Chapter 16

My friend Frank Toliver and I, James Schneider, had arranged a special party to celebrate our Ten-Year Wedding Anniversary. It was actually the anniversary of our Commitment Ceremony, but we think of the ceremony as a group wedding ceremony. Frank and I also had a very special announcement to make.

Frank and I enjoy our pizza and beer so much that we bought our favorite pizza parlor. The former owner, Bill Wagner, had been caught in the last major economic downturn and his business was about to go bankrupt. We gave him a very good price for the business, its name, and his recipes. He wasn’t ready to retire, so we hired and paid him a good salary to manage our new business for us.

Every month, Frank and I have Bill close the pizza parlor’s backroom, so we can use it for the Chocolateen Corporation’s monthly board meeting. Tonight is a special celebration, so we had Bill close the entire pizza parlor to the public for the night. Although, I did agree with Bill’s idea of selling pizzas to our customers out the back door.

Our guests this evening included our immediate families and our extended family plus three special guests. We considered our extended family to consist of our security personnel, key members of the Chocolateen Corporation, and our personal friends. Of course, that also includes their immediate families, and in a few cases their relatives.

We had a little over ninety adults in the backroom seating area. The front area and game room was wall-to-wall kids. We were undoubtedly exceeding the maximum seating capacity of the pizza parlor, but it was a private party and no one was counting heads.

The ‘Closed’ sign was on the pizza parlor’s front door along with a sign that told customers to come to the back door to place and pick up carryout orders, and the front door was locked. Frank, I, and our wives were seated at the head table in the backroom. It was actually three picnic tables placed end-to-end, which were covered by red and white checkered plastic table clothes. The adult members of our extended family and our three special guests sat at other picnic tables, which were scattered around the room. All of our kids were seated at tables in the main dining area along with a couple of our security personnel to ride herd on them. Well seated may not be the proper word. Their roaming around reminded me of Brownian motion.

From what little I could see, the kids were moving back and forth between the dining area and the game room. Bill had bypassed the coin mechanisms on the games, and the kids had been turned loose to have fun in the game room.

The pizzas had come pouring out of the kitchen piping hot and placed on a row of tables at the rear of the back room. Pitchers brimming full of ice-cold beer were delivered to individual tables. Of course, the kids had their own table of pizza and pitchers of soft drinks. We all dug in munching on pizza and washing it down with cold beer. Actually, a few of us were drinking ice tea, water, or some other non-alcoholic beverage. I did notice at least one wine drinker in our group, and there may be others.

The pizzas had been devoured and everyone was talking and sipping on their beverage of choice. It was time for Frank to begin his speech.

I said, “It’s about time for us to get this show on the road, Frank.”

Frank replied in a somewhat somber tone, “Yeah, I guess so. You do realize that after tonight, nothing will ever be the same.”

I replied with a cheerful, “I know. Hopefully, it will be better.”

Frank stood and tapped his beer mug with a fork. When the talk quieted, he said, “Has everyone had enough to eat?”

A loud chorus of ‘Yes’, and a few ‘Yeahs’, echoed through the room. It was apparent everyone was enjoying themselves. Frank began our presentation with a short history of our personal relationships and the corporation’s creation and growth.

“Two years after Jim and I started living with our lovely ladies, Jim, our ladies, and I held a private Commitment Ceremony. That was ten years ago this evening and if I remember right, some of you were there. Barbara, Dana, and Michelle became my wives, and each other’s sister wife. Sara, Sandy, and Helen became Jim’s wives, and each other’s sister wives.

“Before I meander on in my rambling reminiscences, I would like to pay tribute to the six ladies who have put up with Jim and me for the past twelve years and given us so many wonderful children. Ladies and gentlemen, please stand and join Jim and me in a toast of appreciation to our partners in life.”

Everyone in the room stood and raised their glass in tribute to our ladies. Our ladies remained seated and blushed in embarrassment. It wasn’t often that they were honored in such a public fashion.

