Chapter 53

The next morning I mostly just hung around at home. Mom kissed dad and I, and grabbed her make-up case and a hanging bag with her outfit and headed off. I was a bit surprised, as normally she came home to get changed. But dad told me that the girls were doing it in Peggy’s room this year.

We discussed what his future plans were, and I was a bit surprised when he mentioned they were thinking of adding a hot tub. But dad said that it was actually suggested by his doctor, as his knees and back had been bothering him more the last few years. Seems his arthritis had gotten worse, from all the time he spent on his knees under consoles.

It was an hour before the presentation was to start when in my suit I headed over to the casino. I was hanging out with Keith and Taylor in the green room when Pete, Mandy and Linda joined us. As usual he was in a suit with the small versions of his awards, while Mandy was in a black cocktail dress. And Aunt Linda was in a matching dark green one. Then about fifteen minutes before everybody was to go on stage, the gals all joined us.

And all I could do was stare. All of us guys stood up and stared. Every single one of the gals was in a matching sequined dress. They shimmered in the light, and all of them were showing some cleavage over the low cut top. Mom’s was red, and Becky’s was deep blue. Peggy’s was white, and Kris was in one that was almost pink. And Crystal was in one that was a dark green.

We all complemented them on how they looked, and I could not keep my eyes off of Crystal and Kris. While Crystal was showing an amazing amount of cleavage, Kris with her slender legs and build looked amazing as well. All of the gals thanked us, and soon the Geek Crusaders all left to take their places as the doors were about to open.

I stood in the back of the auditorium during the performance, and after some conversation the group decide to try and work against the invading army from the inside. And during the first break, I took over and played to keep everybody entertained. In the last song Crystal and Kris rejoined me, and we decided to do the No-No Song. A lot in the audience even joined in the singing, and as the rest came back out I smiled at mom and turned over my keyboards to her.

This time, the result was not what most people wanted to see. Two of the group were killed during an attack on the defender’s supply lines, and another was killed as he tried to defect to let them know the battle plans. But in the end it did not matter, as the invasion failed and four were killed in the final attempt to take the castle. The three survivors withdrew from the battle with the rest of the attacking army, and Pete told them the ultimate outcome.

That the country that had invaded was humiliated, and four years later was itself invaded by the nation they had attacked and two others. Their land was then split up among the victors, and the surviving party members simply vanished into history. Just three nameless mercenaries that had taken part in the conflict.

When it was all over Pete did his closing remarks, and then paused and sighed. “So you all know, this is like most of my adventures. There is no right or wrong way to do it, and like so many of them it is mostly up to the party and just random luck. And as you all saw, today luck was largely against them. Several of the attacks like on the supply caravan actually were winnable, but bad dice rolls turned what should have been a victory into a defeat. And the one trying to take the battle plans to the defenders just happened to pick the worst way to leave the encampment. Gloria, the DM map of the camp, please?”

The map Pete asked for was now on the large screen in the back, and even I nodded. Pete then pointed out that the mistake was in trying to go directly to the east which was the closest route to the main castle. Which was also where the heaviest concentration of scouts and pickets was.

“If they had bothered to scout more, or just used some military reasoning they would have realized that. The safest would have been to go west, then circle around. Or with just a bit better luck, go to the north then go east. As far as the battle, it was still all up in the air. But in the end they lost, but they might have easily have won.”

He soon wrapped things up, and as usual said that he would be in the convention hall the next day when “A Lovely Little Invasion” went on sale and he would sign anything presented. We all moved to the green room, and Pete slumped onto the couch as Mandy crawled into his lap.

Linda sat next to him and asked if that would harm sales at all. Pete just shook his head and smiled. “Actually, not at all. But at least now we have a tape of one of my presentations going badly. I’ve been joking for years this would eventually happen, and finally it has.”

Brad agreed, and said it might actually help boost sales. “After all, now people might watch this, and decide to try and do things differently. Not realizing that there are multiple setups the DM can do before hand, so each play would be different.”

Finally most of the food had been eaten, and I realized I still had not seen Grace. And even though Kris hinted that we might hang out for a bit, I begged off politely, saying I was tired. I had already helped everybody break everything down and store it in the cargo truck, so I said I was just going to head home.

