Chapter 51

This morning, stretching felt good. My ribs must be healing as I wasn't in much discomfort. I was still sore, but really not bad. As I became aware of my surroundings, Wanda was right next to me, lost in her own world. Jan and her man were nearby, possibly in a mental bond as they went through form after gentle form, and I had a new convert, Brandy, who had joined us. She was following Wanda's movements, still trying to find her inner music while learning the movements of release. Marie and Dennis were together, with him following her, and Angie had a tiny companion with her this morning as Tiani was mimicking her movements. I was pleased to see so many people finding the energizing peace the movements' give.

As I completed my movements and quietly stood, Wanda, followed by the others stopped and stood, relaxed, satisfied with the moves and feelings. I headed for the pool and was followed by all the others as clothes went flying.

We all swam hard this morning, needing the physical strain. I was able to swim pretty hard, promising myself a more vigorous work out in the gym this evening.

After a hearty breakfast that seemed to be having more and more participants, we all headed for work, but not before Brandy gave me a very nice private hug and kiss in the bedroom. She said, "All you need to do is to say the word and I'll fill that closet up with the clothes of some special ladies. Love ya, Baby, have a good day and call me later. I'm doing supervisor duties today, so I won't be locked up on a window. All of us have progressed at the agency. We're all doing more than direct contact now. Frieda may even get your old job. That would be a really big promotion."

The condition of the world was peaceful this morning with all of the protections in progress working the way they should. San Francisco reported apprehending several sentenced men who were attempting to skip out of the country. It appeared that many were trying to get to Alaska to get lost in the wilderness up there. I might have to rethink putting derelicts up there. We might need a strong hunting force to track down escapees.

Close to noon, I was getting ready to leave when I received a call from Steve. He asked, "Can you come to the house, the patio, or whatever you want to call our place, for lunch? I have a couple of things to talk to you about and Ben Phillips, the finance guy, is going to be here. Beth, Sue's mom is here and if he doesn't come out for lunch, he doesn't get to spend much time with her. Come out, we'll have roast beef sandwiches left over from last night's supper. Glenda may even make some gravy to have an open beef sandwich."

As I made it to the car, I heard my cell phone ring. It was Brandy, she asked, "What are you up to this afternoon? Metarie said Tiani and I have to take some time off or we'll lose the vacation. We're going to take half days for a while. Can we come with you to do whatever you're doing?"

"Sure, I'll stop behind your building in a minute. I'm on my way out to Steve's for lunch. He said he wants to talk to me and Sue's uncle or dad; I'm confused on just who he is, but he's going to be there. I had asked about him for some advice."

"Goodie, Tiani and I both just love those folks out there. We'll be waiting."

We all went out to the trailer park for a great lunch. The two girls were all smiles. It seemed uncannily quiet there, but we realized that the kids were all in school. Sue even mentioned how lonely it gets there during the day but then the buses begin coming and the world erupts again with kids everywhere.

After lunch, Sue and Steve said they usually go to the gym followed by going up to the pool to get some sun. Tiani and Brandy both looked disappointed, but Sue said, "Hop in the cart. We'll run over to the outlet store and get you both some shorts and a top, along with one of our close out swimsuits. You two can come to the gym with us and up to the pool. If Chuck's done with Ben, he can come up to the pool with us."

The three women roared off in Sue's fancily painted, souped up, golf cart.

Ben and I were still sitting at one of the big dining tables with a cup of coffee. He said, "Steve said you wanted some investment advice. He mentioned that you had come into some money and wanted to invest it."

"I've never had much money, Mr. Phillips. I've always tried to be a saver and not a spender, but I have recently had the misfortune of having to be involved in a private lawsuit. My attorney, Sarah Perkins, negotiated an unusually large settlement that I need to protect and invest. I don't know how to handle taxes and I don't know how to invest to protect the capital. I may use some for fun or personal use, but for the most part, I want to invest it in safe ways so it will grow. No high risk stuff, as I don't have a lot of confidence in the economy."

"You have a good attitude. I'll have to work on your total assets and liabilities to determine a tax situation. Do you have anyone helping you with your finances now?"

"My office manager is managing my personal stuff, making sure the household bills are paid. Stuff like insurance, house upkeep, just the day to day bills."

Ben asked, "Do you have any debt? Credit cards, personal loans?"

I have a home loan and I have to use my personal credit card for some things. I mostly use a debit card that is also my credit card. I just make sure the checking account has enough in it, and any extra I transfer to savings. That's what I owe. I am young and haven't had time to build up a lot of debt. When you're in the military, you don't have to spend any money if you don't want to. Almost everything is paid for in the military. You have to buy your own underwear if you don't want to wear what they issue, which isn't bad, and you have to buy your own toiletries and beer. Other than that, there isn't much to spend money on unless you spend it on women who won't ever mean anything to you."

