Chapter 18: The Mobile Home

Dave got a worrisome telephone at work on a Tuesday. It came in on his personal cellphone that he had sitting on his desk.

“Mr. Prentiss, please listen to me for a few seconds. We have met, briefly in Houston. We used to have a mutual friend. Another friend and associate of mine told me you asked for early warning of potentially dangerous situations. I am calling to give you that alert.”

Dave cursed under his breath. He said, “Say more.”

“Two members of the opposition party entered the country in El Paso this morning. We don’t believe there are any trails for them to find. They will find many dead-ends based on what we think they know. We aren’t sure whether any previous knowledge or disclosures might lead them your way.”

“I understand. Do you have plans to be in the vicinity?”

“Perhaps. We hope to follow them. This call is only an early alert. Be vigilant. You may call me back at this number and leave a message if you believe you have anything of interest to share. I may or may not call again.”

“Thank you. I guess I’ll say my prayers tonight.”

Dave heard the click when the call ended. There were no other words exchanged.

Dave set the phone down and looked at it for a full minute. He muttered, “Shit!”

At dinner on the last day of the month, Roy rapped on his glass with the handle of his knife to get everyone’s attention. Gradually, the din of the dinner conversations died out and everyone focused their attention towards the table where he stood with a large smile.

He raised his hand, “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention. I have several announcements to make that may or may not be a surprise for you.

First, Dori Winter will you please come up here.” Dori stood and with a few uncertain steps joined her boss and occasional lover by his table.

Roy went on, “As many of you know, I am the chief financial officer at Knightsbridge Manufacturing – where, I might add – a number of you work. Well, effective today, I am no longer in that post. Dori Winter is, as of this moment, the new CFO of Knightsbridge.”

Dori looked truly shocked.

The place went wild and broke into shouts of congratulations and applause. Roy let it all go on for a couple of minutes. Ty ran up and kissed his wife and then sat down again. Dori was gob smacked and obviously knew nothing of the big promotion. This was a huge move that would make the national business news.

Roy got everyone’s attention again, “There’ll be some other promotions around in the finance departments but none that will affect anybody in the Circle I don’t think.”

At that point, Elise stood and moved next to her husband. Roy started in again, “My next announcement is that Elise and I are releasing our home back to the Circle for reassignment in accord with the bylaws and rules of the Circle. We aren’t sure of the dates, but the home will probably be empty except for occasional visits by us if it is unoccupied commencing around the first of June. We are open to other space assignments or even none at all, as I’ll explain.”

There were many mumbled questions and a buzz through the Circle diners.

Roy continued, “Elise and I have bought a mobile home. I won’t tell you what it cost except to say that there were seven figures to the left of the decimal when I wrote the check. That included a car capable of being towed.

“The two of us are going to start touring U.S. and Canada in our new toy as soon as we take possession and get settled in using the thing. There’s so much we want to see: national parks, some of the cities we’ve never been in, amusements, and a wide variety of sights. The RV is like a large bus, and we even have to get a special driver’s license because of its size, weight, and so on.

“Some of you frequently visit one or both of us. That need not stop. Because of the pop-outs in the motor home we will have plenty of space. Further, we are also putting in a request to occupy one of the smaller townhouses, so we will continue to have roots here in the Circle. In a way, we’re downsizing. Our love for all of you has not waned.

“Many of you remain concerned about my clogged arteries and my heart, and most of you see me out speed-walking around the surrounding streets and highways. I will be continuing that exercise, but the doctor tells me I am now one of his fittest patients and that my electrocardiogram is one of the best he sees. I apparently ducked a bullet with the two stents, they’re doing their job, and I’ve cleaned up act by eating healthier and a dramatic increase in aerobic exercise.”

He paused and said, “Just so you know, we will always welcome any of you or any of who we refer to as the grandkids regardless of where we are in the world. You can let us know, send them to the nearest airport, and we’ll take care of them for a bit and show them some of the countryside and then ship them back.”

Dave and Alice had sat at their table with the mouths agape at Roy’s announcement. Alice gave a playful punch of her husband’s arm; “Did you know about any of this?”

Dave shook his head. “No. Despite being with my mom a few days ago, she said nothing that would suggest any of this. I knew that she and my dad had fantasized about doing the RV thing around the country, but nothing of the magnitude of what Roy implied. He sounded like they’re going to hit every national park in every state.”

“Do you think they mean what they say about having some of the kids visit with them?”

Dave nodded, “I do. Elise loves all the grandchildren, even when they’re not connected by a bloodline. She thinks they all are anyway, and maybe she’s right. She helps out almost every day in the home school program, especially with the younger kids, and she’s often hosted sleepovers when the parents want to play around or something.”

Alice was watching the pair get swamped with hugs and handshakes by those near them. She knew they’d see them later after the place cooled down and the news got absorbed.

A week later, as Dave rode his Harley home from work with Jenny on the back, he espied a large motorhome parked on Circle Drive in front of Roy and Elise’s home. The two rode the bike further around the neighborhood to take a closer look. They both dismounted and parked their helmets on the bike.

Dave banged on the side of the immense motorhome. “Hello. Anybody home?”

Elise’s voice rang out from inside the RV. “You can’t sneak up on anybody with that motorcycle of yours. Yes, we’re checking everything out. We just got the RV this afternoon. Come in.” The door magically opened.

Dave followed Jenny up the steps into the home on wheels. Dave whistled and said, “Holy shit. This place is the Taj Mahal.” They were surrounded by an ultra-modern living room with a marble floor, a space-age chandelier, and gorgeous leather furniture in a room with large tinted windows and light wood tones. Dave imagined this is what a space-age home would look like at some time in the future.

