Chapter 24

This next day was as if I had never left courier duty. Janet was going to be all over the Midwest and out west, so she was going to use the small Citation. I was asked to use the Phenom to leapfrog up and down the eastern seaboard. I had a first by being given several boxes of parts for military locations. I was told that someone on base would be notified as soon as I was on final approach, and the aircraft would be met so that I could keep rolling. The only time I had to shut down was to get fuel.

This was fairly normal for courier duty, so I was in the air for nearly ten hours when I finally turned the aircraft in. I was advised that one of my charters was ready to return tomorrow, so I was to be in Costa Rica by ten in the morning. I was also advised that I was to pick up a package in Miami when I refueled and had a Customs check. I could do a courier drop-off after discharging my passengers.

All went well to the Resort and back, but I was handed a printed flight plan when I gave the package away, It was for a pickup in Kansas, with a drop off in Arkansas, another pickup back up in Tennessee, with the drop off of a package and person in Atlanta, followed by a pickup in Virginia with a drop off in Pensacola. I called the charter office while I was waiting to be fueled. DeDe answered, so I asked, "What's with the overnight courier assignment? I don't have any fresh clothes or toiletries."

Without sounding apologetic, DeDe said, "You'll have to wear day old clothes and buy a razor. These need doing. There is nothing after Pensacola so far, so you should be back by noon. Janet is stuck out west chasing packages from Washington to New Mexico. She may be out a third night the way it's going for her. She had eleven hours the day before and over ten again yesterday. We're going to have to have a second dedicated pilot for these runs, but whoever it is has to at least have a commercial license to do them. We need more crazies like you and Janet."

I told DeDe, "I don't mind the work, but I'm putting a lot of hours on my aircraft. I don't want to use up my aircraft time running around and not doing the taxi charters the way I hoped."

"You're getting paid, your aircraft is being subleased, and I know you're getting the CS&S discount on your insurance. You'll be fine even when your first major overhaul is due. The charter business will come, Chuck. Be patient, and you'll soon be too busy to keep up."

I didn't get home for two more days, and I had stayed at cheap hotels near airports to save time. There was a Walmart near the hotel the second night where I was able to buy a pair of pants, shirt, underwear, and socks. Although you don't move around a lot, you still get into a sweat every time you're in weather, so you start to smell.

I arrived home at three in the afternoon, and was greeted by DeDe who told me that I had a charter down to Costa Rica, and that one of my customers was coming back, so I was going to be busy with my own charter work all day the next day.

Laundry needed to be done, so I hurried home and found that all the clothes that had been in the hamper were washed, ironed, and hung in the closet. Even my dressier clothes were cleaned and ready to wear.

Knowing that I needed a shack pack, I folded a pair of jeans, an extra pair of socks, shorts, and a knit shirt for the next time I was caught out doing something like courier work. I looked at the pickup location for my charter going to Costa Rica and it was in California, so that meant I needed to fly out there tonight, sleep whenever, and fly south via Mexico to get this customer down there so that I could pick up the one who was returning to the States. Hmm, they were going back to Chicago, so it wouldn't be too bad at that point. I would have to stay over in Chicago or somewhere enroute, or take a chance of being too tired to make the flight home.

I could have really used a nap, but I needed to get it on to get to California so that I could sleep on the plane tonight.

I called the California customer and was told by the man that an unexpected emergency had arisen so they couldn't leave tomorrow, but would probably leave Friday or Saturday instead. I still had the charter to bring a customer back to Chicago, so that would work out.

The kitchen always had food in it and more being prepared. A sandwich or something would magically appear if you were nice to the ladies in the kitchen. I was told that something would be ready soon, so I got down on the floor with the little ones. This batch seemed to be rapidly progressing, and were crawling now. They were kept in a controlled crawling area by a short fence that was fairly sturdy.

The little ones loved it when an adult lay with them so they could pull a nose, ear, lips, or hair. They made a lot of cooing noises, but they also were busy with some mental noises. I realized that Chuck's and Lisa's kids were gifted and wondered how that would affect them as they grew. Dora and I didn't know that we had that gift, but it had affected our early lives. Our mother used the gift to keep us in line and to teach us to be good kids. Our friends all fought with their siblings, but Dora and I never did. We always invited each other to join with our friends to do things, but we didn't get together with them often until we were older, since the other sex had cooties when we were young.

I fell asleep with the little guys and napped for an hour. I woke and had half a dozen little ones using me for a pillow. Nikki woke me with kisses, and held a little girl over my face to give me slobbery kisses. Nothing will put a smile on your face if that doesn't. She said that Gin was out at the airpark taking her flight lesson and Donna was the secretary/receptionist at the R&D shop today.

"I didn't know Gin wanted to learn to fly. I could be teaching her."

