Sue was still partially laying on me. We had fallen asleep after some strenuous lovemaking that left me in a stupor, and put her out, falling asleep using me as a mattress.
During the night, Sue had slipped to one side of me, while Mercy had snuggled closer and thrown a leg over mine. Nothing stimulates the mind and the lower extremities of a male like breasts smashing into your chest, arms, and face. The kicker was that there was a hand encircling my dick, squeezing, then relaxing, squeezing, then relaxing its grip.
As I awoke, if this kept up, I would reward the squeezer with a fresh batch of millions of little squigglies, ready to populate the Earth. I began to slide from the bed to free myself of the pile-on technique the girls used to keep me in bed.
A few minutes later, after the triple S (shit, shave, and shower), I was dressed and sitting on the patio smiling to myself about a great weekend effort by all our people. Glenda and Martin came in and joined me, followed shortly by Tiny and Ruth. Ruth said, "You needed to stay up there at least another day so we could go do more shopping. We hardly had any time to investigate stores.
Henry and Nancy came in and Nancy immediately said, "We needed to stay up in Montreal longer. We didn't have enough time to shop around."
I said, "Personally, I thought we did great. We were in and out of there, accomplishing everything we wanted, and it was even on a Saturday and Sunday. We even stayed over Saturday night, but that was mainly because we were celebrating our success.
Darnel came in and said, "I think the two guys up there are going to work out well. They both have good references and a lot of experience with General Steel construction. I'm glad they're doing it and not me. I'd freeze to death.
The patio was soon filled with excited, hungry, Monday morning workers, eager to begin the week. The girls all straggled out, one at a time, with the kids. The older kids were soon running around, excited because it was a new day they could play together.
Mercy said, "Sue and I have to go over to the boat and finish with what we want to do to it before the trip. Missy, Glenda, Maggie, Juanita, and Kate are coming too, so unless we leave the kids at the daycare, they will be coming with us."
Sue took a deep breath thinking about it, "I hate to leave them at the daycare, but they will probably have more fun there than with us. We'll probably get more done that way too."
I was given some go to work kisses and left them to begin their final outfitting of the big boat.
On the way to work, I realized there were only a couple of weeks till Christmas. How many did I need to get presents for. Sue and Mercy of course, but now I should probably get something nice for Juanita and for Kate. She may have a rough Christmas.
I didn't ask her what she did with making an appointment with the attorney Ben had referred her to. Charlie didn't get me aside to talk to me about Jim, so I guess he's being okay. The girls and I are probably not being good by keeping Kate if she's going to get a divorce. A little too much hanky panky going on.
I patted my shirt pocket to make sure I had my notebook and committed to myself that I would come up with presents for people. Stevie is going to have fun this year. Sue and I will have to tell Ben and Beth to not go overboard. I can see them borrowing my truck to bring boxes and boxes.
Lizzy and Mike are beginning to be pretty active. It won't be long until they will be walking too. I hope the two of them and Sean are buddies as they grow up.
First thing was a call from up North. Marso and Butch were both on the phone at the same time. They had a detailed bid they had worked up together and wanted to go over it with me. As I was talking to them, Debbie came in and gave me several pieces of paper, fresh from the fax machine. I asked the two to hold while I got Tiny involved.
Once Tiny was in the office, sitting with me at the little conference table, the Canadians went over the bid in detail. They were only including an office build out that matched St. Louis. They said they could use our blueprints from there to finish this building. Tiny said the bid looked pretty good, but there was a lot not yet included.
Next, we went over a rough drawing for the second building. I told the two that we would work up a plan for the manufacturing plant that would resemble our plant here. I asked them, "When can the two of you come down to Florida to see how I like my buildings. Your numbers may change when you see what I like."
There was a pause where you could hear the two talking to each other then, "Can we come tomorrow. We would both like to get to work on the first building. Our men could use the money. It's close to Christmas and a couple of weeks of work would go a long way to keeping them happy."
"I'll transfer you to Ruth to set up your flights. We'll put you up in our hotel out by the business park, so you won't have to worry about that. We'll cover your expenses while you're here, so you won't be out any money. I just want you to make the Canadian shops like the ones we already have."
