Chapter 16

Wednesday was pretty much a repeat of Monday for me, complete with Margie waiting by my truck after lunch.

“I need you to skip school a couple of days next week. Is that going to be a problem?”

“As long as it’s not Friday, because I can’t play if I miss school that day, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. What’s going on?”

“I’ll set it for Tuesday and Wednesday, then. You and I will go to San Francisco first. After that, we’ll be going to Redmond, Washington. We need to get you fitted for a couple of suits and ties.”

“No. I’ll dress nicely, but I’m a boy genius. I don’t have to conform. You’re thinking Midwest and East coast thinking, which if this was normal Wharton stuff, would be right. Lerner is used to dealing with students, and ... let’s face it, Gates is Gates.”

She blinked, lost in thought for a moment. “You’re right. We still need you to get some dress shoes, though.” She gave me a kiss. “I’ll see you tonight, Dear, now don’t be late for class.”

At practice, I told Coach that SJ would be home later tonight, that I’d like to have him be honored at our game Friday night. I also told him about the donation to Toys for Tots that I’d make at the game.

“You know, I’d heard that you were wealthy, but I don’t think it’d really sank in for me. You’re casually talking about donating a quarter of a million dollars to a charity.”

“Yep. I checked in the rules. There’s nothing that says a school can’t buy new gear for their players during the year, either. If we play like we should Friday without me in for most of the game, you’ll need jerseys with our names on them for the rest of the season, and I think we ought to have new helmets and pads, don’t you?”

“Cal, that’s close to $100,000. I don’t have that in my budget.”

“Huh. Amazing how the football booster club will have a donation of slightly more than that, courtesy of Judge Elroy T. Bannister, after the game Friday. I did mention he’ll be there again, didn’t I?”

“We’re not having another wedding, are we?”

“No, he’s just decided that I’m basically his grandson, so he wants to support the school and his family. And he doesn’t know he’s making that donation, so it’ll be a fun surprise for him. Totally unrelated, I won’t be in school next Tuesday and Wednesday, I have to go out of state for personal business.”

“You’re probably the only person who can get away with shocking the Judge. And with your history, I won’t even ask why you need to miss school. Just make sure you’re here Friday, I don’t know that we can beat Newton without you. Now, get out of my face, I have some equipment catalogs to look through.” He was smiling when he said that.

There was a note on my windshield that all the girls were at the Patrick house. I drove home quickly, so I could change. Jim was there, waiting for me.

“Cal, Elizabeth came by here right after school, told me what you wanted. We can do it, I just have to make sure you’re aware that it’s going to cost more for Saturday work, and that’s not covered in our agreement.”

“Will you be fair with us in the pricing?”, I asked.

He almost looked hurt. “Of course. It’s just that this is all overtime work for the crews, so it’s liable to cost you close to $5,000 more to finish things up Saturday instead of waiting until Monday.”

“That’s fine. Are you going to be at the game Friday night?”

“Of course.”

“Good. We plan on introducing our wounded Marine then, and I’m making a donation to the Marines’ Toys for Tots program in his name, too.”

“We’ll be here Saturday morning at daylight, and have it done as quickly as we can. If it goes without any problems, you can sleep in it Saturday night.”

I held out my hand. “Sounds good. Now, I need to make sure Jethro has food, and get over to the Patrick house. Stephen should be getting in around 7 or so.”

“Oorah!” Jim shook my hand, giving me a nod.

I quickly fed Jethro, emptied the litter box for the cat, grabbed a couple of things from in the house, then headed back into town. I pulled up at the Patrick house at 6:30. There was a sign on the door to go around to the side. I walked around, and through the gate. There were more than sixty people in the backyard. Beth met me at the gate, giving me a kiss.

“So much for a low-key welcome home, eh?”

“This isn’t everyone that wanted to be here, this is just the ones we allowed to be here. Come on over. This is all family, cousins and such.”

I spent the next half hour getting introduced to all of Stephen’s and Jennifer’s relatives that lived nearby. Dora’s family was there as well, her dad and brother manning the grill, cooking burgers and hot dogs, her mother handling drinks, her sisters being runners.

