Chapter 36: Nebraska and Kansas

Dave had to admit that after the past thousand miles that he was tired and somewhat bored of driving through farmland. This was most of the country, regardless of state. He’d developed a new appreciation for small towns along the way; places like Irene, South Dakota, with a population of four-hundred. As he rode slowly through the small community, he noted the pride in the town that residents had: six girls from the town had become Miss South Dakota in recent years, plus another sign declared that the baseball and football teams were occasionally state champions going back to 1964. The fertilizer plant seemed to be the main industry. Even at only twenty-five or thirty miles per hour he was through the bulk of the town in less than a minute. There wasn’t even a stop sign or traffic light.

After Irene, he found his way to Yankton, and U.S. 81 over the Missouri, River – a new structure that had replaced a steel girder structure a few blocks east that seemed ready to fall into the river in a strong wind. Bingo, he was in Nebraska for the first time. He continued south, and decided over a late lunch at an old diner to overnight in Lincoln – the state capital.

Lincoln was a much larger city than Irene – a hundred-thousand people lived and worked there. There were TV stations, many restaurants, industry, churches, many schools, and a few colleges or universities. No doubt, though, the ‘state’ was the big industry with many government offices all over the core city.

He checked into the Hyatt Place, again taking advantage of offer to park his bike in an indoor area at the rear of the hotel. Again, the draw was that the hotel had a rather complete gym and pool.

Dave worked out in the gym for ninety minutes – alone. He had the place to himself. Not that being discovered would have embarrassed him, but he normally didn’t do his martial arts katas in public. In this case, he did, taking advantage of the mirrored walls to critique his form. He swam two-hundred laps in the pool, to the point where his arms felt like lead weights. He felt he was getting soft.

Despite his reverie about losing his edge, he indulged in a steak dinner; polishing off a ribeye, baked potato, and Caesar salad. He was glad they had A-1 steak sauce. He skipped dessert. After dinner, he walked around the area across from the hotel called The Railyard. An old train station area turned into a series of trendy restaurants, stores, and boutiques.

He missed Doris. At his urging, she’d taken the Interstate system and headed for Sarasota and the Circle. Their parting was torrid and romantic. She would be a great friend and lover.

Back in his room relatively early, he opened his computer and planned a route for the next day, and also checked the weather. He was mindful of the winds in this part of the country. He was in Tornado Alley and would be all the way to Dallas.

Dave called home and talked to some of his wives and caught up on some of the news around the Circle. Everyone missed him even though they’d seen him in Chicago at the fan club convention only a week or so earlier.

Dave touched base with Jenn on her pregnancy, Rose and Matt on their new classes at the university, and then talked to Ty about the new construction projects that had started on Circle land. He’d been out of touch for almost five months; a lot had happened. He was starting to plug back into the Circle activities.

Ty told him, “We cut another road opposite Perimeter Drive off of the Access Road. The Access Road is now part of Circle Drive. The post office loves us. The road opposite Perimeter Road has been named Chord Drive in keeping with the other geometric terms. Two new townhouses have been started on the land between Circle Drive and where it intersects with Airport Road just outside the airport gate. The new units will each have sixteen townhouses in them; that’s thirty-two new living units ready for occupancy before next summer. The contractors are banging heads to have everything closed in before Christmas. I think they’ll make it.”

“I didn’t realize we have that many people wanting housing.”

“We do, and more keep showing up, thanks to you and the women you seduce on your road trip. We would have started two more of the big units, but the contractor begged us to allow him to do them, but allow him to wait until May to start. We thought that would be all right and he was a low bidder doing quality work. We can reassess then.

Ty asked, “Hey, when are you coming back? Everyone misses you, AND you have to come and nurture some of the new pledges.”

Dave explained, “I’m in Nebraska tonight and Kansas tomorrow, probably for two or three days because of weather. After that I pass through Oklahoma on the way to Dallas. Ashley has me doing a concert with her that first Saturday in November. I’m going to fly home from there and maybe do the western states next year, or some other time.”

Ty said, “Good. We need you, buddy. You’ve been away too long, plus you have an enlarging Circle 101 class to teach.”

After hanging up, Dave kicked himself for not asking who had shown up to become a pledge in the Circle. It would be too early for Doris to have gotten there, but he did expect a few of the others he met to be there, at least if they followed on what they’d felt when the spirit moved them.

Dave called up some porn on his computer, favoring some of the videos on the Circle-X website that featured some of the women in the Circle. The one that turned him on the most that evening was a video of Bunny and Piper coming back to an empty house after a prom and getting the stuffing pumped out of them by Matt and Toby; they swapped often and there was even some bisexual content to their surprise. He didn’t make it through the video before he was through, and then he slept well.

Dave enjoyed a leisurely breakfast coffee at a coffeeshop in The Railyard. There were many pretty women passing by on their way to work. After packing up his bike with all his gear, he continued his trek south, with Wichita, Kansas, being his goal for the day. He had plans for the next day or two in that small city.

He meandered through the country roads, often following his GPS, and finally connected with U.S. 81 again. Later, that became an Interstate that he did take right into Wichita. He’d scoped out the best hotel in the city and decided on the Drury Plaza Hotel right on the Arkansas River. The place had multiple pools, a Jacuzzi, and a well-equipped gym, which Dave made use of before dinner.

