Steve and ChuckChapter 55
- 3 years ago
- 26
- 0
Chuck
It seemed like just a few minutes ago I was totaled, dead tired, completely exhausted. So what the heck, what's the matter? I never have trouble sleeping. I can even sleep soundly on the hot sand snuggled up against a track, like an APC or an Abrams tank. The shade is always good unless it's too close to mid-day. What's in my head now that I'm having trouble sleeping?
I looked at the clock to see it was only two o'clock, and I was wide awake, tired but definitely wide awake. Oh well, I guess I'll get up and go up to the salon. Perhaps a glass of wine would put me to sleep.
Nothing I did seemed to wake up any of the women, so I was able to slip on shorts, T-shirt, and my peg before going topside to the salon. The place was quiet and peaceful. There weren't any sounds at all, not even any small waves washing against the boat.
After pouring myself a glass of white wine, I sat at the bar staring out at the other boats in the yacht club marina. There were quite a few big boats of well over a hundred feet. Some still had lights on in the salons and portholes.
Shit, what is wrong, what am I worried about? I sure don't have any women problems that I know of, my job is secure and will be waiting for me when we get back. Money? Who needs any more? Oh yeah, money, that's a problem. There's too much of it and more keeps coming in. Ben is like a little boy finding candy in his Easter basket. He has enough, but he just keeps looking.
What am I going to do with this new found wealth? Even Steve and Dewey are talking about not getting into any more capital ventures. I think I also had better tell Ben to cool it. He loves the investing. He gets his rocks off chasing down some leads about off the wall investments that keep turning out good. That's Ben's style, though. He'll find an oddball venture and investigate the hell out of it before he even thinks of putting fifty cents into it. I think if I had just stayed with the money from the first lawsuit, Ben would still have made me rich by now. Certainly not as rich as I am now, but I would have enough to last me a couple of lifetimes. I now have enough to last all of the family forever.
What am I going to do with all that money? Ben got me a lawyer down in Costa Rica so I could invest in local businesses that needed help. He's set up multiple scholarship funds to help needy, but worthy kids continue their schooling. I've given a nice sum to the city down there to improve the water plant and the sewage system. I'm thinking I should build a trade school down there like Steve has at home. That would give a lot of people the knowledge and skills to earn a living. I know I'm helping the economy down there, as there is almost no unemployment.
Mark is having too good a time out on the island. I'm jealous. He is building the runway, and from what he's said, he's already built a good sized hangar, plus installed a pipeline from the utility docks to the new fuel tanks close to the hangar. He said the hangar location is not high enough for underground tanks, but that shouldn't be a problem. I wonder if he might build some houses to replace those FEMA trailers. I'm sure they're nice enough, but from what it sounds like, some of those men are going to be down there for a while. No sense in having their families with them if they're not comfortable.
I can't spend enough money there to make a dent in my current growing stockpile of cash. I'm doing everything I can back home so disabled GI's have accessible housing. A lot of those guys won't take gifts, they're too damned proud. At least they're accepting the free schooling.
Steve told me about a new program that Henry is planning. He's going to send paraplegics and possibly some quadriplegic vets off to accounting and law schools. Hell, I could even sponsor some guys and women to go to medical school. It wouldn't work for them to become nurses, but they could be doctors or research chemists. I'm going to talk to Steve about that. That'll be really expensive and will take some big bucks long term to make it successful. It could be just what I need to dump some of this cash.
Who am I kidding? The whole program won't be but a couple of million a year and the interest off some of my original investments is that much. If Ben's right about the oil deal, that'll be a couple, three billion. That means I can give away a million dollars a day for three thousand days. How am I going to do that, and that doesn't even take in consideration the stupid gold mine that decided to appear? Those people are running out of things to want. When that happens, they will have to import labor because they won't need to work and that will screw up the demographics of their little community.
The wine's helping; I am getting a little sleepy.
"Hi, Chuck. Can't you sleep either?"
I jumped, not expecting anyone to come up behind me. It was Sue. She was wearing a rather sheer peignoir, and it was at least dark enough so light didn't make it transparent.
"Hey, Sue, my mind was whirling from some stuff, so I came up to have a glass of wine. Want a glass? It's helped me to relax a little?"
I could see Sue smile as she pulled herself up to the tall high-backed bar stool. She said, "That sounds good, if you don't mind pouring some for me."
I poured Sue some wine and poured myself a little more. She asked, "Are you worried about playing the concerts this weekend?"
After thinking about it a minute, I said, "Not really. I am a little miffed the deal is for three concerts, but I'll survive. Those performances are high energy affairs that usually go non-stop for two to three solid hours. People pay a lot of money to go to the concerts, so the performers really do try to give the crowd their money's worth."
I looked closely at Sue, "So what has you bothered?"
She was staring at her glass of wine when she said, "Ireland."
"Uh huh," I said, "And what about Ireland."
She said, "Mac sort of talked me into opening a plant there, but everything that should be coming together isn't. The guy that owns the building is screwing with the lease. The local guilds are up in arms because we didn't contact them before we began advertising for seamstress trainees. Then there are too many politicians that already have their hand out. Mac is trying to fend off these problems, but if they're so many now, how bad is it going to be when we're open? If the guild shuts us down, or the politicians say we have an unsafe working environment, we won't be able to do anything about it and this plant will be hours and hours away from home."
Sue took a drink of her wine and said, "The real bad part is poor Serene. She thought she had a real deal for us, and it has backfired on her. She was trying to have housewives and shut-ins make their family patterns of Irish lace material, and the guild wants to get involved again, plus the government doesn't want the people to have to work on a bid system. I'm not going to contract with anyone and give them money while hoping they'll do something for me. At home, I personally can, or have someone supervise a low productivity worker. In Ireland, they have what you would call a no cut employment deal. It takes an act of congress to get rid of a bad worker. Then you could still get sued, probably lose, and have to pay that same worthless seamstress a big settlement. I'm thinking I should back out and forget about helping the Irish."
