Chapter 26

Chuck

I could tell that I had consumed more alcohol than I was used to. I remembered the fun the girls and I had before going to sleep, and thought it funny how sometimes the amount of joy juice didn't affect all of your body.

The day needed to begin, so I slipped from the massive bed, brushed my teeth, and went to make coffee. My peg must have thumped down the hall, as Lena came out of her bedroom and asked, "Are you going to workout?"

With a smile, I said, "First, I'm making coffee, and then a little sweat would be good."

Along with making coffee, I had a big glass of water, while Lena had juice. We went into the exercise room, both warming up on the bikes. It was when we were both on the treadmill that I glanced up at the clock, it was only five forty-five. "What are you doing up already, Lena? You never wake up this early."

"I thought it must be time to get up when I heard you walking on your peg. Last night was fun. I went back to my room to sleep because it smelled too good in there with you guys. You know, I'm old enough to make up my own mind about men and things. I'll be twenty soon and that's old enough to be considered an adult. I may not be able to drink alcohol legally, but there are a lot of adult things that I can do, like vote in the elections. Chuck, I sometimes think it's because of Bobby, or that you just don't like me."

"That's not an adult attitude, Lena. I like you, enjoy having you in the house, and enjoy you being with me when you are here. I'm almost ten years older than you and have experienced a lot of things that you haven't yet. It's like Steve and his women. They're almost ten years older than me and I look up to him as, in many ways, he has so much more life experience than I do. This is a crazy household, Lena, and sometimes our earthy nature takes over big time. You are special among us and among your family. Just relax with being who you are, and don't push for something that I just feel shouldn't be. I'd love to be closer with all your family, but I don't want there to be a rift between you and Bobby, or Tina and Bobby, or me and your folks. I want you and me to be buds, and not just sex buddies."

Lena came over, lifted me bodily off the treadmill, and hugged me like Bobby used to. I didn't think she was that strong, but she surprised me. Lena said, "You can't stop me from loving you, Chuck. I'll mind, the same way I have been, and watch from the sidelines, but I want you to know that I'm not a little girl anymore, and I want in. I want to be a part of your crazy menagerie of women. The girls accept me, and you will eventually. I'll wait."

Lena put me down. Our sweat had molded our shirts to our skin, showing her enlarged nipples. She said, "Let me go see what the pool temperature is. Hopefully it's near eighty."

We walked into the kitchen where John was sitting at the counter, drinking coffee. He watched Lena walk out to pool and step in to check the water thermometer. She turned and gave the okay sign. John and I watched the tall girl strip and dive into the pool. Marie and Dennis came through the kitchen at that point, nude, and on the way to the pool. They both said good morning, totally unaffected by being nude in front of a stranger.

John said, "My, oh my, is this a nudist park?"

"No that's up near the trailer park, but no one wears a suit here while swimming. As a matter of fact, I'm on my way. Join us if you want."

"Let me get Kenisha, she loves to be nude."

Lisa came out of the bedroom, rubbing her eyes. She was nude, of course, and said, "Come on, Chuck, race me."

The whole household was soon swimming, hanging on the side of the pool, or sitting on the entry steps in the shallow end. Kenisha was happy at being nude among us. When she got out of the pool, the cool morning air shocked her nipples into instant darts. Don and John were just getting out as well, and the visual feast all the girls were presenting had the two on the rise.

John said, "Well, I guess you guys are just like any bunch of guys. Good looking women affect you the same. This house is too full of good looking women." Being curious, John asked, "Dennis, you and Tina look a lot alike. Are you related?"

Dennis grinned, "Brother and sister. Steve is our uncle. He's more like a friend than an uncle, and I'm sure Tina doesn't want to be reminded of the relationship."

Tina said, "Who cares. I'm living the way I want to live, and most think I'm a Lez anyway. This group gives me the chance to be myself like no other place. I'm too busy with school to even worry about it. You know, Denny, I'm going into my internship and will be pulling all kinds of crazy hours at the hospital. While you guys are having fun this summer, I'll be slaving away. At least I'll be using some of what I want to learn to do."

John asked, "Are you in pre-med?"

"Finished that," Tina said. "I'm in second year med-school and will begin rotations this summer. I'll be learning a lot, but you have to do the triage thing in the ER first. You don't do much doctoring, but you learn about diagnostics and the nurses teach you a lot of things. Most students have some extensive emergency med training already during our undergrad summers. Now we'll be able to put some of it to use."

"What kind of doctor do you want to be? That is, what field of medicine do you want to practice?" John asked, looking upon the girl in a new light.

"OB/GYN," Tina said. "I love to help women, and of course I love women, so it's only natural. I love the thought of helping women bring babies into this world, so I may specialize in that area. Not enough medical people are willing to specialize there, too much liability. I figure that if I never have a bunch of material things, no one can sue for me for it."

The group migrated to the warmer confines of the kitchen. We mutually agreed to wash and dress, then head out to the park for Saturday breakfast. Brandy asked me, "Do you have a lot planned today?"

