until those parts are replaced. If we let it out of here and it goes down, it's our fault. Let's go back to them and I'll talk to whoever is making these decisions. I'll bet it isn't anyone who flies these birds."
Joy was working on one of our 150s, doing an annual. She said 'hi' then added, "You need some more training helicopters. Why don't you and Chuck get some training helicopters with regular piston engines? They are cheaper to operate and you should be able to buy them used at some cheap prices right now. We could use at least two, and perhaps as many as four. That way we can use all the rest for charter jobs."
I told her, "You should tell this to Chuck, but I'll mention it when I see him later. He's been busy lately, and I know it's hard to talk to him when he isn't here, but catch him when you can. He acts on things quickly if it is for the benefit of the company."
Betty was standing at her schedule board and she smiled when she saw me, "Isn't it great? Every pilot we have is on a charter or giving lessons today. Even with the high price for student time in one of the cheaper helicopters, we are booked solid. Even "Big Bird" is busy almost everyday."
"That's really great, Betty. Joy was just lobbying for some more training helicopters. I suppose we should look into it."
Betty was grinning and as I left, said, "Get 'em, Steve, we'll rent 'em."
DeDe was now fully healed from her mishap and was working the office, giving lessons, and flying charters when needed. She was working at the desk with a young lady when I came in. DeDe looked up and smiled, "Steve, this is Nancy Ferrel, Nancy, Steve Sharp, owner of S&S Enterprises and co-owner of S&S Air Charter Services."
I stuck my hand out to shake and Nancy stood up rather unsteadily and shook my hand. DeDe said, "Nancy is like Chuck. She's lost a leg and is still getting used to her prosthesis."
Nancy was blushing badly and almost looking ashamed. "Nancy, don't feel bad about your leg. My wife, Sue, and I both walk funny because of past injuries and one of my best friends only has one leg. You'll meet him as he flies in and out of here almost daily."
Nancy sat back down and said, "Thanks," quietly. DeDe said, "I'll soon have Nancy up to speed so I can begin giving more lessons. We're beginning to pick up more lessons lately, so I'm out looking for instructors again. Our jet jockeys get to be too important to give lessons. It's funny, I can get any of the helicopter guys to give lessons, and they double with the jet jockeys all the time. Wonder what the difference is?"
I said, "They just haven't learned to use all of their talents, DeDe."
As I was getting ready to leave, DeDe said, "Don't forget the girls' party tonight at Chuck's new place. Brandy was out here for her helicopter lesson and stopped in to make sure that Nancy, Betty, Wes, and I were coming. She went through all the hangars telling everyone to be there."
When I was in my truck, getting ready to go back to the shop, my cell phone rang. It was Ben, my father/uncle-in-law. "Steve, do you have a few minutes to go over some figures? I want your opinion on a couple of things, as well as go over some numbers."
"Can we do it later or tomorrow? I don't feel like going downtown on a Friday afternoon."
"Oh no, Steve, I'm here at your place? I'm ready to begin the weekend and I get to visit with Beth if I come out. I've already started without you. Beth is coming with some chips right now."
"I'll see you in a few, Ben. I'm leaving the airfield now."
This was unusual. Ben usually stayed at his office until close to five on Fridays, but he was already at the house. He was beginning to take it easier, or else it was something important.
When I walked into the patio, several kids ran up to give me a hug. I listened to what they had been doing today and watched as they ran off to do something else. I gave all of my ladies a hug, then joined Ben at the bar. He was looking through a fat folder.
Mercy brought me a tall iced tea as I sat down, and Ben began. "You know we pulled out of the Mexican oil properties and did some investments in some Brazilian oil exploration. Those have been very successful. Your properties in Alaska and Hawaii are doing very well, and as Tiny will tell you, everything is getting fat."
"So what's up, Ben?"
"You know you have allowed me to speculate with a portion of Sue's and your money. We split off twenty-five percent and I've let it grow when it could, but have never been at a point to come ask you for more. Well, some of it has just made a big hit. A small mining company in Colombia needed some capital and no one wanted to get involved. The unrest has tamed down a lot this last year and people are trying to get back to work. We, and that means you, Sue, Chuck, me, and a small dab of the 401K money, invested in this mining company."