When everyone had returned to their seats, Frank continued, “I’m not sure how many of you recall, but the polyamorous life style that Jim and I established with our ladies got us arrested. During our Commitment Ceremony, we exchanged rings and afterward started referring to each other as husband, wife, and sister-wife.

“One day, a local Baptist minister’s wife was in the supermarket and overheard two of our wives referring to each other as sister-wife. She told her husband, and he decided he had to put an end to our relationship. This minister was one of those fire and brimstone spouters that mesmerized their congregations into believing whatever he wanted them to believe.

“He believed our lifestyle was wrong, so he started a campaign to end what he called sinful relationships. After riling his congregation up to a fever pitch, the minister and his congregation carpooled to our home. They formed a picket line and marched in front of our home carrying signs proclaiming us to be bigamists, the devil’s spawn, and similar terms. We just ignored him and his congregation. We figured they would eventually just go away.

“One of his parishioners was our local DA, and the DA’s wife was a stanch supporter of the minister. The minister and the DA’s wife pressured the DA into bringing Frank and I up on bigamy charges.

“One of the Sheriff’s Deputies arrested us and we were charged with bigamy. Kirk represented us in court. Now in this state, the crime of bigamy only applies to a person who marries two or more people in accordance with the state’s laws.

“During the initial hearing, Kirk argued that Frank and I were in a polyamorous relationship and we couldn’t be found guilty of bigamy, for we were not legally married to anyone. The judge agreed and threw the case out of court.

“That didn’t stop the minister. At least once a year, the minister and his congregation picket our home. We have fun serving them coffee and donuts, until they get tired and leave. I have noticed that their group gets smaller each year. Last year, one of the picketers told me the only reason he and several of the other picketers came to demonstrate was they enjoyed visiting with us and having some of our coffee and donuts.

“Our lives have changed in many ways since the night of our Commitment Ceremony. My ladies and I now have seven children, while Jim and his ladies have eight.

“When our ladies first became pregnant, it was obvious that our home in Van Nuys would be too small for our expanding family. Jim and I purchased a large tract of land just outside of Porter Ranch and we had a fourteen-bedroom home designed and built for our families to live in.

“Around that time, it also became apparent that our wealth made us a target for those who would use violence to gain a portion of our wealth. That realization led to our employing a security staff, and installing various security features in and around our new home and business.

“A little over thirteen years ago, my close friend, Doctor William Smith, passed away and left me the secret of Chocolateen.

“Around that time, Barbara, Dana, Michelle, and Sara were giving Jim a hard time at work. I decided to help Jim with his problem. In a joint effort, Jim and I allowed the ladies to eat some chocolate chip cookies that we had doctored with Chocolateen. Two weeks later, the ladies accepted our generous offer of assisting them in kicking their Chocolateen addiction, and they agreed to pay the price of our assistance.”

Our wives gave Frank dirty looks, while the rest of the room got a good laugh at Frank’s innocent way of describing our setting up and blackmailing the four ladies into becoming our caretakers and sex slaves. That story was part of the company’s history.

“As they went through the withdrawal phase, Jim and I learned the true nature of Chocolateen. It is a personality-altering drug. It changed our ladies into wonderful companions who were totally dedicated to us. While this was not our original intent, we were all happy with our changed relationships. Helen and Sandy joined us a short time later, and since then the eight of us have lived together as two closely related families.

“Jim and I formed a partnership and created the Chocolateen Corporation. With Kirk Jonas’s assistance, the corporation formed a partnership with a medical research center. That partnership led to the FDA approving Chocolateen’s use as a controlled drug for medicinal purposes. With that approval under our belts, we created the Chocolateen Weight Control program, and it took off like wildfire. A year later, we formed a second very successful partnership with a smoking cessation program, and the rest as they say is history.

“While Jim and Kirk were busy setting up and managing the business side of our corporation, I and my assistants were busy setting up our production plant in Simi Valley to make Chocolateen. Once the plant was operational, I returned to our Simi Valley laboratory and I developed Chocolateen II. Chocolateen II worked the same as the original, but without all of the negative side effects.