"I have one thing that I want John and I to go do, but other than that, not really," I answered. "What's up?"

Brandy said, "Tom Parks is going to work with us again today, and I thought you might want to add your two cents to the plans. You know this house out there is becoming a reality. If we can finalize the plans, it will be started this coming week."

She continued, "The girls and I have decided we will keep our place and rent it out. You can do the same with yours or sell it. We actually know someone who might rent your place or maybe even buy it."

"Who in world would want a big place like this?" I was amazed someone would want it.

Frieda said, "Metarie doesn't want to be the director any longer, and the new man has a bunch of kids. None seem to be leaving home and he said he's going to have to take in his mother-in-law now that his father-in-law has passed away. He says that since his mother is already living with them, the two mothers could live in the apartment upstairs. This place would be perfect for him."

"It's going to take a long time to build a house as big as you guys are planning you know. Can the man wait?"

"He can," Frieda answered, "And you're going to be surprised at how fast this house will go up. With as many men as can be put on the job, it will be done fast."

We all got ready and left for the park in multiple cars, as people were going different ways later. On the way, John asked, "So you're building a place out there?"

I chuckled, "Steve and his ladies have tried to get us to move out there with them for a while. As you may have noticed, his ladies are nuts about kids, and want ours added into the mix out there. The menagerie I'm with seems to think this is a wonderful idea; so once again, I'm along for the ride. I really enjoy all the folks out there, and I love the camaraderie they have out on that crazy patio."

"That place is different," John said. "I had a great time out there and instantly felt comfortable. It could have been the booze too, though."

Lisa was in the back seat with Kenisha and said, "If you two are going somewhere today, I want to give Kenisha an airplane ride. We'll fly around the beaches and sightsee."

"Good idea," I said. "I need to check with the charters, but I want to see what kinds of aircraft are available."

Lisa said, "There's not a lot today. The G-5s are all out, along with the Citation and one Lear. I think the 1900D is out as is one other King Air. There are lessons today too, as Saturdays are busy. I'll probably use a spare 150 or 172. I haven't flown the 162 yet. That would be fun."

I said, "Take the biplane unless you think it would be too cold."

"It would be too cold on a day like today, there should be a spare 172," Lisa said.

John was surprised, "The economy sucks and Steve's charter service is doing that good?"

I said, "He doesn't charge an arm and a leg for aircraft rental, and I know his charters are fair. GAO has never kicked back on my travel, so they must be. A lot of companies have sold their private aircraft and they still need to fly. Several charter companies have gone out of business, but Steve is well capitalized, so he's hanging on. With the extra business he's getting, he can be profitable."

As soon as John entered the patio, I thought his eyeballs would pop out. Kenisha said, "Oh, I want to do this too. You didn't tell me."

Sue greeted us and led the ladies back to her office and design area. I told John, "Wait until you see what Sue does to those girls. Mine told Sue to get something ready for all of them for this morning, you'll love it."

Tiny was motioning us to the bar, where he handed John and I two huge glasses of reddish looking liquid with a celery stick in it. I handed mine back and asked, "Can you give me a virgin one. I might fly today, and you don't want me out there liquored up, do you?"

Steve was in a good mood this morning as the charter service was settled down now, and he had expanded security where his boats were docked. He did say, "Your man, Sarge, said that there could be a break in this thing tomorrow sometime. He asked that I put extra security here too. What do you think?"

I looked at him and said, "If Sarge suggested you do it, and you have the manpower, do it. Perhaps the girls and I will stay out here tonight. I know you have enough room for us and John too. I'll check with Sarge later to see. Jan said she had to stay in touch today, as well."

After a great breakfast, Tom Parks showed up with Zena. They all gathered at one of the big tables and spread out multiple drawings and blueprints. The girls made me look at all of it. I looked at everything, then noticed that one of the prints was titled 'security.' It showed all the usual window and door devices, but it also showed a great array of cameras. There looked to be two video walls that were devoted to security. One was in the big kitchen/family room/ living room combination, and one was in the giant bedroom area. I asked Tom, "Where did you get the idea to put the security system like this?"

Tom said, "Wanda gave me the name of the architect that rebuilt your place. He gave me the plans for your place, so I knew that you wanted to be able to observe everywhere, just in case. Since video is so cheap now, it was easy to put it together. We need to combine video and data anyway, so the cabinet in the family room has all of the controlling devices. See this," Tom pointed to another spot in the main garage, "This is where all the cabling terminates for voice and data. The studio building, as well as the two guest houses or cabanas, are wired the same way. I was thinking you could have an intercom between all the places too."

Zena said, "See the pool area, we are putting in these receptacles for security fence posts, so when you have toddlers, they can't get at the pool. We are including the child protective fence in all the plans. I like the way the girls have the pool with the steps across this whole side of the pool for entry into the shallow end."

Tiani said, "That's the way it is now. The new pool will be longer from side to side so we can still do laps the way we do now. It's going to be nice, and see the hot tub up on one end of the patio? It's going to be big enough for all of us, with no crowding."

I asked Tom, "You're going to include solar heating of the pool, right?"

