Chapter 15

The magic alarm in my head rang and I slid out of bed to go to the bathroom. It was five fifty. I made coffee, took a shower, and put on my clothes. Today was going to be a very long day. I felt rested, so I knew I would be all right.

As I finished dressing, Mercy raised her head and asked, "Is it morning already?"

"It is, Honey, you can go back to sleep if you want."

"No, I want to get up with you this morning. I may want to go with you on your flight tonight. I'll know later."

She got up and showered, which was enough activity to wake Sue. She wanted some kisses before getting up to face the world. She got them and headed toward the bathroom.

I took a cup of coffee out to the patio, turned on the air, fans, lights and TV. The lady on the TV said we were going to have some high eighties or low nineties, but no threat of thunderstorms today.

People began arriving at six fifteen. Two of the first were Debbie and Shawna. They came to me and both wanted to sit in my lap. I let each sit on a knee and hugged them. They were disappointed their breasts didn't stay as large as they had enjoyed them the night before. Mercy told them that it was only an illusion; she made them believe they had them and made others look upon them as if they had bigger breasts.

Shawna said, "Tiny's pants hitting the ground wasn't an illusion, and Joan's panties coming out of her shorts wasn't an illusion."

Mercy said, "More than you think or know, Shawna. People see what they think they see, but then, there is magic." Mercy was giggling as she hugged the two girls.

Soon the patio was full of our people, including Samantha, the park manager and his wife, Tiny's parents. Dewey stuck his head out the door and asked, "Is that a box of sweets I see? I'll be right back; I have a lady who loves those."

Merlin came out dressed and obviously freshly showered; his hair was still wet. Missy followed in her robe. Ruth told Missy that she was a robe person in the morning too. Glenda agreed, saying it was too early to get dressed anyway.

Phil and Judy had brought a bunch of pastries and a mountain of breakfast sandwiches. Phil said the MacDonald's was ready for him in the morning now as they had about fifty mixed sandwiches ready when he came by. He even got free coffee every morning.

Merlin watched everyone and listened to the various conversations that were going on. Missy was sitting in the glider with Glenda, chatting and drinking coffee.

Soon it was time for everyone to go to the shop. Merlin began to realize that most of the people who came for breakfast and who had been there the night before worked at my business. He was wondering how having my friends as employees worked.

Merlin and Dewey both wanted to ride with me to work. Sue said that she would take Missy and Sheila with her to the plant to say good morning to her people before showing them the other side of the street.

I took Merlin and Dewey through the shops and introduced them to those they had not met yet. They were impressed at how clean and neat the shop was. The bright white floors, and the walls with our "Perfect" signs, gave them an idea how dedicated my people were.

The body building people fascinated Merlin. Dewey was intrigued by the fact that the company built frames, sheet metal, fiberglass, and motors for NASCAR. Abe showed off his shop and accompanied us over to the super lift shop. The size of the giant lifts was staggering to those who had never seen them. We were treated by watching a completed bright, shiny lift drive over to a decrepit looking machine, lift it up, and carry it into the shop. The circle was complete. A lift had been rebuilt and another old broken down super lift was starting through the process.

A truck was waiting, so the rebuilt lift was driven up onto the bed and chained down. The rebuilt machine was so tall that the truck had to be a drop-center trailer so the lift would clear bridges on the interstate as it was hauled to its destination.

My new crew was polishing pieces of fresh fiberglass in preparation for putting them together. Jeff was demonstrating how he had molded metal strips into the fiberglass to bolt the body to the chassis. I tried to explain what I was doing to Merlin and Dewey, but they were a little fuzzy on the concept. I told them that perhaps they would understand when they saw the finished product.

The guys had done a great job on the chassis. The motor was complete, but far too much money had been spent on chroming components. If we kept this up, I would need to build my own chrome shop. The truck was going to be a little obnoxious looking with all chrome wheels and tanks under the new body. I guess it needed to be flashy to show it was a real trucker's truck.

