Friday, July 2, 1999
My mind was getting back to East coast time as I woke at seven. The girls were each lying against me with a head on a shoulder. Sue had a firm grip on my morning ego, while a small hand was cupping my balls. My mind began to work as it did this time of day.
"How lucky can a guy be? Sue is so loving. She's going to be a mom. I'm going to be a dad. She's brought this strange, loving, creature into our home and heart. I don't need another woman around. Maybe Sue does. But she is a love. She's so cute one second, then beautiful the next. She's not built like Sue, but who is. It's probably a good thing. I don't know what I would do with so much to play with.
"It's hard to believe we just took her with us. She willingly traveled over twenty-five hundred miles to be with us, to live with us. She really doesn't know us. But then she does. What is she, what will she be to us. Sue seems to have a plan, so I guess I'm just along for the ride.
"I didn't think I wanted to come back to work last week, but now I'm ready. We'll have a weekend to get in a groove, then we'll be back to work. I wonder what Mercy would like to do. There are so many jobs for her at either my shop or with Sue. Mercy is so feminine that she would probably be good to work with Sue. That would balance Hanna's masculine demeanor a little.
"Everyone's going to love Mercy. She is so sweet, so very beautiful that she sometimes looks like a big doll. I like to take her clothes off, while the girls like to put clothes on her. Sue sure likes to dress and undress her.
"Sue has been very gentle with Mercy. She's been extremely loving toward her, almost like Sue feels that Mercy belongs to her, and she wants to hold her close so she won't get away. I guess I feel that way too. But then I'm so in love with Sue that I'm surprised Mercy has such a big place in my heart."
A tiny hand that had been cupping by balls turned my face so lips could consume mine. Mercy kissed and kissed me as tears dripped onto my face. "You are so sweet to think of me so lovingly. I'm so in love with you and with Sue. You really are concerned for me and what I think. Don't worry Steve, I'm yours and I'm Sue's."
Sue pulled herself up to me and kissed me too. "Mercy, we are so lucky to have a man that can love us so much. From the first time I saw him out the window of my home, I wanted him. I think I knew we were going to be partners right then, but it took a while."
Our kissing and fondling caused a delay in getting up. By the time the two girls were satisfied with my performance, my bladder was bursting. While I used the bathroom the two of them loved each other. It wasn't lust or just raw passion, it was simply two people loving each other. Beautiful!
We finally got up packed and loaded the car. On the way back to the mainland we had breakfast at IHOP. Pancakes, French toast, and all the sticky syrup. The girls were like little kids, sampling all of the different flavors of syrups.
After turning in the car, we went out to the airplane with our bags now a little fuller, since the girls had been shopping. It was so strange to look at how much room was inside the plane. I had to finally ask. "Sue, why do you want or need a plane that can carry eight or nine people? Why so big?"
"If Mom and Ben want to go with us then we have the room for them and you know Mom, she's brings most of her clothes closet with her when she travels. Then if we were to go to the islands, we would probably want to take some of our friends with us. This thing will do it. It's not as fast as a twin, but a hundred sixty to seventy isn't bad. A lot faster that the 172."
I had to agree, but this thing was like a junior airliner. We were in the air by nine, and on approach by a little after ten. We would have been earlier, but we wandered over the coast a little looking at the sights. The runway was nicely marked and very smooth blacktop. Sue did her three point landing so gently you didn't even know you were down till she cut the power as we rolled out. We taxied up to the administration or operations building and shut down.
I went inside to introduce myself and to find out where they wanted the plane. They said they had full valet service so an attendant would take the plane, refuel it, and put it in the hangar. I asked them to call a taxi for us but the girl said, "You live just down the road, right? Your wife told me you live in the same park I do. I'll get someone to watch the desk and I'll run you down there. It'll only take a minute. My name is Diane, glad to meet you, Steve."
We pulled our luggage from the plane, checked to make sure we were leaving the plane clean, then loaded our stuff into the trunk of a Ford Taurus. When we pulled up to our drive the counter girl exclaimed, "You guys live in the house where all the people come. Wow, you guys have parties all the time. I see you out here for breakfast sometimes too."