I transferred them to Ruth and told her what they needed. She told me that she was going to call the charter company and use them. There would be less hassle to get them here quickly and it wouldn't be that much more.
Ten minutes later, she transferred them back to me and I told them they would be here only one night and would travel back to Canada, via St. Louis, so they could see the shop there on Wednesday.
Tiny had been looking at the estimates and commented, "This is a very comprehensive bid. They can add any changes easily. Their pricing seems reasonable and all of their numbers are in U.S. currency. They converted all of it. Their time estimates are a little tight, but then they will be using two groups of workers. The only thing we don't have is references of their work.
"Call Darnel and have him call General Steel. They should have some references for both of those guys."
Tiny smiled, "Good idea, I'll do that now."
I went down to the welding area to see how they were doing. From my window it looked like they were having trouble with a bunch of tubing. "What's up, guys? Are you having a problem with something?"
Tim said, "This is the most screwed up design I've ever seen. It's for a monster truck. The guy said this design would give the truck enough flex to handle the big bounces, yet be strong enough to handle rollovers. But look at this, this thing is going to be hinged all over the place. The sheet metal will be popping off left and right."
I looked at the plan and specifications over and over, thinking I was missing something. Finally I said, "How far away is the buyer for this?"
Tim really was frustrated, "The guy is from South Carolina and wants this ASAP, like everyone else. I'm not sure this is going to work. The guys can do this easily, but they were confused, so they called me from the school to help."
"Okay, let's call this guy and talk turkey to him," I said picking up the blueprint. "It's his money."
Tim and I went into my downstairs office. Star wasn't there, so I used the phone there to call. After explaining our feelings to the guy, he said he would pay us to make it exactly like the blueprint. If it didn't work out, it would be his problem. He had been assured that it would work. Tim told him his feelings on what would happen to the sheet metal or fiberglass, but the guy was adamant. I asked Debbie if we had done much business with this guy and she assured me we had. I told him we would ship him the assembly tomorrow.
"Don't ship it. I'll have my guys come and get it. We'll check the measurements in your shop."
I had one last comment, "You don't have any holes noted on the frame to attach sheet metal. You don't have any steel platforms for the firewall or braces for it either. And lastly, if you've ever bought a frame from us, you know we paint them. There is a notation on the blueprint for no paint."
"We're going to do the rest of the truck up here. Just make it exact to the blueprint and we'll pick it up tomorrow."
After we hung up, Tim said, "I'll give it to the guys and tell them to be exact. It sounds like they'll nitpick before they take delivery."
I smiled at Tim and said, "Come on, let's you and me do this one. Give the guys something else. You and I can knock this out by early this afternoon."
Tim got a big smile, "Yeah, let's do it."
We took the blueprint back out to the shop and tacked it up. We put a plastic overlay on it and began checking off the already cut and bent stock. Our guys had done a good job. Everything was exact. Tim and I set up some stationary jacks, with jig guides, so we could begin. Tim started out with the bed and I began with the main body. We could work on the front end together.
We took a break about ten-thirty for a quick cup of coffee and for Tim to grab a quick smoke. We went back to work and completely finished the front end together by noon. We had to clean it up and connect all of the flexible areas, but we would be done by probably two or three.
Tim and I ate with the other welders and the sheet metal guys in the cafeteria. I didn't want to tell them, but it was my first time eating there. The food was good. They served large helpings and the meal was cheap. At twelve-thirty, after a quick smoke for Tim, we were back at the task. We ground, filed, sanded, and tweaked, until we were down to the last measurement of the whole job. While we were triple-checking the frame, we noticed a fairly large crowd gathering. Once the frame was complete, we put it on some rolling jacks and began cleaning up the work area. With everything put away and the floor clean, we stood back and high fived each other.
The people, men and women, watching began applauding. You kept hearing, "The boss can actually do that stuff." "Hey, the teacher did a good job with him." "The man is earning his bread today."
