Chapter 57: Vows & Promises

July 20, 1985

[ Mary and Sarah found out my lips weren’t too sore to kiss them passionately, before the three of us fell fast asleep.]

***

Mary and Sarah were the first ones up. As I cracked my eyes open, I saw them padding towards the kitchen. Two minutes later they were back, pulling my ass out of bed telling me the ‘days a wastin’.

“What the heck time is it?”

Mary replied, “It’s 6 o’clock, come on, we’re getting married today!”

As much as I wanted to frown, all I could do was chuckle and pull them into me for a kiss. That started a quick wrestling match on the bed that pretty much ended with a couple of kisses and a pinch on my ass. I heard similar noises coming from Greg and Bob’s bedrooms.

I stopped in the bathroom to take care of business, then, joined everyone in the kitchen.

Greg, Bob and I were grinning at each other, drinking our coffee, while the girls made us bacon and eggs.

When the girls said breakfast would be ready in five minutes, Greg, Bob and I quietly snuck to the garage to get another look at our bikes.

“God are they beautiful!” Greg said.

As we turned around we saw five naked ladies with their hands on their hips, frowning at us.

Jamie said, “You boys had BETTER be talking about US, not those BIKES.”

When they saw the sheepish look on our faces, they all broke up laughing. On the way back to the kitchen I heard Mary telling them, “I think I’m going to be more jealous of those damn bikes than any other woman on the planet!”

Sarah hugged me, “I think I can sympathize with the boys. If I had a bike like that, I’d be ON it already, riding it! Hell, I might have even parked it in the front room.”

Bob and I grinned at her, “Do YOU ride, Sarah?” I asked jokingly.

“Hell yes! I had to get rid of my Honda 650 a few years ago, when I moved into my apartment. I miss the heck out of riding it.”

Bob was dumbfounded, “Well, my Little Red Riding Hooded Babe, how would you like a tricked out Sportster?”

Sarah was breathless, “What!? Oh, that’s my Dream Bike. Your big FLHT’s are a little too tall for me, but a Sporty would be perfect! I could get a low-rider seat that would be just the right height. Do you know where I could get one?”

Bob had his goofy grin, “Um, yeah. I’ll give you a ride to Dad’s and it’ll be all yours. We’ll call it an early Christmas present. It already has the ‘low-rider’ seat!”

I thought Sarah was going to pass out, right before she bowled Bob over onto the floor, showering him with kisses.

Mary was giggling, “That will be so cool! Then we could ALL go riding. Sarah, do you think you could ride with Jessica on the back?”

She giggled, “Oh, no problem. I used to ride with Emmy on the back. Jessica would be a piece of cake. I hate to say it, but, I’m already getting wet just thinking about it!”

I smirked, “Spoken like a true biker Babe.”

Linda growled, “We’re ALL biker babes NOW.”

Bob and Sarah scrambled off to get dressed, so they could go and get her ride, while the rest of us chuckled. We stopped when she reappeared, dressed to ride, complete with little black boots and her own black half-helmet. When Bob had his bike turned around and fired up, she hopped on behind him with zero trepidation.

As they roared off, something occurred to me.

With all the excitement yesterday, I had just realized that Tammy, had never showed up last night. I asked the girls if she had called.

They said that she hadn’t and like me, wondered if she was getting second thoughts on going, or was having some kind of trouble.

I had given her my number, but I didn’t have hers, so I called the Manor, to see if she might be there or if they had it. Jimmy, the Greek owner, answered and said, as far as he knew, Tammy was super excited about going with us. She even left work early yesterday, just to get ready for the party.

When I told him she never showed up, he shouted, “That sonya beechen’ Bart. He was here yesterday, just before Tammy go home. I tell him he no wanted here, but he was all mad. He heard about Tammy’s cruise. The bastardo musta follow her home. We should call the police, he’s a very bad man.”

I asked for her address and said I’d check on her. He gave it to me and I found out she only lived about a half-mile from our house.

By the time I got off the phone, Greg was already dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. He said he’d get the bikes out, while I got dressed. Mary had called Tammy’s number and a man’s voice answered, saying Tammy didn’t live there anymore. When Mary asked where she was, he just hung up on her.