Sue said, "Diane, we're having a welcome home party tonight. Please come by for some food and drink. You can meet all of our friends and if you want, you and your husband can join all of us for breakfast or in the evening for a drink after work."
"My husband will go nuts. He's always saying that you guys have the neatest place he's ever seen. I can't wait to call him. We will be there tonight, thanks."
As soon as we got out of the car, Glenda came around the house from the patio. Sue and Glenda hugged, then she and I hugged. As soon as Sue introduced her to Mercy, Glenda hugged her too. Mercy was smiling with happiness at her welcome. We went through the front door instead of the patio because it was closer.
Hanna came running down the hall to hug Sue, then me. Sue introduced Mercy to her and Hanna hugged her too, welcoming her to our big family. Hanna said the rest of the office staff was at the plant working on setting up a new garment they had just designed.
I took the bags back to the bedroom and came back out. Glenda said I should look at what the contractor was doing to the patio. I walked out to see two men on ladders with power screwdrivers, attaching large vent covers. I walked outside, to encounter more men putting up a big tent while more unloaded portable air conditioners, tables, and chairs. I looked up on the roof to see heavy metal vents and two large air units. That wasn't very pretty. There were bunches of hoses and electrical lines channeled down the back of the patio going to the compressors that were on the other side of the storage building. There were covers to put over the wiring and hoses, so I knew that part would look good. I asked one of the workers where the contractor was and he said he had gone to the lumber yard and would be back in a few minutes.
When I came back onto the patio, Mercy was looking at everything with big eyes. "You really do go all out. Do you fill this table up with people often?"
"Actually, Mercy, the table is too small anymore. We have to get another extension. It only holds twenty and we're more than that now."
"Wow, you fix supper for twenty people every night?"
"Most nights, but we don't fix supper. We take turns. So a family or two families or more get together and make supper for everyone. That way we spread the work out and we all get to taste someone else's good food."
"That's so neat. What's breakfast like?"
I sat in one of the comfortable lawn chairs with a cup of coffee and explained, "I get up early, so I start coffee and come out with a cup and turn the light on. That's a signal for anyone who is up to come over for coffee. One of our friends, a man that works with me, brings breakfast sandwiches and we often get donuts or pastry for a treat. I see we have a new huge coffee maker, so I guess that will help take care of making coffee. I wonder if it is big enough; sometimes there's a big group in the morning."
Mercy seemed excited, "I can't wait for breakfast to see all those sleepy people come alive, to wake up with friends in the morning. I'll bet that makes their day go well."
The door back door slammed and Mandy came through. We hugged, and when I introduced her to Mercy, she hugged and kissed her, telling how lucky she was to be a part of Sue and me. I asked what she was doing off so early. She said that both Sandy and she had doctor's appointments today so they took off a half day. When I asked if anything was wrong she said, "No, everything's great. We both had an IUD put in and a prescription for the pill so we won't be moms before we want to. Our guys don't want to use condoms when they need to, so we're going to take care of the problem. It's either that or get them snipped."
"Um, Mandy, you two weren't very careful with me, I thought you were on the pill before?"
"Oh, we were on the pill, but both of us forget all the time. Sue reminded us everyday when we were hanging around with you guys. Since she hasn't been around to remind us, we probably almost got caught. Now we won't screw up."
"Where's Sandy?"
"She went back to work. She wanted to finish a customer's rebuild and only had a couple of hours to do. We've been getting a lot of track-trashed motors to rebuild. Most are rebuildable, so the customer saves a little money, but there is a lot less warranty."
She looked around and asked, "You going to cool us off out here? That's going to be great so we can have our evenings together through the summer. Supper was beginning to be too hot to eat, even with the fans."
The Taylor rental guys were done, so I went out and tipped them for their fast work. They said they would come out Monday and take the tent down and pick up the tables and chairs.
The contractor was backing his pickup into the yard. When he got out, he came onto the patio, shook my hand, and went to the refrigerator to get a bottle of water. "I didn't like the way all that equipment looked on the top of your patio roof, so I went to get some material to make a frame and some colored aluminum panels that will hide it. Sort of like a fence up there. I think you'll like it. Wonder why the air isn't on yet, I'll check."