"You sound like Steve. He was the same way when he was in the service. He saved his money there and when he was working in the oil fields up in Alaska and down in Belize on the platforms. That was the basis of everything you see that he has now. He had his grubstake from lots of hard work, his attitude, and of course, a lot of luck. He calls it taking advantage of opportunities. So, how much did you get in this settlement."

I looked around to make sure no one overheard. "Ah, this has to remain confidential. It's part of the settlement agreement. I received forty-two million."

Ben's eyes opened wide, "Forty-two million? You can't be serious. What in the hell happened for you to get that much. Your attorney must be dancing around the money tree. What was her percentage?"

"I received it all. She negotiated a separate fee. She's very happy with what she was able to negotiate for."

"Chuck, can you tell me, your new attorney what the lawsuit was about?"

I looked at him questioningly, and he said, "Give me a buck, give me a dollar as an initial retainer, then everything becomes attorney/client privilege. I can't talk about it, and of course you're not going to."

I gave him a dollar and said, "A famous local wrestler tried to hit me. My former girlfriend and he are old friends. My former girlfriend's husband was killed in the Marshal Service several years ago and the wrestler was divorced a while ago. My ex and the wrestler had been close friends before and during their marriages. The two got together. I had the misfortune of running into them while she was quitting the Marshal Service. He attempted to hit me. I subdued him and in the process of cuffing him, the ex tried to pull a gun. I was able to disable her and I figured both would be off to jail."

I paused to take a breath, "The wrestler has a bunch of high dollar endorsements and is involved in a TV series. They even have my ex involved in the show now. His lawyers wanted to buy me off and since I knew Ms. Perkins, I had her run interference for me. I wanted a restraining order on both of them, as I don't need problems with civilians in addition to the riff raff I have to deal with everyday on the job. Ms Perkins saw a chance for a home run and the wrestler is worth a hell of lot more than is even imaginable. Sarah Perkins made a nice withdrawal."

"That's a wild story. Who's the wrestler?"

"Some mammoth called Rocky Mountain."

"Oh wow, my group handles some of his investments and he does have a pile. His ex-wife got about two hundred mil from him and she didn't even touch any of his offshore money. Rocky kept his mansion in Belleaire and all his fancy cars. The wife took a condo in Vegas and the money. He got off lucky. How bad did he hurt you?"

"I was lucky, I ducked and disabled him in order to cuff him."

"You disabled Rocky Mountain and cuffed him. What did you do, shoot him?"

"It wasn't a shooting situation, I was able to duck and strike a blow that put him down. It was probably lucky, but I have had some training."

"Sounds even more like Steve. You two are like two peas in a pod."

"So, Mr. Phillips, can you help me protect the capital and help with figuring the taxes and stuff?"

"Call me, Ben. Sure, you're easy. Your money is perfect for right now. We have a couple of investments that are going to be quick but look like they will have a big return. I'll work out your existing tax situation so we can be ahead of the game. We'll pay anything you owe early and I'll make sure you'll owe more at the end of the year. I'll also protect as much as I legally can. I have a whole office full of smart accountants and attorneys that do nothing but research how a client can keep what is his."

"That's very good. What do I do to give you the money? Do we need a contract or what?"

"You should. Let me get a standard form from the car. We'll have Steve witness it and you can make arrangement to transfer the money to my control."

He went to his car and came back with some forms. He filled out the forms, without the amounts, and had me sign them, he signed them, and had Steve come over and witness our signatures real quick. When Ben asked me which bank the money was in, I pulled my wallet out and handed Ben the check for forty-two million.

"You haven't even deposited it yet?"

"I didn't want anyone to know I had that kind of money and I'm under contract not to divulge anything."

"Weren't you afraid that you would lose it or that it could get stolen?"

I said, "Not really, if I lost it, I'm sure they would replace it because I could hurt them by telling the news media. I could probably get a lot of money from the gossip papers. The settlement covers both Rocky and my ex-girlfriend."

"I'll get this money transferred this afternoon. As a matter of fact, let me get out of here now so I can get it transferred before two and it's in our control in today's business. We're losing interest. With this much money, it makes a big difference on a daily basis."

He wrote the amount on the contract, gave me a copy, went to kiss Beth goodbye, and took off.

Steve came over, "You must have made Ben's day. He just loves money. The man has more money than the feds, but he gets excited over a twenty."

Steve handed me a swimsuit and a T-shirt and asked, "What size shoe do you wear, you look like my size."

"Ten and a half or eleven."

"Me too, I have a couple extra pairs of tennis shoes. Sue buys me clothes constantly because I don't like to shop. You can borrow a pair and just keep them here so you can go to the gym with us. This is a daily thing with us so we can stay in shape. We go up and get some sun every day for a half hour or so, to keep from burning when we're out on the boat, and to make the ladies beautiful. As if they needed any help. Say, you'll have to come sailing with us. You'll love it. When we get back, we'll go out for a weekend. That is if you or I aren't flying. I'm going to have to have more pilots. My nephew, Dennis, is taking lessons and his sister, Tina, is too. She's graduating from USF this week, so she will be working full time out at the charter service soon. She's right there for her commercial ticket and will be in the next G5 class with you. She does have this problem. She took all pre-med classes and has been accepted into the medical school at USF, so she will probably not be any help with the charter group."