Ben took a drink, looked at some papers, then continued. "The small company dug enough gold from the mountains on a continuing basis to make a living for their men and a small profit for their investors. Last month, they began finding some heavy veins that are producing exorbitant amounts of the precious metal. Now everyone wants in on the deal, but we effectively own the company and control a hundred percent of the shares."
Ben looked like a greedy villain, rubbing his hands together. "Steve, my boy, you are once again a millionaire. Now just so you don't get crazy, I have to tell you what I've done with a lot of the profits so far. The community did not have a hospital; one is now being built. They didn't have hardly any municipal buildings, and now they have some nice office trailers. We are having the road into the community paved, plus we have dug another deep well for the area that should provide all the water they will ever need."
I was smiling, thinking that this was really generous of Ben. He continued, "We are having a new school built and have donated the funds to rebuild the old church in town. In other words, we have rebuilt the community. The people have money for their needs, and we are all profiting because of it. The mine is bringing out a couple of tons of gold a week, to give you an idea. We're probably losing a hundred pounds or so of gold a week from men carrying some off, but it would be a lot more if the men didn't think we cared for them. Do you know how much a ton of gold is worth?"
"Not a clue, Ben, how much?"
Ben actually giggled, "That's about twenty-six million a ton and we're taking over two tons a week from the dig."
"That's really something, Ben. What are you going to do with the money? Don't we both have enough?"
Ben didn't frown, but came down to ground level, "Yeah, we do have enough, but it's fun to find a winner. That's why I'm pouring so much money back into the economy down there. I've even found doctors and nurses to begin working in a portable hospital that we had shipped in. Those people are eating good, living well, and their health is being taken care of."
I sat back and thought about the find. "So, Ben, what do we do for an encore?"
He smiled and said, "Easy, we find some more ventures to get involved in. We ride this until the vein or veins run out and sell out, but by then, the community will be fixed up. We'll leave in good standing with a happy community."
"Well," I said, "I guess that calls for a drink. Let me get you another, Ben, and we'll toast your success."
I made us each a drink and we toasted, then Ben said, "I want us to go down there to see if we can do anything else for the people. We can take Juanita to help us with the language, but I think it would be good if we went there and said hi to the people, and made sure the working conditions in the mine are safe. I've hired an engineering firm to come inspect the mine for us."
"Maybe we can let someone else do that for us, Ben. Colombia still has a lot of people who make their living on the other side of the law. How about we stay here and send some relocated natives to act for us."
Ben said, "I'm going and if I ask her, Beth will come with me. Come on Steve, we'll be safe. We're giving back to the people and not taking everything for ourselves."
"You know, Ben, for a very intelligent man, you can come up with some hair-brained ideas. Have you checked to see how many kidnappings have occurred during the last twelve months, or even just in the last month? Do that and then tell me you will be safe. The kidnap rate down there about is about as much as we have druggies robbing 7-11s. I don't want you or Beth to go, Ben, and I'm going to be forceful about Beth. She's not going."
Ben was frowning, and said, "It would be so good to see people happy with what we have done. I just wanted us to see it and bask in a little glory."
"Bask here; bask in Key West; bask in Costa Rica, but don't go down to Colombia."
"Okay, okay, I won't go," Ben said, with regret. "I'll make sure the engineering company has some men go with them for security. I'll send a camera crew to photograph and film the area so we can see it up close. At least we can see what's going on there."
"Good deal, Ben, now here's to you. Salute! Thanks for making even more money for your daughter and me."
Ben said, "It is funny isn't it. We make money, and the money makes money, and that money makes even more money. How much is enough? If we help others with it, is it bad to keep making more money?"
"I don't know, Ben. I know that my family, friends, and employees are all well-fed and happy. What more can I ask for?"
With a smile, Ben said, "You've always lived a simple life and constantly shared with others. That's been your success. I've enjoyed a life of pampered luxury because of my parents' success and wealth. Until Sue became involved with you, I didn't socialize much and now all these folks out here are our friends, and many are now clients. It's amazing how many people have means, but choose to remain here. I suppose that is happiness."