As soon as he left, a guy came in with a funny looking thermostat. He mounted it next to the fan and light panel then motioned me over. He showed me that there was a timed setting for so many minutes at a time and a setting for a begin time and end time. I could do either. There was also a manual on and off. I set the timed setting for an hour then turned it on. In a minute ice cold air came from the vents. Wow, this was going to freeze some folks out.
The contractor came back into the patio, turned the temperature setting down then turned on the overhead fans so there was a gentle cool breeze throughout the patio. "That should do it. The temperature setting is different from regular air conditioners. It's for the amount of cooling that will be done to the inducted air. I'm not sure how it will be when it rains, but just adjust it to the weather. This thing can spit out ice cubes if you turn it all the way down."
Glenda came out of the house with a cup of coffee and sat in a lawn chair. "This feels so nice. Thank you for the air. Now I have a place to enjoy the outside and still be cool. You'll have to start up those air units under the tent about four so it's cool under there. We're going to have food on this table and more under the tent. If everyone comes that Ruth says will come, it's going to be crowded. I ordered four porta potties to be put by the storage shed. That will help with the bathroom traffic. That's something you may have to address one of these days with the large group we have now."
Samantha came in the door. She came up and hugged me, then, when I introduced her to Mercy, she blushed a really bright red then hugged her. She said she wanted to see Sue and went into the house to find her. Mercy had a shit eating grin on her face. She just looked at me and said, "Tell you later."
Glenda asked if I was hungry. "You know me Glenda, I'm always hungry."
Glenda said she had a big pot of soup warming and a stack of sandwiches. Mercy went with her to bring paper plates and bowls out to eat. Glenda brought the big pot out and ladled soup out to a long line of bowls. Mercy was confused as there were not that many people there right then.
As Sue, Samantha, and Hanna came out of the house, Betty and Joan parked in the yard. As soon as Sue introduced Mercy to them, they both hugged her, welcoming her. They all remarked about the air conditioner. Glenda brought the contractor in to eat with us, but couldn't convince his workers to come in. I looked out toward the street to see Charlie coming across the street on crutches. He came through the door saying, "I knew it was lunch time, my stomach told me. Hey Steve, you're back and who's this delectable little creature. My, oh my."
"You leave her alone, Charlie," Sue warned. "This is Mercy, she has come to join us, perhaps permanently."
"You sure can collect them, Sue. Mercy, don't let me scare you off. When you meet my crazed wife, you'll understand why I'm a nut case."
Charlie turned back to me and said, "I saw Jim come get your FLH yesterday and bring it back with an appendage. You know about that?"
"Sure do, Charlie," I said pointing at Mercy. "I needed to create a little room, if you know what I mean."
"Ah," he said, before stuffing a sandwich in his mouth.
Martin came in and kissed Glenda then gave Sue a hug then shook my hand. "Sure glad to see you two. It's been lonely without you. Say, the cool air is nice, how about that?"
Martin was introduced to Mercy, then he sat next to Glenda where a bowl of soup was waiting for him.
Mercy couldn't take it anymore. "My goodness, there are ten of us and this is an impromptu lunch. What must a real party be like?"
Charlie smiled and said, "You ain't seen nothin' yet. Wait till our friend Hap and his crew show up. Hap and Bear have been going crazy that Steve's been out of town, just knowing Steve was getting into some kind of trouble. I'll bet that if I called him right now to tell him Steve was home, he'd be here in under fifteen minutes."
Before I could caution her, Mercy said, "I want to see that. Who is this Hap guy anyway?"
"Uh, Uh, Hap is uh, a friend of Stevie and mine. He's a little different and some of his friends are a little rough around the edges. Let me call, you time it."
Charlie used the cordless phone on the table and only said a few words then hung up. He was grinning when he set the phone down. He went back to eating.
Sue had gotten Mercy a Diet Coke and a Coke for me, showing Mercy where the bar refrigerator was and that there was usually more in the fridge in the house.
About the time I was finishing my sandwich, I heard the roar. Charlie started laughing and asked, "How much time has passed?"
Mercy looked at her watch and said, "About seven minutes."