One of the four guys who had been tasked with the job told the crowd, "They just did the eight hours of work planned for each of us four combined, from nine this morning till now with a coffee break and a lunch break. That means they did thirty-two hours of work in what, four and a half times two, ah thirty-two hours of work in nine hours. I hope they don't come back to work out here. We'll be out of a job."
Tim and I slapped each other on the back then we headed off to do what we were supposed to be doing this morning. There were a lot of hoots and hollering as we left. I'm glad Tim and I did the job. It helps the men know we can work too.
As I went upstairs, I kept thinking, the two of us were rusty and slow. Just think of what we could do if we were in practice.
Ruth told me that the Lear was picking up Butch and Marso right about now, and should be back by seven. She had booked the two into the hotel for two nights, but if we were able to give them the tour early, the charter people said they had plenty of men who would enjoy flying the Lear.
I checked with Phil to see if he had a plan made up for sales. I was planning on opening the doors for business in Montreal the day after New Years. To give someone time to get up there, it may have to be a couple of days later.
Phil listened to what I was thinking and said, "I'll make up a plan with Abe so we can begin hiring the week before Christmas. We'll advertise a full week before we begin taking applications. I'll handle this just like St. Louis. We'll use the personnel company that worked for us and have them do the interviews and check out of the people. Abe and I will do the second interview between Christmas and New Years. The store will be in the black by Valentine's Day, Boss. Just stand back and watch."
When I went to see Tiny about the budget for up there, Henry was working with him on just that. The two of them had worked on St. Louis so they had a benchmark to go from. The only difference was the Canadian dollar exchange.
Everyone was taking care of the details. This place was like a soapbox derby. You build the car, take it to a hill, and give it a push. Everyone here was the hill and did the rest with ease.
I went next door to see if Jeff might be interested in starting a fiberglass shop up there. Jeff was all for it. He said, "I need a new challenge. Everyone here does such a good job, that I just sort of wander back and forth between here and the park. I do bids and work out new contracts, but I have to tell you, the men do the job."
"That's because you trained them to do a good job, Jeff. That's the key. You busted your ass getting the place wound up and now you can just squirt some oil on the gears from time to time."
"Steve, I have five tools that I think we can market. I have more but these five are really good and save time making fiberglass molds and the panels themselves. I've given the write-ups to Star so she will come to take pictures and videos. I think it's a great idea to market special tools. It's going to be a money maker."
When I left the fiberglass shop, I walked next door to look into the warehouse. What caught my eye was the entire side wall was taken up with various project cars in various stages of being put together. There were several Mustangs, a couple older Corvettes, several Camaros, some old pickup trucks, a wild looking sixty-six Lincoln convertible with suicide doors, and a bunch of other old cars being worked on.
As I walked down the row of projects, looking at the various stages they were in, Abe came into the warehouse. "See what you started, Steve. After the El Camino, lots of guys want to build their own car. They stay late at night and come in every weekend. I'd bet there has been three dozen great looking cars come out of here. When we did Tina's Mustang, a bunch of other guys began working on theirs. See that antique pickup over there in primer? That's Jeff's. He's built the entire truck from fiberglass. The guys helped him build a frame and he's done the rest. That's going to be a real crowd pleaser when he's done. That you let them all work on their cars here is a great morale booster. It's got them all working together in what is it now, over fifty projects at once."
"I knew some of the guys were working on cars, but I had not seen where they were. Now I know. We'll have to get one of the magazines to do a story about our guys and the cars they are building. It's obviously not taking away from their work. The whole place is producing quality goods, making good profits."
Abe laughed, "You're damn right we're making good products at a good profit. It's our money we're making. They get a piece of every dollar made here. You did that, now hundreds of men would like to work for us so they could get in on the plan."
"We'll just have to keep finding new businesses so we can keep training more people to do our perfect work."
Abe and I laughed and joked all the way back to the shop. I left him with his people, passed through the motor shop to hear from them about actually working for a change. I went upstairs and said goodbye to everyone, then downstairs to say bye to Debbie. Star was at my desk, working on some descriptions.
"Star, look at Jeff's tools. He's all excited that we could be selling them to the industry right away. Hopefully, they are as good as he says. They probably are, as he is one hell of a fiberglass man."