Sue came out and hugged her dad and me, then asked for a drink with Diet Coke. As we spoke, kids began coming out to sit with, and on, us. Pretty soon, all of the young ones were with us, drinking juice, water, or Kool-Aid. Stevie asked, "Dad, we were wondering when we were going on our big sailing adventure? All of us are anxious to go, and we want to see Ireland and Italy. We would like to see more of Europe if we can, but if not, we want to plan a regular trip over there to see more. We guys want to see some of the World War II bunkers and monuments. The girls want to see the Eiffel Tower, and we all want to see the Louvre, or at least as much as possible."
Sue said, "Wow, that's a lot to see in one trip. We might have to schedule a couple of trips to see all you want to see. We should divide Europe into sections that can be seen during two weeks and go every couple of months for a couple of weeks. That way we can see Europe in the summer and winter. Why don't you guys do that while you learn geography? Make a list of places in each part of Europe you want to see."
You could see the kids looking at each other, figuring out how to get to see what they wanted to see. The ten young ones of mine instantly went to one of the big tables and huddled together, as they began their plans. Sue said, "You know they will do exactly that. Those ten can put together very intricate plans. They want to know exactly where we will sail to so they can see various things while we are there. I'm waiting to see when they will hit us with their plans. If a lot of the other kids come, it will get crazier."
Mercy came out and sat on my lap, "Well, are you ready to go see what Chuck has done with his house? Brandy said to come over about five. You know Chuck is on his way with a new person. He won't talk to me, but he has someone with him."
I said, "Mercy, you have to quit getting into his head all the time. Between you and our mother, you two don't let the man have any time of his own."
Mercy laughed, "He can keep me out even better than my mom. He opens up just a little corner and let's me see there, but nothing else. He should be here any minute."
At four, Chuck's car drove up in front and Chuck and another guy got out. Bonita squealed, "Chuck's here," loud enough that her mother heard and came out to the patio.
When Chuck came in, he introduced everyone to the guy who had been with him in Hawaii and out in Vegas.
As I was introducing him, Kathy came up to him and said, "You're Sam Nightfox aren't you?"
When Sam asked about Jake, Kathy told him of Jake's demise. That was a sad moment, but the mood improved when Bonita introduced herself and told Sam that all the kids on the patio, about fifty at that moment, or at least it seemed like fifty, were her brothers and sisters. Kathy said, "Not quite all of them are mine, but several are."
Peaches, Lisa's momma, was at our place, as usual. She greeted Sam warmly, and you could see him melt from the friendliness of the folks he was meeting.
Chuck said, "Well, let me get to the new place and see my menagerie. I think Sam is going to feel overwhelmed for a while, but he'll adapt."
The two took off, after Chuck had to give hugs to a lot of the little girls and handshakes to the guys. You could tell that he was going to be a good dad when the time came. Sam followed Chuck, looking amazed at how Chuck got along with the kids.
Kathy came over and tried to curl up on my lap the way Mercy does, but couldn't quite get her whole body on my lap the same way. She enjoyed my hug and said, "It's funny, Sam Nightfox was a loner back then. The man liked Jake and would hang out with him, but wouldn't come for dinner or to spend some time with us. He was a total loner. He's doing that with Chuck now. I wonder how he's going to get along with all those women."
Mercy said, "You know Chuck. He makes people feel good around him. This Nightfox man will follow and learn from Chuck. He'll probably come out of his shell and become a better man for it."
I told them, "You know, men like that in combat were invaluable as they were totally unflappable. They were able to accompany you into the worst of it and you knew you were with someone that would be a help. He needs the same thing now and found it in Chuck. I'm not sure who Nightfox works for, but you can bet they give the two of them some heavy problems to resolve."
Sue got up and grabbed Ben's and my glasses and said, "I'll get you guys another before we have to go over there. Ben, you should go say hi to Beth. I think she's getting ready in the bedroom on the left. No hanky panky, you don't have time."
All of us laughed as Ben blushed on his way inside to see Beth.