Close to twenty bikes slid to a stop outside the porch. I went outside as Hap and Bear got off their bikes. Hap gave me a hug then Bear actually picked me up while hugging me. Hap's lady gave me a kiss on the cheek saying she was glad I was back so Hap would quit worrying. Several of the two clubs' members that I knew came up to shake my hand, saying welcome back.
Sue came out of the house and Hap and Bear, then Hap's lady, treated her the same. Mercy had followed Sue out, so Sue introduced Hap and Bear to her. Hap gave her a hug and said, "You look like just the thing to help Steve on a cold winter night while Sue is cuddling her new baby."
Mercy was blushing a little, but she was beginning to understand my friends. I invited the bunch to enjoy a beer with us, but Hap said that the clubhouse was full as they had a visiting club and were expected back right away. He said if we had an opportunity, we should come by over the weekend as it was going to be a non-stop party. He said I might need some property vests to keep guys away from Sue and Mercy, but he would try to control the animals.
Bear shook my hand again, then hollered, "Mount up." Twenty bikes roared to life as Hap yelled out, "Nice to see you, Crip." This was spoken at Charlie who was waving. Just as fast as they came, they were gone.
When we went back inside, I could feel the huge difference in temperature.
Mercy was sitting next to me and asked, "What would you have done if they had stayed?"
"Gave them beer, fixed more sandwiches, made more soup. You know, we would have treated them like family."
"They were pretty rough looking. Are they a motorcycle gang?"
Charlie took that one, "They are a motorcycle club. They are not a gang. They are trying to be good citizens, but have some of their own that make it tough. Hap and Bear work hard to keep their guys away from drugs or other illegal activity. They're doing a pretty good job too."
"Why do they like Steve so much?"
Charlie smiled again and said, "The usual for Steve. He saved both of their lives. He's done some other good deeds that they are thankful for, as well. Steve's shown he's a friend, they've shown Steve he's a brother."
Mercy sat there a while, then the usually-quiet Samantha had something to say, "You'll hear it all one of these days. Steve just goes around protecting everyone and saving us all from something or someone. Steve saves them and Sue takes care of them."
"All right, you guys, I'm right here. Enough with all the talk about me." I paused, then asked Charlie, "Can you ride now or do you still have to take it easy?"
Charlie answered, "I went riding last week. My leg still hurts a little. I think I can go out this week though, I should be fine now as long as I don't get hit again."
We cleaned up the table and I helped wash the dishes from lunch. Glenda put the leftover soup into the fridge so someone could have a snack if they wanted. The huge platter of sandwiches was gone. The crew can put away some food.
Sue said she wanted to go down to the plant so she could say hi to everyone before closing. I said I would go with her so I could get my truck, as I had left it there.
We drove to the plant where Sue took Mercy in with her. I walked across the street, smiling at the big S&S sign on the front. I walked in and saw a girl at a desk in front of my office. There was a dog behind her lying on a mat. The girl stood and said, "Welcome to S and S Enterprises. How may I help you?"
Debbie had looked up and came out. Before I could answer the girl, Debbie was in my arms kissing me. "I'm so glad you're back. I kinda thought you might just keep going."
"No chance, Debbie. Let me meet this lovely lady." I said putting Debbie down.
"Cindy, this is the boss. This is Steve Sharp. The guy you've heard so much about."
"Hello, Mr. Sharp, I'm happy to meet you," she said as she offered me her hand. It was at that point that I realized she was blind. I took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze and let it drop back to her side.
"I'm very happy to meet you too, Cindy, but my name is Steve. Mr. Sharp would be my dad. Are you enjoying it here? Is there something we can do to make you more comfortable?"
"This is perfect. I can walk to the bathroom from here and walk to the downstairs lunchroom. I've been upstairs too, but mostly just to the downstairs one. All the people are very friendly and very nice. I've even been out to your house already. Debbie brought me out with Deanne and Julie."
I looked at Debbie and asked, "Who is Julie?"
"My other new assistant. Cindy, call Deanne and tell her Steve is here."
