Chapter 6

Monday, 25 Feb.

Sometimes it's hard to realize how fast the weather can change on you. When we went to bed last night, it was about 58 degrees and this morning its 20 degrees, well at the airport it's 20, but out at our place it is probably more like 15 to 18 degrees. Besides who lives at the airport anyway? I quickly ran to the hallway and turned up the thermostat so we can actually move without being all bundled up. I crawled back in bed and Suzie complained about my cold feet until she felt my freezing cold butt, then I really caught hell.

"What do you mean coming back into this nice warm cozy bed being as darn cold as you are? Who do you think you are, Mr. Freeze?" Suzie had watched a movie on Saturday about Batman and Mr. Freeze played by Arnold Schwarzenegger; I think Batman was George Clooney.

"I was just out resetting the temperature so that you could wake up to a nice warm upstairs. I'm so sorry you have to put up with a frozen brother who was just trying to help his poor, neglected, abused, but warm sister." By now the furnace had kicked in and was blowing all that cold air out of the ducts just as Suzie pushed the covers off of herself. My, oh my, I never saw covers come back so quick. "You have to wait a few minutes for all the cold air to get out of the ducts, Suzie. Otherwise, you might freeze that cute little butt off, then what would you do? Come cuddle with me and we will warm each other until the room warms up a little."

We waited for about ten minutes until the bedroom warmed up enough that two naked siblings could venture out from under the warm covers. Showers were quick, and we were downstairs about twenty minutes after finally rising from the warm bed. Of course, I turned the temperature back down to 62 for the day and we ate a hearty meal of hot oatmeal and toast with jelly. I even had a cup of coffee to help keep my insides warm this morning. I mentioned to Mom that we needed a programmable thermostat for upstairs, and that we could probably use one downstairs also. All too soon, it was time to weather the cold. Some of the schools were closed this morning, some opening at noon, and some as early as ten. Taylor happened to be one of the schools starting at ten, so Suzie and I had a reprieve from an early start. But Mom had to go in at the same time. The school buses would be running two hours late today, so we had some time to wait.

Mom asked that I make good use of the time and chop some more wood, well split it, actually. I went upstairs and changed into work clothes, bundled up, and brought more wood in for our fireplaces, then split and cut another quarter cord of wood and stacked it in the woodshed. By the time I showered and dressed again, it was time to catch the bus. By now, the temperature had warmed all the way up to about thirty according to the thermometer by the back door. When I went out to move wood inside earlier, it read 17, so that was pretty good. No clouds meant the sun would warm us up quicker, but if we didn't get some cloud cover for tonight, it would be bitterly cold again tomorrow.

It's funny how that works, heavy clouds during the day means that the earth can't absorb a lot of heat during the day, but heavy clouds at night after a clear day helps reflect that solar heat back down to the earth and keep some near the earth so we stay warmer. But a clear night allows all that stored daytime heat to dissipate quickly, and you therefore have a very cold morning compared to the regular daytime temperature. Anyway, as I was walking with Suzie to the bus stop, Brad stopped by and gave me a ride to school. Sometimes I would forget that Brad had said he would take me to school since I helped him get a loan.

Anyway we got to school and were still cold from the long walk from the student parking lot. Yeah, Kelly got dropped off at the front doors, but Brad and I walked in from the lot. The walk from student parking to the side doors made for a very cold body when we finally arrived. I quickly found my entourage and huddled in amongst them to get a little warmer. Brenda said, "If you had showed up a little earlier, we might have had time to go to the girl's room for a little warm up fun, but it's almost time for the bell, maybe later."

The girls dropped me off at my homeroom where we started classes at second period, so we only missed one period. But for me that was the most interesting class, Business I. Lunch was great; Sam said that her mother talked to her about us until her father came home. Then he added his part too. The end result was that they would allow us to have three dates with one of them as chaperone and then make a decision after that.