Juanita came out with a sleepy look on her face. Mercy asked, "Have you been asleep all afternoon?"
Juanita said, "Si, I have no energy. Perhaps a Cuba Libre will help. Give me one with real Coke and that will get me going."
Mercy fixed Juanita a light drink and gave it to her with a lime floating in the glass. Juanita did look a little thinner than usual. I think we need to get her a thorough physical. I leaned over to Kathy and asked, "Have you girls thought of trying to get Nita to go for a physical?"
Kathy leaned back and looked at me, "She's worse than you are. If you want her to go to the doc, you take her. She might go if you do it. She's losing weight and is tired all the time. She needs to be looked at."
I said, "Go call our doc and make an appointment for Monday morning. Tell the doctor's office to plan on a very thorough exam."
Kathy began getting up and said, "How about you getting one too. You know you're not getting any younger, and it's probably time for you too."
"Okay, I'm due for my flight physical, so schedule me too, but Juanita is the important one."
Sue was smiling, "Thank you, Love. We've begged Nita to go, but she says she's fine, just getting older. She's not that old and I want her around for a long time."
I smiled, "Me too. She's part of us, an important part of us."
Kathy came out and said, "The doc says to come in early tomorrow morning as he has to give a bunch of athletic physicals after ten. He wants you both there at eight, and says it's about time you came in for a physical, as your annual flight physical has expired."
I needed someone to watch those things for me. I always forget.
Ben and Beth came out of the house, with both of their hair messy, and Beth walking funny. Sue grabbed her mother and led her back into the house. As they stepped up into the family room, I saw a runner of white gooey stuff running down Beth's leg. Mercy saw it too and giggled. She said, "At least they have the right idea on how to get ready to go out."
Kathy said, "Come help me get ready, Mercy, and I'll show you another way."
The two girls grinned and ran into the house, leaving me alone with Juanita and Ben, who was sitting in a big stuffed chair with a grin on his face.
Juanita sat up close and I hugged her to me. She looked up at me with a sweet smile and said, "My life is so full and good. You, Mercy, and Sue brought me into your lives with so much love. I've been the happiest anyone could be for these many years. I love you, Steve, I love our family so much. Take care of them, take care of us."
I don't know what she was alluding to, but I hugged her and kissed the top of her head. Juanita had a contented smile on her face. Hopefully the doc will find no problem tomorrow.
It was soon almost five, and all the folks from the patio were ready to invade Chuck's new place.
About thirty golf carts took off for Chuck's place and descended on him en masse. More and more people kept coming as we were parking. The street was lined on both sides with carts backed in to save room.
At the open door, Chuck's ladies were arranged with Tiani and Nancy first, then Tina and Judy, then Frieda, and finally Brandy and Lisa. Lena and her large sister, Tina, were there too, along with some people I knew to be
Brandy's, Nancy's, and Tiani's moms.
It was neat the way they introduced everyone then busted us up into groups to give tours of the place. Each of the residents took a group of four to six and started out in different directions so they wouldn't clash. My ladies and I were at a disadvantage, as we needed to divide up the kids and become three separate groups. I was with the group led by Lisa, who began in Chuck's office.
The place was grand, very fancy and ornate. Someone had found a very nice scale model sailboat that was strategically placed on the credenza behind his desk. The bookcases had some model airplanes that represented some of the aircraft Chuck had flown.
From there, we went down a hall into the main bedroom. Wow! Huge! I thought our bed was big. This one was at least another five or six feet wider. There were some chairs around the big bedroom, but no dressers or anything like that. Off one wall was a future nursery and children's rooms. Off another wall was a huge bathroom, with six sinks in a row, along with two toilets in two little rooms. There was a giant tub, plus a shower with enough heads to make you want to see what really went on when the water was turned on. At the front of the bathroom area was a small walk-in closet with lots of drawers next to hanger space. It was explained that this was Chuck's closet area. That explained the men's clothes hanging there.
Down a long hallway, we were shown into the first of what I thought was a closet. On the left were clothes and drawers. On the right were more clothes, plus a nice double bed, with built in bookshelves and lights to read in bed. At the foot of the bed, a flat panel TV hung from the ceiling.