I went home and changed, then went over to the Big House. Kim was talking with Linda and Mandy in the dining room as I brought in Grace’s keyboard, and I saw all of the kids were crashed out in the TV room. I joined them, and Mandy and Linda both said they were just going to leave their kids there for the night.

I asked where Grace was, and Kim cocked her head. “Oh, she said she saw no reason to go to the performance. So she’s out on a date with some guy from school.” This surprised me, as it was the first performance I could remember her missing since she was around ten when her parents started letting her come to them.

After my parents went to bed, I pulled out a joint and headed to the back fence of the pasture to toke up. The joint was about half done when I saw a car pulling up the west driveway with the lights off. I just watched as it pulled against the fence, then turned around and stopped. It was a couple of minutes later that I used my heel to dig a small hole in the pasture and dropped in the roach before burying it.

I saw the car was still there, and went to check it out to make sure it was not some college kids looking for trouble. We had that a few times a year, normally college kids bringing up somebody to try and get them to enter the pasture for “cow tipping”. Which of course was impossible, most times if you tried they would just turn and look at you funny before moving away. It’s amazing how many people actually believe a person can actually push over a half ton of four legged animal.

I got closer to the car, and saw it was a dark colored import, maybe a Nissan. And I stopped at about ten yards, and saw that there were what seemed to be two people inside. And as they were both in the back seat, it was apparent that nothing was being forced. I stood near the fence in the darkness and watched. And a couple of minutes later I saw one of them remove their shirt. And it was obvious this was the girl, as I could see the white of her bra against her skin.

I watched for a few more minutes, and saw his hand move to her back and open the bra, and the girl rolled her head back in apparent pleasure. And I was shocked when I took a closer look, and when she turned her head to look around a minute or so later when I saw his head lower so he could suck her breast I finally realized who it was.

I whispered a swear as I realized that must be Robin, and the girl in the car was Grace! I wanted to go over there and pull him out and beat the crap out of him, she was my sister! However, she was also running her fingers through his hair and kissing the top of his head as he was nursing on her breast. So obviously she was there willingly. So with a sigh I turned around and headed back home. And wondering on the way if I should have taken Kris up on her hinted offer.

The next morning after breakfast I headed on down the hill, and saw Pete talking with Keith and Krystal as he was apparently showing them around the ranch. I waved, and went ahead and knocked on their front door before going in. Mandy was drinking coffee on the couch as the kids watched TV, and it struck me that it was very much how like her sister it was.

I asked if we could talk for a bit, and she nodded and after getting a cup of coffee myself we sat in the dining room. I told her my decision to stop smoking pot by the end of the year, and she smiled and squeezed my hand.

“George, that’s great! And you are making the right decision, there. Taper off slowly, will be more likely you will be able to stay off of it when you are done. Pot is addictive, don’t believe those that say otherwise. But at least it’s not like the hard drugs, more like stopping cigarettes. The cravings are more mental than physical.”

I looked at her, and asked how she knew that. “Oh, we do drug testing at the plant. It’s a safety thing. We don’t do it at any other parts of the company, just the factory and metal fabrication plant where they are working around machinery. Oh, and of course the pilots. Same thing, so if there is ever an accident neither they, OSHA, the FAA, or the insurance can try to claim it was because of drugs.”

“Well, that does make sense. But what about the rest?”

“Oh, Linda told me that a while back. She had used almost any drug that did not use a needle, she was always terrified of needles. But while mostly I just smoked pot, she said she used almost all of them. But that while crack and meth were the worst for the physical withdrawal, pot was the worst for the mental withdrawal. I used pot a few times in High School and College, but never enough to get addicted. But I do have an idea from when I quit smoking.”

I looked up at her sharply at that, and our eyes met. “Smoking? You used to smoke. Mandy?”

She nodded and took another sip of her coffee. “Uh-huh, both Pete and were when we finally got together. But we both quit shortly after we got engaged. First using these filters to cut the amount of nicotine, then finally patches. Took about three months, but we both kicked the habit.”

“But Pete still smokes cigars” I said.

“Uh-huh, and notice he never smokes one in the house. That is allowed, no more than one or two a day. And sometimes I will share one with him, but I don’t inhale. With him and his cigars, it’s more like something to do as he thinks or socializes with the guys.”