I said we would have to set things up for either a Friday night or Sunday afternoon date. Saturday was kind of out for me as I didn't get home before 6:30, then get ready to meet her at about 8:00 PM. That was a little late to go out; or at least go to eat. Besides, it would have to be a couple of weeks down the road as I had a date with Gail to meet her parents on the 8^th of March, which was a week from this Friday. I also had a date with Kathy for this Friday, so I was kind of taken up, date wise. I think I needed to see if I could afford two dates a week, one on Friday night, and one on Sunday afternoon. I would probably set up dates with Sam for the Sundays as one of her parents would be a part of that date.

Even with all the cold weather, I did get to drive the student car today. The instructor was very impressed with my driving. I didn't make one mistake while I was behind the wheel. Kamari was very good too. She did go a little fast on one turn, but she was good otherwise. Tommy Smithers was not that great. He braked too hard and took off too fast at a couple of the stops, but, hey, for his first time behind the wheel, he did pretty well. It had warmed up some since this morning, but the wind was still blowing in from the north. The temperature on the bank sign said 43 degrees, so it wasn't too bad, but we did have some cloud cover so maybe it might not get so cold tonight.

Now it was time for Computer 101and we were learning more about storage, RAM and ROM storage. Yeah, I know, basic stuff, but it is an intro course, so what can you expect. Then it's on to metal shop, where I finished prepping my fender patch and I painted it with a couple coats of primer on both sides. OK, last bell, time to trudge on home and see what else I have to do today. I have a little homework, but nothing much; I already chopped wood and stacked it in the woodshed, so maybe it won't be so bad.

Ronnie was on the bus, sitting with a couple of her junior friends, so I sat alone, deep in thought. With all the sex I could ever want from my sexy sister, Suzie, did I really want to pursue sexual encounters with the other girls in the core group of my entourage? Sam would be nice, but Brenda was special. Kathy was something else too, but was she more of a diversion than a real contender for a place in my harem. Gail, what can I say about her? She's sweet, she's beautiful and charming, but is she one I really have deep feelings for? I don't think so. So I think she will be more of a keep up appearances with person, same as Sam, although Sam and I do connect on some other level. Maybe that is the definition of true friendship. Yeah, she gave me an awesome blowjob, and with her thirst for knowledge, she might be a good candidate for bedroom antics, but probably not permanently. I don't think she is looking for anything permanent either, so we will have to see how that goes.

As for Kathy Fletcher, she is beautiful both internally and externally, but her sister Rachel is one scary bitch. Well, not so much of a bitch anymore, or so I hear; but it still bothers me about what she is really like or what she could become. That makes Kathy just dating material, the same as Gail. The more I think about it, the more I am convinced Brenda is special, and the rest are just friends.

Gilbert tapped me on the shoulder to wake me from my reverie so I could get off the bus at our stop. "Bob, are you getting off to go home, or are you going to ride the whole trip in a dream state?"

"No, Gilbert, just trying to work some things out in my mind. Thanks for the wake-up though."

I walked on home, alone with my thoughts, still trying to decide what to do about my growing harem of young ladies that somehow wanted to be around me. Suzie met me at the kitchen door with open arms and a scorching kiss. That warmed my heart and other places as well.

"What did I do to deserve this reception, Squirt?"

"I could feel your troubled mind for the past twenty minutes. Are you all right? I got worried."

"I was just contemplating my hectic dating scene; who are keepers, who are just friends, and who do I just string along as window dressing to keep up the appearance of a normal teenage male in the dating scene."

"Well, how did it come out? It seems that you have come to a decision, or more like several decisions."

I tried to explain my decisions as I was dragged upstairs, then stripped and pushed on my bed. I noticed, as my sexy sister did a pretty good striptease for me, and that the room was quite warm, so this was not a spur of the moment plan on her part. Needless to say, I was entranced as my sister's really good parts began to be displayed to my appreciative eye. I did take care to surround my room with my 'cage' so we didn't have the whole neighborhood acting like bunnies in heat.

After an extremely satisfying lovemaking session with Suzie, we lay on the bed in a dream-like state. I looked at the clock and noticed it was almost 5:15. Wow, we had been hard at it for well over an hour; that was some love session. It was now time to make sure supper was ready and that all our chores were done.

I kissed and nibbled on my sister's face and neck, and she said, "You want more after all that?"