Jennifer came up to me. “My God, Cal. Your girls all coordinated this, making sure we had food, tables, and chairs. I hadn’t thought about all the family wanting to come over this evening. Thank you, so much.” There were both American and Marine flags hanging on the fence, too.

“Not a problem. I’ve said all along that family is what’s important above all else.”

Stephen was talking to Margie, and saw me walking by. “Cal, do you know Margaret Miller? She handles my investments, and stopped by this evening to discuss moving some things around for our future. I told her that with Stephen coming home that there might not be time, but she was rather insistent.” He sounded slightly annoyed, but was trying to not let it show through.

I stepped up beside Margie, put my arm around her waist, leaned in, and gave her a kiss on the lips. Eve saw that and came hurrying up to my other arm. I turned and gave her a kiss, too. I turned back to Stephen. “Yes, I think you could say that I know Margie quite well.” Stephen’s eyes got wide, and I could see him getting angry.

Jennifer saw Margie. “Oh, good, you made it, too. Thank you so much, Margaret. I don’t know how we would have gotten everything done without you being able to make phone calls during the day. Stephen, you know Margaret? She’s another of Cal’s girls.”

“Is there a limit to how many girls you’re going to have, Cal?” Stephen spit out.

“However many he needs, Dad. You know he’s the one who found out about SJ before anyone else. We’re all just thankful and grateful that we’re a part of his life,” Eve said.

Before he could say anything else, Toby hollered from up front, “He’s HERE!”, then went running out the gate. I stepped back, so Stephen and Jennifer could get through. Dora and Beth joined us, on the outside of Eve and Margie.

As soon as the gate opened again, SJ, Gunny Patterson, and Lieutenant Walker walked in, with Toby right beside SJ. People started applauding, and a tape player started playing out the Marine Hymn. In immediate reflex, the Gunny yelled, “ATTENTION!” Even with his cast, SJ snapped to attention, as did Walker. I noticed that at least three other men of the family also went ramrod stiff. The rest of us respected them, and when the song finished, the Gunny yelled, “Carry on!” followed by six male voices all yelling, “OORAH!”, and then the applause started again.

Stephen and Jennifer ran to their son, giving him hugs. “Hey, Mom, I don’t think I managed to duck in time.”

“You’ll be fine, Son, you’ll be fine.” Jennifer was crying. “Thank you both for bringing my son home on leave.”

“Don’t thank us, Ma’am. Thank Mister Lewis. The Lance Corporal would still be in Germany, waiting for a space available military flight, or at best, a 28-hour flight in economy if he’d had to pay for it, and then you would have had to pick him up in Wichita,” Lieutenant Walker said. “He paid for first class accommodations the whole way, including escorts through the airport at the one flight change. The Gunny was going to bring him here by himself, but our CO ordered us both to escort him home, as we’re his notification team.”

Stephen looked over at me, giving me a look that told me not all was forgiven. SJ saw where his dad was looking, Eve still standing by my side. He came over to us, Eve finally leaving my side to give him a hug. “I guess I have you to thank for getting me home so quickly, as well as having the top doctors in Germany taking care of me.”

“All I did was make a couple of phone calls. I’m Cal Lewis,” I held my left hand out. He took it, shaking it.

“Who set all this up? And why do you still have three gorgeous ladies hanging on you, while my sister is crying on my shirt?”

Eve looked up at him. “I’m just happy you’re safe, big brother. As for Margie, we’ve added another sister to our family, is all. Funny thing is, she’s now Liz’s step-aunt.”

“Oh, God, I didn’t think about that. I wonder if Uncle Elroy has,” Beth said.

“So, you really do have close connections with Judge Bannister.”

“He literally is my uncle,” Margie said. “Beth has been calling him that since she was a baby, although I don’t remember her. And he considers Cal his grandson. I’m Margie Miller, the latest member of the family.”

“Aren’t you...”

“A little old? Yes and no. I’m 9 years older than the rest of the ladies, but Cal is also the only man I’ve ever met in my entire life that’s as smart, or in his case, smarter, than I am. I heard you asked him if he was a genius or something. All of us are.”

Before anything else could be said, SJ was taken from us by more relatives. I managed to slip up to the Gunny without the Lieutenant around. “The best laid plans got messed up by a superior officer?”

