Chapter 23

Dad took me to Orlando International on Friday morning. We had to be at the airport at six-thirty in the morning for my eight o’clock flight. I wasn’t crazy about flying on April Fool’s Day, heck I wasn’t crazy about the idea of flying, no matter what day it was. Dad hung with me through the check in process then walked me out to the security checkpoint. I protested that he didn’t have to do all that, but I was secretly glad he did. I tried to relax and do some reading while waiting to board the flight. It was a lost cause, though; because I couldn’t focus on my book. I was too nervous and excited.

I put my book aside and when I looked around I saw a prim looking young woman staring at me. When our eyes met she blushed and smiled embarrassedly.

“Forgive me for staring please, I’m just surprised at your choice of reading material,” she said.

I held up Nana’s copy of another of James Hilton’s books, this one a yellow, dog-eared 1943 paperback titled ‘Random Harvest’.

“This is the fourth book by this guy I’ve read. Once I figured out his rhythm I began to like his style. Trouble is, I have to concentrate when I read his work and today that’s impossible.” I moved into the empty chair next to her. “My names Johnny, by the way, Johnny Pulaski.”

“Thea McElroy,” she responded, “I’m familiar with Mr. Hilton’s work, I’m just finishing up my Master’s in English Literature. I thought that book was his best next to ‘Goodbye, Mr. Chips’ and very romantic.”

“Really? I thought it stunk that he lost his memory and forgot his first wife. Now all he seems to do is make money and mope around,” I replied.

She beamed me a genuine smile of mirth this time. “Keep reading. You might be surprised by what happens.”

Thea and I yakked about books until it was time to board the plane. I think she was as sorry as I was to have to stop. Luckily, I caught a break on the plane and ended up with an empty seat next to mine. Thea, sitting in the middle seat two rows back, quickly moved up to sit next to me. I managed to hide my nervousness as the plane taxied out on the runway. However, as the pilot brought the engines up to full thrust and released the brakes, I grabbed Thea’s hand. When the Delta MD-88 lurched down the tarmac and leapt off the end of the runway Thea gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. I was amazed to feel the waves of reassuring calmness radiating from her.

Thea held my hand all the way to Atlanta. We exchanged phone numbers and I promised to call her when I arrived in Colorado. I was blown away five months later when I walked into Honors Lit and saw Thea sitting at the teacher’s desk. But I’m getting ahead of myself. More about that, later.

I had a two-hour layover in Atlanta then flew on to Colorado Springs. The plane touched down in the high desert plains at twelve-thirty local, right on time. I exited the airplane with my backpack and followed the signs to the baggage claim carousel. Katrina and I spotted each other as I reached the bottom of the escalator. When we closed the distance between us, she gave me a brief hug and whispered in my ear.

“I have to maintain my military bearing here, Bro. Too much brass around. I’ll hug you properly when we are alone, okay?”

I nodded, escorted her to the carousel and whispered back.

“I can live with that for another few minutes because Papa said one of his old friends was meeting us here. When I do get a chance, I’m going to squeeze you until we are Siamese Twins.”

I called Thea McElroy to let her know I arrived safely, and to thank her again for baby-sitting me. She laughed and told me it had been a pleasure. As Katrina and I were waiting for my bags to come down the chute someone came up behind us.

“Excuse me, are your names Pulaski by any chance?”

We turned around and were face to face with a small wiry man. He looked as if he were a few years younger than Papa. His gray hair was cut in a flattop and he stood ramrod straight. There was no mistaking him for anything but a former soldier.

“Yes, Sir,” I said, “I’m Johnny Pulaski and this is my sister Katrina.”

“Damn son, you are the spitting image of your grandfather. My name’s John Blakemore. I have a car outside for you, so we can leave as soon as we find your bags.”

John Blakemore turned out to be the guy who engineered the fix to Katrina’s Borkowski problem. He was the chief of public affairs for Fort Carson and a native of the area. He led us to a white Ford Taurus sitting in the tow away zone in front of the arriving flights doors. A cop standing by the car gave Mr. Blakemore a jaunty salute. Blakemore laughed and clapped the man on the shoulder then popped the trunk open so we could stow my bags. It finally registered that Katrina was empty handed.

“Where is your stuff, Trina?” I asked. “Do we have to go pick it up?”

“My bags are at the Marriott, already. I checked in last night.”

We piled into the sedan, Katrina sat up front riding shotgun. As soon as our host pulled away from the curb she turned in the seat to face him.

“Which reminds me, Mr. Blakemore, you wouldn’t have anything to do with our room being upgraded to a suite by any chance, did you?”