The mechanic reported that he had ordered new instruments for the dash. He said that the instruments were going to have both standard sweep gauges with digital readouts over each gauge. I thought that would be nice, but maybe overkill. I made myself a note to check the cost later; maybe digital would be enough, unless there was a question of reliability of the digital gauges.

As we came back to the showroom, Sue was bringing Missy, Sheila, and Mercy in. Sue said she would show Merlin and Dewey the rest of the office area while I caught up on my calls.

Debbie and Deanne had everything under control. They were both excited about a dealer in Maryland that had sold three big trucks and had ordered about twenty of the new bodies we were building. Debbie said that would put that shop over three months behind. I walked out and talked to the body people, asking them if they felt they could train more people. They all said they knew of at least two people each that wanted to work for us and were hard workers. They said that if I would start them, they would make sure they produced perfect bodies.

The only problem was, we were running out of space. If we put six more people to work in the body group to catch up, that would max the frame, sheet metal, and body areas. The frame and sheet metal shops were keeping up, but the body and motor people were beginning to fall behind. I told the body guys to get with Debbie and Ruth to get their friends in to fill out apps, to remind their friends about the drug testing, and make sure they knew we only wanted perfect product out the door.

The motor shop was rowdy, as usual. They were happily working along. I wasn't too worried about being back-ordered, as eventually the market would saturate, which should slow down orders. There is a NASCAR break, and it coincided with a general racing break, so I figured we would not only catch up, but would be able to send everyone on vacations. We would have to play that as it came.

Time was flying. It was nearly time for me to leave for my overnight instrument class. I called Glenda and asked her to pack a dozen sandwiches and a couple of our biggest thermoses full of coffee. I thought I might even take one of the small coolers full of water and soda.

When I found Sue and announced that I was leaving, Mercy insisted that she come along. I had no idea why, but she wanted to come. We drove home, where I suggested she put on comfortable clothes and soft shoes, since this was not going to be a pleasure cruise. She said she understood, but wanted to experience it with me.

We ate lunch and walked up to the pool to swim for fifteen to twenty minutes before we walked back home to shower and dress. I finished up my paperwork for the instructor and printed out a copy of the flight plan before Mercy and I drove out to the air park. I parked the truck, pushed the plane out, and loaded and strapped down the cooler behind the rear seats.

I was giving the plane a detailed and thorough pre-flight inspection when the instructor showed up. I handed him the stack of paperwork and the printed-out flight plan while I finished up.

"You've already filed?"

"Yes sir, I did that last night. I thought that if there were any changes you wanted to make, I could call in and amend by either phone or radio."

"Good job. You did all the work, and who is this stowaway?" he asked observing Mercy.

"This is my dear friend, Mercy. She loves to fly and wants to come along for the adventure. She knows this is going to be a long and boring flight, but she insisted on coming along."

"Did you figure her and the extra weight into your fuel planning?" He asked.

I answered, "I didn't think I needed to, as I did all my fuel planning using the max gross weight figure, and added an extra fifteen minutes to the minimum reserve time.

"Good going, you'll never get caught short if you do that. You're smart because you have to use time, instead of distance, in case you get a headwind. Let's go see the land."

We called in to flight control to initiate the flight plan and requested permission to takeoff from the local controller. As soon as we were off the ground, I dialed in the first leg of the trip. The instructor told me to use all of my tools right now, but we would switch around during the trip.

The first touch and go was in Tallahassee. We were in and out easily, heading toward Mobile, and on to Huntsville where we would refuel. From there we went in and out of Little Rock, over to Memphis, and up to St. Louis. The air traffic people put us in the holding pattern longer than I had planned. I finally had to request landing instructions instead of a touch and go, as I would otherwise be over my fuel projections. This was going to be my first big airport night landing. I had planned on refueling in Springfield, Illinois, where they had a new approach control system that I wanted to use, plus they were used to small aircraft; but St Louis it would be. I would look at my options and amend as necessary.

In St. Louis, it took fifteen minutes just to taxi to the small aircraft area to be refueled. We had to wait for a fuel truck to come to us instead of taxing up to a pump.