“Ranking officer, not a superior one. Officers have their places. It’s a shame about you. I suspect you’d be one of the good ones, if you were in the uniform. You understand all about taking care of your family, and to a good Marine, everyone in uniform is his family.”

“No arguments from me on that, Gunny. I believe I owe you a little reimbursement. Was it more than $10,000?”

“No, they actually gave us a military discount, since it was Lufthansa. He’s got an open date return ticket for when he gets done with medical leave, also first class. It was only $4,900, total. Economy would have been less than $1,000, but with that broken wing?”

I pulled a bundle of wrapped bills from my pocket. “Consider the excess a donation to your drinking fund, and an incentive to come back on Friday to the football game with an officer that has a clue.”

For the first time, the Gunny looked uncomfortable. “Um...”

“I make that much in interest every single day on my money, Gunny.” I snorted. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for the bad joke just then. But very politely, there is rich, and then there’s fuck the world, rich. I’m somewhere beyond that.”

As he slipped the bundle into the pocket of his uniform, Patterson said, “I noticed you’ve added another one to your harem.”

“That’s ... well, it is, and it isn’t ... an appropriate word to describe them, but it’ll work. Do you think your actual CO, or someone with a clue can come with you Friday?”

“I’ll make sure of it. Thank you.”

It was almost 10 by the time we left. SJ wasn’t sure what to think, his sister leaving what he thought was her home, but she told him she had tomorrow off, and would be back then. There was no playing around when we got home, the girls were exhausted.

With her taking Thursday off from school, Eve helped Margie fix breakfast for the rest of us. We told the other three about having to go to the west coast for two days next week. “If we haven’t gotten the house installed yet, shop for an appropriate bed, and new dressers for everyone. Also, jewelry cabinets. Oh, I’m a dunce. I forgot to make you a charm, Margie.”

I grabbed a piece of gold, quickly working it into shape for that, and then also making her a ring, as well. When I slipped the ring on her finger, her eyes welled up. “Oh, Cal. It’s ... I was wondering if you had a problem with me, because they had them.”

Beth smiled. “I was going to give him until tonight after school to figure it out. Men!”

Apparently that single three letter word was all that needed to be said. Margie ran back upstairs, getting a necklace from her dresser, and attaching her charm to it.

Lunch felt strange without Eve, but we finished up discussing our plan for Friday night’s game. I told the team that I’d be gone two days next week as well, on personal business. Everyone was fine with it.

Mister Anderson stopped me in the main hall as I was walking out. “Mister Lewis, I had a rather extraordinary meeting with, how do we phrase it, your ladies? They all wished to have the textbooks they’d need for next year, so they could test out of all classes by the end of this school year. Based upon their freshman and sophomore years, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“If that were your only guideline, I’d agree. I know Beth will be ready by the end of this semester to test out of her senior year. Eve and Dora should be ready by the middle of next semester, if not earlier.”

“This goes against what I think I should do, but ... there’s too much about you that simply defies anything we vaguely consider normal. I’ll get them to the girls on Monday.”

“Sounds like a plan. Also, if you have personal retirement funds with Margie Miller, you might make arrangements to discuss them with her. Change a few things.”

“I’ve noticed that Miss Miller has met you at your truck twice this week. Is she handling your investments, as well?”

“Sort of. More like she’s trying to mirror for her clients where she already knows what I’m investing for the long term, so that everyone locally will profit, like I will.”

“I ... see. I think.” He looked a little confused.

“She’s also Judge Bannister’s niece. And she’s handling what I’m getting into next week, the two days I need to be absent.” He nodded, then.

“I’ll, uh, discreetly pass the word. Thank you. Have a good afternoon.”

Practice was spent on making sure the rest of our team knew their assholes from their elbows, as Coach Thompson so quaintly phrased it. We were as ready for Salina as we could be.

There was a large crane in our yard when I got home, with men working hard to get the house sections placed. “They got here late this afternoon. We’re going to get them put on the foundations tonight, then we’ll have all day tomorrow to get everything set up. That way, worst case situation, we’ll only have minor touch-ups to do Saturday. The pool will be ready for you to swim in Saturday night, too. And, of course, the shop is ready for whatever you want to put in it, as well.”