"No, love of my life, we need to get moving or we will still be here in bed when Mom comes home. I'm sure she knows we make love, but I don't want to flaunt it in her face, do you?"

"No Bro; that would not make her happy at all, and what makes Mom unhappy, makes this whole family miserable, so let's get going."

We hurriedly dressed, went downstairs, dropping the thermostat on the way, and did our chores. Suzie put the casserole in the oven, and I set the table and made sure wood was stacked by the fireplaces for tonight's fires. I also brought in some more seasoned wood from outside into the woodshed. The temperature was dropping again, as I could feel the wind picking back up from the north.

After I unbundled from the cold outside, I made sure everything would be ready when Mom and Dad came home. I finished my homework just as Mom came in the back door. She said that Dad would be a little late, as he was going to Hutto to pick up a couple of programmable thermostats for the house, and maybe one for the office in the barn too. Suzie turned the heat down in the oven for the casserole baking in there, and Mom changed her clothes for staying warm here in the house.

Dad came home about thirty minutes later and we ate supper. Then Dad gave me a new thermostat, some batteries, and a screwdriver. I went upstairs, installed our new thermostat, and programmed it. Now it would kick in about 15 minutes before we had to get up so the upstairs would be warm when we got up. I had it shut down about 15 minutes before we left for school and then come on again at 9:30 so it would be warm once we went up to bed. I had it shut off again at 11:00 since we rarely stayed up past then. After installing the thermostat, I went back downstairs and cuddled with my sister on the new couch and watched some TV. Soon, it was time to head to bed for another school day. Tonight Suzie and I just spooned and were asleep shortly after settling down. After all, this afternoon's lovemaking should hold us for a while.

Tuesday, 26 Feb.

I awoke this morning to a warm room, finally. Suzie kissed me awake and said, "Thanks, brother dear, for thinking of the new thermostat. I like waking up all warm and toasty, and being greeted by a warm brother too."

"You are more than welcome, sister dear, now it is time we got moving or the timer will be off and it will get cold in here again."

We hurried through our morning shower and dressed for the cold weather. Once downstairs, we ate and scrambled for the bus. Brad picked me up at the bus stop and we tried to stay warm on the way to pick up Kelly. I was able to exit at the front doors with Kelly this morning, as I told Brad I had to see someone before homeroom.

I had hoped to meet my entourage this morning and get a quickie warm-up, but they were not there yet. Wow, yesterday they teased me because I was too late for some warm-up fun, and I get here early today and no entourage. No fair!!

I waited around for a few minutes and here came some of my entourage in the front doors. Brenda, Kathy, and Sam came in and immediately surrounded me trying to get some warmth in their bodies. I suggested the girls' room for a warm-up and said this time I would warm them. So we toddled off to the girls' room. However, it was locked and had a sign saying "Out Of Order, Pipes Frozen." Well, so much for that, all the other bathrooms were very busy this morning. Many girls wore skirts with slacks underneath to get to school, then remove them as the day went along and the school got warmer. But since this was Tuesday and yesterday was so cold, the school left the heaters going to make sure the school stayed warmer today. I'm sure they dropped the temperature down last night, but not as low as they normally did over the weekend.

With this cold front hanging around for the next couple of days, they would probably only drop the thermostats to 65 at night, especially after the pipes froze in the girls' bathroom last night. I later learned that the pipes also froze in the boys' room and the chemistry and biology labs down the hall. It seems that the heater for this area had the pilot light go out, so there was no heat at all in this wing of the school. I found out that there are three heating and twelve air conditioning units for the school. That tells you where our priorities lie.

Anyway we, my entourage and I, opened our jackets and found a quiet corner and huddled together to get warm. One of the teachers came by, and since it was Miss Warner, the French teacher (read that as young, about 22, and very nice looking), we invited her into our huddle. Surprisingly she accepted and huddled next to me. 'Wow, nice rack and her legs weren't bad either.'

"Do you always huddle like this to get warm on cold mornings," asked Miss Warner.

Brenda jumped in with, "Only with Bob, and when we are really cold. He warms us all up from the inside out, like a microwave." Everyone laughed.

