Chapter 25

Steve

I was up early, as usual, sitting in the parlor on one of the fixed stools at the bar in the suite. You know how it is; waiting for coffee to brew can seem like an eternity when you don't want to sit there and wait. There was no place else to go and nothing else to do. If I went out to the patio, I would just have to come back in. If I went back into the room, I would probably disturb someone.

Wonder why I can never sleep late? Only on rare occasions can I sleep until seven or eight. On vacation, away from all the responsibilities, it should be easier, but it's not. I always seem to wake up just before six in any time zone.

Ah, the coffee was done. Time for a few minutes out on the patio enjoying the sunrise.

Outside, sitting on the hotel's patio, I watched as seagulls investigated any possible scrap that was left lying around. There was a pelican standing on one leg on a piling near the outer edge of the docks. Looking out at the amazing display of huge yachts docked at the marina, I wondered just how many billions this display represented. Speaking of billions, Ben is still going gaga over the Mexican oil deal. Apparently his people have closed the deal and all he's waiting on is the transfer of funds. Ben has even told Sue that she was not only the daughter of a new billionaire, but she was even wealthier than her dad.

Sue wasn't impressed. I wonder if we're becoming jaded because we have so much. We really don't live like it on a day to day basis. I laughed at myself when I thought of how we can get into a private jet and go just about anywhere, and just like right now, sail on a multi-million dollar yacht to Europe. Yeah, we are real common folk. I really hope the kids continue to be just kids and not a bunch of stuck up, rude group of people who expect the world to wait on them.

The kids all have chores at home, and they all are expected to study hard. Their moms are no pushovers when it comes to their home schooling. That was something to think about, as what we had wasn't really home schooling. The moms and grandmothers help with the schooling, but the fact that we had a couple of professional educators would make us a school, more than home schooling. So far the county hasn't bitched, but our group is quiet about the way they do things. It's too bad the regular schools were not better, since it would be good for the kids to mix with others.

I suppose they did mix with a variety of nationalities and of various skin colors. A trailer park is a good place to find a variety, even if most of the residents work at S&S or Quality Wear. The kids don't see skin color and have no problem with the Latin kids. Heck, they speak Spanish as if it was their native language. Juanita has seen to that. The only time there is a problem is when an older kid moves in and tries to be a bully. It just doesn't work to try to intimidate a bunch of close knit kids that look out for each other. It also doesn't hurt that the kids have martial arts training at least three times a week. It's fun to watch them spar with each other, complete with the formal bows before and after a session. They really do respect each other.

Then there is the music. That really started on our first big sailing trip up to Alaska and Hawaii. Chuck introduced the kids to something that will stay with them forever. He also discovered some very unique talent, not only in my bunch, but in Dewey's and the Irish kids. Who knows, perhaps they would have discovered music on their own, but Chuck really brought it out.

I'm so proud of Bonita. She not only has learned and is a child prodigy; she is an avid teacher to every kid who will pause long enough for her to show them how to play something. She has all the kids enjoying making music. I wonder how that will work out in her life? And now the kids are all going to play during a real concert.

But Chuck is the one who started it all. I am always in awe of the way Chuck becomes a Pied Piper with the kids, leading them into new areas of music. Lisa is doing it too, in her loving, unselfish way. The two are really meant to be a pair.

It's funny; Chuck has ended up with a lot of women, but in reality he and Lisa are the head of the group, like Sue and I are of ours. His original five from way back in his employment office days are about as strange a group as you could find anywhere. Next, you think of his little, I suppose, Mexican sweetheart, who is a younger twin to Juanita. Maybe she's really Cuban and not Mexican. I'll have to find out.

And where in the world did those Asian sisters come from. When I first met them, they were trying to be invisible, but as time has passed they are now significant entities in Chuck's family. That is a very strange group. What's even crazier is him having someone of Julie's age becoming an intimate participant within his family. That woman is old enough to be my mother, much less Chuck's. Julie is amazing though, as she continues to act younger almost everyday, kind of like my Juanita.