“Thank you, Jim. I’ll be home briefly after class tomorrow, before I have to go back for the game. Since your crew is still working on this tonight, I’ll get you all taken care of, then. I know you still have payroll and such.”

“You’re a good man, Cal. I, uh, talked to Margaret today, about some investments, when she came here earlier. You’re going to make all of us rich if you can, aren’t you?”

“Not overnight, certainly. But I’m a bit like Elroy, I think. This is my home, and I need to make sure everyone here is as well off as I can make them. He started things; it’s up to me to keep them growing.”

Eve was the only one not home. She called about half an hour later, and said she’d be home in an hour. Beth had stopped at a couple of stores and gotten me some dress clothes and shoes, since she knew my sizes from when we got my first batch of clothes. I had to try those on, to make sure things fit. Dora had grilled up onions and the hamburger meat that hadn’t been cooked yesterday, along with some spices Esmeralda had given her, with tomatoes and other ingredients, for tacos. Margie was working on the Macintosh, doing some designs.

“What are you creating?”, I asked.

“Business stationery. We need some letterhead and business cards. This may sound a little lame, but I’m using an image of a kale leaf for the main company, and then of a sedum flower for the financial group. I’m being a bit obtuse here, but since sedum is good for any garden...”

“I like that. Just as sedum is good for any garden, CEDEM Financial is good for any business need, from the start-up to the established,” I said.

Margie glanced over her shoulder. “I’m stealing that for our marketing statement.”

“Works for me. Um, since we’re going to be gone overnight, do you have a suitcase I can borrow?”

Beth said, “Dad and Emily will be back. I’m sure you can borrow one of his.”

“That’s true ... if they’re speaking to me.”

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry too much about that,” Margie said. “If they give you any grief at all, you know Uncle Elroy will come down on them like a ton of bricks.”

“I realize that. I just ... I don’t know, I’m a bit nervous. Stephen wasn’t happy last night, although Jennifer didn’t mind, about the changes to our family so quickly.”

“Stephen wouldn’t be happy unless you were only with Eve, mi amor. I don’t know if you saw, but mi padre had nothing but nice things to say, to everyone, about you, and about all of us. Even Joaquin has changed his tune. I think the other thing bothering Stephen is that his job is now very dependent upon you, and he knows it. It was one thing when you were simply wealthy, but now he feels threatened. If he angered you, for any reason, it would only take a simple word from you and he would lose his position.”

“I don’t get it, I’m sorry. I know that with some personal relationship things I’m quite dense, which is one reason I’m staying in high school. But what’s the difference if I run the funds that support the hospital, or Elroy does?”

“Uncle Elroy didn’t have a personal stake in things. It was simply a tax write-off for him. You, on the other hand, are already sleeping with and having sex with his daughter, and at some point, she’s going to have your child. Let’s face it, most people aren’t quite as open minded and willing to accept things. That’s one reason I got out of this town when I was young; I was too different. I still am, but until you came along, I could hide it from them, and simply be successful. Now, I can openly be ... well, me.”

“Come, let us eat, while the food is hot,” Dora said, ending that conversation.

Eve got home just as we were finishing up. “Well, SJ is doing fine. An old girlfriend of his is spending some time with him, getting ... reacquainted. Mom is happy that he’s safe, and is already talking to him about getting out of the Corps. Dad is glad about SJ, and at the same time, he’s not, if that makes sense. I thought I would be happy to be spending time with them all, but...” Her face grew confused. “I’m not. Stuff that only a month ago seemed important to me, just doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Your priorities have changed,” Beth said. “I figured it’d be harder for you than Spic. She’s got the larger family, but they’re different, she knows that they can uproot and go to a better life, they’ve done it before. Your folks are ... well, set. I’m not saying it’s been easy for me for the last several years after Mom died, but I knew and know how life can change in an instant. Find that opportunity, seize it.”

“I hope he doesn’t push it. He won’t like my choice, if he does,” Eve said with a set face. “I’m still a minor, but I’m not his little girl anymore.”