"Steve, I would never have believed this could be such a huge job. I thought I'd buzz through the place in a week. Do some fancy reporting to you and look for the next project. The way things are going, I won't finish going through the company here in Tampa until probably next July. Then there are the other shops in the other cities that have begun sending in their tools. I think I could have three or four people just investigating the tools. I haven't even begun the patent searches yet. That's going to take a ton of time too. Thanks for the career, Steve. This is fascinating work."
"I'll talk to Tiny and Ruth to see if we might budget you some help for the project. I'd like to get a couple of tools out on the market to see how they sell. That way we would have something to go by."
Star said, "You know you're going to have to market them. You can't just put one out in a magazine and expect it to sell. Get Phil to figure out how to market them. I'll bet he comes up with how to do it, where to do it, and who to do it to. The man's a born salesman."
"See you guys later," I said, as I left the shop.
When I got home at four, I hunted up Glenda and told her what I wanted to do. She wasn't all that surprised, "Cut your hair huh? How much? It's past your belt now. You could wipe your butt with it."
"Glenda, look at my forehead. It's getting bigger. Look at the back of my head. It's getting thin back there. I think if I have hair I can brush and style a little, it will look nice. I'm tired of having to take so much care of it."
Glenda said, "Tell you what. Let's get Sue and Mercy and I'll take you to see my friend, Tracy. She has her own shop and she will know what to do. Besides, you need to give your hair to her for the cancer patient wig program."
I went inside to find no girls and no kids. They must not be back from the boat yet. Back in the clothing office, Hannah looked up from a drawing then looked at her watch. "The girls are probably picking up all the kids right now. They said they should be back here before four-thirty. They wanted to get out of the daycare before the after work rush starts."
There was noise coming from the living room. As I walked up the hallway toward the living room, Rob, CJ, Mia, and Stevie, all hit me at once. They all wanted to be picked up at once. I did the best I could, but had to put them down right away because they wanted to harass Maggie for a snack. I sat down and was handed Sean, Liz, and Mike. They jabbered at me, but also wanted down to crawl around in familiar confines. I put them in their fenced area to let them roll around.
I received hugs and quick smooches from Sue, Mercy, and Juanita. As I passed the kitchen, Kate came over and sort of rubbed shoulders with me. I took the hint and gave her a hug and a quick kiss on the forehead.
As I went out to the patio, Sue and Mercy confronted me. "So you're really going to cut your hair? I knew this was coming, but it's going to be a shock. Your kids won't know you and your employees will freak."
"The kids know my face, my hugs, and my voice. They will be fine. The people at work will probably think I may be growing up, who knows. I'm going to wear my hair long, just not in a long pony tail anymore."
Mercy said, "I'll bet you'll be handsome with a good haircut."
Sue smiled, "We'll go see Tracy. She's really good. Mercy and I both go to her now too. I think all the girls out here go to her and they all look nice. We'll go after supper and let her give you some ideas."
I needed some courage, so I had a couple of Beefeaters. Big glasses with only ice to mix the great taste. It's amazing the buzz you get with only a couple of drinks. Perfect way to loosen up before a beer.
By the time I had a mug of beer, the patio was filling with people from work. Henry came over, with a mug of beer in his hand, and said, "Did you see my sixty-seven Vette? It's the convertible nearest the rear door with the plastic covers over the interior. I only have a few more things to find and it will be complete. So far I've found original equipment and had it painted, chromed, or anodized, so the car can be almost a hundred percent original. It's going to be the oyster shell cream color. I love the way those cars looked. And the best part is, I've done it all myself."
"Henry, you haven't been here long enough to get that far. How have you done it?"
"I go to the shop almost every night after supper and I've been down there most every Saturday and Sunday," Henry said. "A bunch of people have helped. Sandy and Mandy did my motor for me. I paid the company rate for that though. I wanted a genuine S&S motor and tranny, so I paid to have it done. Most of the guys are doing it that way. You pay us enough so we can indulge ourselves and have a first class job done. Besides we get some of it back in our 401K."