The rest of my entourage by now had arrived and I had Brenda, Kathy, Sam, Gail, Sandy, Ashley, Jill, Jody, and LaShanda, plus Miss Wagner, huddling with me until Mr. Herbert came by and told us to break it up. Miss Wagner said, "Relax, Bert, we are only trying to get warm, the more bodies, the easier it is. Come join us for a bit."

I couldn't believe what Miss Warner said, but when Mr. Herbert joined us opposite me, it really astounded me. But it didn't last; a couple of minutes later, both Miss Warner and Mr. Herbert broke it up and asked us to go to our homerooms. Wow, who would have believed that, teachers huddling with their students, in school, no less? I could maybe understand Miss Wagner doing it, but Mr. Herbert, no way. I wondered what was going on.

Business class this morning was interesting as we were getting into the details about a company. Today was about the financial part and how that area is driven by sales and/or service and how that in turn drives the finances, i.e. profit and loss. Mr. Charles said that we would get more into that part next semester in Marketing I. I could see the handwriting on the wall for that one. I would definitely be enrolled in that class this coming August.

Texas History was now about the early Texas settlers vs. Mexican army battles leading up to the revolution for independence which started in 1835. We were studying the period of 1830 to 1835. This included the conventions of 1832 and 1833 where the Texas representatives petitioned the Mexican government, in Mexico City, for a range of reforms including tariff reduction, the lifting of restrictions on immigration from the United States, the funding of primary schools, and the formation of a separate state of Texas within the Mexican republic.

Mexico refused and when Stephen F. Austin took the petition to the government in Mexico City, in early 1834, things seemed to go well at first, but the talks then broke down. Austin was imprisoned and not released until September of 1835. The battle at Goliad on October 2^nd, 1835 is said to be the start of the Texas revolt for independence, right after Austin returned.

Miss Cornet assigned us a research paper. She would give us three days in which to pick a person from a list, she provided each of us, of the twenty-five greatest persons in history. After we made our pick, we were to then write a 2500 to 3000 word report on who, what, where, when, and why this person was important in our history. The report would be due in forty-five days, although sooner would be acceptable. There were several people listed from American history, like Washington, Jefferson, FDR, Teddy Roosevelt, JFK, Edison, Bell, Morse, Henry Ford, but there were other people like, Churchill, Stalin, Hitler, Tito, Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, Genghis Kahn, and Napoleon. Of course, Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, and Miriam A. (Ma) Ferguson, the first female Governor of Texas was on that list too. There were some other interesting names on that list and I picked Jules Verne as my person.

I almost picked Leonardo da Vinci, but I wasn't sure I could keep a paper down to under five or six thousand words if I picked him. I mean what do you leave off? He was a; painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. So what do you leave out and still do justice to what the man was and how he influenced the world as we know it today? That would really be a hard one. I mean you could just pick one aspect of his life or one of his accomplished careers and write about that, but I wanted something of a more modern man.

Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and publisher Hugo Gernsback are often referred to as the 'Fathers of Science Fiction'. Jules was the first born of the three men, but without the proper publishing (Gernsback), and modern circulation, neither Verne nor Wells would have become as popular as they are today.

Plane Geometry was next and Mr. Herbert called me to his desk as I entered. He whispered to me that he was very glad to be accepted in our huddle this morning, but we had to be very careful of this becoming a habit. "It will not be looked upon in favor by the administration. I do hope you understand, Robert."

"Yes, most certainly, Mr. Herbert; I believe that it was a one-time occurrence, not to be repeated, and I thank you for your cautious warning. Everyone had just come in from the cold and we were trying to huddle up and get warm from our combined body heat. Nothing untoward would happen; we are all good students and leave our desires at home."

"Well said, Mr. Roberts, now it is time to take your seat."

"Yes, Mr. Herbert, and you are very welcome for your thanks about this morning."

I went and sat down ready for work, and promptly let B2 take over while I pondered this new development. I could not get any more meaning to our talk, so I shelved it until more information came in on it.