Just past a doorway, on one side, was a large stuffed chair with a lamp, more bookshelves, and another TV. On the other wall was a desk with a PC, a phone, and built in drawers and more shelves. Through the next doorway area was the bathroom, with a toilet closet, a single sink, a tub, and a small shower room. To make the place very pleasant, all of the walls in the entire area were cedar. The area smelled great. Lisa explained that each lady had one of these areas to they could have some privacy when they needed it.
Next, we looked through the unfurnished kids' rooms then moved through the huge family room and kitchen. Peaches was fixing something in the kitchen, and Glenda was right there with her. The two ladies were joined by Shirley and little Maria from the trailer park.
Our group went through the apartments, then outside to view the garage with the unfinished upstairs, a cottage, and the music studio. The studio looked really professional and had a room for sets to film videos. The recording rooms were nice as was the central control room that had windows into six recording rooms. While we toured, there was pleasant jazz being played that Lisa informed us was her and Chuck, with a bunch of her friend's original music.
When we came back into the house, we were shown the formal living room, then led into the big dining room. There, the chairs were all against the wall and the table was filled with loads and loads of food. As we began loading plates, two little oriental ladies came to help us, accompanied by another Latin lady who we found out was also named Maria. Maria was Chuck's housekeeper from his other house.
Lisa was beaming with happiness at the opportunity to show off the home. She left us to begin a tour with another group of people. My group went out to the patio area where there were lots of table and chair groupings. It was nice out there next to the pool. The grass and pool smelled great, giving the kids the itch to jump in. In a few minutes, we were joined by the other two groups of people made up of my family.
Sue commented on how music was playing all over the house. It wasn't the same either, but several different types of music that was all Lisa and Chuck. I wondered when he had time to record all of it. Now he would have a better studio for it.
About an hour later, Chuck's boss, John Scott, and the Marshal, with their families showed up. That was an apparent surprise, as Chuck was very happy to show them around.
Ben came up to me and said, "When you first come in the front door, you think you should be greeted by a butler. You keep that feeling until you hit the family room and then it's very laid back, very comfortable. How about the Brunswick pool table in there? Nice. I didn't know Chuck played pool."
"You know, there's a lot about Chuck that we don't know, but it comes out a little at a time. We'll know him pretty good in another twenty years or so."
Another surprise came through the door. Dewey, his two ladies, and his kids all came in, wearing big smiles. Everyone greeted everyone, then Dewey and family were given the tour.
Chuck and Nightfox were sitting in the family room talking to John and the Marshal. Chuck was smiling at them, and you could tell the two were a little upset about something. Chuck waved for me to come over to them, and when I got there, he asked, "Steve, you're closer to this than I am. How much did I pay for all of this?"
I was surprised at the question, but answered honestly, "I have no idea. Is it important? If you have enough to afford it and not worry how much it cost, is it really important?"
"Exactly," Chuck said.
Chuck pointed at me and said, "This man has helped me turn a little bit of money into a whole lot of money. The only person that knows how much is that guy over there, Ben. He knows, but won't tell me. He was trying to tell me something on the phone today about some gold mine in Columbia, but I told him it wasn't important. Both of you guys are fixed financially. You both have more than you will ever spend. It isn't important how much you have; it's what you're doing with it that's important. I'll tell you one thing. Every time I give more money to help someone or some cause, I get more coming in. It's uncanny, because I just helped out a small church near here that needed some serious help. It seems that as soon as I helped out there, I received a call that I was lucky somewhere else. So let me tell you, find people that need help and give it to them. You'll get a good feeling and you'll probably end up with more money to help more people."
The Marshal said, "That's why you should be in DC. You can't be influenced by money, and you're an honest, hardworking deputy."
"Sure," Chuck said, "I'd show up for a party with my seven women, and that would go over well."
John sputtered, "Well, you couldn't bring them all, perhaps two, but it's not important to those people."
Chuck said, "Enough. I'm enjoying my new home. I want you two to enjoy it too. I think the cottages are ready for visitors, so you two can stay here tonight."