“We obtained FDA approval for Chocolateen II and phased out the original version of Chocolateen. Jim and I set up a production and distribution network for Chocolateen II, and it became an even more profitable product for the corporation than the first version of Chocolateen.

“Since then, my assistants and I have been working on the development of other products. I would like to announce the release of the new product this evening, but unfortunately, we are still a long way from perfecting its formula. Due to reasons of industrial secrecy, I will forgo describing the nature of the product. However, I will say that our initial assessment of the product is that it will be as beneficial to mankind as Chocolateen, and it will probably more profitable to the corporation than Chocolateen II.

“Since today is the ten-year anniversary of our Commitment Ceremony, Jim and I have decided to declare a special bonus that will be given to all of the Chocolateen Corporation’s employees and to our security personnel to commemorate our tenth wedding anniversary and the twelve years we have shared with our ladies. The bonus will be twenty thousand dollars multiplied by each employee’s service period in years ... or portions thereof.

“That means an employee that has been with us for five years and at least one day will be given credit for six years of service and they will receive a bonus of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. The bonus will be announced officially tomorrow morning and paid at the end of the month.

“At this time, I will turn the floor over to Jim, so he can introduce our special guests and make an announcement regarding a special project we have been working on with them for close to a year.”

Frank took his seat to the applause of our friends. Our wives gave us a quizzical look for we had not yet informed them of our involvement in Ward’s Mission. I stood and waited for the applause to die down.

“Thank you, Frank.

“Today, the Chocolateen Corporation is in an enviable position financially.

“Thanks to Frank’s decision to not patent Chocolateen and the security protocols at our production plant, the secret of how to make Chocolateen remains the Corporation’s trade secret. Other drug companies have tried to reverse engineer the formula and the production process, but they have failed. We have also been infiltrated by industrial spies, and they have failed.

“If you ever visit our production plant, you may notice that the building is structured to mask the sequence in which chemicals are added and that the process is almost totally automated. Only our most trusted employees are in a position to understand the manufacturing process, and individually, they only know a part of the process.

“Frank and I believe the Chocolateen Corporation and its secrets are as secure as we can make them. Over the past couple of years, Frank and I have been asking ourselves, ’What’s Next?’ We wanted a new challenge, and we found one.

“At this time, I would like to introduce our special guests, Ward Conrad and his wives Samantha and Mary Conrad. Unfortunately, Ward’s wife Karen couldn’t be with us this evening. She’s at home taking care of their children.

“Ward, I would appreciate it if you, Sam, and Mary will stand so everyone can see you. It will help our family to be able to recognize you, if they see you around the Corporation.”

Ward, Sam, and Mary stood, waved, and then sat down after a brief moment of applause.

“I met Ward almost a year ago, and introduce him to Frank several weeks later. He confided in me that he had an idea for several unique products. Apparently, Ward likes to design products, but is bored by manufacturing and selling what he designs.

“We reached an agreement. He would establish a company to do the research and design work, and Frank and I would form a company to manufacture and sell his products. Since then, we have met Ward’s three wives and their children, and the three of us have had several meetings to discuss how our two companies will interact. We also talked about where we should locate the new companies.

“With that in mind, I would like to announce that Frank and I will found a new corporation. The corporation will manufacture and sell the high tech products that Ward’s corporation designs.

“However ... due to tax rates, environmental factors, new government regulations that regulate manufacturing, and other things that I am not at liberty to discuss at this time, our new corporation and manufacturing location will be located outside of the United States.

“During the coming year, Ward and his associates will pursue their research and hopefully finalize their new products. Frank and his wives will run the Chocolateen Corporation. Ward, Frank, I, and our wives will locate and purchase land for our new corporations and production facilities. Then we will start building the new production plant and its corporate headquarters.

“That is why you may not see a lot of me and my wives around the corporation during the coming year.”

When Frank and I got home, our wives lit into us for not including them in our decisions to create a new corporation and locate it overseas. In fact, we had not informed them of any of our plans or discussions with Ward and his wives. All we could tell them was, we hadn’t been able to include them for reasons we couldn’t explain at the time. That led to them wanting to know what possible reason we had for not including them. They weren’t happy about us not explaining our reason. By the time we went to bed, they were still unhappy and didn’t want to snuggle or do anything else with us. We were lucky they let us sleep in the same bed with them.

