Chapter 57

I went to the kitchen in search of food, but before I got any Tolishanea and Kamakeata wanted to know where I'd been.

"Lunch has come and gone and if you don't have a good excuse for not showing up you'll go hungry," Kamakeata said.

"Please Miss, I've been recruiting."

"Did you do any good?" Tolishanea asked.

"We should have two prospects here shortly. I liked my big sleeper so much I bought the company," I said.

"Well, that'll get you a couple of sandwiches anyway. Even if you're lying it's good enough for a snack. Is this going to fix the no place to sit in front problem yo momma been havin?" Kamakeata asked.

"It better, I think I just spent a few million dollars," I said.

"I just love it when a man talks like that. Can I suck your dick?" Tolishanea asked, and then they both laughed at me.

I didn't care if they laughed. They fixed me two big ham sandwiches and heated up a can of Ranch Style Beans. They could make fun of me all they wanted as long as they kept feeding me, and I told them so.

"Well this is your last chance for us to feed you today. Those white women say they're going to fix our supper. Looks like we spoke too soon about them trying to root us out of our job," Tolishanea said.

"Sho nuff, they's just feelin sorry for the long hours we's workin. Thas why they made us rest t'other day," Kamakeata said.

"They said we needed some time off to enjoy our Massa," Tolishanea said.

"I'm starting to think I need a little time off myself," I said.

"Sure you do Jimmy. I know spending so much money is wearing you out. What a tough life," Kamakeata said, and then they both laughed at me again.

I knew I couldn't win for losing so I just shut up and ate. When these two made a ham sandwich for me it was a meal on its own. The slice of ham in each sandwich was nearly an inch thick and with the lettuce, tomatoes, and such I could barely handle one with both hands.

Mom came over to sit by me after a few minutes.

"You did well this morning, Jimmy. I did a little checking after you told me what you'd bought and the general opinion is the place can do well if we can rein Carl Jenks in a little.

"Some of the thinking is he does excellent work and is an excellent manager as far as the actual work is concerned. Three people I talked to said he was also very creative and often came up with good ideas for new products.

"Unfortunately, for Carl, he bit off more than he could chew with the giant sleeper thing. It's generally agreed they are a good idea, but Carl was under capitalized and jumped in too deep, too fast," Mom said.

"He told Bill and me the same thing, but without being so succinct. He overextended himself with those giant sleepers and then tried to cover his ass by pinching off the IRS. I think they've put the fear of God in him though. He'll probably be a lot easier to handle now," I said.

"That's even better. They're the heavies now and you're the white knight. Surely Ginny's panties will drop off as soon as she gets her new hero alone," Mom said, and damned if it wasn't loud enough for Kamakeata and Tolishanea to hear.

"So that's what Jimmy spent all those millions on this morning. More pussy, it's a good thing too, because he's down to his last twenty-five or so women," Kamakeata said.

"You two can hush. Jimmy bought the sleeper business to get our new trucks completed faster. Ginny is just his lagniappe," Mom said.

"I can understand that, but all it took was a couple of Cadillacs for him to climb on Kamakeata and me for some coochie," Tolishanea said, and I know they were about to break up laughing again until Mom gave them a look.

"If I remember correctly, Jimmy knows how to dole out a spanking or two too," Mom said.

There she went with that spanking stuff again. I was going to have to catch someone at something and hand one out, probably soon. In fact, Kamakeata or Tolishanea would probably be good choices.

"Mom's right, I do remember how, but I might need to get in some practice, soon," I said.

I could tell by looking at them both they were dying to say something. They managed to keep quiet, but I didn't think it would save them from the wrath of the hand of Jimmy in the long run.

"Mom, have you heard anything about the planes and helicopters?" I asked.

"Yes, Gigi and Jerrilyn are off to pick up another Bell like the one they already have. I decided I didn't want to wait and so they found one. Gigi also found an MD500E.

"It's as close as they could come to the Magnum PI model. That one isn't made anymore and I put my foot down about another used helicopter. They promised I wouldn't be able to tell the difference by looking.

"It's supposed to be in a paint booth somewhere in Alabama right now, getting its red on. They haven't located any of the planes yet, but they really didn't have much time to look today," Mom said.

"Anything else happening?"

"Something funny is going on with the computers for home schooling and I intend to get to the bottom of it tomorrow. Marsha told me George, the network administrator, and Jeff, the hardware geek always seem to drag things out.

"They'll both be out here at different times tomorrow to explain exactly what's holding them up, and they'll be lucky if I don't drag something out of them, by the roots," Mom said.

"What became of Chuck Bostrom, the guy Sherilyn was grilling?" I asked.

"Chucky baby left here like his head was on fire and his ass was catching. Getting your airport built is right at the top of his list now. He said the men with earth moving equipment should start showing up first thing in the morning," she said.

"Good, I'm already anxious for that to be done," I said.

"Well it seems like it will be finished before almost anything else gets started good. Chucky said they'd be bringing their own concrete plant and everything else they need.

"Even the fuel tank problem is solved. They'll be installing two twenty-five thousand gallon tanks along with all the pumps and things. No environmental red tape either, not with the government involvement," she said.

"I guess it means buying a truck for the fuel was just a water haul."

"Oh no it wasn't. Do you know how many trips you'll have to make to fill up fifty thousand gallons worth of tanks?" Mom asked.

"Not a clue," I said, admitting it.

"It will take ten loads just to fill the tanks and Jerrilyn said it will be leaving here faster than you think."

"Well, maybe I did do something right," I said.

"Of course you did, and the rightest thing was fucking Barbara unconscious and letting us find out about the control thing. If you don't believe me, ask her," she said, and grinned her little grin.

The door chime went off then and before I could get up Mom yelled out for the welcoming committee. Marsha gave her an all-ready signal from the study and about twenty women gathered around. I went to get the door and Mom came with me.

I barely had Carl and Ginny in the door before the crowd mobbed Ginny. I pulled Carl off to the side and toward the study.

"I'll need Ginny with me," he said, "she knows all the facts and figures."

"Do the best you can on your own. Ginny is going to be kissed and hugged for an hour at least. If you're short on any details, we can fill them in later. Just be sure Marsha and the others are satisfied - the prosecutor is waiting for a call from them," I said, giving him a not so gentle reminder as I pushed him into the study and closed the door.

I wondered for a second if he'd be too uptight for what he had coming. I figured with the way Francis, Julian, and Marsha looked it wasn't a possibility. Besides, Carl would end up thinking it was either give them what they wanted or give it to Bubba in jail.

I worked my way back to Ginny's side and she seemed relieved when I got close. As planned, the crowd thinned out fairly quickly. Soon enough, Mom was telling me to show Ginny around and then she disappeared herself.

I took Ginny's hand and started up the stairs to let her see what was going on. I knew she probably wasn't interested in seeing home construction, but what the hell. It wasn't like she could go off on her own.