Nikki told me, "Don't tell her that I told you. She wants to get her instrument rating before she tells you. She says that she wants to be a flying doctor. You know that she's a little nutty about doing things. She becomes obsessed with an idea and it doesn't leave her. She'll finish her license and then brag to you about it. I think Janet knows and is planning on giving her instrument flight lessons.

One of Chuck's women, who I think is Gina, said that she had given my sandwich away because I had fallen asleep. She told me that Kathy and Mercy were cooking wings for a snack and I might want some of those.

Nikki said, "Come on, have some of those killer wings, but don't kiss me. You did that the last time and my lips burned for an hour."

I went to the bar and found both Kathy and Mercy with surgical gloves on while they poked holes in the wings and put them back into a huge bowl of marinade. Mercy said, "Help get these wings ready for the fire. Chuck and Sal will be here before long and will hog all the wings, so we need to have at least a hundred ready with another hundred on the grill.

Sal and Gerry both came from R&D, smelled the wings, and headed to the bar. Kathy put some on a platter and the two began stripping the meat from the wings with tears running down their face. Gerry grinned and said, "My Donny just loves it when you guys cook these wings. He says that he gets a month's worth of loving in one night."

I ran out of raw wings to puncture and went behind the bar to make myself a drink. Sal said, "Make me one too. I love these wings."

Juanita came from the kitchen with a platter full of raw vegetables and a couple of big bowls of ranch dressing to dunk them in. Chuck came in the patio, greeted his women, and went in search of Lisa who was changing babies before giving them a breast treat. I was still making drinks when he came out and I made him one too. Steve came home and was mobbed by his kids, from Sue Ellen up.

Janet arrived to make my evening complete and gave me a very nice kiss. She told me, "Wait about five minutes, and make me one of those. I'm going to take a shower."

The people from the business park soon began coming in along with Donna, and then Gin came from the airpark. The place was in a very festive mood, so I innocently asked, "What's the party for?"

Janet, Nikki, Donna, and Gin all came to hug me while Steve was surrounded by his women. Mercy said, "You sure don't pay attention, do you? This is Steve's birthday."

Sue kissed Steve, then came to me and said, "It's your birthday too. Can you imagine the two of you with the same birthday?"

Well son-of-a-gun. I had forgotten all about that. I wasn't on the Internet with my sister who would remind me of these important events every night.

Steve said, "That's another reason for you to stick around. We can celebrate our birthdays together."

He actually came over to hug me, and said, "I have a son like you in JJ, but you are really like a family member. I want you to be around. I want you to be a part of us here. My ladies love you and really enjoy the way you try to be a part of us. You're a little on the bashful side, but I think I might have been that way too. Every one of my crazy friends enjoys having you around and with us when we do things."

Chuck came to me, and said, "You solved the problem of the three crazy women Sal is the acting dad to. You've redirected their unwanted attention and brought us Janet. You know that you established some new rules out at the airpark by working more hours than you should, but not quitting until the job is done. I'd love to have you as a Deputy Marshal, but I understand your hesitancy. I do need you to come with me out west to find out more about some things that you can do. I'll talk to you more about it."

Steve had saved me a plate of the vicious wings and also freshened up my glass. The man said, "You share your gift with Mercy, Missy, my triplets, and my son. You don't push yourself on people, and seem to never invade our minds. I'm really proud to have a son like you."

Steve shouldn't say that as it made my eyes water. Damn, I was such a softie.

Supper was Steve's favorite of pork chops, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, and some delicious rolls. That could become my favorite too. Everyone had a piece of the giant birthday cake that was made for Steve and me after the dinner plates had been collected.

The men adjourned to the bar after dinner, and the women went to some tables probably to talk about the men. I was more interested to hear what the three girls and Janet had to say.

We had been so busy that Janet hadn't had the chance to talk to the girls about our trip to Miami and the meeting with my family and friends. I didn't catch all of it, but I think Janet may have embellished my youthful activities. Nikki ran to a tall black lady while she was talking, and brought her back to the group. I think her name was Deana. The tall lady kept looking at me, and finally came over to me, "Are you that 'Buddy' that was here before Daytona a couple of years ago?"

I smiled and nodded.

"Why didn't you drive for Gene? He offered you an Xfinity car and you turned it down."

All the women in the group had gathered back around me along with the two girls known as the 'Andies'.

"I was into racing to help a friend promote his shop and get his name out there in front of the team owners. I was also into racing to help a little girl become the driver she is today. Everyone knows Peanut now. I truthfully wasn't that good of a driver. The other drivers made so many mistakes it made me look good every time I drove a good car. Gene was offering me a job because he thought that I was attached to Peanut. She was my friend, not my lover. We made a good team until she found a better one, and that was Gene's."

Deana said, "You could have been picked up by any number of teams. You were scoring way up there against drivers who were supposed to be better than you. I think NASCAR missed out on a good driver."

