Chapter 8

Posted: September 29, 2009 - 08:34:56 am

I woke before six thinking about food. Wonder why I'm always so darned hungry. I did think that I should get up and get going so I could call John. I needed to get in touch with Bud to see what he's up to.

As I shifted, Kathy wrapped herself around me and said, "Oh no, you don't. You have to pay a toll before you can get out of my clutches. You have to pay one very good kiss first."

We kissed very gently and just looked at each other. She said, "I'm glad you have become part of us. I think Steve needs a bigger bed so you can sleep in there with all of us. That might be fun. I think he'd even go for that."

"Ah, Kathy, ah, I don't think so. Some things should be private. I know you guys are used to doing a lot of that stuff together but I'm kind of shy about some of this. I like it to be just the two of us."

"You mean you don't want a mother/daughter match-up? Barb would jump at the chance."

"No, definitely not that. I think it's been difficult enough with you and Juanita, or you and Mercy. I love all you girls, but I always remember you are Steve's wives. I feel special that you have let me in, but I sometimes feel like I'm taking something of Steve's."

"You're not taking something of Steve's. Steve and all of us are sharing us with you. He feels the same about you, and he knows we girls really like you, so he lets us show you how much. He enjoys knowing how much we all enjoy each other. You've even been with us more than Dewey or Michael. Both of them have been with us, but it's been when we've been in the hot tub or sunning on the deck. With you it's different. We all want to share the night with you."

We got up and showered. I got a cup of coffee from the galley and went into Steve's office area. I called John.

"Hey, John, what's up? Anything happening I should know about?"

"Let's see, my guy on convalescent leave was wounded again. That's not good. Ah, he used the military again, but this time it was a National Guard unit, so you're in the clear. Let's see, he wasn't the ramrod on the deal but, a, there were no survivors. That wouldn't be such a big deal, but there were over three hundred men inside that compound. How did you neutralize all of them?"

"I didn't do any of them. I didn't fire a round."

"I suppose you didn't hurt anyone when you were tossing grenades every few seconds."

"Oh yeah, I guess I might have accounted for a couple."

"Sure, a couple. At least your name was kept out of the bomb tossing stuff. The only mention of you was that you had multiple lacerations from exploding metal. What was that about?"

"A round hit my leg and metal splinters hit my thigh. No big deal."

"According to an Army Guard Colonel, you were the field leader that kept his men from getting injured. Your name just keeps coming up when it's time to pass out the attaboys. Another gold star for your file."

"Listen, John. I didn't call to rehash yesterday. I'm calling to see if you think I need to hang out here in Anchorage to help Bud on this multiple capture or do you think he can handle it."

"He already handled it. He pulled eight of them in yesterday, but four escaped into the bush. He has a couple of natives tracking them as we speak. I want to say that he was able to capture the eight with only two dead and two injured. He's not as good a shot as you are. He thinks at least one of the four he's chasing is hurt too. From what he says, he can handle it. You made a good choice as he is relentless. He doesn't quit, kind of like you."

"Good, glad to hear it. In that case, I'll be leaving here tomorrow heading for Hawaii. I'm not sure how long it will take, but I'll be convalescing."

John was laughing when he hung up on me. Pretty rude.

I called Wanda to see how she was. She was happy to hear my injuries were only splinters. I told her what John had said and that Bud was doing fine. She said she would look forward to hearing from me at home tonight while all the girls were at the house. I told her to watch for a picture she should give to Lisa.

I went to find Kathy so I could get the picture downloaded and sent off. We figured out how to download it then I wrote a short note and sent it off with a request to get Lisa's personal email address.

My cell phone rang. I answered, "Johnson."

Lisa said, "Hi, Lover. Did you enjoy opening your presents?"

"Lisa, you went hog wild. I saw on your notes the deal you got on the acoustics. That was one hell of a deal. Wait till you see the picture of me with the Blues King. You'll know how much I like it."

"That is my present to you, Lover. I wanted you to have something special from me while you're gone. I found it and made it part of a collective deal with this same dealer. The six string bass is kind of for fun since I've never seen anyone play one before. If anyone can have fun with it, you should. The Ibanez fretless is supposed to be pretty good. The guy at the store made it sound pretty good. The Ibanez Strat copy plays real nice. I played it a little and it sounded nice. I think I got one of every kind of trick toy they had. The guy ended up discounting everything more than fifty percent. When I was done, he asked me if I was going to send amps and when I shrugged my shoulders, he gave me the two I sent. The drums were kind of an afterthought. He gave them to me at less than half his list, the same with the keyboard. I love the sounds of the keyboard as it has a real good Rhodes sound and has a B-3 sound that is beautiful. You'll have fun with it."

"Lisa, Lisa, you are a wonderful crazy lady."

"Do I make you happy?"

"Very happy, Lisa. You make me miss you all that much more."