“Call me JB, please. I might have casually mentioned to my old friend the manager about all the business I throw his way. Listen you two, your grandfather is the only reason I’m around to be able to do this. He saved my life in Vietnam, and almost lost his own in the process. Upgrading a hotel room and loaning you a car is the least I can do.”

Blakemore parked in the hotel lot next a desert camouflaged Humvee. JB gave Katrina the keys when we were all out of the car. He shook our hands again and I grabbed my bags. He said he’d be in touch and then he roared off in the Hummer. Katrina led the way to our suite. The suite was a nice two room unit with a king sized bed dominating the large bedroom. The sitting room area even had a small kitchenette. We dropped my bags in the bedroom and I pulled Katrina into a hug.

“You can’t imagine how happy I am to be here with you, Trina,” I said.

She nodded her head against my chest and tightened her arms around my neck.

“I almost fainted when I saw you walking towards me, Johnny. It’s almost irrational how much I’ve missed you.”

I gently stroked her head as she leaned against me. Katrina was in uniform with her hair in some sort of bun on the back of her head. I started to pull back from her but she held me even tighter.

“I don’t want to let you go,” she said.

I gave her a squeeze and kissed her forehead. I was feeling about a ton of love for this incredible woman. I guess I must have radiated some of what I felt for her because she shivered in my arms and pulled her head back to look into my eyes.

“I feel how much you love me, Johnny, and it makes me incredibly happy that it’s so unconditional. I didn’t think love like that existed. You’d love me the same no matter what, wouldn’t you?”

I moved my hands and put them on either side of her face then touched my lips to hers. I gave her my answer in feelings as our lips barely made contact. When I moved my head back her eyes were wide and her pupils were fully dilated. She moistened her lips with her tongue.

“Do that again, Baby, but don’t hold anything back. I want that feeling imprinted in my brain so I’ll always have it with me.”

I couldn’t see the harm in that so I smiled and leaned in again. This time her lips slid against mine firmly as I concentrated on letting her feel how I felt about her. When I broke our connection her eyes remained closed. She sighed and leaned her head back onto my chest. Being able to hold her like that made the plane ride worth every scary moment. With another big sigh she finally stepped out of my arms.

“How is any other guy going to be able to compete with that, Johnny?”

“It’s not a competition, Trina. The right guy is going to make you feel for him like I feel for you. I think what you give ends up making you as happy as what you get.”

“How did you get so smart about this stuff at your age? And for your information, I do feel that way about someone... you. I love you way past sisterly, Johnny, miles and miles beyond that. You know what else? You are the only man who has ever made me feel like a woman in my very soul. I don’t have to be tougher and smarter with you. When it comes to you, ‘no’ is not in my vocabulary.”

Katrina told me all that in this soft little voice that made me feel all protective and mushy. When she set her feminine side loose she was even more a force of nature. I don’t know how long we stood there staring into each other’s eyes, and frankly, I don’t care either. It was one of the most intensely spiritual moments of my life. Finally, Katrina gave another little shiver and looked away.

“Come on, I want to show you the Academy and if we don’t go right now, I don’t think I’ll ever let you out of this room,” she said huskily.

Man, that Air Force Academy is an amazing place. All I can say is that we better have good pilots for the money spent educating them. It was a beautiful campus; the cadet chapel especially impressed me. I was in awe of the mountains that formed a backdrop to the west of the Academy. The tallest hill I’d seen prior to today was the one hundred fifty foot tall ‘trash mountain’ at the landfill Papa used. Katrina pointed out Cheyenne Mountain and the snow-capped megalith of Pike’s Peak.

“We can visit Pike’s Peak tomorrow if you want. We can probably drive to the top because it hasn’t snowed in over a week,” she said.

We spent an hour seeing the academy then went back to the hotel. It was almost six in the evening by the time we were back in our room. I mentioned to Katrina that I hadn’t eaten since breakfast and was starving. She was hungry too, she said to give her a minute to change and we’d go eat. I told her I’d wait in the other room while she changed.

“Not on you life, Sweetie,” she said, “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

I leaned against the doorframe as she stripped off her uniform. She was a vision in an aqua satin bra and thong. I admired her openly as she dug a pair of jeans and a sweater out of the dresser. She dressed, put on her Nikes, let her hair down and then grabbed my hand in hers.

“No one within a thousand miles of here knows you’re my brother, so you are now officially my boyfriend.”

I figured there were lots worse things to be, even if it was only pretend, so I quickly agreed. We grabbed our jackets and bolted. Katrina had done her homework for our stay; she knew exactly where to take me. Half an hour after we left our room I was sitting in front of four pounds of thick t-bone done just shy of medium. I gotta tell you right now that sitting there with Trina and that steak was the very next best thing to being in heaven for this country boy. Katrina gaped at me in amazement as I demolished the t-bone while she daintily nibbled her petite filet mignon. When I couldn’t worry any more meat off the bone I leaned back with a contented sigh.