"Thanks, Deana, but look at me. I'm about the happiest man alive. Tell me how it could be better."

Sandy of the 'Andies' came to me and said, "We have an open wheel that is really hot. We want to run it out at East Bay and maybe up in Ocala and over in Volusia. How about driving it for us to see if it's as hot as we think it is? We've put a lot of love into this pile of used parts. We've been salvaging wrecks for over a year to make this car and just know that it's something special. Please, drive it for us."

I looked around, and Janet said, "Oh, come on. Do it for all of us. We all want a hero and here you are. What do you need to do this?"

"Practice. You can't get into a fresh car and lead or win a race. You have to know what the car can do and what its limits are. I have to have at least four or five hours of practice with the car before I can race it. You all also have to know that I could flinch the wrong way and send that thing into cartwheels. All that work prepping a car and its junk from a twitch? Are you sure you want to try me?"

As she slid up next to me as if we had something going, Mandy said, "Sandy and I love to twitch. Get in our car and stomp that accelerator and stay twitched until you're carrying that checkered flag. You're not going to win them all, but one would be more than we've won so far. Damn, I'm so excited that I'm ready to join Janet in putting you to sleep."

Gin was quick to remind both girls that they had their own men who they put to sleep at night. They finally left me alone after I agreed to practice with their car out at East Bay and race it Friday night. They made sure that I would be willing to go to Ocala for the Saturday races if I did okay Friday, and that might lead to Sunday afternoon at Volusia. I couldn't talk them out of it when they said that they had tires, fuel, and were ready.

I flew my route the next day and returned back to the airpark. Sandy met me and said they had track time, so we needed to go straight there. I left my key fob so they could give it to Janet when she returned.

The ladies had my safety gear and buckled me into their creation. I checked the gear lever on my left side and found it easy to reach, yet still strange to have it to my left. The two girls showed me how to start the four wheels and motor, and said for me to get used to it. I was told the microphone in the helmet I was using was voice activated so that they could talk to me while I was driving.

My first lap was just getting used to the car as I drove it. The way the car was set up made it want to slide up on the track, but the trick was to keep it down when you were at top speed and keep the car sliding all the time.

I drove lap after lap, slightly increasing my speed each lap. I was finally sliding around the track in a constant four-wheel drift while keeping the accelerator on the floor. This car was hot and it was also perfectly built to handle the track. I practiced sliding up and diving inside, and then running up inside and sliding around the outside. Someone who didn't know racing would think that I was being a few bubbles off, but those who race knew that I was practicing to take on a slower competitor who wanted to block the track.

Driving on an empty track is a lot different than when there are a lot of cars competing. I felt pretty confident, but also knew that I would be on the track with experienced drivers who could make a rookie look silly. I've always been a little wild and crazy, so I was thinking that this could be fun.

I had a short run Thursday and was back to practice Thursday evening and able to run with another car doing the same as I was. The guy was in a fast car, but wouldn't stay with it to keep his drifting in the right line. Someone was going to rub one of his rear wheels and make him do somersaults.

We unloaded the car and thoroughly checked it Friday evening. The 'Andies' were more nervous than I was. I thought it was funny the way they had time trials on a short dirt track, but they did it to get position. My time was over a full second faster than anyone, so I was given the first row and chose the pole. I could set up my drift quickly and should be able to stay in front until I began to lap cars if I could get a quick start and get ahead. That's always the tough part. No one wants to be lapped, so they try to block you. That was why the practice of sliding out and diving to the inside.

The race was anti-climatic. My start was so fast that I was twenty to thirty feet in front of the car in the second position. The guy couldn't get his car sliding or drifting and went straight into the railing. The caution and red flags to stop the race so they could get the junk off the track were waved. The car on the outside tried to rub wheels with me on the restart, so I let him begin to get close and punched it when he dove at me. Another caution flag waved as he ran into the low rail in the corner. He was able to get off the track at least. The rest of the race was as expected, with the only problem being lapping cars. It becomes a guessing game of whether or not someone has caught up with you. I ran a lap with the 'Andies' hanging onto the car and waving the checkered flag. I think they just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't do some silly burnouts and ruin good tires.

We were home reasonable early, and had a drink with a plan to leave for Ocala by ten in the morning. The 'Andies' made sure that I would pack my toothbrush since they wanted to go straight to Volusia if we did well at Ocala. That was pretty wishful thinking, considering that they were sponsoring a rookie driver in an overpowered car.

Saturday morning was almost amusing as there was a caravan being organized to go to Ocala to watch the girls' car. I noticed how no one was saying to watch Chuck race so that they wouldn't jinx me. Janet hadn't been able to watch me race Friday night, but was going to be in my car with the three girls on the ride to Ocala.