Margie nodded. “That’s the hardest thing for some fathers to realize. We grow up. It’s natural for them to be protective of us. Let’s face it, they all were teenage boys at one time in their lives. They know what they were like, and they subconsciously think all teenage boys are like they were. Interested in one thing only. And that’s not just sex, but actually spoiling their precious, young, virginal daughters, then dumping them for the next hot piece of ass that comes along. You’re not dumping anyone, dear, you’re simply adding to your collection.”

“I may have heard someone not directly in our families call all of you my harem.”

“To someone outside our family, that’s probably how we appear. We all know better. As for what someone outside our family thinks? Fuck ‘em. The only opinions that matter to me now are what the four of you think.”

Beth tilted her head. “Is it just me, or do you curse a lot, Margie?”

Margie’s face broke into a huge smile. “It’s intentional. Seriously, Beth, you have one thing going for you that I wish I had, and that’s a much smaller set of tatas. People look at me and the first thing they see isn’t my eyes, or my face, it’s the girls. It’s been a male dominated world for a long time, and the only way for men to take me seriously is to talk, to a certain extent, like they do. Once they realize that I’m not just some eye candy ... and I’ve never forgiven Emily for that nickname ... then I can get their attention and actually talk to them.”

“Just curious. How do I fit into that world?”

“Please. You don’t fit into the world; you ARE the world. The center of my universe.”

“The center of all our universes,” Eve said.

“Speaking of universes, when you have time, stop and pick up the books from Mister Anderson. It may not be until next semester, but the opportunity will be there for all of you to test out of your senior year.”

I actually thought I’d get more of a response from that than it did. Instead, it was just a look between Eve and Dora, with a slight nod from Beth and Margie. I didn’t know what that meant until we got up to bed, whereupon Eve and Dora both began licking on my cock, while Beth and Margie held my hands down.

Four cums later, two each into Eve and Dora, with Beth and Margie kissing me, letting me play with and otherwise eat their pussies, we went to sleep. I would have complained about being used, abused, and otherwise turned into a sex toy, but ... I enjoyed it.

There were two slow moving girls the next morning, but they were ready by the time we had breakfast ready. The crew was already out and starting to work on getting things done for the new house, so they’d all be able to take off and make the game tonight. I told Margie to stop at the bank and get some money for them, as a bonus.

“Already did that, Dear. And I’ve got the check for the Marines, and the one for Uncle Elroy to give to the school. The print shop in town has a few presentation checks ready for fundraisers, all we have to do is fill them out with a fat grease pencil. I just have one minor thing to ask you this morning, actually.”

“I’ve been checking each morning, starting on Wednesday, since it could be that early. I don’t see anything yet. Which doesn’t mean anything, but if there’s nothing there by Sunday, then I would suspect there won’t be, not this time.”

“Just curious, how do you do that, anyway? I can’t see you shooting out x-rays from your eyes.”

“No, but I can send out lasers or something like that. I don’t think I send anything out, I just adjust what I can see, and then see through it. I can see through solid rock, but not very far, a hundred feet or so, depending upon the density of the rock. It’s not just seeing in the infra-red or ultraviolet spectrum, either. I just ... well, do it.”

“Yes, you do, and very well. Your tongue and chin could be worth millions to the right woman.” My other girls laughed at that, although two of them twinged a little, from slightly pulled muscles and overexertion.

High school was almost normal, if you consider that nearly the entire student body was wearing our school colors to class. I was one of the odd men out, which I was informed of in first period, that it just wouldn’t do. By the time second period started, a Salthawk letter jacket in my size had appeared for me to wear the rest of the day. I told the guys that gave it to me that I hadn’t earned it yet, and was firmly told to shut up and wear it.

It turns out that at lunch, someone had arranged for all my girls to have their own letter sweaters in our colors to wear as well. If nothing else, my desire to find out about how people interacted was going rather well, which was why I’d stayed in high school instead of completely testing out of it. At the same time, I realized that I was no longer a simple observer of the culture, but an active participant.

More or less to see what would happen, I continued wearing the jacket to my college classes. I had almost the same interesting interaction in all my classes.

One of the students would come up to me and ask, “Hey, most of us went to Hutchinson, but we’re all in college now, so why are you still wearing your high school letter jacket?”