"Sounds like a mess, Sue."
"It is, Chuck, so what are you up for?"
I chuckled and said, "Don't laugh. I have too much money. I've been trying to spend a lot of it by helping people improve themselves and their surroundings. The problem is that every time I spend a bunch, I all of a sudden get ten times more come in from an unforeseen source. I'm really trying to help a lot of people, but I'm not just going to give them money. I'll help them learn to take care of themselves so they can be successful. You know I am giving away houses for disabled vets. They are being built on some of that land you and Steve bought from an older lady that you helped. I've had the area subdivided with utilities installed, and have made it a golf cart community so people won't have to drive their cars all over the place. A golf cart will be cheaper to operate and can still carry a person who needs a wheelchair."
I told Sue, "That's not a big deal either. It only cost about seventy-five million for the land and infrastructure, and it's only about two hundred grand a house. It's going to take years just to spend a hundred million. After all that, Ben's ecstatic that I'm getting tax deductions. I really want to use all this money that's coming in for good causes. Meanwhile, Ben announces that I, as well as Steve, Dewey, Tiny, and Ben, have become overnight billionaires again on some wild oil drilling deal in Mexico. See, I can't spend it fast enough on good things and more keeps coming in."
Sue laughed and smiled, "Now that is a unique problem. I know you're helping anyone who comes along, and I'm told you're doing a lot down in Costa Rica. All I can say is, keep helping people to help themselves, and enjoy any riches that come your way. You know you're about to have one hell of a big family. That's going to take a bunch of money."
"That's another thing that has me a little worried. I think that as soon as my famous fabulous five are all pregnant and begin giving birth, they are going to migrate back to their own house. They love the new place I built and they helped design, but they are still pretty closed. I've accidentally eavesdropped and heard them discussing it. They don't want to hurt my feelings, and they want to remain my special girlfriends, but they miss their closed environment. I'm going to miss them, and I'm concerned about not being able to be a major part of the kids' lives. That hurts."
Sue patted my hand and said, "You do have some funny girlfriends. Will they take the Asian sisters and Maria with them?"
"They want to take Maria, but I don't think she'll go. She's really happy being a part of me and wants me to be her baby's dad. I want to do that too. I was a little miffed that she decided on her own to get pregnant and sort of did it sneakily, but when I think about it, it is a natural chain of events."
Sue said, "What about Taiying and Sing, do they want a family?"
I said, "We talked about it a little and they were very loving over the thought of having babies. They did say the birth control stuff that's under their skin will take at least another year to wear off, even if it's surgically removed. They are thinking about having that done in the event they want to have babies. You know, those two are still homesick for their lost husbands. It hasn't been long enough for their grieving process to be complete. I think all the changes in their lives have brought them a little happiness, and they seem to be very happy with Lisa, Maria, and me."
Lisa came up to me, surprising me and kissed me, "What's wrong, Hon? Is this multiple concert thing bugging you?"
"No, Baby, I can handle that. It's a few other things that are bothering me."
Lisa said, "I know you're worried your fickle five are going to pick up and go home pretty soon. They probably will, but they'll be back. They love your ass. They'll get so lonely for you and the rest of us that they'll be back. Just don't let them get under your skin. If their flighty nature is a problem for you, cut them out of your life. Otherwise, Honey, you're going to have to put up with their occasional departure for them to only live with each other for a week or so. I'm sure it won't even be a month before they're back. I've been in all their heads and trust me, you are the man, you don't even have to ask, "Who's the Daddy." Lisa chuckled at her own joke.
Lisa had poured herself a glass of wine and refilled mine and Sue's. Sue asked, "So what's your attitude about babies, Lisa?"
Lisa smiled, "I'm going to have some. Don't know how many or when, but I'll have at least a couple. Momma Peaches needs some grandbabies from me and I'll get her some. I don't want to do it while Chuck is doing some of the stuff he's doing. I need to be with him while he's under the gun, literally, as well as figuratively. Chuck and I are talking about it and we'll figure it out. Babies are definitely in our future."
"What's going on up here?"
That was Steve. "I'll bet Chuck is all upset about money and you, Sue, are upset about Ireland. I don't know what your problem is, Lisa, but it's probably because Chuck is upset."
Mercy came up the stairs, following Steve, and said, "What the hell's going on? Chuck's been talking to me all night with a bunch of gibberish about money, and Sue's going nuts trying to make up her mind about Ireland. Come on people, you all need your sleep. We have Italy to tour with another day in Rome now. If we don't do a good job this time, we'll just have to come back and do this all over again. Ed's gonna retire on us with what we're paying him."
I laughed at Mercy's fiery attitude in the middle of the night.
"Hi, People, you're all a bunch of nuts to be up here doing what you're doing and it isn't even sexy."
"Oh, Mom," Mercy said, "I'll bet you were hearing Chuck the same way I was. He shuts me out when I want to hear him, then he goes on full broadcast mode and wakes everyone up."
Lisa giggled, "He does that when he's troubled. He'll shut it down if it's his work, but when it's personal, he's loud and clear."
Missy said, "I'll tell you what to do, Chuck. Keep doing what you're doing. Keep helping people and just forget about how much you have. Have Ben tell you if you're getting short, but forget about it otherwise. Sue's been where you're at, and right now she's not worried about making money. She's fretting about whether she will really be helping the Irish, or just making a few fat cats wealthier and hiring a bunch of worthless employees."
"You hit that on the head, Missy," Sue said. "I'm going to take your advice, though. If I can't have some guarantees in writing, I'm going to pull out. No sense in spending money over here when I have the whole U.S. crying for jobs. As a matter of fact, that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'll talk to that Irish lawyer in the morning and if there aren't a bunch of documented concessions, it's gonna be bye, bye, Ireland."
Steve asked me, "You know, Chuck, you've given more back to the vets and the communities you affect than anyone. You're the one person helping a huge chunk of Costa Rica, and your effect on their economy is still growing. Just keep doing what you're doing."