Well, that started some of the others talking about their cars. Sandy said, "I found an old panel truck last week. I'm having it brought over to the shop later this week and we'll start on it. I've always wanted one, so now it will be a class act vehicle. See what you started when you did the El Camino and then the Mustang. We could probably begin a custom shop for rebuilds and hot rods. I'll bet we could make some big bucks doing it."
"Well, Sandy, perhaps you and Mandy will be the managers of our Hot Rod shop. But then you're going to have to find me another pair of mechanics for the motor shop."
"We have them standing in line, Steve. Anybody that's good wants to work for you. They hear how much fun we have working where we do and they want to come, even when they hear we have two sets of gay guys, the four strange siblings, and of course, our militant lezzies. You have some doozies working for you. But let us know, we'll bring our replacements in and begin building hot rods any time."
By the time supper was over, Sue had heard that Tim and I had built a custom monster truck frame. She was smiling and asked about it while on the way to see Glenda's friend Tracy, "The next time you get something neat to do like that, call me. I'd love to do something to keep up with what you taught me."
If someone didn't know my crowd, they would have thought I was a rock star, or cult leader, or something. Besides Sue and Mercy, there was Glenda, Kate, Juanita, and Maggie. Shawna and Debbie wanted to come to harass me, but Charlie and Hank told them to stay home. As it was, it took the Expedition to take us to the beauty shop.
Tracy was sitting in her chair waiting for us. The outside lights were out so she was doing this as a favor to Glenda and the girls.
The first thing she did was to brush out my hair so it wasn't pulled tight on my forehead. After she felt around on my head a while, she picked up some of her magazines to flip through until she showed me several styles. The one I wanted would let me brush the hair back over my ears and gather on my neck. Sue and Mercy looked at the picture then at me and finally were shaking their heads in agreement. The other ladies all agreed with them so Tracy asked, "When do you want to do it?"
I quickly answered, "How about now, do you have the time?"
Tracy smiled and said, "Let me get the bag for the cancer wigs and I'll lop off most of it. The rest we won't be able to save for wigs. I'll cut it down then wash it and finally cut it so it will style the way you want."
Glenda picked up the brush and brushed my hair a few times. "I've been brushing your hair for almost three years. This is my last chance."
Sue said, "He'll still need his coffee girlfriend to brush his hair for him in the morning. You know he's never going to stand at the mirror to blow it dry in the morning." Sue turned to Tracy and said, "You better teach Glenda, Mercy, and me how to style it for him, because he's not going to do it."
Tracy said, "Steve's hair is thick enough it should lay the way he wants it with just brushing. He might have to use some conditioner and he may have to use some hairspray on a windy day, but it should look good without a lot of fussing."
She gathered my hair and slid it into the bag. Sue held the bag while Tracy began shearing off the hair a little above my shoulders. When the bag was full of my formerly long hair, she sealed it then brought out some small bags. She cut a little hair off and put them into several small plastic bags. When she was done, she handed them out to my audience. What's worse is that they all thanked her for doing it.
Lying back, getting your head washed is a treat. Tracy washed it then put conditioner on it. Once done she had me go sit in her chair. Before we started Tracy handed out cans of beer saying, "From what I hear, this is your trailer park champagne. Toast the new man, the new Steve look."
My pregnant wives drank the beer, even Maggie drank hers. I think that's the first drink I've seen her take.
Tracy began cutting, combing, cutting, brushing, holding strands of hair out then going back and cutting some more. My head felt funny because the hair wasn't pulling any longer. I had worn it long for so long that my head was used to the pulling and now tingled with the new circulation.
When Tracy was done, the girls were all looking at me critically. They would look at the picture Tracy had shown them then back at me. Finally, Mercy was nodding her head with her mouth in a smile. Sue followed with more nodding. Glenda at least said, "You look really handsome, Steve. I might give Sue some competition."
Tracy pushed me around to let me see myself in the mirror. Not bad. She held up a big hand mirror so I could see the sides and back. Nice. I was happy. It's what I wanted when I decided to cut my hair.
"How often do you need to cut it Tracy?" I asked.
"Come to see me about once a month unless you think it's too long or too short. Leave the girls at home and we'll use the private booth. I'm sure some of the stylists and I could show you a good time while you're here."