“Uh, because I’m still in high school, and we have a home game tonight.”

“Oh? You’re that smart, huh? What’d you earn your letter in?”

“I told the guys that gave me the jacket today I haven’t put in enough time to earn it, but I was told to wear it, anyway, since I’m the Varsity quarterback.”

“YOU’RE Cal Lewis?” I nodded. That was followed by everyone in class ... and in two of the classes, the teachers ... spending the first several minutes just telling me to keep up the good work. I’d end up warning them that I may not play much tonight, due to who we were playing. The general response was no one cared, the town had rallied behind the team because of me.

What was funny, to a certain point, was that after all three classes, at least one or two girls would follow me for a minute, with the usual conversation going something like, “So, Cal, I’ve heard that you have a girlfriend. Are you maybe looking for someone a little more ... mature?”

It normally shut them up when I said I didn’t have a high school girlfriend, I had three. One girl persisted, though, saying she could teach me things high school girls didn’t have a clue about.

“Oh? And can you teach me what a woman with an MBA can? And are you willing to come live with all five of us? My girls all live with me.”

That shut her up, too. But I was curious to see if the college rumor mill might bring out any more animosity from the Baptists or others. I realized I’d made a bit of a mental shift as far as things were concerned. This was my town, my county. I didn’t own it, any more than Elroy did. But I did consider my feelings towards it, and the people here, from a position of ownership. I’d have to discuss that with Elroy this weekend; I’m sure he had made that mental leap as well.

When I got home, the girls were all there. Since it was a home game, Margie was going to ride with me, while Beth and the others rode in her truck. That would take care of any issues with parking, as we had school permits for any lot.

Jim told me that they’d finished up everything structural. The house wasn’t just sitting on the foundation, there were structural rods running up from the footers and pillars, and each section was bolted down. Tomorrow morning there’d be the electrician and the power company, to hook the house up to the pole and meter, the HVAC guy would be out to fully charge the A/C unit, and the plumber would be out to hook up and test all of the plumbing connections. The building inspector would be out all morning as well, so we could get our occupancy permit immediately.

I thanked him, then we headed back to town. When we parked, I noticed that we had borrowed the extra bleachers from HCC again, and they were already starting to fill up, almost an hour before the JV game. All the girls gave me kisses for luck, then left to take their seats, while I went to dress for the game.

Coach gave us a fairly quick speech. He made certain that both teams would be ready, and flat out told them that I would see limited playing time tonight, so it was up to them to win the game. It was entirely possible that there would be games that I would NOT be playing at all, for various reasons, and if they wanted to keep feeling like winners, they were a team and meant to win as a team.

He pulled me aside after that, before we went out. “I know you’ve got ... other things going on in your life right now, million-dollar things. Having said that, we do need you the next two games, even if, realistically, you don’t play a down tonight. Please keep that in mind. You’re not just the leader of this town, you’re the leader of this team, too.”

“You’ve been talking to Elroy, I gather?”

“Um ... mostly I’ve been listening to Elroy. That he’s canceled his poker game, to watch us play football, is the biggest thing you’ll not find in the paper this town has seen in the last twenty years. You saw the bleachers?” I nodded. “We’ve got something more between games again this week, too. That’s when we’ll do the presentations, so be ready.”

The JV game wasn’t particularly brutal, but as our JV had been practicing against and with our Varsity during the week, it showed. They easily handled the Central Mustangs JV team, winning 42 to 24.

I had noticed the tarp that had been used for the wedding was by the field again. As soon as the JV teams finished their congratulations, they started rolling it out, with our band not just sitting in the stands, but marching in from beyond one end zone, playing our fight song. Everyone on both sides of the field stood and cheered. They reached the 30-yard line and stopped, the drums ticking out a beat. The PA announcer said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, the National Colors.”

I didn’t even know we had a color guard, but they came out from the opening in the bleachers, marching on the tarp to the middle and in step with the drum beat. I knew there’d been some things going on that I didn’t know about, when I saw they had the US flag, the Kansas flag, and flags for all the branches. Once they made it to the middle, they stopped, then pivoted in place around the American flag.