I nodded and Lisa took my hand, "Come on; let's get another couple hours sleep. You guys should go to bed too."
Sue said, "I'm good now. Missy, go to bed unless you want to snuggle with us instead of Merlin."
Missy said, "The big lug is snoring away, but its music to my ears. I'll go to bed."
I said, "Night, Guys, thanks for the conversation."
As we went below, Lisa said, "I know it's not any of my business, but Steve was saying you're worried about money. I know you have enough, even a lot, so why are you concerned about money?"
We had stopped in the galley to put our glasses in the sink. I took Lisa in my arms and told her, "Lisa, Honey, don't laugh when I tell you this, but I have too much money. I try to use it to help people, but every time I do something good, more money comes my way. Like Steve told me, I'm going to just keep doing what I'm doing and let be what it is."
Lisa held me in her arms with her head against my chest, "Christ, now I'm going to be awake wondering how much you think is too much. How much is that, Chuck?"
"Truthfully, Lisa Baby, I have no idea. I don't think even Ben could give you a straight answer. He could give you an estimate, but probably nowhere near what's accurate."
"Okay," Lisa said, "I'll quit asking. At least I know there is no way we'll run out of money with my predilection for buying guitars."
I laughed, "Naw, and you didn't even buy anything for yourself. You bought it for Bonita and the kids. That's very sweet. Let's go to bed."
We went in, moved some bodies over and lay down. The portholes were open on both sides of the cabin, so we had a nice cool breeze. Lisa and I were instantly asleep.
Two big brown eyes were looking into mine. Bonita said, "You need to get up. Why's everybody so sleepy? Momma Sue is acting sleepy, and Daddy is the same way. Come on, I have a few things for you to hear. I've been up a while and have been practicing. Come on, Sleepyhead, get up."
I was still in shorts and T-shirt, with my leg still strapped on, so I got up, used the head, and walked through the galley toward the stairs. Glenda and Missy smiled at me as Glenda handed me a mug of coffee. It was very comforting to have them smiling at me like that.
Up in the salon, Dewey pointed to his Bloody Mary and raised his eyebrows. I nodded before turning to Bonita. "Okay, sweet thing, what do you have for me this morning?"
She turned on the amp, but didn't turn it way up and began doing the Jimi Hendrix riffs she's heard me do so many times. She went from there to several other familiar riffs that sounded really good. Her little fingers were flying as she sat there grinning, her eyes closed, playing what she was hearing inside her head. Bonita had made it. She was now in the group of music people that hear stuff in their head and are able to express it with their fingers and feet.
When Bonita stopped, she looked at me for approval. I picked up her guitar and put it in her case before picking her up and giving her a big hug. I was holding her like a three year old and she was grinning, holding on to me around my neck. I said, "I'm really proud of you, Bonita. You have made it. You're playing what you hear in your head. Just keep learning, my sweet, keep hunting for the elusive piece of music running around in your head that will be all yours. Until then, just enjoy learning and playing, Honey."
When I put her down, she gave me another hug and went racing down the steps. She obviously hit someone as there was an "Oof!" Steve came up the stairs, shaking his head. "What's my youngest so wild about?"
Steve didn't even pause as he walked straight to the bar and picked up the Bloody Mary Dewey had made for me. I made another for myself, and sat it on the bar. Before I could get back around, Lisa came up and said, "Just what I need."
Oh well, I can make another. I did, but John came to the bar and asked, "Is that for me? I think Wanda's going to want one too."
I ended up making about a dozen tall Bloody Marys and was into the third bottle of mix by the time I had one for myself. I kept thinking I would run out of ice, but the icemaker really puts out a lot of ice. I wonder how our fresh water supply is doing. I know we're hooked up to shore power, but I don't know whether the desalination system works when we're docked.
"Steve, Dewey, does the desalination system still work when we're docked? Is that an option, considering the water here may not be as good as what we're used too?"
Steve said he didn't know, but Dewey said, "You have one hell of filtration system in order to be able to use almost any local water. The water is automatically tested before and after the first set of filters, then redirected to the correct type of charcoal filter and/or the electronic water filter and softener system. You won't have any fall off in quality. If you get a warning light on the panel at the helm, it means that you have to check the system. It might only need some charcoal or the main filter changed. The filters should last at least most of a year though, and this is like a new boat."
"Thanks, Dewey; I'm glad you've been investigating the systems. I thought I had read the literature on all the systems, but I couldn't answer that one." I felt a little inadequate that I didn't know my own boat.
Breakfast was announced from the top of the stairs by Jan. As we went down, Sue was coming up. She told Steve, "I'm going over to the Irish Bell and talk to Mac. We'll use his phone and call people. I'll let him listen in so he knows what I'll use to make my decision."
Steve asked, "Do you want me to come along?"
"No," Sue answered, "This is actually my deal, and I need to be the one who says deal or no deal, like that TV game show."
All of the rest of us went down to breakfast.
Sue
After last night, I made up my mind to listen to my people and the Irish legal representative we hired, before deciding what to do, and I can advise Mac at the same time. I'm sure Mac will want to have some input, but this is my deal and I don't want to make a mistake.
I walked through the doors on the main deck and met one of the female attendants. She was surprised to see me, but I told her, "Take me to Mac. I need to talk to him."
The girl almost didn't want to do it, as she said she wasn't an upstairs person. She was assigned the main deck and below. I told her not to worry, as I didn't have the time to hunt him down, so just show me where he is.
We went up a flight of stairs or ladder, and she pointed at a pair of double doors. Someone came from what obviously was the galley, carrying a tray of food. I followed him in and spied Mac at the head of the table. I went to him as he was sipping coffee, "Good morning, Mac. I need to talk to you. Do you have an office on board or should we go to the office on the Lucky Lady?"
Mac nodded and said, "We have an office. Possibly not as functional as yours, but it should work."
I asked, "You do have a phone, right?"
Mac smiled and said rather sarcastically, "Yes, we're pretty modern. We have a phone system with a couple of cellular lines for us to use."