We all had very bad vibes and Mary said she was flashing Tom (Captain Gregory, St Charles PD) to see if he could help.

Greg and I jumped on our bikes and blasted off to Tammy’s house.

When we got there, Tammy’s car was in the driveway. There was also an old beat up pickup truck that was loaded up with furniture, a television and other things. There were two guys carrying boxes to the truck. They were both very big dudes, going six foot five inches or taller and weighing probably 300 pounds or more.

Greg and I jumped off the bikes and I hollered, “Hey, have you guys seen Tammy?”

I was trying to act as nonchalant as possible.

The biggest one answered, “Nah, she’s at work. We’re just helping her move some of her stuff.”

Greg said, “That’s funny, Bubba, what’s her car still doing in the driveway? You don’t mind if we go in and check on her, do ya?”

He turned nasty. “It’s Bart and you’re not going in there!”

I instantly felt the evil in Bart’s soul and had a flash vision of an unconscious, tied up, naked Tammy. I stared at Bubba until our eyes locked.

“What did you do to her? TELL ME DAMN YOU.”

“I didn’t do...” then his voice went monotone, “ ... we beat her and fucked her until she passed out.”

His buddy was now freaking out, screaming at him to shut up. Then his buddy pulled a switchblade and went at Greg.

He didn’t even take one step before I made him stick his knife through his own shoulder, just below his collarbone. He fell face first onto the driveway, causing the knife to poke clean through the back of his shirt.

The shock caused Bubba to reach for his, but he was still under my control.

“Uh, uh, drop the knife or die! Your choice.”

The knife fell at his side. “Now, you have no legs, you bastard!”

His legs turned rubbery, he fell to his knees, then on his face.

Greg was running toward the house the second Bart face-planted.

All of the girls pulled up seconds later in Mary’s van. Tom and Stoney, (Capt Gregory and Sgt Stone) pulled up with lights flashing, right after the girls did. They were staring at Bart, laid out face first on the ground and his buddy with his bloody knife protruding out the back of his shoulder.

Just then, Greg was flashing that Tammy was unconscious and badly beaten up. Linda and I rushed in and were sickened to see Tammy’s naked, battered and limp body in Greg’s arms.

We were just about to try and heal her when Tom told us to stop.

“What? WHY!?”

“Because if you heal her, we won’t have any evidence. We won’t be able to prosecute that bastard.” Tom pleaded. “Besides, an ambulance is on the way.”

I could hear the sirens. “But, but if we do this NOW she won’t be in pain anymore! Isn’t there anything else you can charge him with?” I shouted out of frustration.

It didn’t help when Tammy came to and started moaning in pain and crying. My heart was breaking and Greg was looking at us, pleading for us to help her.

Suddenly, Stoney yelled, “Hey Boss! This crippled guy is Bart Sanbrane! We just got an FBI most wanted update on this guy. He’s wanted in Texas as an escapee from a Houston jail. He’s a convicted murderer! There’s a huge reward for his capture.”

Tom grinned at me, “Texas is going to execute that scumbag. Maybe we don’t need any evidence. He’s going to death row and this will put him on the ‘express train’! If Tammy doesn’t care about getting gypped on sitting through a trial, I’ll keep everyone out and you and Linda can do your thing.”

I helped Greg carry her back into the house and we laid her on the bed.

She was crying, “When will I learn? I felt sorry for him because he was broke. I gave him a place to stay and he turns into a bastard and tries to run my life. Last week, he conned me into giving him money, saying that, then he’d leave me alone. I thought I was finally rid of him, when he thought he’d gotten all the money I had. I didn’t realize his buddy was in the restaurant when I was telling everyone about going on the cruise. His buddy told him about my cruise and he was sure I must have more money.

“He must have come in the restaurant just as I was leaving and I didn’t see him following me home. He grabbed me when I got out of my car, saying I was going to pay for holding out on him. He and his buddy raped me and beat me, laughing about how he was going to take everything I owned and sell it to a pawn shop. They said they were going to kill me so I couldn’t call the cops on them. That’s the last thing I remember before I passed out from the pain.”

I was feeling terrible, thinking I may have inadvertently caused this to happen to her.