"Steve," I said, with as much sincerity in my voice as I could get, "I really appreciate how you've befriended me and helped me with flying. I've really become addicted to flying."

"It is like a drug, isn't it? Sailing is the same way. You'll love it. I have some nice boats to sail and I'll help you get your captain's license if you think you might want to know how to sail. All the ladies are qualified captains and sailors. It's nice to have a crew like that. The older kids are all starting to get their licenses as well."

Steve got up and headed inside, "Come on, let's get changed. If we do it out here, we'll get attacked by a stray wife or neighbor."

I put on a pair of shorts, some white socks, and a new pair of tennis shoes that fit. I had to put the shoe on my fake foot, which Steve thought was sort of funny. I told him that two different shoes felt funny when I walked. He nodded in understanding.

When the girls got back, Brandy and Tiani had a couple of big bags of clothes. Brandy came on the patio and exclaimed, "You should see all the neat stuff they have. If you look at their original name you think that the clothes are all for big girls, but they have everything, even sizes for Tiani. We have some skirts, some neat tops, and a couple of swimsuits each. We have to get the others out here, they will go nuts and the prices are ridiculously cheap. Sue says these are all closeouts or stuff that didn't sell, but we think their styles are great. Look, we have some more skirts to wear to hostess on the flights. Sue said they needed us to work as hostesses this weekend and the next."

Steve and I were grinning, since we are both men who are always amazed at the excitement women show when they buy new clothes. Sue said, "We only went for some shorts and swim suits but they went crazy. I had to pull them out of there. Steve has to get back to work, and I should too. Come on, both of you girls, let's get changed and you can go to the gym with us. Steve is being very patient."

While we were waiting, Mercy and Kathy came over to sit with us. Surprisingly, Kathy sat close to me and said, "You are some kind of guy. You're just like Steve and my husband was, all of you are fearless. I love you guys for it, but it scares the hell out of me. I'm glad our lives are so much more peaceful now. The only time I worry is when we're out on the boat, but Steve has taught all of us to shoot and how to defend ourselves. We're going to protect our family and there are enough of us to be dangerous. Between the older kids and us women, we're dangerous."

Kathy hugged my arm and said, "Be careful, you have people that love you. We all like you too, and that's bordering on loving you, but we have Steve and he's our main man."

Steve laughed, "You must have made an impression on Kathy, as she's pretty cool toward new men around here. I like him too, Kathy. I know Sue, Mercy, and Juanita do too. Here are the girls, let's hit the gym for some exercise."

Steve and his four women headed for his pickup and my girls and I went to my car to follow. It was just up the highway to a very nice gym in the shopping plaza. I did my bike, the treadmill, and was working on some weights when it looked like his family was done. Mercy came to me and said, "Now the fun. Let's get our suits on and get some sun. I get to put lotion on you and if you're lucky you can do Sue and me. Steve gets to put it on your two girls. It's only fair, you know."

We went back to the park, changed into our swimwear and went to the pool. Brandy and Tiani had come up with flip-flops, but I wore the tennis shoes Steve lent me. The three of us were pretty lily-white and were teased about not having tans. As Mercy had said, Steve went right to work, first doing sweetheart Glenda while Mercy stretched out her smaller body and had me do her thoroughly. Sue said she was next and wow, her top is so big it's almost obscene, but is something you'd like to explore. Kathy was next for me and is pretty big on top, but she is tall anyway. She enjoyed teasing me by loosening her top before flipping over giving me a shot at her big chest. She was pretty floppy, but I'd bet she would be fun to play with. Steve and I arrived at Juanita together and greased her together. She was moaning and smiling the whole time, enjoying being double teamed.

Steve's women were all big on top, except Mercy, while my two were smaller. Brandy has a nice set of small Cs or big Bs that are very nice and firm, while Tiani has some of the cutest tastiest As or small Bs around. Both have very appealing chests to me. They are a testament that you don't have to have big bazooms to be attractive. I am surprised though. Me, and all the women at my house, in addition to Brandy and her four roommates, all have short hair while Steve and all his women all have long hair. Must be that we are all tuned in to each other.

Steve then said, "It's our turn now. They should have done you first. Just this little sun is pinking you up already. Stretch out and let's let the ladies do us."

This was a treat, Mercy, Sue, and Glenda did my back and when I was told to roll over, I was a little embarrassed as I was stimulated from all the hands. It was Kathy's and Juanita's turn to work on my chest and legs. Mercy said, "No fair, you get him when he's excited. We should wrestle them for him, Sue."