That was sort of silly because I could see Deanne working from where I was. I watched Cindy as she pushed the button on her big phone for Deanne and watched as she turned her head with her mouth open. She dropped the phone, and long, tall, Deanne came loping into the showroom. It was a good thing I didn't underestimate her size, as she leaped onto me, wrapping her legs around me, kissing my face. I had to say, "Down girl, down." The dog behind Cindy's desk lifted its head and looked at me.
Another girl, this time a dark-complexioned Latin walked into the show room. Debbie introduced me to Julie, saying that Julie was the daughter of a lady that worked for Sue and had just finished her Associates degree at the community college.
I shook her hand as she stared at me. She finally said, "You're not that tall and you're average to look at, but every female in this place has the hots for you, how come?"
"You're embarrassing me now. I'm sure not all of them, but I am friends with everyone."
Julie said in a heavily Spanish accented voice, "Well, if those two lezzies you have back in the motor shop are an example, every lady here has the hots for you."
"That's nice to know and I'm glad most of them are married."
Julie looked at me coyly and said, "I'm not."
Tall Deanne looked down on four foot six Julie and said, "You little hussy. You just met the boss and you're flirting with him already. Wait till his wife Sue hears about this. Hmm, maybe not. Well, he'll warn you, this place is for business, not fooling around."
I waved at the girls and headed upstairs. Now that all the construction and painting was done, I looked into the big office. It looked nice. I guess I would probably be using it more and more in the future. I went into Ruth's office and gave her a hug, telling her I'd see her and her assistant, Marsha, later. I went over to Tiny's office and shook his hand. He said he was trying to total the week's business, but it didn't balance yet. Phil was squirming in his chair talking on the phone. Judy put her finger to her lips in a quiet signal, mouthing, 'It's a big deal.'
I whispered that I would see her later and went downstairs through the upstairs lunchroom. The first place I stopped was the motor shop. Sandy was finishing up the motor she was working on, disconnecting the test equipment. All of rest of the teams stopped long enough to welcome me back. I got hugs from all the ladies and shook hands with the men. Even my two militant lezzies gave me a hug. I even got a kiss on the cheek from one.
Shawna had her nose in her computer when I walked up. She was busily entering information about completed work for the week while referencing orders as she went. She looked up to see me, then crawled right up me, wrapped her legs around me, and gave me some scorching kisses. "Damn, I'm glad you're back. We all missed you."
The redhead got down and said, "I'm trying to get the paperwork done so we can all leave on time tonight. None of us want to be a minute late for the party."
Hank came in with another young guy in a paint booth space suit. He shook my hand and said, "Meet Brandon. He's helping me get caught up. We're working both paint booths. That guy you have making fiberglass is really cranking out the product. I'm told we're really behind on orders, but I don't see how. He's putting out forty to fifty pieces a day."
I wondered how he was doing that. There's no way one or two guys can do that.
Next was the sheet metal shop and body building area. Drew was directing some new faces, while I could see Tom and Al directing guys putting a small body together. There were three small bodies on carts, ready to be painted. There was a large welding body with a boom that looked complete, but also was unpainted.
I was introduced to everyone and they went back to work, saying they would probably all see me at the party.
The frame shop was neat as usual. Bob was showing a new face the way to draw a bead completely around a tube so it joined smoothly. I waved at everyone. Tim introduced me to his men and said he thought they would all come out tonight.
Abe was on the floor helping one-eyed Clint fit an outlet panel on a generator. I stopped by to say hi and told them to be sure to come out tonight. I walked over to the new building and found Ted directing a couple of men on how to release the arms from the superlift he was working on. The problem was the size and weight of the arms. I went outside and drove a little forklift over to above the arms and said, "Chain them up so the weight will be off the bolts, and they should come out easy enough."
Jeb said, "You make it too easy. We've been working with a block and tackle for fifteen minutes and not getting it right, then you wander in and solve the problem. Duh."
"Just make sure all your men come out to the house. I understand congratulations are in order, that you now have twelve mechanics and are still backlogged with repair orders."
"We're busier than I would ever have expected. Thanks for talking me out of trying to run both sides. I couldn't have done it," Ted said.