“I wish I’d never met that bastard.” Tammy lamented.

Greg winked at me, “Tammy, Charlie can make that happen if you want.”

She half laughed, “I wish! Too bad he can’t make the pain go away too.”

Linda gently took her arm, “Let’s do that first. Charlie?”

Tammy had a bewildered look on her face as I took her other arm and smiled at her.

“What’s happening? Oh God, I feel so warm ... and ... OHHHH, that feels sooo good! Oh please don’t stop. Oh, oh, ohhh, WOW!” She looked at the bruises disappearing and her eyes flashed wide, “Ohhhh, YESSS! Oh, what’s happening? It feels like I’m having an orgasm. OH, OH, Ughhh!” She was now smiling and trying to catch her breath. “Oh my God! You two are the ANGELS. The ones that cured those two girls!”

Greg looked her in the eyes. “Yes Tammy, they are. But you can never tell anyone, because if you do, it will undo everything they just did. That’s why nobody knows about them. Please promise you’ll never tell anybody?”

She nodded, “I promise I won’t tell anyone, I just can’t believe what just happened.” She suddenly looked sad, “I can’t go on the cruise now. Bart’s buddy told me he had the clap. (Gonorrhea) I’ve probably got it now too!”

Linda hugged her, “No you don’t. Not anymore! When we heal someone, we heal everything. Even nearsightedness and hayfever. Hee hee.”

Tammy was frantic, “Oh God. YOU guys are supposed to get married in a few hours! Oh God, you’ve got to go.”

I smiled at her, “Do you want me to make you forget about Bart?”

She sniffed, “I don’t doubt that you could. I don’t think so though. I don’t ever want to get suckered into a situation like this again. I need to remember that ‘Bad Boys’ aren’t for me anymore.”

“Then how about I just erase the rape? You don’t need to remember THAT pain again.”

“Okay, what do I have to do?”

“Just look into my eyes.”

She did and just before I started, Greg flashed, “What are you going to tell her?”

“I’m just going to erase the rapes. The hitting and verbal abuse will stay. She needs that to stay away from the bad boys.”

“I’d say push her so when she sees a bad boy, the memory of Bart and his body come up.”.

“Ah, that’s a good idea.”

Then I pushed that thought into her subconscious. When she came to, she immediately looked at Bart and shivered, “God, I’m NEVER going to date guys like THAT again.”

Sarah, who had just ridden up with Bob, hugged her, “I had to learn that too. I’m with you, sister. Start hanging around with Charlie and his family and you’ll find that ‘Good Guys’ are a lot more fun! Not to mention sexy.”

Just then Tammy saw all of her things in Bart’s stolen truck.

“Aaargh, what’s going to happen with all my stuff?”

Tom grinned, “We don’t need it for evidence anymore, ... Hey Jonah!” He looked around, grinning, “Can you help this lady move her stuff back in her house?” He winked at me as he moved his shoulder and flashed, “You’d better hurry, we don’t wanna be late for your wedding.”

Tammy was awestruck, as she watched all of her things magically fly back into her house. She looked at Tom, “Do you know ‘The Invisible Man’?”

“Yep. He has a funny way of just being around, right when I need him!”

I thought it was funny, that she had no idea that Bob and I were moving her things back into her house.

When we finished getting Tammy’s things put back in her house, Tom told me that the EMTs that came, managed to keep Bart’s friend alive and that he was ALSO an escaped con. He asked me what I wanted to do with all of the reward money we had coming. I told him to give it to Tammy, that I felt she earned it and needed it much more than we did.

Greg and Bob nodded their agreement.

Tom said he’d do that and would see us in a few hours.

Tammy gave Greg, Bob and me a nice kiss and told us to hurry home and get ready, promising to see us later.

She had no idea what Tom and I had decided to do with the reward money.

Mary and Jamie wanted to ride with us on our bikes back to the house, but remembered they had Mary’s van. I promised them they would get rides tomorrow for sure. They swore they were going to hold us to that promise.

By the time we got home it was after 11:00. We had to hustle to get ready before the guests begin arriving at 1:30.

