Chapter 37

Kissa spent the next morning showing us everything she had set up so that she could support the charter office, in addition to our Paradise Island and courier service. We were there when the office phone rang. It was Paradise Island with a request to transport four couples from the Hamptons in Long Island, New York. They also had a family returning to Atlanta. We were given the Long Island customer’s phone number so that we could contact them.

The customer was a famous movie star and his wife, with another female movie star and her husband. The other two couples were wealthy friends. I asked if they would like a meal and what kind of food they would want. The man gave me his wife to talk to, and she said it would be nice to have something special. She ordered veal Marsala with a salad before, and a couple of different wines.

I called the patio and asked Sheena to hostess and give Fran more training. She said that she would be ready by the time someone came to get her. I ordered the food on the way back home to pick Sheena up. Janet said she would get a G650 out and prepared.

Sheena was ready, and had a cohort with her. Nikki said that she wanted to ride along to enjoy our company.

Janet had chosen the aircraft with two sets of four seats opposing each other and a table in between. There was a narrow aisle between the two sets. This would be perfect to serve a meal to eight passengers.

We were able to pick up the food and wine from the inflight kitchen by the time I returned with Sheena and Nikki. Janet already had the APU powering the aircraft air conditioning, refrigerator, and ice maker.

Having Fran, Nikki, and Sheena was overkill as far as hostesses were concerned, but they knew not to overwhelm the passengers. Our flight up to the East Hampton Airport Management facility was smooth as any air travel could be. Janet had called the customer to advise them of our arrival time so that they could meet us.

We were able to land and park at a refueling location where we could be hooked up to services. The ladies knew what to do for customers and waited to start the coffee until the customer arrived.

I stood at the stairs with Janet, Sheena, Nikki, and Fran. Two limousines came out to the airplane and two couples got out of each of them. They were perfectly dressed in some fashionable summer wear. Sheena went to the entrance of the aircraft to assist those who came in, while the rest of us followed them inside. I did another quick through-flight walk around since we had already flown the aircraft.

Janet had the APU up as soon as we disconnected the ground services. The engines were spooled up and we were taxiing to the end of the runway in less than five minutes. The girls went through the passengers to make sure that they were properly buckled up and served coffee to those who wanted some now. They made a couple of drinks and a couple of soft drinks for one couple.

The girls were buckled up when I announced to prepare for takeoff. We were assigned FL410 all the way to Costa Rica. The girls began serving the food and wine after an hour. They served the salads with the customer’s choice of dressing first, and then the main course with the appropriate wine. We had brought some fancy chocolate eclairs for their dessert.

The customers were enjoying themselves with all their seats turned toward each other by the time we landed at the home island. I think the idea that they couldn’t tip us was so foreign to them that they said they would send something to our company in Florida. Janet instructed the paying customer, “The best gratuity you could give us would be to use us again and to recommend us to others.”

This was a trip with a return customer going to Atlanta. Kissa said all of the financial arrangements had been made, so we could take the family to Atlanta and go home. I asked our office person, “What are you doing in the office, Kissa. You should be home enjoying the people there.”

Our official secretary said, “You guys are out working, so I thought it would be okay if I were to stay here for you. You know that I’m like your mother and have to wait until my babies are all back in the barn. I’ll go home soon. I have Janet’s car.”

We were able to get customs to clear the passengers in Atlanta, so we didn’t have to make an additional stop in Miami. These people could have been carrying bags full or contraband as the customs guy used our manifest to write the names in for his inspection sheet and left. He really earned his money on this trip. The man scribbled his name and tore the carbon off for me. I slipped it into the logbook, refueled, had the potty cleaning truck flush our holding tank, and then headed for home.

The three girls in the back had the aircraft cleaned and ready for the next charter by the time we landed at the airpark.

There was still some cold pizza, calzones, and mild wings to eat at home. There was a big bowl of prepared salad in the fridge that we dished out healthy servings of. Everyone on the patio began heading to bed by the time our stomachs were filled. The five of us cleaned up the patio tables and floor while laughing and joking between us. We all sat at the bar and had a drink instead of the iced tea we had been having.

Janet said, “Our other three are already asleep, so we need to get to bed too. Are you and Kissa going to keep sneaking into the bed, Fran, or will you be sleeping on the pullout bed?”