B-Lunch came next, but this was a work day so I waited for Judy. Then I remembered that Judy was not able to drive yet, so it would my aunt Barbara driving both days for the next couple of weeks. Barb was waiting for me when I came out of the school and we hurried to Austin. Thank goodness Traynor was in Northeast Austin, off of Parmer. My aunt asked about Judy and I told her that Sam said on Saturday that she was still sore, but feeling better each day.

I looked forward to seeing Glinda again and how she was fitting in with the rest of the Support Services crew. Glinda was holding a class for Felix and Glenn, showing them how we could work out a system of master drawings and working files for doing jobs. Glenn said that Glinda and Jerry Hopkins would be starting to update the plans next week, starting with the smallest departments and working up from there. Glenn had a meeting, so he left and Glinda asked Felix what areas he thought they should go to first.

Felix said, "Well, Glinda, there are several areas that we have not made any changes to and those would be the easiest to take care of. Some of them are not the smallest, but they are the ones with almost no changes from the original drawings. I think we should start with them first, and then we can work up to the ones with the most changes later, once we all know this CAD thing a little more."

"That's an excellent idea, Felix. That way I get to know my way around the plant better and you guys get to learn more of what it takes to learn the CAD and how it can help you."

Because Glenn had not assigned me to any one person this week, I kind of stayed with Glinda and Felix. We got a call about an overflowing toilet out in the receiving part of the warehouse, so Randy and I went to handle it. I asked Glinda if she wanted to come along so she could get a better idea of what we do here, and also find her way around the buildings. Randy went to get our utility cart with tools and clean-up items. Glinda and I headed down the hall towards the warehouse elevator.

Glinda said, "I hear you had something to do with me being hired. Are you somebody special, or just one of us peons?"

"Glinda, I was a part of the interview because I can somehow see and feel things most people can't. When I met you at the interview, I felt something was right; what, I couldn't say, but you felt like the right person for the job. I was there when they interviewed three other people besides you. I was not impressed with any of them. They did not seem to be team oriented.

"One had way too much experience and would have cost us plenty or he would have said no to our offer. You seemed right for our group, but I can't put my finger on why, you just did. I can't explain it any better than that."

"Well, I hear that you are some kind of mystical guru who can find problems, provide solutions, and can also pick the right people for the right job. Then to beat all, I find out you're only 16. Something is wrong here; what I don't know, but I sure would like to know."

"All I can tell you, Glinda, is that I woke up one morning and I was different somehow. I could see things in a different light, I still saw everything I had previously, but my mind could now make different assumptions and see connections where I never could before. I could see and retain things others missed. I can sense things in other people just by being around them. Call it ESP, clairvoyance, or whatever, but I suddenly knew more and could sense more, as though my brain worked differently than before, kind of like a brain tune-up. I don't even know if it will last, but I am going to take advantage of it until it goes away. That is all there is to know about me. Does that sate your curiosity for now?"

"How did you know about AutoCAD, that one's a mystery to me?"

I explained about Gary, his CAD software, and Mom's furniture moving, and by then we were at the warehouse. I sloshed my way to the overflowing toilet in the one restroom they had for all the receiving people and shut off the water to the tank. Randy started checking the floor drain and found it clogged with hair and old floor wax. Once he got the drain to work, things progressed rapidly. I checked the tank, and the shut off valve was stuck and the water just filled the tank up and it overflowed. I double checked the flapper valve and unstuck the shut off valve and it now worked fine. Glinda helped me clean up the toilet while Randy squeegeed the water to the drain. Once all the water was gone, Randy said he would finish mopping up and he would meet us back at the office.

On the way back, Glinda asked, "Bob is it always like this? I mean calm most of the time, but then hectic emergency for a while until we get the problem fixed, and then back to calm again."

"Yep, that is pretty much what Support Services does. We have our regular day to day jobs of collecting mail, taking correspondence to other plants in the area, going to the post office, making sure everything is running smoothly, checking out equipment like overhead projectors, laptops for conferences, smart boards, making sure conference rooms are set up for major meetings, things like that. All scheduling for conference rooms goes through us, so there is one central place to find out if a room is available. We have some that seat 5 people all the way up to the big one that seats 75. We also have a plant wide meeting sometimes, where we use the cafeteria or go outside if the weather is nice."