Bill, Sally, Ed, Gracie and Emmy came over shortly after we got back, to lend a hand as they were our hostesses and bartenders. Bob and Jessica got the DJ booth ready and his record crates stacked and sorted.

AJ, Joni, Jenny, Andie and Cathy arrived right at 1:30. AJ told us that Steve and Julie wouldn’t be able to make it due to a previous engagement.

Greg, Bob and I used Bob’s room to get ready. We found our clothes were all laid out with our names written on slips of paper! We were chuckling with the obvious attention to detail our girls were showing, considering the laid back atmosphere we were trying to achieve.

I noticed that Greg was alternately looking deep in thought and chuckling.

“Hey buddy, I thought we weren’t going to eavesdrop?”

He grinned, “Whenever Jamie is overly emotional it’s just hard for me not to.”

He was looking at me strangely just before walking into the bathroom and looking in the mirror. “Hey buddy, why don’t we lightly trim up our beards? I know we decided to let them grow out, but right now, we look like ‘Joe Shit the Ragman’. I just got this new beard trimmer, I’ve got a feeling we need to try and look a little more presentable.”

“I suppose that wouldn’t be a bad idea, I’m just curious as to what made you think of that?”

Greg smirked, “You realize, don’t you, that Gracie, Emmy and Sally have been in there with the girls ever since we got back?”

“Oh yeah, and Gracie had a huge duffel bag that looked like it had all of her makeup stuff in it. You may have a point, my friend.”

Bob was chuckling, “Why don’t you guys just shave it all off?”

Greg clopped him on the back and said, “Because, unlike you, who only has to shave twice a week, Charlie and I get a 5 o’clock shadow at noon. We’ll let it grow out more after tonight. Right now, we’re just going to sculpt it, so that we look ‘suave and debonair’!”

We must not have been the only one’s eavesdropping, as we heard one voice saying ‘swa-vey and de-bone-er’, then three distinct voices giggling in our heads.

As Greg, Bob and I left the bedroom, we could tell that most of the guests had arrived as there was a general bustle in the kitchen and backyard. Our crew was doing a great job of showing people to their seats and getting them soft drinks.

At 1:50, Greg, Bob and I walked out to the deck and surrounded the preacher. We took the rings out of our pockets and put them on a pillow on a little stand.

Seeing all of our guests made the three of us smile at each other.

Greg asked, “You ready, my brothers?”

Bob was nodding and I said, “As ready as I’ve ever been for anything. I hope everyone understands what’s about to happen...”

Right at 2:00 Andie and Cathy began playing the Wedding March.

When I looked towards the patio doors, I saw Mary being escorted by her father, Paul, followed by Jamie and her father, Ted. Linda was being escorted by her dad, Ray and to my surprise, Sarah was being escorted by my dad. The girls’ sun-dresses matched our shirts and they looked stunning with the special hairdo’s that Gracie had created for them. They were all smiling and never took their eyes off of us as we watched them approach.

Just as they got to the steps, they turned in to kiss their father’s on the cheek and stepped up to our sides. The seven of us were standing, facing each other, as the preacher began to read the vows.

This was the legal part of the ceremony.

First it was for Mary and I, then for Greg and Jamie and then for Bob and Linda.

The only thing lacking was that after pronouncing us ‘Men and Wives’ he omitted the ‘you can now kiss the bride’ part. The seven of us DID have to suppress a smirk at the line, ‘and forsaking all others’. But were solemn at, ‘till death do us part.’

The preacher explained to everyone that the next part of the ceremony had to do with the family charter that the seven of us were entering into. He said, “Charlie, Robert, and Greg, do the three of you promise to love, honor and cherish Mary, Linda, Jamie, and Sarah with all your heart and without reservation or jealousy?”

The three of us smiled at each other and our sweethearts and said, “We do!”

“And do you promise to protect them while also encouraging them in their pursuit of personal fulfillment, whatever that may be?”

“We do.”

“And do you, Mary, Linda, Jamie, and Sarah, promise to love, honor and cherish Charlie, Robert and Greg with all your heart and without jealousy?”

“Oh yes, we do!”

“And do you also promise to support them in their pursuit of personal fulfillment, whatever that may be?”