After using the restroom facilities, we loaded up and taxied out to the runway, being given clearance rapidly, until we were next to go after a 737. It was kind of funny to be in between two giant airliners. I was well behind the 737, so I didn't get blown around from his jet wash. As soon as he had begun his takeoff roll, the tower advised me to enter the active runway. They gave me the send off and the little 172 was off the ground a short distance down the runway. I had received permission to turn onto my course before the end of the runway. I knew the plane behind me was already on his takeoff roll.

I did get to do a touch and go at Springfield before we flew into the nightmare called O'Hare. Oh shit, it was busy. We were put into a low altitude short holding pattern, and finally directed to go straight in on the right active runway and turn off at the first opportunity. I was to notify ground control when I had turned off. Approach control became agitated that they had to talk a 172 into the well lit runway, but my instructor advised them I was a student and needed the experience. As soon as he identified himself, they were much more cordial.

We taxied to the small aircraft fuel pumps where an attendant filled the plane. We used the potties and took off again heading for Indianapolis. Since it was night, only major airports would have an approach control group working. After the Indiana stop, we went all the way to Atlanta, where the sun was coming up as we landed.

The instructor asked me how I was doing and I said I felt fresh, if he wanted to continue we could, and would get home earlier. I asked Mercy how she was doing and she said she was fine and wide awake. After refueling, we took off and did a touch and go in Greensboro, and headed toward Orlando, using nothing but the basic instruments and radio with the hood pulled over me. The touch and go at Orlando was smooth, but I never did get to see the airport; I was kept blind. I had one more quick touch and go at Tampa, followed by a landing at home. Everything was smooth at Tampa where he pushed the hood off me so I could do the touch and go myself. We turned out to go home where I called in, requesting permission to land. We touched down and taxied to the hangar.

I filled out the plane's logbook after checking the time meter, and reached back to get my logbook. Mercy smiled and handed it to me. She had logged all of my time and my landings at each point of reference for the class. The instructor smiled, saying that he had given her the job; she needed something to keep her busy.

I handed the plane over to the attendant, asking him to clean up the interior, since we had been eating in the plane. I loaded the leftovers into the truck. The instructor told me to come Monday, prepared to fly till around eleven. We would use the twin so I would also get checked out in multi-engine as I practiced instrument flying in it. He gave me an itinerary that looked too long, but I remembered the new plane was very fast. I asked if it was a 1PM take-off and he said it would be.

Mercy and I were fairly tired, but I was still wired from the experience of flying the distance we had in such a short period of time. It was just a little after two on a Saturday afternoon, so Sue said for us to take a nap; she had a big night planned for us.

I awoke to Sue kissing me awake. After I was awake, she kissed Mercy awake as gently as she had me. While I watched her, I realized not only how much Sue enjoys someone of her own sex, but how much she really likes Mercy.

Out on the patio, Merlin was holding court, doing amateur tricks with cards and other items. Missy was trying to hide her face from the rank performance Merlin was giving. All of my friends were fascinated by his ability, but we were a bunch of bubba's just waiting to be fascinated.

Ben and Beth showed up for supper on the patio. They knew how we did it, so they found a seat to enjoy having a family style dinner put in front of them. The drink of the night was some mild, almost red, wine that was tasty but not strong or bitter. Sue even enjoyed a glass.

Betty and Joan began serving a really nice supper. We had pulled roast pork with black beans and yellow rice. For those that wanted something else, we had some other Cuban dishes that gave the meal a real Latin flavor.

After supper, before Merlin could develop a group to watch his musings, Ben and Beth had them pack up and come with them to their house on the bay. Merlin, ever the yuppie, followed the path that Sue had set for him so we could be without his influence for a while.

The plan for the night was that everyone on two wheels (in my case three) would gather and go hopping around the area, enjoying wind in their face, as well as beer and some tasty treats along the way.

I introduced Dewey to the shovel. He loved it and instantly tried it out. It was a little more powerful than he thought it would be, but enjoyed riding it up and down the highway to get the feel of it. He thought that since he and Sheila had not been on a bike lately they should use the helmets. Sheila loved the paintings and the helmets, but told everyone to take it easy on her, as she was not necessarily comfortable with riding.