I went next door to see Jeff and how he was putting out so much product. There were at least fifteen men working on various stages of fiberglass panels. Jeff was showing a young guy how to sand and shape the panel he was working on. He saw me and came over to shake my hand. "You told me I could have everything I needed to do a perfect job, and you meant it. I'm turning our great product and have begun building a crew that can handle all the orders we can get. I've got molds now for almost all of the NASCAR stuff, and am working on some of the other classes of product."
Jeff looked around then said, "Your friend Gene said our stuff was the best he's seen, and ordered about a hundred grand's worth. We're so back ordered right now, that we could work three shifts and not get caught up in a month. I'm just going to put out what we can and not worry about it. I don't want my quality to suffer. Do you agree?"
I said, "I agree a hundred percent, Jeff. Listen we're having a party out at the house. Clean up the shop a little early tonight and then you and your guys get cleaned up and come out. It's a party for everyone. Make sure you come out and have a good time."
As I was walking back to the main building, I was amazed at how many new people we had. I'll have to ask Ruth how many men and women we have working here now.
I stopped by Shawna's shop to pick up my keys. She said she had used the truck a few times to keep the battery up and said it drove nice. I didn't care; my old truck would have been fine with me.
As I left her shop, I noticed Hank and Shawna were both following me, but were way back.
There was my formerly plain white pickup truck. It was now the same basic color as the shovelhead, a metallic dark burgundy. That would have been good, but it was covered with caricatures of most everyone in the company. Phil was bending my ear by pulling a huge ear down to talk into it. Tiny was talking to me, waving his arms while numbers were spewing from his mouth. I looked a little dizzy in that one. Another had Debbie chasing me, with a handful of papers that all had messages written on them. Another had Abe plugging my finger into a socket on a generator. There were so many it would take me weeks to see them all. I was laughing so hard that I didn't realize they had come up on me.
Shawna said they had Tiny make up T-shirts with all the scenes, along with our S&S logo. She said so far they were selling about five to six gross per truck, per race, in addition to selling out the individual event cartoon t-shirts every race.
I didn't need to have all these people building things, I just needed to sell T-shirts.
I noticed the name, "Speedy Steve," was over the door as I got in. This truck was going to draw too much attention. Where was the time when I used to be inconspicuous? I drove home and parked on the side of the driveway, leaving plenty of space for Sue's car to get in.
I went out to the patio to find the caterer putting out food on the big table. He said he would put more food out on the table in the big tent later, as he didn't want flies to get on it. I told him to use the big fans and keep the cool air blowing over the food so the bugs couldn't fly there. He thought that was a great idea and went to have his people take care of it.
He had a bar set up in the tent and a bartender on the patio, getting ready for the night. The beer truck driver was putting a keg of beer in the storage shed. It looked like we were going to be fine for the party.
Tiny's dad was already here, with a beer in his hand, sampling the food. He said his wife, Matty, would be along shortly to help out if needed. Martin and Glenda were sitting in the glider with a beer, saying it was nice of me to get all the help for her.
Alice was in the other glider drinking a beer, saying she wanted to get an early start because Abe was always so wound up, that it was hard for her to catch up.
Hanna came out saying she was done for the day. She poured herself a beer and made up some crackers with meats and cheeses. She asked me if I had seen the sidecar yet. The answer was no, so we went over and looked inside the storage building.
The place was really a small shop. While I was gone some one had painted the inside and floor white. In the center of the floor was the S&S logo. It made me laugh to know how all my friends were constantly doing things for me. The lights in the shop were brighter and I noticed that there were four dual fixtures now instead of just one. Martin had been busy. The fancy bike was in the rear and the FLH with the sidecar in front. The sidecar color matched perfectly. This was a nice addition. I shut off the lights and went back to the patio.
"Thank you, Martin, for putting more lights in the storage shed and for painting the floor."
Martin protested, "I didn't do anything. The contractor came over here and said he wasn't finished with your shed yet. He's the one that did all that. He and one of his men came over on Saturday and did the whole thing. Now you have a nice shop, very fancy."
I walked down to the contractor's place to say thanks. He was sitting on his patio with a fan going. When I stepped under his awning I felt his air conditioning. "You knew what would work, didn't you?"
"Sure did. I tried a couple of different ways but this was the best," he said.