Tom said, "Sure, that and a back up natural gas heater. This area out here has natural gas available, so we'll make sure that's connected. As far as solar heating, you will have solar hot water, as well as some solar electrical storage. Steve said he has some new small wind turbines that should work in your area. According to the guy that's working with them, you will need three to provide sufficient electricity for what you have. See this building out behind the studio? That's the battery storage and power conversion area for your electrical supply. You'll have automatic use of public services, but if you generate excess, they'll be able to draw from you."

Not knowing, I had to ask, "Where are you going to put those turbines, won't they be ugly and noisy?"

"We'll put the three turbines across the back fence. That will give them plenty of exposure. We're using the smallest ones Steve's man, Mark, has developed. You are sort of an experimental project for him. He say's they will take care of you, and so far, the guy has come up with some good ideas. I'm planning on putting an array of wind turbines at the park. I'm going to use his technology, but put in bigger ones. I have permission and zoning to put them all along the far side of the lake and around the back of the property for aesthetics. Hopefully, we'll be able to eventually serve the entire park. That's probably wishful thinking, but if S&S can keep generating more power from smaller generators, it might be a reality."

I looked at the plans for the master suite and sighed. It was massive, with eight doors off the suite that led to private sitting areas, small bathrooms, and all parts of a big closet. I made an exaggerated counting motion, one through eight, and turned to the girls, "Eight?" None of them wanted to answer, but Lena was sitting on the end of the table with a smile.

Wanda said, "Knowing your group, perhaps you should go for ten. As long as you're building the place, you never know."

I said, "Girls, these things look like jail cells or tiny apartments. Why would you have these while you have all the other area?"

Nancy said, "We all need a private place. Sometimes all of us have to get off by ourselves, maybe just to read, or if we don't feel well. We need these."

I turned to Tom and said, "How about a wide dead end hallway off the bedroom. Go ahead and make it five on each side. We may have visitors. Make each of the quarters big enough for a built in bed in case the girls want to take a private nap. With that and room for a comfortable chair, it should be nice."

Tom said, "Good idea. I can do that. The separate areas will smell really nice, as they have specified cedar for all the closets and bathroom areas."

Steve had been watching and said, "Too bad we don't have room right here, or you could just about build the quarters portion of your place in manufactured units like I have. That's okay, though, you're not going to be far. I'll know where my family is when I can't find them now."

I told Steve, "I agree, I wish we could be next door neighbors. I think these two groups of women are going to mix it up pretty good."

After looking at all the pictures and drawings, I said, "John and I are going for a ride. I know the kids have motocross today, so a lot of others are going to be busy. Ah, Jan, if anything happens, call me, I'll be in cell phone range. If you can't reach me on the cell phone, have the charter office call me."

John and I got some hugs and kisses before leaving. Out at the charter office, DeDe was already there in her motorized wheelchair. She said, "I heard you when you were talking about taking a ride. I'm guessing a Lear, right?"

I nodded, and she said, "It's pulled out of the hangar, fueled, and ready."

John watched as I did the preflight then got in the right seat as if he'd been doing it for years. Before closing up, I took the empty suitcase with some phone books, an empty gym bag, and a single ID out and left the rest in the trunk. He asked, "Where are we going?"

"First, Naples. I have a map here to a branch bank. I'm going to discover what's in this one. Then we're going to Key West to check on the house. I might be able to meet the lady that's the caretaker of the house down there."

John said, "I don't want to know about this stuff, Chuck. This is yours, not mine."

"John, I want you to see this. You can use the house down there too, any time you want. I'm telling you there is a lot here. This has to have been a major hit man for a lot of important hits. Hell, he was probably even ex-CIA. If he was, he wasn't ever trained as a sniper. That SKS he had wouldn't have made the shots he would have needed to make."

"Okay, I'll go along, but what you find is yours, not mine. I'll never spend what I have."

We rented a car in Naples and were at the bank when they opened at eight-thirty. John was surprised when I easily signed in as Benjamin Carter. He also laughed when the lady said I looked much nicer without the beard. He agreed with her, and that made her smile.

We were ushered into the vault, pulled another big drawer out onto a cart, and were shown into a room. I noticed a video camera and went for the clerk. When I pointed to it she said, "I know, a lot of people have objected to that. Put something over it."

"How long have they been there, were they here the last time I was here?"

She said, "No Sir, they were just put in. Let me check to see if they are even on."

The lady went to another door and came back and said, "They're not on, but let me give you one of these socks to cover it. I'll tell the manager that another customer has objected. Thank you, Sir."

I didn't like the idea of a bank watching a customer in a private booth. Big brother is getting too big.

When I pulled on the surgical gloves and opened the drawer, it was pretty much the same. There was only twenty-seven bundles of hundreds and forty gold bars. There were two more ID sets complete with keys, though. The surprise in this one was another pistol. Another twenty-two auto with a silencer. I removed a full magazine and ejected a twenty-two short rim fire cartridge. The extra round fit into the magazine. John just shook his head as he knew what the little gun was intended for.