John said, "We've already checked in downtown. We love those penthouses. We're going back to Costa Rica tomorrow. We'll be there through next week, then back to the grindstone."
When I left, Nightfox followed me outside to my family. There, he sat near Kathy and they had a smiling conversation.
As the night got later and everyone had eaten until they were ready to pop, I noticed Nightfox sitting at the counter in the kitchen. He was talking to the tiny little Maria from the trailer park who was making something. She would taste it and keep saying, 'not enough yet, ' and put more of something into the mixture.
When she had finished her concoction, she went to find Chuck, Mercy, and Kathy. When she brought them back, she produced a bowl of tortilla chips and gestured toward a large bowl of what looked like salsa. Chuck tried some and smiled. He scooped some on another chip and fed Kathy, then did the same for Mercy. They were both oohing and ahhing over how good it was.
Peaches came in and Chuck told her, "Try some, Peaches, Maria really did a good job on it."
Peaches tried some and said, "Oowee! That is good. You'll have to show me, Maria."
Nightfox leaned over and took a chip and scooped a healthy bunch of salsa on it and shoved it into his mouth. He was chewing when it hit him. His eyes opened the size of half-dollars and his face turned red. He was chewing as fast as he could with sweat rolling from his face.
When he had swallowed, Nightfox was motioning that he needed something to drink, fast. Maria realized what the problem was and gave him some water, then came around the counter and pulled Sam's head down and locked her lips on his.
Sam was shocked, petrified, and totally startled. Maria kept her lips to Sam's for over a couple of minutes. When she slowly let her lips relax from his, he was almost reluctant to let her go. Maria grinned up at Sam and said, "The best way to get over the heat of spicy food is a good kiss. You kiss good, Gringo, I like the way you kiss. You are a good man, I think."
Sam actually blushed. He had hold of Maria's arm until he realized he was holding her, then quickly let her go. Little Maria said, "I like the way you hold me too. We should practice, yes?"
The other Maria who had worked at Chuck's home in Carolwood, came up to all of us and said, "This is last call for the food in the dining room. If you want some more, please come. We're getting ready to take it to the Salvation Army for late night snacks. It'll be gone in a few minutes."
Little Maria was cleaning up the kitchen where she had made the salsa. As she did that, she kept flashing looks at Nightfox, and he was still gawking at the diminutive little Latin lady. Maria left the kitchen, and Sam went to sit on one of the couches facing the television. A short while later, Maria came back into the family room with her kids. She walked around to Sam and stood in front of him with her little ones. We didn't hear what was said, but in seconds, the little ones were up on the couch with Sam and Maria was snuggled in Sam's lap.
Mark, Caroline, Shirley, and Betty were making the rounds saying goodnight to everyone. When Mark encountered Maria sitting on Sam Nightfox's lap, he looked at them, shook Sam's hand, and received a hug from Maria. She pulled Mark's head down and whispered into his ear, then sat back in Sam's lap. Whatever was said made Mark smile as he left.
I love the interaction between people. Everyone is so full of love and happiness, but not all can let it out. I think Nightfox was experiencing something for the first time in his life as he sat watching TV with Maria and her kids.
Knowing it was getting late, I began gathering my brood. When we had everyone accounted for, we went home to the patio and made more rounds of drinks and discussed the evening while the kids were put to bed. Everyone was equally astounded as to how big, but how comfortable, the big house was and agreed that it was because the central feel of the house was the kitchen/family room, along with the patio and pool area.
Ben and Beth were staying overnight, and had joined Tiny, Kevin, Henry, and their wives, for a trip up to the hot tub. Those remaining in the patio said goodnight and headed toward their own places.
In bed, the girls were still excited by the big house and felt like playing. We played, and played, and played. When I had discovered wells within each of my ladies, and had them spewing juices, I was finally able to settle them down. All of them, even Juanita, were a total handful tonight.
Primary editing by Pepere
Proofing by Sagacious
Additional Helicopter/Aviation/Legal Knowledge by Rotorhead
Last one through — Deenara2000