"I came over to thank you for putting some more lights in the storage building and for painting it and the floor. The logo looks nice."
"You're welcome. The place was supposed to be painted, so when I went to do it, we sealed and painted the floor, and your logo looks so good in your shops that I painted one for you in your home shop."
"Well, thanks for the extra, it looks nice. How about we settle up on the patio air? You did a great job."
He quoted me the price and I counted out hundreds, surprising him. I had put two extra in there for the fast work. "That'll do it. You are constantly amazing me how fast you can do a job. Hope I have more business for you soon."
"Don't get too anxious. I've already exceeded last year because of you. If you do much more, I'm going to be in a higher tax bracket."
"Yeah, right, as if we care about that," I said. "I like to pay those high taxes, it just means I'm making more."
"You're right, of course," the contractor said. "If I keep up though, people will wonder why I live in a trailer park. I like it here, I like my neighbors. It's usually peaceful and it's close to everything my wife and I need."
He paused for a second, "Oh, yeah, what's this rumor I heard that you and your wife bought the park?"
"We did, but that's not for the public. I want to remain just average folks."
"Shit, you're not average. You two have so much going for you, you'll never be average. I like the guy you have running the park. He's been nice to everyone. I like what you're doing back by the lake too. Martin has had a couple of kids back there for the last month building plank walkways. He says he's going to build a walk completely around the lake as well as put in a dock to fish from."
I finished the conversation with, "I thought that would be a good idea because that area is so full of wildlife. It's a shame to waste the beauty of the place. You know we're having a party, make sure you come by for some food and drink."
When I got back to the house, I noticed Sue's car. It was painted up now like one of the race cars, with all the sponsors' logos on it. There was even an S&S engine logo. Mixed in all the fancy race car looking stuff, were very small cartoons and caricatures of Sue and various topics. One had Sue with her bulbous chest chasing someone that looked like me, then another with me chasing her. There were too many to even begin to look at. Hank and Shawna had been busy.
On the patio, Sue and Mercy were sitting with Hanna, Betty, and Joan. They were still talking business, but all were relaxing. The bartender was making up drinks for them, as well as Ruth and Tiny, who had just gotten home. Cars were pulling in and being directed where to park. People began streaming in. I told Ruth that I saw dozens of people that I didn't know. She said the company had grown by demand only since I had left. We didn't have any new departments or businesses. We were busier than ever with what we already had.
I got a hug and kiss from Sue and Mercy before getting a martini. I was happy to be home.
In very little time the yard, patio, and tent were filled with people enjoying themselves. Phil came in and immediately got Judy and him a scotch. He came over and sat with Tiny and I, sighing.
He said, "I'm kind of sad that I couldn't close that deal this afternoon for another sale for the week. The field guy did a good job and the customer is right there, but the guy just wouldn't say yes today."
"You've had a pretty remarkable week anyway. It seems like you and Tiny broke the bank on your Saudi deal. Did the factory give you any indication when they could begin shipping?"
"They shipped out about ten mil in equipment yesterday. They are putting on two more shifts just for this order. They are going to be at the highest level of production that they have been since the sixties," Phil said.
I shook my head, "I hope this doesn't compromise quality."
"You don't have to worry, the CEO is hanging around everyone in the shops just like you do, to make sure that they keep quality up. He says he wants his men to be like ours, to seek perfection. He loves the "Is it perfect?" signs over our doors...
"When did he see them?" I asked.
Phil answered, "He came down the week after you went on vacation and spent four days learning how you do things. He was pretty impressed that you have taken all of his castoff personnel and turned them into an efficient manufacturing facility. He said that before anyone gets let go again, he was going to personally review the file."
"That's too bad, we could use some more of his castoffs," I said thinking of the various places that we could use leadership.
Tiny had a contented, satisfied, look on his face. "What's up with you, Tiny?"
He smiled and said, "I received the audit report back. You'll have to read it. We are some kind of good company. They said about two hundred times that we're growing faster than normal, and that could be a problem, but they also said yours truly is doing a dynamite job keeping the cash flow where it needs to be and investing our excess well. I'm pretty proud of this since it's my first evaluation from my old firm."