That was more than we had. We didn't have a phone system, but we did have something like that, as we had a satellite phone and a very good intercom.
When Mac and I left the big dining room to go to the office, Serene followed us. She obviously felt she was invested in this deal. Instead of going down to the office like in our boat, we actually went up another level where there were a couple of office doors, or at least they looked like offices. Mac explained while pointing at one of the doors, "That's the Captain's quarters and office. It is quite expansive and very nice. He deserves it though, considering his responsibilities."
Inside the office, Mac sat in the big chair behind the desk and put the phone in the center of the top surface. "Here, Sue, I'm sure you want to talk to a few people. I've worked on people to the best of my ability. You'll have to see if it's enough and make a decision."
I first called the girls and Jeff at an office at their hotel. Jeff answered, "Hey, Boss lady, it's you right? Who else would be calling at this hour of the morning? Ready for a report?"
I said, "That's exactly what I want, Jeff. Give it to me straight, but keep it clean as there are a couple of people listening on the speakerphone."
"Gotcha, Boss lady."
"It's Sue, Jeff."
Jeff sighed, "Okay, Sue, here goes. I've worked with the lawyer type Mac sent to work on these problems, and had him work with the legal counsel you hired for us. They've made a lot of progress with most of the items on your list." There was a pause, as you could hear paper being shuffled. "First, the landlord of the building is now going to lease the building to us at almost ten percent less than you had agreed on initially. I thought he was going to have a coronary when I tore up his lease in front of him and walked out the door. Anyway, he came to see us a couple of hours later with the new lease that Mac's and our lawyer both said is sound. That's a bonus."
We were able to pacify the politicos about permitting, and no under the table type payments. It got their attention when they were told that if you don't develop the factory, they would be losing all of that future tax revenue. We told them we're improving the building, so their city will look even better, and the building will probably have a higher assessed value. If the factory isn't started, none of that will happen. They were asked if they were willing to confront all of the people that were anticipating getting jobs at the facility. I think Mac had some conversations with them too, and the two lawyers said they had raised hell in a council meeting. We shouldn't have too much trouble with that group in the future."
"Sue, I think the politicos had a serious chat with the Guild leader. When our lawyer told him that we would not give him one red cent personally, the guy went nuts. Our lawyer told him, you know, these people are American, the great unruly class that like to shoot people. He told him that you were in Italy right now, negotiating with some people to possibly come and resolve your problems. The man had some kind of seizure or stroke. Right before our eyes the guy began acting really scared and then began convulsing. According to the paramedics, he's going to be alright, but probably won't be the guild leader any longer. We'll have to see who or what we get to replace him. If you decide to stay here, I think our threats could continue to work."
I said, "Jesus, Jeff, you didn't have to scare the guy to death."
Jeff answered, "I'm just intimidating them like they've been trying to intimidate you. Oh, I need to tell you, when the landlord came back with the lease offer, your lawyer made the guy sign off on doing all the remodeling for you, so that cost is going to be buried. At this second, Sue, I think you have a go."
I looked at Serene and asked Jeff, "What do you think about the lace material thing?"
Jeff answered, "That's been partially taken care of. There is another guild that works with home workers and woman's crafts. It's kind of like having a representative for a group of hobbyists who sell what they make. Anyway, this guy thinks it would be a great competition to have about four shows a year, where all the creators bring their craft products to a central point. Then you, and whatever buyers you can interest in the material, can buy what you and they want. He also said that there were many women who made other types of lace, so you may be able to pick up several different types of products to adorn yours. That should keep the quality up, plus you'll get a commission from the other buyers for putting on the shows. It'll probably be a break even thing, but it will get you the lace material you want."
I sat back, thinking, before asking Jeff, "Is there any need to call our attorney?"
Jeff had a smile in his voice, "None at all, Boss lady, he's sitting next to me."
I laughed and I could hear the attorney at the other end of the call laughing. I said, "Well, if he's heard everything you said and he hasn't contradicted you yet. Jeff, I know you don't work for Quality Wear, so I thank you for handling this for me. I'll make sure the boss man at S&S knows how much you helped me."
Now it was Jeff's turn to chuckle. "Okay, Sue, so it's finally okay for me to go home? Do you have enough information to make a decision?"
"Go home, Jeff, the big thing left now is that we have to find a couple of people to run the factory and lead the seamstresses."
One of the girls on the call said, "I have an idea, Sue. It's going to take a couple of months to get the building ready and all of the machines in place. How about we send six to ten ladies to your school at home, along with a couple of men who have machine repair experience, to the school for that? We can evaluate them both in class and during practical application in our plants. We can use these lead seamstresses to teach our way of working to the other new hires. We'll still have our school like we planned, but we'll have some locals trained to be the teachers that are trained by our people to train others."
I told her, "That's a hell of an idea. Make it happen. Now the tough problem, do you have any leads for management?"
She answered, "Not yet, but we have a bunch of qualified people responding to our ads. Now that we have the bullshit taken care of, we should be able to select someone to ship off to our plants at home to learn how we do business."
"Good deal," I said, "It's a go. I'm going to make this happen. With the landlord kicking in for the remodeling, we're going to be in good shape. We're going to need some reps for our products over there. They'll need to be multi-lingual to work in all of the adjoining countries. See if you can find some."
I heard, "We'll work on it, Sue. Thanks, now we feel as if our efforts are worth something."
Jeff closed the conversation with, "You can cancel that Italian deal you were working on to take care of things over here, okay? That might be a little heavy-handed since they did come around." Jeff and the ladies said goodbye and the connection went dead.
I didn't want to laugh as I watched Mac's face, flush from fear, as he wondered if I would really go that far.
I turned to Serene, "Does that sound like an equitable solution to the cottage industry?"
Serene stood and approached me, smiled and said, "Yes'em, that is wonderful. My grandmother, my mother, aunts, and sisters will be excited to know they can make some money for their families. If you want more of the other types of lace, they can all do that and will be happy to make it for you."
