Chapter 95: Six Flags

Wednesday, June 9, 1971

Kip was leaning casually against the wall of the rail yard office as I came out, but I knew his eyes were constantly scanning for any signs of danger.

“I wish you wouldn’t just leave like that, boss,” he said as I walked out.

I had cut through the office to reach the street where the taxi was waiting. Kalani was now on her way to the newly named Hartsfield Atlanta Airport for the long journey back to Tapato. I was sad that she had to leave, but I understood the pressure she felt.

“Sorry, Kip,” I replied.

“It’s okay. It actually feels good to get out,” he said.

His words gave me an idea.

“What time are we scheduled to be picked up for New Orleans?”

“They’ve got us scheduled on a Southern, (soon to become Norfolk Southern) somewhere around 10:00 p.m. tonight. The railroad is postponing all traffic across the Lake Pontchartrain bridge, due to maintenance during the daylight hours the whole week,” Kip explained.

“So we’ve got basically twelve or so hours to kill?” I asked for clarification.

“Looks that way,” Kip replied.

“And we’re in Atlanta, Georgia?” I asked.

“Yeah...” Kip was not sure where my line of questioning was headed.

“Great! Then if you were forced to, how would you go about getting seven teenagers and two adults somewhere?”

“Depends on where,” Kip replied, more wary now than before.

“I’m not sure exactly where we are in Atlanta, but on the west side of the city, just outside the perimeter, is a place called ‘Six Flags Over Georgia’. I have it on good authority that it’s an excellent place for teens to kill some time.”

It took us a few minutes to work out the transportation, but we ended up renting one of the railroad’s passenger vans for the day.

The girls were thrilled; and since someone had to stay with the train, Penny volunteered.

“After everything that happened yesterday, a little peaceful guard duty would be nice,” she told us.

So, I took the Princesses, my staff, and my twin sister, to Six Flags.

Six Flags Over Georgia opened four years ago, on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia in 1967. It was the second Six Flags park built and owned by Angus G. Wynne Jr, who opened the very first Six Flags park out in Texas, in 1961. Karla and I discussed which six country’s flags the park was named for, on the way out to the park. Even though I had visited the park several times in my last life, I couldn’t remember. So we both took some wild guesses.

The girls were sleepy as we made our way west on the new Interstate 20. When finished, I-20 would go all the way to Pecos, Texas, before merging with I-10 to California. The girls all began to really wake up as we pulled into the massive parking lot that took up a large part of the three-thousand-acre site.

Nicky grabbed my arm as we started the long hike to the admissions gate from our parking spot. However, we got lucky when a gas-powered tram stopped to pick up some guests as we walked by, so we hopped on board the open car.

“You know, they could use something like this out at the ranch, to get guests from the Reception area to the Dining Hall,” Vickie said.

“Vickie, that might be a good idea. Let’s talk to Sandy and Jaye when we get out there next week,” I suggested.

Of course, Adriana and Amy wanted to know what ranch we were talking about.

I was fumbling for a way to answer when Nicky said simply, “Twin Springs is a clothing optional ranch out in Colorado that we visit.”

Talk about putting the match to the gasoline. Adriana and Amy stared at us for a moment before the questions started pouring out. Kip had to remind them that we were surrounded by other guests, suggesting we discuss it when we returned to the train.

“Okay, I’ll wait. But you still haven’t told me about the other two women, either,” Adriana thought to me.

“Other two women?” Nicky asked.

“Yeah. He told me that there were eleven women that were ... er ... special to him,” Adriana said. “Randi, Vickie, Kalani, Ileana, Jennifer, Julie, Debbie, Anna, and Candy. That’s nine. He hasn’t told me about the other two yet. He also said he would tell me about his grandmother.”

“He told you about me?” Ileana asked. “What did the ogre say about me?”

“Did he say anything about me?” Mikeya asked her.

“Oh yeah. He is so excited about the babies. I’m surprised that he hasn’t already picked out their names,” Adriana thought.

Mikeya just looked at her.

“I’m sorry, Adriana, she didn’t hear you. Here, let me connect you with her,” Vickie said.

Vickie did, with Adriana repeating what she had said. Then she and Mikeya began a discussion on babies and being pregnant.

“What did you tell her about me?” Ileana asked me again.