“Yes, we do.”

The preacher smiled at our guests, then asked, “I ask the parents and close friends of these seven, do YOU support this unique family arrangement that these seven individuals are seeking to establish?”

When all of our parents and most of our friends exclaimed, “WE DO.” The immediate and enthusiastic response caused the seven of us to break into misty smiles.

The preacher finally said, grinning, “Grooms, you should now kiss your bride’s ... ALL of them.”

We kissed each of our wives with a quiet passion that expressed our love. The girls also kissed each other. All of us were very touched by our parents and most of our friends’ eager acceptance of our relationship. There were several in attendance who didn’t really understand what had just happened. People like Tammy, AJ and Joni, even Larry and Becky were somewhat taken aback and were giving us curious looks. We could all sense that we had some ‘splainin’ to do to, for those who didn’t fully understand what the preacher’s words really meant. It was curious that Sam, our boss, and his wife, Melissa, were smiling and HAD been two of the responders.

After the ceremony, we walked back down to the patio to greet everyone. We mingled, while the caterers were finishing setting up for dinner.

Tammy made her way over to Greg and I, as Bob was helping Jessica get the music lined up. Andie and Cathy were playing some nice soft jazz, background music.

Andie flashed, “When Cathy and I get older, can WE join your Family?”

I was flustered, because I knew the rest of my clan heard her. Tammy was looking at us curiously, like SHE wanted to ask us something, so I was under the gun to answer. “If something happens, that you and Cathy don’t fall in love with two special guys by the time you turn 19, come and see us. You know we all love you, but don’t wait and break those guy’s hearts, okay?”

Giggle. “We were just kidding. You would really take us if we wanted?”

Mary grinned at them, “I have a feeling you’ll find your true soulmates long before you turn 19. Charlie’s pretty good at seeing the future, but, if you come to us then, we won’t turn you away.”

Tammy had a puzzled look, “Were you just talking to someone?”

“Why do you ask?” Greg queried, cautiously.

“Well, you guys looked to be deep in thought, then, you smiled a couple times, but your lips weren’t moving!”

I put my arms around her, “The seven of us are so close we usually know what the others are thinking. Oh, by the way, are you ready for the cruise?”

“I can’t wait! Are we leaving tomorrow night or Monday morning?”

“Stan, the one who gave us the cruise, is over with my parents, I’ll let you know before you go home tonight, okay? I think it’s going to be tomorrow night.”

“Cool! Will you dance with me later?” Tammy asked seductively.

My BUDDY cut me off, “If it’s a slow one, Charlie should be okay, if it’s fast, you’d be safer dancing with me.”

“Aaargh, Tammy, I would love to dance with you and don’t worry, you only use the bottoms of your feet to dance!” I chuckled as I shot a razz berry at Greg.

Jessica announced that it is almost time for dinner and for the brides and grooms to head back up on the deck where our table had been set up.

Shortly after we sat down, my crew had passed out champagne to everyone. As forks and spoons and knives began tinkling against the glasses the seven of us complied with the obligatory kisses. After the girls kissed each other there was a tinkling of glasses, followed by: ‘Bro-Kiss, Bro-Kiss!’

Greg flashed, “Trust me, my brother.” Then, he and Bob kissed my bald head! I pulled them to me and kissed them each on the cheek. We just stood there grinning as our guests broke into laughter and applause.

The seven of us made the first trip through the buffet line and returned to our seats as everyone else formed a line to do the same. The roast beef was just the way I liked it and the tilapia was delicious. As we looked around at our family and friends, it was touching to see them engaging with each other yet always looking up at us and smiling. I smiled and winked at Jessica when I noticed that Billy was sitting next to her. I gave her a smile and a nod indicating that it was cool. She was beaming as she turned back to Billy and engaged in conversation with him.

Once the seven of us finished eating, we again began mingling with our guests.

When Bill, Ed and Larry got Greg, Bob and I alone they queried us about our ‘new toys’. Bill said that last night he could have sworn that he heard a bunch of Harleys blasting up and down the street. Our friends were smirking as Greg, Bob and I looked around and quietly led them to the garage. I put my finger over my lips to indicate that this was on the ‘QT’.