Steve I was laying on my back, with Gio on my left shoulder and Juanita on my right. I could see the clock on the other side of the room showing that it was right at six AM. We were up later than usual last night. Even after coming to bed, my ladies were more active than usual, but what is normal for these women? Poor Gio, I could tell she wanted to be loved, but all she received was a lot of kisses and hugs. Our baby is more important than sex. The other girls are being almost overly...
Steve I had just discussed the medical laboratory plant with Sue and we agreed that this was an important project. We both wanted to continue to assist Chuck in helping vets any way we could. It was past time to run into work, so I went to see how the company was functioning. A walkthrough of all the shops is always the best way to get a feel for what's going on. I saw Hank in the rear of the motor shop, painting one of Shawna's chopper creations. He was doing it from a chair with his...
Chuck Holy shit! There are babies everywhere. All of them are hollering/crying and they all need attention right now. Literally hundreds of babies were demanding diaper changes, demanding a breast to nurse, and looking for loving attention. All I could do is stand in the middle of the bedlam with my mouth open, too terrified to do anything. Someone was shaking me, "Wake up, Chuck, you're having a bad dream, wake up, Honey." I opened by eyes to find Brandy looking at me with a concerned...
Steve I was having coffee in my room at the resort. I had the patio doors open, looking out from the ninth floor toward the beautiful lagoon or small harbor in front of the hotel. It was still too early for beach people, but there were workers cleaning the beach. Two tractors were dragging the sand, smoothing it out to make it more appealing to the tourists. In the harbor and at the dock were several large yachts and sailboats. None, however, rivaled the Have Mercy, the Mercy Mercy, or...
Steve Mercy was shaking me, "Steve, Steve, wake up. Chuck may need you. I think Maria's in trouble." I sat straight up trying to think why Maria would be in trouble. Oh yeah, she's about to hatch. "What kind of trouble, Mercy, what is it?" Mercy just shook her head, "I don't know, but she just woke Chuck up. He may need us. Let's get over there to make sure they are alright." I began putting some clothes on. Sue, Kathy, Mickey, and Juanita woke, seeing Mercy and me dressing,...
Steve I had been told first by Mercy, then by Sue, that all of the women wanted to talk to me. That usually is almost instant death, or maybe it was going to be an execution, mine. At least they had waited for me to finish eating breakfast before the hanging. It was with great apprehension that I was following Sue, Kathy, and Mickey up the stairs, or more appropriately, the broad curved ladder that goes up to the salon. Mercy was at the helm, with Juanita sitting beside her . Juanita...
Chuck A speaker in the room was broadcasting reveille. It had the desired effect, as I swung my foot and stump out of bed. Across from me, Lisa was sitting up, rubbing her eyes. She looked up at me and said, "Old habits are hard to break, aren't they?" Wanda was trying to pull a pillow over her head, but Lisa gave her a shake and said, "You better get up, or you won't get a shower and breakfast." Lisa looked up at me, "Since you're fast, go do your thing, and I'll go next after I...
Chuck Lisa and I were having fun doing what we liked to do when we were relaxing. We were both sitting on a little raised stage at the bottom of what was like a theater in the round. The platform had a baby grand with a bench and two chairs, with Lisa and me sitting on them. An interesting part of this is that there was absolutely no sound system. If you were looking for un-plugged, this was the ultimate. The acoustics in the theater had been designed so that what was played on the little...
Steve I was up early, as usual, sitting in the parlor on one of the fixed stools at the bar in the suite. You know how it is; waiting for coffee to brew can seem like an eternity when you don't want to sit there and wait. There was no place else to go and nothing else to do. If I went out to the patio, I would just have to come back in. If I went back into the room, I would probably disturb someone. Wonder why I can never sleep late? Only on rare occasions can I sleep until seven or eight....
Steve As soon as I stepped out on the patio, Tiny came in the back door, waving some papers while grinning his conspiratorial grin. I asked, "What are up to, Tiny? What's got you wound up so early?" "I've just heard from another Saudi sheik who is buying a new 737. The man heard we were buyers and called our office. The night customer service people transferred the call to me and we will get the new or rather new/used bird today. The Sheik's agent said we would like the price. I...
Chuck When Sue and Don relieved me at midnight, I went down to the office to check the rings I was going to hand out later that night. I separated eight of the rings, along with the special one I had made up for Lisa. The only difference between the special one and the others was that it had two brilliant blue diamonds on each side of the big diamond while the other rings had two bright red rubies on each side of a big diamond. The bands were wide, much wider than what a normal engagement or...
Chuck I woke up in a sweat. Remembering the night before didn't help with the PTS, with maybe a D on the end. That was close. I wonder why the bomb detonated, did it have a timer? Was there another person with a remote detonator? I doubt I'll ever know. I do know I was grateful to have carried Lisa out of the way. A heavy-breasted person was at my back and it wasn't Frieda as the belly wasn't bulging. That's when I remembered Gina. My, oh my, what do I do after hearing Giovanni's...
Steve Chuck had come out for breakfast this morning to talk to me about something. When we had our coffee and were sitting at the bar away from people, Chuck said, "There's a bunch of things coming together all at once. Magellan called to say the boat's ready to be picked up. I've transferred funds and paid them, so we can bring it up any time." He took a sip of coffee and said, "You want to go to Hawaii for a few days, which at a minimum is a day going and a day returning. I can get...
Steve Amazing, one night the little ones don't wake you up, and the next they wake up a couple of times. It wasn't bad either time, as Mickey and Giovanna were quickly up to take care of them. I can't imagine what Chuck is doing with ten of them in his big suite. Chuck has made some very nice plans for us, considering I thought the resort was sold out to other customers. Chuck is sneaky that way. He'll have had this planned for months now, and was able to coordinate holding the Costa...