Fran said, “I’ll probably sleep with Kissa on the couch, but I’m going to snuggle in there with you guys if she’s in the bed too. I like sleeping next to a warm body.”

We finished our drinks and went to the bedroom. The bed in the parlor was made up, but no one was there. Gin was at work, so there was only going to be seven of us in the bed. This was probably at least one too many. We were all tired, so it was just some kisses and off to sleep.

Janet pulled on my hand sometime during the night and whispered, “Come to the parlor, it’s too crowded to sleep well.”

I was sleepy so I followed the platinum blonde to the couch bed and we pulled the sheet and spread over us. I think Janet was asleep before me.

Donna was kissing me awake, telling me to get up so that she could run with us. I stretched and shook Janet who got up and walked to the bathroom. The rest of the girls were dressing to run when I went for my running clothes. We stretched out in the grassy area outside the patio and began walking before running.

We didn’t go to the gym and were back at the patio by six twenty. We all poured ourselves some coffee and had a few minutes with Steve before he turned the light on. Steve said, “I think Abe is going to have to slow down. Alice told me yesterday that the doctor told him he had to slow down since he’s over eighty. He’s still in decent health, but there were indications that his body is aging. Alice had been complaining about Abe’s memory and how he sometimes seemed confused lately. He has an appointment with a neurologist for a thorough exam. We should know more soon.”

Steve told me, “Abe has a man who is as creative as he is and has been working closely with him for a couple of years. I’ve been moving Abe out of the R&D stuff so that he wouldn’t be pressured there. The other guy I worry about is Mark down in Costa Rica. His family is down there with him, so they watch him. He’s only a couple of years younger than Abe and just as active. I guess we’re all getting older.”

That’s when I realized that Lizzy was nineteen, which meant Steve, Sue, and Mercy had been together for even longer than that. Bonita was going to have her sixteenth birthday this coming week, which meant Kathy had been with the family for over sixteen years. Chuck’s kids from his women were in two groups. The older ones were four going on five, and the little guys were pushing two and running everywhere.

Dora began talking to me, “You’re the perfect fit for your family there. You’re probably ten years younger than the other Chuck, and he’s ten years younger than Steve. You’re going to have to settle down and begin a family in the next couple of years. Get with it, Bro.”

I wonder if she was still awake from working last night or up at a ridiculous hour for her.

We all cleaned up for our day. Chuck had told me that he wanted me to work with Wanda to learn some of the admin paper work, so I dressed in a suit, white shirt, and tie. I asked Wanda when she was going in while having a breakfast sandwich. She told me that she would be leaving soon because she liked to open the office before eight-thirty.

Not knowing what kind of activities I would be involved in, I decided to meet her at the office. Fran and I were at the Federal Building at eight, in time to listen to Sarah assign duties out to the Deputies. We enjoyed a law enforcement donut and some coffee with the men there.

Wanda stuck her head into the office and told me that she was opening her office if I wanted to come. I poured her a cup of coffee, warmed mine, and grabbed a couple more donuts. Wanda opened some windows for some fresh air and turned the air to seventy-four to cool off the office.

She thanked me for the donut and coffee while she was still arranging her desk. She started a pot of coffee for the office and then sat to enjoy her donut and coffee. The two office girls came in, said good morning to us, and went to work listening to any voicemails that might have been left over the weekend.

Wanda took Fran to an office that was behind hers and gave her a slip of paper with the PC passwords. She told Fran to log in and check her e-mail because she should be on the ops group distribution list. She said she would be back with some folders for her to read in a few minutes.

Wanda took me into Chuck’s office and pointed to the desk chair. She said, “Sit there to see how it feels. You’ll be using that chair when I need you. Get used to it, because you are going to be assuming a lot of Chuck’s responsibilities. This paper has Chuck’s passwords, so turn his computer on and check your e-mails too. I’ll check Chuck’s correspondence and forward everything you need to take care of.”

I said to Wanda, “There must be some mix-up, Wanda. I’m not qualified to handle Chuck’s administrative duties. I agreed to work with the Marshal Service and Agency Ops group. I haven’t ever had the kind of training to handle Chuck’s job.”

Wanda told me, “Chuck had some time as a working Deputy, and that’s the only difference. You’ve been in the thick of things with him, and he thinks you can handle this job. You met John, the man Sam got his job from, and Chuck recently chose the next man, Tom Crowfoot, to run that office. Sam has stuck around a little to back Chuck up on a couple ops, and you became involved in them as well. They both think you’re the right man, so get used to it. You’ll be able to make your air charter service work along with this. You’ll be able to do it all as soon as you settle in. You’ll be busy, but you’ll enjoy meeting people all over the country.”