"Good, I want you to come back. Everyone out at the charter misses you too. Oh, yeah, I'm taking Brandy and Tiani with me on a trip this weekend out to San Diego. When we're through there we're flying to Seattle then back home. It will be from Friday afternoon to Monday morning. I think the girls will have a good time. John will probably be with me. It's either him or Molly the new chick. You'll like her. John found her with another charter service that doesn't like women pilots. John thinks women jet jockeys are great, so Molly came to be with us. Like I said, you'll like her. Very sweet. She's staying with me at your house right now until we can find her a place."

"I wish I were flying with you."

"Me too. I have to go, Chuck. I just wanted to say hi while you're in Alaska. Are you leaving for Hawaii soon?"

"Tomorrow."

"Good. Keep me posted as to where you are and perhaps I'll have another surprise for you while you're out wandering around."

"Great to talk to you, Lisa."

"Bye, Honey," she said, as she hung up.

I sat back in my chair thinking how nice that conversation was. I also wondered at my increased pulse rate and obvious excitement about hearing from her. Perhaps I need to look at this relationship a little deeper.

After shutting down the equipment, I went out to eat, joining the family as they herded the children through breakfast, getting ready for one last excursion into Anchorage. I was able to join in the excitement of planning to go into the city for sightseeing.

Dewey and Steve wanted to gather the un-needed guitars to take to a music store. They wanted me to buy any music that might be available to use with the kids. Kathy said she thought Bonita probably needed some more beginner's piano music so I could continue to teach her. I told Steve, "I think we should hang on to the remaining Gibson sets in case there are any kids at home that might want to get in on learning to play. With twenty-four guitars, that should be enough for a lot of kids to play and practice with. If you should need more later, you can always get them. Some of these kids won't want to continue, others will. You can find a local teacher to come and teach kids. You could even have classes up at your rec center if you wanted."

Steve nodded and said, "Good idea, Chuck. Bonita is really musically inclined. I'm glad we've had the chance to see how much enjoyment she's getting from music. We'll be sure to get her more instruction."

We did get the other guitars together that we had originally brought with us and took them into a music store in Anchorage. They happily paid more money than we had paid for the used practice guitars originally. We ended up purchasing a lot of sheet music, plus a whole country music fake book.

Michael surprised everyone by buying a very good keyboard and a set of teaching videos and beginners' music for his kids. He said, "I think they might want to learn more on this trip and I want to make sure we have the tools. Since no one played the piano in the lounge, we removed it. If the children learn the guitar and the piano, the ladies and I will be entertained for the rest of our lives."

The store even had the 220 transformer for the keyboard as the Irish Bell had the European 220VAC 50 cycle outlets on board. Michael mentioned that I might even stay a few nights on his luxury yacht on our trip to Hawaii.

The afternoon was busy getting supplies for the next leg of the trip. All three boats were filled with fresh vegetables, fruits, and meats for the ten to eleven day trip.

For our last night in port, we went to another restaurant that had been recommended to us. This was an Italian restaurant that catered to families instead of just the couples trade, as so many better places did. Since we had made reservations, we were expected and were able to be seated together. The food was wonderful and the kids all seemed to enjoy getting sauce on their shirts. We should all have had bibs, since I think all of us had spills.

When we left the restaurant and had got back to the parking lot, Lizzie said, "I left my purse on the table, can I go back to get it?"

I said, "I'll go get it. It will only take a minute."

Kathy moved with me and said, "I was sitting next to her. I'll be able to find it faster."

The parking area was behind the restaurant and required the patrons to walk around the building to the front entrance. Inside, we quickly found the purse and were exiting the front doors when a man ran up from behind. I turned just as he made a grab for the purse in Kathy's hand.

As the purse snatcher grabbed the purse from Kathy, I used my fake leg to sweep the legs out from under the attacker. As he fell, I followed him down, forcing his head into the sidewalk. The fall knocked him unconscious.

Kathy was paralyzed from the shock of what had happened. I stood, shook her and said, "Go inside and have them call the police, I have to stay to watch this guy."

Kathy came out of her haze and stumbled into the restaurant and came back out with the man acting as the Maitre D'. He began apologizing to us for having been attacked. I told him, "Don't worry about it. He didn't hurt us and didn't get anything. Can you watch him while I go tell the others in our group what's happened?"

With Kathy following, we walked around the building and headed toward the parking lot. As we were making the last turn into the parking lot, there were three men standing in front of the four men from our boats, including the Captain of the Irish Bell, with all the women and children behind them. I could hear what one of the men was saying, "Just empty your pockets and have the women toss their purses with their jewelry in them over here and you won't get hurt. This isn't a toy I'm holding."

I stopped, held Kathy back, and told her to go back to the front to make sure the cops had been called. As soon as she left, I pulled my Glock, thanking my habit of wearing my service weapon all the time. I mussed up my clothes, pulling my shirt partially out of my pants to give the impression of a drunk and stumbled out from the corner of the building.