We got back to the office and it was time for me to go on the mail run with Barbara to make the last pick-up for today. Funny thing though, Glinda wanted to walk out with me when it was quitting time. Sam came out and we were headed for the car, when Glinda asked, "Aren't you Sam Simpson, the plant manager here?"

Sam replied, "I sure am, why you must be the new CAD person we hired, Glinda Goodrich, right? It's a pleasure to meet you, Glinda."

Glinda stood there almost in shock, to actually meet the plant manager on only her second day, then to top that, he drove Bob home too.

I told Glinda that when I got in on Thursday, I would explain my relationship with Sam, so she would know all about it. She hurried off to her car, and Sam and I went to his. "Bob, what was that all about?"

"I'm not sure, Sam; I guess that she didn't know we were friends. I'll talk to her when I come in on Thursday. I hope there is nothing wrong, we had a nice talk earlier today."

We rode home in silence tonight, me thinking about what the big deal was with Sam and me knowing each other. I think Sam was still worried about Judy. I did ask how she was right before we pulled into my driveway. Sam said she was doing quite well; in fact, the doctor was surprised her bruises were healing so fast. I said that I might have had something to do with that. I had tried to instill some healing into her when she came home last Wednesday evening. I told him I did it when she hugged me. "I hope I didn't do anything wrong, Sam, you know I like Judy as much as I like both you and Ronnie. I wouldn't hurt her for anything."

"Bob, don't worry about it, Judy is fine and we all three thank you so much for what you have done for us as a family, and what you have done for me, business wise, too. Bob, how can you thank someone, who saves the life of the one you love most in this world, enough? You can only try to let them know how much they mean to you by doing what you can in return. But your help just seems to keep on giving, no matter what I help you with; it keeps coming back and helping me and my family. I'll have Glenn talk to Glinda tomorrow and kind of straighten things out. You don't worry about it, OK?"

"Ok Sam, good night and tell Judy we are all thinking of her."

"Thanks Bob, tell your family 'Hi' for us too."

I trudged into the house looking at our wood supply and thought that tomorrow afternoon I would have to split more wood to bring in. We only had about a quarter cord left of the older seasoned wood, which reminded me that I would also need to check the ash doors on the outside of the chimneys for built up ash.

I went upstairs to change my pants, as mine had gotten pretty wet today. I also changed shoes and socks too. I brought my damp clothes back downstairs and put them in for a rinse and then in the dryer. Mom caught me loading the washer, so I had to explain my day.

Just before supper the phone rang and Suzie answered it. She called to me and said, "Hey, Bob, there is a Nathan on the phone for you. I think he said you knew him."

"Sure that's Nathan Two-Feathers, one of the soldiers I helped last year."

"Oh yeah, I remember now."

"Hey Nathan, so good to hear from you, what do you need? I figure it's not real important since you didn't call mentally."

"Bob, so good to hear you, I got a confirmation on my appointment to the specialist at Brooke. I am scheduled for Thursday the 14^th of March. The appointment isn't until 1:00 so we thought we might come down on Wednesday and spend the night in Round Rock, or maybe Taylor, and drive down in the morning. We have reservations at the Air Force Inn there at Brooke for Thursday night and then we can drive back north Friday morning. We figure it is eight to nine hours to drive down there. We plan on coming down the interstate and coming back on US 277. If we stay over in Round Rock, do you know a good motel where we can stay?"

"Just a second, Nathan." I didn't cover the phone, so Nathan could hear me. "Dad what is the best place for Nathan to stay in Round Rock. I thought of the Residence Inn, or maybe the Homewood Suites, the new one there at Hester's Crossing. Yeah, I'm back now, Nathan, the Residence Inn is a Marriott and Homewood Suites is a Hilton, if that makes any difference to you. Dad says that the new Homewood was pretty nice when some of the bank examiners came in to do the banks in Round Rock, Hutto, and Taylor. They stayed there a couple of months back. They stayed about two weeks there and were impressed."