Chuck I heard a baby cry and the bed shifted a little. There was activity over by the small table that I was told was a changing table. I raised my head to see who was up and saw Nancy changing a diaper. Her little one was making noises, but not crying. I suppose since she was getting attention that was what she wanted. Wanting to watch what the process was, I turned on my back and propped my head up on a folded pillow. After she changed the diaper, she put the infant back into the...
Steve We had eaten a great supper and were all relaxing on the patio when Wanda came to get me. She asked if we could go somewhere to talk. Not knowing what was up, I took her to Sue's offices in the other end of the trailer from the bedrooms. Wanda and I sat down and she said, "Steve, I don't know what to do. I talked to Chuck this morning and he's been shot. Lisa, Nightfox, and him, were all shot. He says they're not too serious, but I'm not sure about that. When I called our base...
Steve I had just kissed Sue goodbye when she left the airpark to go to work and Chuck was inside the hangar going over evidence. This was going to be a busy day. Turning back to the charter office, I found a new person at the desk. "Hi, Charlotte, I thought Star was working this morning." "No Sir, Star is right seat on the G5 out there leaving in a few minutes. If you need to talk to her, she's probably on the aircraft now." "That's okay, I'm sure she's fine. Do we have the other...
Steve, Sunday mornings are always fun around home. Chuck showed up with his crew, dressed to stimulate as much as my ladies did. As breakfast was eaten, Chuck said, "I want play with the new boat. What do you think, Steve, could we take it out for a while?" People heard Chuck's request and were speaking up, "Yeah, take us out on the new boat." "Let's see if Chuck can captain his new boat." "Come on Steve and Mercy; let's help Chuck check out his boat." Sue rolled her eyes and...
Steve Now that Chuck was back from hiding out in the Gulf, life around home seemed to be getting back to normal. He was busy with a bunch of federal people and his prisoners were all transported to DC where they would be held or given an option to be bailed out. I told Chuck that I didn't care what happened, as long as they left me and my company alone. Tiny told me that a major military supplier was negotiating to have us produce bodies for their equipment. That is what we wanted in the...
Steve Three weeks later Wes was sitting on an overturned bucket, staring at the right wing of the parts that Jeff's team had molded before he had been hired. He had been determined to have this bunch of parts flying within a week or two. No such luck. He kept finding flaws in how the pieces fit together. He kept checking the blueprints that were downloaded from the internet with the finished product, and found the pre-made parts to be exact to the print. The problem was they didn't fit,...
Chuck This party is an amazing testament to all of the girls' ability to organize, plan, and carry through to their objective. There were many people who showed up that I would not have expected. John, the Marshal, and their families came followed shortly by Dewey and his family. I was honored to have him here, as that man has some "cool." I had to ask John and the Marshal, "I thought you two were staying down in Costa Rica?" John answered, "I wanted to surprise you. You know we had...
Chuck I was on my way to Cut Bank, Montana. Way up in northern Montana. My Aunt Etta-Mae had called saying she was in trouble. Lisa had just asked me to tell her what was really happening. The cabin satellite phone was ringing. Julie went to answer it and looked up at me. I told her I could transfer the call to my headset. "Johnson." "Is this Charles Johnson?" I told the voice, "It is. Most call me Chuck." "Chuck, you have an aunt named Etta-Mae Johnson, right?" Being wary I...
Chuck Waking up in a strange bed, or in this case, on a strange couch is disconcerting. I had to look around to find my leg before going to the bathroom. As I traversed to the toilet, I thought I smelled coffee brewing. When I left the bathroom, I went straight to the kitchen and found Julie and Missy sitting at the big kitchen table with fresh cups in front of them. In a chair across from them was a steaming cup of coffee. Julie smiled, pointed to it, and said, "Good morning,...
Steve Last night had been strange. Chuck was in a fight, no that wasn't right. He really didn't have a fight. That monster guy attacked him, and Chuck just tossed him. He did whack the guy in the nose, but it could have been the heel of the hand into the nose, a killing blow. We all learned that one. That wrist thing Chuck did was so quick that it was just something that happened as the big guy went over the top of him. I was sitting drinking that first cup of coffee contemplating what...
As soon as we all made it back to Mac's after the kidnapping, Sue, Mercy, and Kathy cornered me. Sue said, "You shouldn't have been involved in that. You are the father to a bunch of kids with another on the way. What in the world were you thinking?" Before I could answer, Mercy said, "I know you felt you had to help Chuck, and we all love him, but you have to be careful, Steve. We need you, we don't need you hurt." Kathy actually defended me, "Steve is a man. He has to defend his...
Steve I woke up several times during the night, hearing things that were normal sounds. Sure wish Chuck had stayed, I would have felt a lot more secure. Funny how a guy like that can make you feel safe. He's just a guy, a one- legged guy with a crooked smile, who is as friendly as a kitten. He can be vicious when he's on the job though. Drinking coffee at 5:55 in the morning is a good way to enjoy the day. I called down to the gate guard to see how everything was going and he said that...
Steve (Tuesday) Mercy and I were in the restaurant early, having coffee, when a couple of salt and pepper guys came in. I stood and both came toward me with their hands stuck out to shake. They sat with us and were brought coffee. Bud Anderson, said, "I've been working on this case for a year and thought we had most of it put to bed. There must be more to it, as you've turned up a significant group here in Nevada." Jim said, "Chuck split me off as his backup a while back to work with...
Chuck A few days later, we were passing Gibraltar. Everyone on board was out on deck to view the sight that was so familiar from the kids' geography books, the thick yellow National Geographic magazine pictorials, and advertising. The iconic view we all remember from the Prudential Insurance ads, though, is visible only from one angle, on the Mediterranean side of the Rock. Fortunately, our course kept that view in sight for quite a while. Gibraltar looks unrecognizably different from...
Steve As I passed through the galley, I was confronted by Glenda, still in her robe. I asked, "Are you going to stay in today?" Glenda said, "I think Martin and I have been overdoing it. The scooter thing we did yesterday helped, but we were both so tired last night that we thought we should stay home and rest a little. I can spend the day doing some dusting, and I need to wash some clothes for my man. The two of us could use the rest. I thought I might give home a call this afternoon to...