“Jesus, Johnny, where did you put all that?”

“I told you I was a hungry trencherman. That was forevermore excellent. Can we come here for breakfast tomorrow?”

Katrina’s next surprise for me was a trip to a western outfitter. She said she had an image of me as the rugged cowboy type so she was going to see if I could look the part. I walked out of the store dressed for success in new boots and a tan, rolled brim cowboy hat. The hat was okay, I could take it or leave it alone, but the boots were definitely me. They were dark brown, hand stitched and hand tooled Justin’s. They were comfortable right out of the box. I protested the amount of money Katrina was spending on me but she waved me off.

“I don’t have anything else to spend it on, Baby. Besides, you in those boots, jeans and hat equates to how you feel about me in a miniskirt. You’re my big hunky, Polack Cowboy.”

I dragged out my best John Wayne impersonation. “All right, Little Missy, I rectum I can do that,” I drawled.

“Yes, you do have a nice ass,” she giggled as she pinched my butt.

We took in a couple of other stores as we walked down the street. Katrina insisted on buying me a shirt and belt to complete my ensemble. I strenuously protested wearing one of those rodeo champion belt buckles the size of a dinner plate, so we compromised on something smaller. I cracked Katrina up when I told her that in this get-up I would look as if I were heading to a Village People audition.

“We’ll see tomorrow night when you take me dancing,” she said.

I stashed my new clothes in the closet when we got back to the room and loaded the sodas and snacks we’d bought into the fridge. I poured us both a diet coke and turned on the tube while Katrina showered. I stifled a yawn as I sat there waiting, it was only ten-thirty in Colorado but my body was still on Eastern Time. Katrina was in and out of the shower in ten minutes. She came in wearing one of the hotel’s big, fluffy hooded robes. She sat on the floor in front of me and handed me her hairbrush. I gently brushed her hair as we talked about going to Pike’s Peak the next day.

I jumped into the shower at eleven. After a quick cleanup I brushed my teeth and joined Katrina in the big king-sized bed. Katrina squeezed herself against my side and flung her arm across my chest. She was wearing a slinky short nightie that made her even more alluring.

“I missed this Johnny, this is where I belong,” she sighed.

She had a point. I turned my head to kiss her good night. Katrina kissed me back and before I knew what was happening our tongues were dueling inside my mouth. I finally broke the kiss with a sigh; it was getting harder and harder to stop.

“I love you, Trina, good night,” I said.

“I love you too, Johnny, love you so much it hurts,” she replied.

I woke up snuggled against the back of a beautiful woman. My hand was full of a firm breast and my morning erection nestled between the silken cheeks of a beautiful ass. I was feeling great until I remembered who that breast and ass belonged to. I flushed in embarrassment and started to ease backwards. I was hoping Katrina was still asleep so she wouldn’t know what a pervert I was. As I loosened my grip on her breast her hand came up and squeezed my fingers.

“Don’t even think about moving,” Katrina said sleepily.

I had to wonder who she thought was holding her. “Trina, it’s me, I’m sorry for groping you, it happened in my sleep,” I whispered.

“I know who it is and you feel wonderful, now go back to sleep.”

I looked at the glowing red digits on the clock radio and saw it was only six AM. I snuggled tighter against her and fell asleep. Two hours later Katrina woke me up with peppermint toothpaste flavored kisses.

“Time to get up, Baby! You’ve got a mountain to see.”

I took care of my bathroom duties and dressed quickly. Katrina told me it was going to be cold on the mountain so I wore a sweatshirt and took my bomber jacket. We ate breakfast in the Marriott dining room and were on the road by nine. It took a little over an hour to reach the mountain and a careful thirty-five minutes to make it to the summit. Even though my breathing was labored from the altitude and it was as cold as a rat’s ass, I wouldn’t have missed the experience for the world. We ate lunch at the Summit House and hung out on the mountain until it closed at three. It was easy to see what inspired Katharine Lee Bates to write ‘America the Beautiful’ after seeing the breath-taking panoramic vistas.

We were back at the hotel by four-thirty. We took a little nap to recover from the cold, rarified atmosphere up on the mountain. It was like old times when Katrina stripped down to her undies and plastered herself against me. Katrina woke me up again that evening at six the same way she’d awakened me that morning, with gentle hugs and sweet kisses. She had already showered and was in the hooded robe again. She stood at the sink and blow-dried her hair while I showered. When I exited the shower she was in the bedroom getting something out of her suitcase. When I was dry and in the other hotel robe, she handed me my clothes, shooed me into the sitting room and closed the door.