And now we're both in a peculiar mess. He has Gina and I have Gio. What to do, what to do? Gio is so loving to the girls, I just can't hurt her by sending her away. Her two kids come to me for attention even more than my own. My own kids have always had all the love and care any kid could ever have, but all four of those kids are starved for male attention, and they just love the way the older women act as grandmothers to them. It's a shame the two women couldn't or can't remain with their families. Those kids would really love to know their real grandparents more.

Chuck was telling me that it looked as if Gina was becoming a part of his huge growing group. Even Tina fell in love with the Italian beauty. Of course, the little lezzy is equally infatuated with Gio. I wonder if they have gotten together. Probably not, as Mickey, Sue, and Mercy have kept Gio busy.

Ah yes, my Mickey. She may be small, but she is a package of dynamite. She can run, or should I say lick, her way through my original four faster than a speeding bullet. I have to laugh at how wild all the girls get when Mickey gets in one of her marathon pussy eating phases. Funny though, she'll satisfy that itch then be under me, seeming to enjoy being made love to by me, as much as she is attracted to women. Are men really supposed to understand women?

Who's to understand Sue? She hunted me down, a real predator. Of course, Mercy was about the same with her psychic connections. Today, after all these years, remembering our first meeting, and how Sue and Mercy latched onto each other, is still amazing.

The two became a force, a force that attracted Juanita. Juanita is my beautiful, mature Latin lady, so loving, so caring, and another force to be dealt with, right along with Kathy, the one who was really my first love. She is so damned independent, even today, after all these years. All of her kids are wonders. All of them are special people, even Barb, the strange little girl that really is becoming a woman, a very volatile woman. I see her finding some guy in the future, and cranking out babies on an annual basis, just like her mother. She's ready for college, but she hasn't acted like she really wants to go. Should I force her? I don't think so, as it has to be something she wants. We'll see when we get home. She's been doing a lot of deep thinking lately. I think she's reaching some decisions about where she's headed in life.

Contemplating my family makes me smile. The kids are my wealth. They make me happy every day. Of course, their mothers make me really happy every day.

I need some more coffee.

Dewey is in the parlor watching T.V. I wonder why he was so nervous last night? Something happened when he and Chuck went off. Hope he talks about it if he needs to get it off his chest.

"Morning, Dewey, I'm going to pour some more coffee, do you want some? Go out onto the patio and I'll bring it to you. Enjoy the morning air with me."

"Good Idea, Steve. I was about to fix my favorite morning kicker, but coffee might be better for me."

I brought Dewey some coffee, and also brought Peg Leg Pete out with me. Chuck came in and began pouring coffee while I was sending Dewey out.

As soon as Chuck and I sat down, Chuck asked Dewey, "You doing alright? I know that was a bit of a shocking experience for you, and it isn't a bad thing if you have to talk about it."

Dewey looked back and forth between Chuck and me. "Chuck, is it all right to talk about what happened with Steve?"

"Perfectly all right, Dewey. Steve is a best and most trusted friend to both of us, just like you have become another of my favorite people."

Dewey looked down at his coffee and back up at me, "You won't believe what happened last night. I still don't believe it. I could hardly believe it was happening then, and thinking about it now, I can't believe it ever happened."

I didn't say anything, as I could see Dewey was trying to work whatever happened out in his mind.

"Steve, I was astonished when that guy began becoming an ass out on the casino floor, about as floored as I was that a croupier was shorting customers five thousand Euros every time they won big and the numbers allowed the guy to short the player a five thousand chip. That just isn't done. I wonder how long that has been going on?"

It took Dewey a second to regroup. "I sensed there was something wrong when the partners I had called had us all go upstairs to their offices, discipline problems are handled in the executive casino office on the main floor."