"Congratulations, Tiny. We know you do a great job, now everyone else thinks so too," Sue said, leaning over to join the conversation.
I got up to circulate. With all the kids, wives, husbands, and significant others, we probably had somewhere around three hundred people there. I stopped to say hi to the girl from the Aero Park, Diane, and her husband, telling them to not be strangers. I told them we had coffee every morning beginning around six to six-fifteen. They said they would try to come by.
About eight I stepped outside and up on a picnic table. I hollered for everyone to gather close so they could hear.
I thanked them all for the job that they did while we were gone. The business now had a life of its own, and we were the people to nurture it and keep it successful. I then made the big announcement.
Sue and I are selling a big piece of the business. We are selling forty percent of the business. We are keeping the majority right now so we can continue to make it grow, but the people who own the other forty percent will enjoy the profits and really be responsible for the growth.
"I had Tiny get an appraisal of the business, and to come up with a fair number for the buyer from Sue and I. Tiny did this reluctantly, until I told him who I was selling the piece of the company too. I'm selling forty percent of the company to my employees, my friends, and my business associates. The accounting firm that we use to audit us agrees that if we don't let you guys exceed twenty five percent of your 401K plan as investment into S&S Enterprises, it would be a good deal for you. Your plan doesn't have all the money yet, but it is getting there. So far twenty five percent of your 401K plan is twenty-eight percent of the company. Keep going and you'll soon own a sizeable share. Now, when you guys own the full forty, for every dollar we make in profit, your plan will be getting forty cents. That ain't chicken feed."
Everyone was clapping and hollering. Their 401K was their future retirement, their personal investment. They knew the company was skyrocketing, and that profits were going that way too. This was a major piece.
I added, "If we ever go public, which I really don't want to do, the 401K would get forty percent of the IPO money or the stock options. I think we're better off hanging onto the company and make it profitable for everyone."
"I have to warn you. Our growth requires us to use some of our capital, which is now forty percent your capital, to build things and to start new divisions. When we do something like that, we'll use sixty percent of the company money and forty percent of your money. We are now partners."
There was a lot more clapping. "Thanks again for taking care of the business while we were gone. Sue and I will be gone a lot over the next few months doing some things for the business. Keep making us grow, I'll be making up new ways for further expansion."
Tiny stood up and said, "The boss forgot something. The 401K plan is getting the full forty percent right now. We are financing the difference right now. What interest we will pay will be offset by the profits we are bringing in right now. I want to be sure the plan is in line for some great windfalls. Everyone, the place is ours!"
More clapping, more yelling.
I wondered how long it would take to get Sue's plant to this point. They were still struggling a little to adjust to the zero defect policy. They were doing well though, working hard to succeed.
The party continued through nine. People with kids left first. I tried to send everyone off with a little extra food, explaining it was part of the forty percent. Next were the people who had something planned tomorrow. The hired drivers and high school kids were busy taking people home that had had too much to drink. People kept leaving until it was just the caterer and his people cleaning up and our resident crew. Several went off to bed; they had eaten and drunk all they could hold. Soon it was the core, Charlie, Jim, Hank, Tiny, and me, with Shawna, Hanna, Debbie, Ruth, Sue, Mercy, Sandy, and Mandy. Bob and Drew had been put to bed. Martin and Glenda should have been there, but had worn out and left.
Mercy said she had never seen anything like that. She said that even right now, there were more close people around right that second than she had ever had. We told her it was our way of life. We enjoyed being around each other and working with each other. Not all of us worked together, but we all lived out of one big pot and shared our lives together.
Tiny said that at first he thought it was just my money and Sue's money that made it all happen, then he realized I had built up everything from taking one good event and turning it into profit that made another event happen. He said that when he went over my books the first time, he was surprised that even the seed money I had put in could be paid back right away. He said for us to look around, what we saw wasn't from our personal wealth, but from the result and profits of our efforts. "Steve keeps giving back and giving back. But you know what, every time he does, more comes his way."
About midnight we were all tired of drinking so we put the extra food away and went in. I turned off the outside air, listening to see if it was that much quieter, but it didn't make a big difference. We locked up and hit the sack. The three of us were bushed, very tired. We were asleep instantly.