Chuck The last baby had been fed her middle of the night feeding, and I was really deep asleep. Lisa was shaking me. When I came out of my fog, I heard her say, "Your cell phone is ringing. Hope that isn't a problem." I got up from bed and hopped into my closet/dressing area to retrieve my phone from the tray I put pocket junk in. "Johnson," "You son of a gun, we did just like you've been doing and let it ride, all of it, we kept letting it ride. Brother Chuck, Tiny and I have hit...
Chuck I woke being hugged between Julie and Brandy. The two were really hanging on, but I needed to offload pretty soon. Sliding from the grasp of the two women, I saw that Lisa was sleeping with her head on Gina's cushions. I was going to go back to bed after using the head, but saw it was five fifty already and we were going to shove off early this morning. Instead of going back to bed, I hopped back to the head, showered, shaved, and quickly dressed to go see if anyone else was up. The...
Steve On Monday and Tuesday, Sue and I went through our local plants, visiting with the managers and workers, assuring them of what a great job they were doing. A highlight of the visits was my time spent in the recently expanded R&D building. The new guy, Sandy Flowers, had become an integral part of the team there. After setting up software to track testing and modifications, Sandy had begun helping Gerry on one of her quests to create a special polymer composite that would resist...
Chuck Life was settling down all around. I was just doing the usual office work with no flying everywhere on an almost daily basis for a change. John Scott seemed to have settled down in DC and was enjoying his job again. I had the flying lessons and was checked out in the new Citation X but had no reason to go anywhere. The charter company used it once for a quick trip to San Diego and back, but Lisa took that one. She said it was great to have an aircraft that could fly that far, that...
Steve Oh, what a night! My lovely ladies must have thought I needed the attention as they were absolutely on fire. I think they were trying to help me set a record as they all had some of my loving and started over again. The surprise among the players was a sneaky person, as all of a sudden, when Mercy fell to the side, two large bazooms were in my face and they did not belong to Sue. Sue's mother was sitting on my pride and joy, smiling down at me. She said, "Oh, Steve, this feels so...
Chuck How can that be? My cell phone is ringing. I don't remember leaving it on. Jesus, who could be calling at, I lifted my head to see it was six thirty? I was on the outside of the pile of female flesh, so I was able to get up and hop to the table where my pocket stuff and cell phone was. "Hello." A sort of familiar voice said, "Hey, Chuck, how're you and that sweet Lisa doing?" Trying to figure out who this was I said, "We're all fine, ah, who is this?" "Hey man, this is...
Chuck Sunday mornings are fun out at the park. The women wear near nothing, driving us men crazy. I anticipated a good time. When I woke and began my exercises, John joined me on a treadmill, followed by some weights. He said, "It sure would be nice to have you close by. We could workout together. It's a lot more fun to do this stuff when you have a buddy." About that time, Lisa, Brandy, and Tiani came in and began using the other treadmill and the stationary bikes. Little Tiani said,...
Chuck Sunday Waking up in a strange place is always weird, but this is too much. I'm hugging someone different, my hand is around a soft full breast, and if what I feel is real, I'm balls deep in a very juicy unfamiliar pussy that is sliding slowly back and forth. I can feel breath on my shoulder and hear Lisa breathing. She has a little catch to her breathing when she is sleeping and when she's excited. But her hand is holding and squeezing my balls so she is probably not...
Steve We picked up a nice wind the first day out. There was a low pressure area stalled to the northeast of us, providing us with an almost direct stiff wind from the south-southeast. If we can keep this up, we'll be home in four days easy. Chuck had the helm this morning and seemed to be contemplative about going home. I went up and handed him a fresh mug of coffee. "What's on your mind, Guy, anything to worry about?" Chuck smiled and said, "I love being out on the water, but I...
Steve It was after seven when I woke up to an empty bed. I was still sleepy, but got up to at least start the day with everyone. When I sat down and joined the regulars with a cup of coffee, Sue came over and kissed me good morning, "Morning, Sleepyhead. I know you didn't get back until after four, but it's unusual for you to sleep late." "If there was not so much to do today, I would just go back to sleep for a while," I said, looking around while hugging my wonderful wife. "I see...
Steve Perhaps things are getting back to normal, or for what may pass as normal lately, and that has been near chaos. Everyone at the shop that had some activity to report visited with me, until Ruth looked in on me and said, "Its lunch time, and Sue has called to make sure you come home. DeDe said you are scheduled for a flying lesson this afternoon too. What's that about? I thought you could fly already." "I can, Ruth, but I need to be checked out in the new aircraft, and I have to...
Steve I feel as if everything is going faster. Time was rushing by the closer it comes to the time for us to sail. When I woke up Monday morning, I felt a sense of urgency to get up, do something, prepare for something, to take care of last minute anything. Mercy hugged me and whispered, "Relax, everything is taken care of. You have wonderful people who will take care of everything while you're gone. They can call you anytime, and can even e-mail you with pictures or other information, if...
Steve I had slipped out of bed while the girls were all sleeping soundly. Sue raised her head, smiled at me, looked at the clock, and lay her head back down. While I was taking a quick shower, Kathy joined me and was very amorous this morning. It wasn't long before the shower degenerated into doing her while she leaned against the wall. When we both successfully and enjoyably completed our coupling, we clung to each other as the water rained on us. Kathy said, "This is nice. Sometimes I...
Steve Monday mornings are always fun. Everyone is getting started on a new week, with new energy, new ideas, and new motivation. My first task was to return a stack of non-urgent calls that had come in the previous Friday. The first was that the St. Louis cart plant was concerned their production was not keeping up with orders. The easy solution was to ship the extra production from Florida since the local plant was working at less than sixty percent capacity. I think the St. Louis plant...