The tram rolled to a stop at the entrance to the Six Flags Amusement Park.

“Saved by the bell!” I thought.

“You’re not getting off that easy, buster,” Ileana said, as she grabbed my arm.

“Don’t worry, I have an excellent memory,” Adriana thought to Ileana as they both giggled.

It looked like the park was crowded today, even though the admission was a whopping $4.50 a head. And this was on top of the $1.00 to park the van. One of the concepts Angus Wynne pioneered, was the one price admission. Your admission covered all the rides, as many times as you wanted to ride them. Even Disney World, which wouldn’t open until later this fall, had their infamous e-ticket system and wouldn’t adopt the one price admission for many years.

After we cleared the gate and grabbed a map of the park, we began the age-old discussion of where to go first. I was delighted to find one of my favorite roller coasters, the Dahlonega Mine Train, was still operating. Well actually, it was only four years old again. It was named after the mining town of Dahlonega, Georgia, which was home to the first gold rush in the United States, in 1828. So I steered our group in that direction.

On the way, everyone agreed that we had to try the Okefenokee Swamp ride. Named for the famous swamp in south Georgia. I knew that it would later be re-themed to Monster Plantation. I had fun teasing Adriana over her inability to pronounce ‘Okefenokee’ correctly.

“Don’t worry about it, Adriana. Just wait until we get him to our island!” Ileana said as they all laughed. It was becoming apparent that they were ganging up on me.

Nicky loved the Riverview Park Carousel*. It was an actual carousel they brought from the recently demolished Riverview Park in Chicago. There were five horses abreast and a couple of chariots as well.

As we rode round and round, Nicky, on the horse beside me, thought, “So you didn’t tell Adriana about me? Are you ashamed of me?”

I looked at her as I scanned. Nicky was trying to decide what she felt. She was upset, but not certain if she should be.

“It’s simple. I ran out of time. My relationship with you and Catherine is not something just to be thrown out there, especially after what happened with Amy on Monday morning. Adriana hadn’t made any decisions or commitments at that time, so I was waiting until she did. And you know what has happened since she arrived yesterday. We’ll tell her about us together, whenever you’re ready. I have no secrets from you or Catherine,” I thought to her.

“Oh,” Nicky replied.

“Look at my heart, Nicky. Tell me what you feel,” I said as I opened my heart to her, there on the carousel.

Nicky became lost in my emotions as she felt my love for her. She closed her eyes as a shiver ran through her.

“Shit!” Adriana thought as she slid from her carousel horse.

“Michael!” cried Ileana as she grabbed the metal pole to keep from doing what Adriana had done.

I immediately slid to the floor of the carousel to go help Adriana. The attendant started slowing the ride, while yelling for us not to get off our horses while the ride is moving.

The irony of the attendant’s demands’ and the cause of our situation seemed comically disparate. I started laughing and soon, the girls were laughing too.

Kip, who had reached Adriana first, kept asking her if she was all right. But since she couldn’t speak, and she was laughing too hard to nod her head, I had to tie him into her for a moment, just so he knew she was okay.

Nicky grabbed my arm and hung on tight as we exited the prematurely terminated ride.

“I love you, too!” she thought.

“Oh god!” Vickie said. “Please, not here Michael. I didn’t bring any extra panties!”

“That’s what you did to me yesterday, at the State Department!” Adriana stated.

Amy and Mikeya looked at us in confusion.

“I don’t understand,” Amy said. “What’s going on?”

“That was Michael. When he shares his love with one of us, the others, if they’re close by, can feel it too,” Vickie explained.

“The others you said? The eleven women he loves ... and that love him ... and I could feel ... ah ... Oh!” Adriana thought to herself, forgetting she was still connected.

“I guess it’s twelve now,” thought Nicky.

“You know, we’re going to have to come up with a name for our little group,” added Vickie. “That way, we’d know what to welcome Adriana to!”

Since we were already traveling by rail, in the Rowena, we decided to skip the oil-fired Six Flags Railroad, which circled the park, and opted instead for a swinging ship called the Flying Dutchman. As we were swinging back and forth, in an incredibly steep arc, that at the apex of which I was looking almost straight down, it occurred to me that this is where ‘Batman: the Ride’ would be located years from now.