After a morning run and cleaning up, Dave rode his Harley to the Cessna Aircraft factory. He checked in at what appeared to be the visitor center, and met a pretty young woman to whom he expressed his hope to get a tour of their manufacturing plant. She asked, “Jet or prop?”

Dave said, “Jet. I have a Cessna Citation X and thought I’d like to see how they’re made.”

“What company?”

“Errr, just me. Dave Prentiss. Even though I was working for EneRG at the time, I bought the plane in my name.”

The bottle red head was busy on her computer. Her name tag read, ‘Ginger Decker’. “Your address, please.” She seemed to have low expectations for establishing his legitimacy as a jet owner.

He rattled off his home address on Circle Drive in Sarasota. Apparently, that checked out with whatever records she had on her computer. She looked surprised and then studied him. He was definitely not corporate jet material: motorcycle boots, jeans, nice shirt, however. She’d seen him ride up and park his motorcycle outside the main door for visitors. She pondered him and asked for ID. Dave produced his wallet and several photo IDs.

“You really are him, I guess. The corporate jet guys are usually either dressed like rich golfers or in a three-thousand-dollar three-piece business suit. I’m sorry to doubt your veracity. She explained that tours weren’t given except on Tuesdays and Fridays; this was a Wednesday.

The disappointment on Dave’s face must have registered significantly on the girl. She apologized. “Are you in town for long?”

“Just today. I arrived last night. I can’t stay. I have a concert to give in Dallas on Saturday. I kind of thought there might be daily tours of some kind.”

“A concert? You in a band?”

“I’m a relatively new singer. I’m performing with Ashley Steerman.”

“Oh, I love her music. She’s one of my favorites. You actually sing with her.”

Dave pulled his cellphone out and in less than a minute he’d called up a video of him singing Texas Dawn with Ashley on stage at the Chicago fan club event. Dori had emailed it to him. He thrust the phone into the girl’s hand. He bargained, “If you can get me a tour, I’ll even take you to the concert, give you a VIP seat, and bring you backstage to meet Ashley and all. There might even be an after-concert party.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope. I’m riding down there on the Harley.” He chuckled, “You could even ride all the way on the back with me, if you dare. The weather looks good the rest of the week. I’d planned on doing a tour here today and then heading to Oklahoma tomorrow, and then Dallas on Friday. We usually rehearse the day or morning before a concert, at least to warm up. You could even attend the rehearsals if you wanted and meet Ashley in a less frantic situation, I promise. I’ll even pay your way back here, but the cost is a good tour? I want to see how you make airplanes.”

The red head studied him for his sincerity. “Wait right here, please. Have a seat.” She gestured at a seating area, and then turned around and nearly ran through a pair of double-glass doors that went back to some kind of office area. Her high heels click-clacked on the terrazzo floor as she scurried away.

Ten minutes later, Ginger reappeared, checked around the room and made sure nobody else was waiting for anything. She said, “I’ll be back, don’t go away. I’m making arrangements and stuff. Might take me up to a half-hour. If somebody comes in, tell them to push that big button on my counter.” She pointed to the area in front of where she’d been sitting. There was a glorified doorbell there on an inglorious piece of wood.

Ginger came back twenty-five minutes later with another pretty girl with her. “Martha is going to take over the welcome desk. I’M going to give you the best tour you’ve ever had, Mr. David Prentiss, and certainly better than any of the normal tours given here twice a week. I’m going to take you up on your offer to go to Dallas, too. Were you serious, or was that just a line to get a tour?”

Dave smiled broadly as he stood. “No, I’m serious. You will be limited to the luggage you can fit into a small duffle bag that I can strap onto the motorcycle. I’ve been traveling with a lot of other gear that takes up a lot of room on the bike, but the passenger seat is available for you. I have a helmet for you, too, and, errr, you’ll be staying overnight along the way, but at my expense I assure you. I’ll cover all your meals and expenses in Dallas, too – meals and everything. Such is my bargain.”

Ginger broke into a huge smile. She blushed, “Martha and I scoped you out on YouTube and the Internet. You’re a great singer. You’re also apparently the father of Ashley’s baby and she’s pregnant by you again, even though she’s married. More than all that, you’re on TELEVISION! You are the kind of head guy for that thing called the Circle. I heard about it, but ... I’m embarrassed ... I’ve never watched the show. Martha gave me a thumbnail of it. She’s a fan.” By then, Ginger’s face color was a beautiful pink blush.

Martha stepped forward and introduced herself. “Hi, I’m Martha, but everyone calls me Marty except Ginger. We’re roommates, too. She had a bad experience with a guy named Marty. I’ve got to ask, wasn’t Ashley’s husband all bent out of shape over the baby and all?”

Dave shrugged, “It’s all very up and up, as the British say. Her husband is on board with everything that’s happened; hell, it was his idea but don’t spread that around too far. He’s a good friend, and now, I guess, even my agent. The singing is new for me. Ashley kind of discovered by accident that I had a good voice for country music when we were playing around with her band in her recording studio. I was a white-collar guy most of my earlier career. Electrical engineer and manager.”

Ginger rummaged around behind the reception desk, and put on some running shoes. They contrasted with the pretty dress she been wearing. She said, “Come on, we have a lot of territory to cover here, plus the Textron Beechcraft Plant a few miles away.”