Chuck For me to not sleep well means there is a crisis. I guess there were many crises going on. It was just after five, but I was wide awake, so I slipped from bed, used the bathroom, mounted my peg and went outside to relax by forming for a few minutes. I was concerned about getting the cash and gold down to Ben in Costa Rica. If I could get out of here with all of it, I could leave here and fly direct. I might have to pull some tricks in Costa Rica to get the stuff to a bank, but I...
Chuck This had been a busy day. We docked in Ireland this morning and have been busy all day. The kids demanded a lot of Lisa’s and my time, as they wanted the two us to help the Irish kids to learn what they had learned. The Irish kids were lucky to have Serene to teach them at home, since she was a lot more accomplished than I had thought. That was the fun part, and then there were Julie’s adult kids. Sue had made the call for me so they could take the ferry to Ireland, be here for the...
Steve Thursday Tiny, Sue's dad Ben, and I were in the helicopter shop with Bret and Carter. Tiny handed each of the two men a check and said, "That's exactly half each of all the numbers we agreed upon. If you two have some cross debt, handle it yourselves. We can put a fork in this deal." Bret said, "You should have heard that asshole from Alcam when I told him I'd already sold out. He cussed and threatened me until I finally hung up on him. He called back and demanded to know who...
Chuck There was a noise in the room. I couldn’t place it right away, but I finally realized it was my cell phone that was still in my pants pocket. I moved over Tiani and Lena and hopped to my pants. I pulled the phone from the pocket, flipped it open, and said, “Johnson.” The voice was very dry, very curt, “We have a job for you. You need to be in DC in four hours.” I said, “Who are you?” The voice once again with a very curt response, “We have a job for you. Get in your plane and get...
Steve My pile of women was surrounding me, with Sue doing her sleeping best to smother me between her triple Zs. No boobs are that big, but Sue has enough for three or four women. Don't you just love those big balloons? I sure do. I slid to the edge of the bed without waking anyone, but knew that we needed to get up and get going this morning. We have to leave around seven-thirty. I stretched before beginning to gently wake the women. Oops, there were two extras next to Juanita. Trixie...
Steve I rolled over and almost rolled off the bed. My movement, while catching myself at the last minute, woke Sue who looked at me funny. She smiled at me and asked, "What are you doing up? You were on duty until two this morning! Sleep a little more." I looked at the clock and said, "It's already six and we should be near port by now. I want to be up when we enter that lagoon at the yacht club. Chuck probably won't have a problem but I should probably be there to help tie up. Let's...
Chuck I checked on Lisa as soon as I woke up. Yesterday's encounter was too close to the confrontation on the island. This time it wasn't her adrenaline that got her, it was the cruelty of the men who had been dumped into the sea. It's hard to believe people could just kill the young couple and make the parents watch them get tossed overboard. It makes me shudder. Then that poor older woman, about Missy's and Beth's age, just walked out and shot those men in the head. There could have...
Steve As I opened my eyes, I realized it was Wednesday and we would be sailing in a week. That almost scared me, thinking there were suddenly too many loose ends for me to be taking off like that. As I thought about it a little more, I realized that it will always be that way, and that's why we have good people working for us. I sat up and made a decision, the guys needed to get on their horses, or airplane in this case, and get over to Hawaii as they needed to be back at home while I'm...
Steve Ah, Wednesday morning! I was still half-asleep, but knew something was happening today. I sat up straight and said, loud enough to disturb the sleep of the ladies next to me, "We're going sailing today!" Mercy rolled over, looking up at me while stretching, and said, "Only because Chuck is back." I asked, "He is? Did he call last night?" "No, Silly, he came home while we were playing up at the hot tub. His girls should have called, and may have tried, but I think they were...
Steve The girls have been all over me for letting Mark be everywhere, helping as many people as he could, and I had not put him on the payroll. Crystal should have done that, but she didn't really know whether he was going to be full time or part time. Ruth sort of made up my mind, as she signed him up as a full time employee with the employee benefit plan. I suppose that was alright, but you never knew. My cell phone rang, "Steve here." "Steve, this is Chuck. Can I use your shop up...
Chuck Julie whispered into my ear, "It's almost four. Get up and get a shower to get your motor running." When I slid from bed and checked the clock, it was only three thirty. Wonder why so early. I can do everything necessary in five minutes flat. As I slipped from bed, peed, and started the shower, a sexy older, or more mature, lady stepped under the spray with me. Julie whispered some more as she held on to my growing interest. "I need you, Lover; you make me feel so good, so alive....
Steve Life around the park and S&S is going very well. The family was busy getting the kids through their current school year so they could be free of most classes while on the coming sailing adventure. Chuck is busy with some kind of intense investigation out in Omaha that has him tied up for a while. Mercy is acting worried, so whatever Chuck is doing has her concerned. Lisa and Mercy have been seen huddled together, obviously discussing what they know Chuck is involved in. The...
Steve Monday As soon as everyone was eating breakfast this morning, I checked with Abe about the engine he had been working on for our entry into the light sport aircraft market. So far, the engine showed it was generating between 115 and 125 horsepower. This would put it in competition with the Rotax 914 or the Continental engine. We knew that the Rotax engine retailed for about thirty five grand and the Continental for around twenty, but Abe figured we could sell ours, fully certified,...
Chuck I awoke when the clock clicked over to five thirty. My internal clock was working as always. As I moved from between Lisa and Tina, Tina raised her head, "Do you have to get up so early? I don't have to go in until nine this morning." Lisa also woke up and told her, "The man is flying to his islands this morning with all of the investors and architects. I'm sure he's strung pretty tight this morning." Tina grinned at me and patted the bed, "Lie down here, Lover, and let me...
Chuck When we woke up the next morning, I went up to the galley and made coffee. Up in the main salon, I opened the sliding door to a cacophony of birds in the nearby trees. I watched a turtle run down a log into the water, and even saw a set of eyes back in the mangroves looking for something to eat. Lisa brought me a mug of coffee and we sat out on the deck, looking around at the peaceful setting. A boat would come down or go up the river, but we were fairly obscured and someone would...