Dewey was shaking his head, "Steve, it happened so fast my head is still spinning. As soon as we entered the office, that huge man pulled a gun on us, or I should say he began, or tried, to pull a gun on us. Chuck almost cut his head off with some kind of judo or karate chop to his throat. Chuck actually handed me the guy's huge revolver to hold. You know me and guns, I just don't know enough about them to be of much use. While he was helping the guy get his breath and stand him up, the senior partner actually pulled a gun and was pointing it at us."

You could see and sense the horror Dewey felt. "I don't know how he did it, but Chuck somehow had a gun and shot the partner in the arm. The partner's gun went flying. Chuck actually shot the guy by sticking his gun under the big guy's armpit. Chuck was telling the other two partners to pull their guns out slowly, carefully, and put them on the desk, when I'm not sure why, but Chuck pushed the big guy away from him, making the guy fall. That's when another partner tried to use his gun and Chuck shot him. I mean he shot him right through the head. Blood and brains were everywhere. The last of the three looked like he was going to have a heart attack. I'm surprised he didn't, as Chuck said he's had some health issues. I have to tell you, I puked everything I had into a waste basket.

"Chuck didn't waste any time getting all of the guns over in a corner of the office while watching the big guy, the partner he had shot in the arm, and the one who was about to croak. I was in a panic and immediately called the other four partners to tell them about the three and that they must have intended to kill me, and probably Chuck too.

"Chuck called someone and before I had finished my calls, a couple of his security people came charging through the door. Again, almost as fast, a big group of people came in, cleaned up the office, packed the body in a bag, dumped it in a big laundry cart, put the two partners in wheelchairs, and left with the big guy. I think they might have done something to the big guy out in the hall, because I heard a thumping noise and a groan.

"Steve, those men asked me, I mean they really asked me, if I cared what happened to the partners and the big pit boss. It sounded as if they were just going to take them and execute them. I can't have that on my conscience, even if they might have tried to kill me. I felt bad the one partner was killed and another was shot, but to just kill those other three wouldn't have been right. The head security guy got me off to the side and assured me he was just going to take them somewhere. He said he was going to relocate them to where they wouldn't or couldn't be a threat to anyone.

"I have to tell you, Steve, that was scarier than the incident in Hawaii. Last night those men had guns and it appeared like they were going to use them."

Dewey was winding down, "Anyway, when all the strange security men were gone, we looked through everything in the office. We found a second set of books, just like we thought we would. When we began looking for where they might possibly be keeping the money they stole, as all three of those partners or now ex-partners are or were multi-millionaires, Chuck suggested the partners probably converted what they stole into gold. Well, the logical place to keep that much gold would be the main vault behind the cashier's area. Sure enough, we found a big safe full of gold bars. I don't know what those guys were thinking. They didn't need the extra money; they already had more than they could ever spend."

Dewey looked happy to have unloaded to me "Anyway, Steve, that's what happened last night and I have to tell you, I'm still terrified about it."

I told my old friend, "That's normal, Dewey. When you have a stressful encounter like that, the feelings you have at the time linger, sometimes for a long time, until you can resolve it in your mind. That's what the military docs call PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."

Dewey said, "I can believe it. How did you two go through something like that almost every day? I can't believe you two are even sane."

"Sane is a flexible concept. What happened to you was bad luck, and you're doing the absolute best thing for yourself by talking about it now, before it turns into a lump in your stomach you can't get rid of. A soldier or Marine has to be able to get up and do the same thing day after day for months, and the only way they can do that is by being at least a little crazy the whole time they're doing it. Think about a cop who shoots someone. No matter how justifiable it is, that cop gets put on a desk and has his gun taken away until he has gone through psychological counseling and evaluation. Doing that would obviously destroy an army, so the therapy needs to come at the end of a tour of duty. The sad part is that so many soldiers never get it, and keep the trauma bottled up for years, taking it out on family and friends. This 'combat psychosis' is necessary to function as a soldier, but it hurts functioning as a civilian. It's why so few veterans are ever willing to talk about their combat experiences. They may want to, but can't. You just did, and it's a good thing."