I don’t know about Frank, but I was about to move out of the refrigerator my bed had become to the living room couch, but I fell asleep first.

The announcement of Frank and me forming a new corporation created a major stir. At the time I made the announcement, our friends congratulated us heartily. The media’s announcement made a different type of stir. People came out of the woodwork wanting to buy a piece of our new corporation and trying to convince us to locate the corporation in their hometown. We politely declined the offers and solicitations that were presented to us. Unfortunately, a few people did not want to accept our polite refusal of their offers, so we had to provide them with a more strongly worded refusal.

Early in our relationship, Ward told us a story about his deceased wife, some dimensions, the Guidance Council, and the Mission he had accepted. After explaining his Mission and its potential consequences, he convinced Frank and I that setting up the new corporations in the United States would be a very bad idea.

He also convinced us that sometime during the next ten years, we should also move the Chocolateen Corporation Headquarters and our production and distribution facilities to our new location. Somehow, Frank and I found ourselves members of Ward’s Inner Council. I don’t recall either of us being asked to join him and we didn’t make a conscious decision. It just happened.

Yesterday, Ward informed us that he would stop by tonight and he would assist Frank and I in briefing our wives on everything they needed to know about our deal and his Mission. However, he felt that we should not release the news that the Chocolateen Corporation would move out of the US to anyone, other than our three families, at this time. Frank and I agreed with him.

At breakfast the next day, Frank and I announced a family meeting for adults after breakfast.

Our wives were still upset with us about not including them when making our decisions. So after the kids were off to school and daycare, and the younger ones were busy playing, we started our meeting.

“Last night, Jim and I announced that we would create a new corporation and locate it at an overseas location. That is not our entire plan. This part of the plan must remain a family secret. Once the operation at the new location has stabilized, we will also move the Chocolateen Corporation to that location.”

That announcement started a small furor amongst our already upset wives. When the noise level died down to a small roar, Frank continued in a loud dominant tone of voice. When Frank or I became upset enough to raise our voice, as Frank was doing, our wives knew it was time to be quiet and listen. They didn’t always like what they heard, but they listened and we would then discuss the issue with them.

Frank said, “Can we hold the noise level down for now? There are several additional things I need to say.

“As I said, we will not publicly announce our relocation of the Chocolateen Corporation until everything is in place to actually begin the move. When we are about ready to begin the move, the first step will be to explain why we are moving to all of our employees. We will extend an offer to them to join us at the new location at the corporation’s expense.

“We think that once the reasons are explained, the majority of our employees will join us at the new location. Unfortunately, a portion of our employees will be unable or not willing to make the move. For those employees, there will be a very generous severance package.

“At this point, Jim and I need to describe to you what we will be doing, why we are doing it, and the timeline for our activities.”

Frank looked at me and said, “Jim, since this all started with your meeting Ward, why don’t you explain things to our wives.”

I could see that our ladies were upset with us. We had made some major decisions that were going to have a severe impact on our families without consulting them. Frank is smart. He knew that I handled people far better than he did, so I got to handle the critical part ... telling our wives about the rest.

“As I indicated last night, Ward contacted me about a year ago. In addition to the business activities I announced last night, he told me that he had a Mission. Frank and I have promised that we will not tell anyone about his Mission without his permission. He told us last night that he and his wives would meet with us tonight, so they can explain the Mission to you.

“Until then, please just trust us and accept what Frank and I have to say. Some of what I explain will be difficult to fully understand without knowing about Ward’s Mission, so just bear with us until this evening.

“Ward convinced us that supporting his Mission is the proper thing to do. Frank and I believe in his Mission and that it will be in the best interests of our family to actively participate in aiding him in completing his Mission.

“Ward has also informed us that the US Government will not support his Mission when they learn of it, and at some point, they will most likely take measures to stop him and everyone that supports him. For that reason, it will be best if we are not living in the United States when they become aware of his activities.