I couldn’t answer Wanda because I was in a state of shock that a new man could be expected to jump into the middle of a job like this. Wanda pulled a binder out and said, “Read this, all of it. You can buy me lunch when it’s time. Your station SOP book is up to date, so read that as well. Remember to initial each of the SOPs. The girls and I will make sure something doesn’t slip by you.”

I read, comprehend, and retain faster than most people, but that was self-taught as a kid so that I could be outside playing rather than slaving over homework. The correspondence courses helped me increase my comprehension and retention. I was through the massive binder Wanda had given me, and was working on the SOP binder when she came in. She said, “I had Fran order Subways for her and the two girls. I’m going to take you to a special place. Here are Chuck’s membership cards, and I think you look enough like your boss that you can get away with this.

We walked two blocks before taking an elevator to the top floor. The maitre ‘D smiled at me and said, “Good to have you with us today, Mr. Johnson. Try the special artichokes. They are heavenly.” They sat us at a table by the windows that gave us a view of Tampa from above.

This was going to be expensive, but I was lucky and could handle this without a problem if this is something I’m supposed to do. We were served iced tea and promised our order would be out in a minute.

It was longer than a minute, but it wasn’t but about three when the waiter brought our food. The artichokes were delicious. They were served with a couple of slim cut pieces of broiled steak. The two tastes complemented each other.

We were finished eating within a reasonable amount of time. I didn’t know if we were allowed an hour or a half-hour for lunch, and I didn’t want to go over the allowed time. I was getting nervous when no one came with a bill, but Wanda said, “They put this on a monthly billing that comes to the office. Chuck has a debit card for me to pay for these lunches and the Subways the girls ate.”

“I can’t sponge off of Chuck if I’m supposed to be working in the office, Wanda.”

Wanda smiled at me and said, “I’ve been using this debit card for a couple of years, and know that it still contains a lot of money. Chuck has more money than Congress, and always seems to come up with enough to do something for one of his charities. I even understand you contributed a big chunk to the village Chuck built. Let’s go back and let you finish your reading and we’ll plan on tomorrow.”

It took me another hour to finish the SOP book.

I went out to Wanda and asked her, “Okay, you said to plan on tomorrow, but I have no idea what to do or where to do it. Give me a clue.”

Wanda said, “Go back into your office and I’ll be in to give you some options.”

I went into the office and thought to myself, “Now what? I focused on Janet who was on a charter from DC to Omaha. That would normally be a CS&S flight, so they must be busy. This was someone important as Sheena was with her, and she was flying a G650 with one of our other rated pilots. I brought Kissa into my thought waves to find out that she was preparing the stops for the courier flights for tomorrow. She seemed to be happy.

I sent Gin warm loving thoughts when I focused on her, so that she would sleep peacefully. Donna was at the library at school, and Nikki was in a lecture hall.

Wanda came in and sat with me. She didn’t have stacks of files, only a couple of sheets of printed paper. She gave me one. “There are several items that should be taken care of. You need to go to the Atlanta office for a station review so that you can give the station’s Chief Deputy a raise. He hasn’t had a review for a few years because he’s been traveling too much to catch him in his own office. He’ll be there all week. You would probably talk to him for thirty minutes, and I have a form with all the questions on it. I’d really like to get that done since he might want to move to a more demanding office. I think the reason the office isn’t demanding is because he has the place under control.”

“You have a judge in Cincinnati who is complaining on the bailiffs’ inattentiveness. Most of the courts have old guys about to retire working bailiff duty. Most of the men will use younger Deputies for bailiff duties, and increase the number of them if there is a high profile case with some risk. The judge is way past retirement but is still mentally sharp. I think what he wants is a bailiff who will be his chauffeur back and forth to court. There is a provision for you to provide car service for a Federal Judge in a court the size of Cincinnati’s. See if you can work something out with the station’s Chief Deputy.”

“You need to go up to Chicago and retire the Regional Manager and have a chat with the new temporary station Chief Deputy. I want you to think about Atlanta when you’re up there. You’re going to need a good administrator in the Regional position and the Atlanta Chief Deputy would be eligible after your review.”