Surprise, Juanita pouted, "Chica, you leave my man, our man alone. There's too many of us already."
I chuckled, while Sue and Mercy laughed. Kate blushed while nodding her head in agreement with Juanita. Glenda said, "See Tracy, I told you the guy has a harem. The only way you're going to get close to him is come out one night when they head up to the hot tub. I hear there are some wild goings on up there."
"I'll keep that in mind, Glenda." Tracy turned all business again. "Okay Sue and Mercy, do you two have appointments so you can get cuts before your big trip?"
Sue said, "Mercy and I do, but we need to schedule Kate and Maggie. How about you, Juanita, are you due for a haircut?"
"I need a haircut and pretty soon I'm going to have to fix these grays hairs that are everywhere on my head. Can you do that for me Tracy?"
"Sure, Juanita, but be sure to ask your master. He may not mind some gray hair. He may even like it."
Juanita said then, "Well, I don't like it and having my hair all dark will make me feel better. If I feel good, I can make Steve feel good."
Tracy was smiling and said, "I'll bet you can, Juanita, I bet you can."
As we were getting ready to leave, Tracy said, "I'm moving the shop next door to your park. I've rented a place in the Publix shopping center next to you. You won't have to go far to see me. You can even ride one of those cute little golf carts over to see me. I'm in there after New Years."
We paid for my haircut and tipped Tracy. She had done a great job and did do it after hours for me. Three ladies made appointments, then we drove back to the park. They were excited that Tracy was moving her shop closer.
The patio was still packed. Instead of going home, everyone had stayed to see what I would look like with short, or at least shorter, hair. After a lot of approvals from everyone, they all began to go home. Bear even said, "You know, I may let that lady cut my bush. My hair is so wiry, you'd think I was Darnel's brother. It's just the way my family's hair is. I wore it short until after the Marines, then let it grow since then, just like you did, Steve. Your hair turned out good. Now you almost look like a yuppie. Almost, but with the look in your eye, never a yuppie."
When most everyone had left, the girls began telling me what they did on the boat today. They had made a couple of trips to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, a trip to Sears and Penny's and of course, to Wal-Mart. Glenda said the boat looks like a home now, not a commercial excursion boat.
Sue said, "We are ready. All we need to do is fill the boat up with food and us. We have enough booze, champagne, wine, and beer to last a year, but there won't be but you, Kate, Juanita, Missy, and Maggie drinking. Mercy and I might have a glass of wine with a meal, but nothing else. We might sneak a light Cuba Libre occasionally, but we're too busy making babies."
It was Mercy's turn, "All the beds and the bathrooms are ready. We'll have to dust again before we leave, but the baby beds, Steve and Carson's beds, and the adult beds are all ready. The kitchen is ready with all of the pots and pans we'll need. We had the desalination machine looked at and it was declared ready. We might want to sail a little on a weekend or two before we go, but we are ready."
Juanita said, "I have maps and charts for here all the way through the Mediterranean. The new electronics are almost all installed, so we will have to check them out, but they should be done. The Magellan guys want to come along on a shake down cruise. The original crew has been polishing the big boat every day. By the time we leave, it will be so shiny that we'll be blinded by the reflections."
Maggie nudged Kate, "Are you ready for a trip across the ocean. We'll be traveling like Christopher Columbus. Actually pretty much the route he took. I'll bet we make better time than he did though. That big schooner is a dream."
"I'm glad Carson is old enough to know we are going across the ocean," Kate said. "Sue bought that globe to show him where we are now and where we are going. I think he understands. He's going to be happy with all of the tapes and CDs you have for him. Stevie and Carson will be able to watch the network stuff off the satellite too. I think they are going to have a great time."
Juanita took Maggie home, then Glenda went to join Martin at home. Tiny and Ruth left, then Hap and Margie said it was time to go to bed. The rest of us straightened out the patio and got it ready for the morning. When Juanita came back, we migrated to bed. After checking on all the kids that had been put to bed earlier, we lay in bed talking about the coming trip. As the excitement waned, we all drifted off to sleep.