Our talk had taken a long time. The rest of the family must have sensed the three of us were talking about something private, since no one came out on the patio with us. I looked back at the room and saw a bunch of kids' faces pressed against the glass door. I suppose they wanted the day to start.

As Dewey stood, he said, "I'm going to have a busy couple of days straightening out this mess. I need to get going. Thanks for listening to me guys; I just don't go through something like that often. What am I saying? I've never gone through anything like that."

As soon as we entered the parlor, the kids were asking for breakfast. Sheila and Sheena gave us a look of 'where have you been.' Sue was at the bar counter and said, "I've ordered breakfast. It should be here any minute." Mercy and Kathy passed me and gave me a kiss on the way by. Juanita sort of slithered up to me and asked, "How are you this morning, Maestro?"

What's with the Spanish? Two could play this game, "Cómo sean usted esta manana, mi senora especial?" ((How are you this morning, my special lady?)

Juanita grinned at me and slapped my shoulder, "You make fun of me. I call you my master and you do what?"

"I asked my special lady how she was this morning."

"You don't speak Spanish often, why now?" Juanita asked, in a sincere way.

"You surprised me, mi senora especial, and I needed to surprise you too."

Juanita hugged me before going on to do what she had been intending to do.

Almost as soon as we had eaten breakfast, the kids took off what clothes they had on, wanting to go out to the beach. Mercy told them, "We're going to a special beach this morning. You don't wear clothes there either, but you need to wear clothes to get there. Put on shorts, T-shirts, and some flip-flops. We'll get ready to go early."

All of the kids, including Dewey's, Gio's, and Gina's ran for the rooms and reappeared wearing the appropriate clothes. I heard Greg and Stevie joking about how smart they were to not bother with underwear. It was one less thing to try to keep track of.

The band folks came to our suite, along with the large group from the Bell. Mac was still bragging about his ability to contain his gambling craze, while Mike smiled while thinking of how much money he made following Chuck's bets.

Dewey dressed in a business suit, kissed and hugged his family, and left. He told me quietly when he was on the way out the door, "Thanks for listening to me and letting me talk it out. Now I won't be tempted to tell the real story to the other partners."

Our huge group, led by Ed, loaded up on buses he had reserved and left for the private club in Monaco. I wondered if we would go back to the casinos tonight. I didn't get a chance to do very much. Our evening was cut short almost as soon as Chuck began winning. He seemed to be as gifted as Missy in anticipating the outcome of the games. It's funny how he very seldom appears to use his gift, while Mercy and Missy bang around in my head all the time, talking to me. I suppose that is pretty intimate and most guys are not like that.

The private beach club in Monaco was just opening. I suppose that since they catered mostly to the rich and famous, most of those people didn't get up early in the morning.

The kids were immediately playing at the water's edge, with mothers following them around, spraying them with sunblock. The kids just didn't want to take the time for stuff like that. Several ladies were now on loungers under big umbrellas, sipping summer drinks that were brought by the waiters and waitresses of the big hotel/resort. Since this was another of Dewey's investments, he had alerted people to be on the lookout for us and to treat us as royalty.

At lunch time, we went into a special dining room that accommodated the nude people from the beach. All of the chairs had towels on the seats with another towel on the back of the chair for the customers to use. After a leisurely lunch, the ladies wanted to go shopping in the designer shops at and near the resort. The kids were ready for a change of pace as well, and wanted to follow along.

After dressing, we wandered from shop to shop, but were all surprised as most of the shoppers were nude. It's funny to see nude women wearing thong footwear, carrying a big purse, and shopping for clothes. The picture it made was near humorous.

As three o'clock rolled around, Ed took us back to the resort in Nice. After showers for everyone, the kids wanted to go down to the boat to wait for Chuck, Lisa, and the band for their practice session.