Elise extended one of the pop-outs that enlarged the living room to a larger comfortable space. There was a depression in the floor left by the moveable unit, but the floor moved and filled in the space so it was level with the rest of the floor. Dave then noticed that part of the floor was polished hardwood, and part the marble tile.

Elise pushed another button and a wood wall somehow turned into a large television set. She said, “Watch this.” She had a control in her hand, and suddenly on the TV were the views from four cameras mounted atop the RV. She could aim each camera independently and even zoom on something. She said, “If we see something, we like we can take a picture of it and download it from the RV’s computer to our iPhones or computers as we travel.” She pushed another button and you could see views out the front and back of the RV as though you were at the front or back window. “We can make movies of it, too. This’ll come in handy when we’re skinny dipping with new friends at some remote lake.” She giggled.

Dave said, “The place is air conditioned?”

“Oh, yes. It has its own generator, heating and AC, and holds a huge amount of both fresh and dark water. Roy spent a day learning just about the engine controls on the dash.

Dave looked and could see the driver’s dashboard unit was ‘on’. The read-out screens were akin to the glass cockpit in the Cessna Citation, and maybe with even more complete information about engine performance.

Elise had started to give Jenny a tour. “The sofa turns into a queen size bed. We have a king-size bed in the back. The two chairs are also each a twin bed. We still have room for a futon or something on the floor in the kitchen.

Dave looked and the kitchen was a compact space-age miracle. One couldn’t do a huge multi-course meal there, but with some planning there was everything anybody would need for up to eight people. The refrigerator seemed regular size.

While the bedroom seemed tight, he reminded himself that he was used to a large room with not one, but two, double-width king-size beds in it, and still there was dance room. It, too, was a pop-out design. He was impressed how every little niche and corner had some aspect of storage in it. The designers had also outdone themselves in the RV’s bathroom. It was not the ‘hold-your-elbows-in’ shower space he expected, but a regular shower that could romantically hold two people, plus all the fittings were top-end.

“This place is amazing,” both Dave and Jenny said, almost in unison. “This is so posh.”

Elise laughed, “This’ll be my idea of roughing it across the country. I have expensive tastes, but then so does Roy. We’re going to have a ball. Next weekend, we’re driving down to Key West in a kind of shakedown cruise. We’ll see how the trip goes and who we’ll meet along the way.”

Dave teased his mother, “Swingers on Wheels?”

Elise grinned. “You win. Exactly what we were thinking. Roy bought a gross of condoms yesterday. You can bet we’re going to pack them away all over this vehicle. We want one or two always within reach.”

“I’ll want a full report. I’ve heard that Key West can be very risqué, but my own experience down there was a little tamer than I expected.”

Elise asked, “Jenny, have you ever been down there?”

“When I was a senior in high school. I had the same experience Dave did. Everyone was nice and polite, and there was no wild sex the way the Internet would have you think.”

Dave got thoughtful for a moment, “Maybe I should get a motorcycle babe and meet you guys someplace. You can sleep two more, and that might make the trip a fun destination.”

Elise smiled, “You’re always welcome in my bed.”

Dave, Alice, Aaron, and Shelby flew up to The Meadows in the Cessna 182RG. They’d accepted a luncheon invitation from Dave’s friend and one of his mentors, billionaire Mark Worthington. Dave called the trip ‘going for a two-hundred-dollar hamburger’ but all they had to pay for was the fuel. The rest was covered by the Flying Club’s dues.

They were welcomed to Mark’s luxurious and opulent weekend home by Melanie and Elsa – two of Mark’s wives. Like the Circle the ‘wife’ designation meant more to the people involved, because Dave certainly had made love multiple times with each woman. They were both gorgeous. Their welcome was full of hugs and meaningful kisses.

Dave sat next to Elsa in the golf cart as she drove over the winding paved path between the mansion and the airport. Dave was surprised when she whispered to him, “We know that someone had to disappear from the Circle. Lucas and I made sure there are no references to them here either. That’s that.”

He didn’t say anything, but was reminded that he should have a chat with Lucas while he visited to tell him about the unsettling call, he’d had from the mysterious friend he’d met in Houston.

Since the day was warm, many of Mark’s clan were gathered around the pool. The scene was not unlike the Circle. The women were either nude or only wearing monokinis. A few of the children played in the pool. A kiddie pool had a couple of mothers keeping a close eye on their toddlers.

Mark came bounding out of the house to welcome Dave, his brother, and their wives. “Welcome back. Make yourselves at home. I won’t insult the pilots by offering them alcoholic drinks, but we do have just about anything you can think of.

Aaron and Shelby both got Bloody Marys. Dave and Alice opted for black coffee. Mark said, “I have a couple of ideas I wanted to talk to you about: some are business and some pleasure. Let’s do the pleasure first.

“Some of us were thinking of taking the large Boeing down to the Caribbean for a long weekend in two weeks. We wanted to see if an equal number of the Circle wanted to join us. The plane currently seats sixty, and we have about thirty going, so we offer you thirty seats down and back. We’ll use SRQ Airport on this end, since the plane just came back from its annual inspection over in Miami and is now at SRQ – Sarasota – there rather than TPA – Tampa.”

Elsa added, “Cindy and I flew it back, and it was LIFR up here, so we had to use a major airport to land, so we picked Sarasota. The plane is still parked there.”

Elsa teased, “Alice, you could book some right seat time on the trip. Cindy won’t mind, and we’d still like at least one pilot in your Circle to be checked out on the plane.”

Alice said, “I’m in, but I won’t have much study time on the 737 between now and the trip.”

“Elsa laughed, “A little OJT won’t hurt. It’ll be in your logbook in any case.”