Chapter 12

Steve

I was laying on my back, with Gio on my left shoulder and Juanita on my right. I could see the clock on the other side of the room showing that it was right at six AM.

We were up later than usual last night. Even after coming to bed, my ladies were more active than usual, but what is normal for these women? Poor Gio, I could tell she wanted to be loved, but all she received was a lot of kisses and hugs. Our baby is more important than sex. The other girls are being almost overly protective toward her, but I guess she could have lost her baby. I wonder why Mercy or Missy didn't anticipate Gio's problem, or why they didn't feel her distress. Could it be they don't receive some feelings? I know they worry about me, Chuck, and any of the rest of us if we are even in the slightest amount of danger.

Oh man, Trixie, Dixie, and Tom. What a trio for this unprepared world. Amazingly, Tom seems to take a leadership role among the three and even influences the other kids all of the time. Greg and Steve are the true leaders of that gang, with CJ a close second or third, depending on how you look at it.

How about that, Chuck gets Marty one day, and Diego the next? Diego seems like a really nice guy. I hope he works out, as he and Deni are a really cute couple. Marty is cool and will be a great music buddy for Bonita. Ah, to be young and enthusiastic, like when Sue, Mercy, and I met. Our relationship went from volatile to flames so fast. Sue and Mercy were in love before I even realized how intense Mercy's feelings for me were. I'm one lucky sucker, that's for sure.

That's when I heard in my head, "And don't forget your sexy mother-in-law that you need to spend some time with between the sheets."

I actually began to chuckle, shaking the bed a little. The next voice was Mercy's, "Hush, Mother, don't be so forward. You would think you were a fifteen year old who just found out what your snatch was for."

"Why you backward little shit disturber. Just because you didn't get laid until you were almost an old maid doesn't mean that is normal. I was, and am, a very healthy, but definitely needy woman. Can you fix me up, Steve?"

I thought back at both of them, "Get out of my head so I can get up and drain the lizard."

Mercy asked, "Drain the what?"

Missy was laughing, "I haven't heard that since I was a little girl."

It took me a minute or so to move from under the women on my shoulders. Once I was up and standing in front of the commode, a hand started caressing my naked butt. Mercy softy said to me, "Hurry up, Stud, I need to do that too, but I don't stand up."

I shook my 'women pleaser' off and stepped into the shower. The hot water was just getting to the spout when Mercy stepped in. She hugged me to her, pulling my head down for a kiss with one hand, while the other was moving back and forth on my growing ego. I had just picked Mercy up and lowered her onto me, when Mickey stepped into the shower. She looked at us and said, "Do her quick, because I need something to work with. Can you believe Dad is making me work in the lab on Sunday? This is going to be boring as heck. Finish up, Mercy, I'm in need."

Mercy was groaning and squeezing me as she enjoyed our playtime. As she slumped from orgasmic exhaustion, we separated long enough for Mickey to grab me and try to climb me as Mercy did. The first problem is that Mickey is about four inches taller than Mercy, outweighed her by at least twenty-five pounds, and is pregnant. I was able to get her in my arms with her back to the wall, thrusting sufficiently that she was moaning and carrying on. The strain of holding her was rushing my orgasm and we both exploded, showering each other with our ejaculations. Although pregnant, Mickey was still squirting. Sue used to do that, but Mercy dried up during that time.

Mickey, Mercy, and I finished washing and were drying off when Sue gave me a kiss before stepping into the shower. Juanita and Kathy gave Mickey, Mercy, and me kisses and hugs before they joined Sue. Gio was sitting up in bed and was the last to get a kiss and a hug. She said, "I think I'll sleep a little longer this morning. I'm feeling better, but really tired."

While out in the kitchen, with coffee cups in our hands, Glenda came into the patio, so I opened the kitchen and sliding door to the family room. I turned the lights on to signal all of our friends and joined Glenda at a table to chat as we have for so long in the morning.

Glenda said, "You guys sure can make a racket in the shower. I was on the patio earlier, and was almost embarrassed by the way you guys were acting. I knew exactly who was doing what to whom. You need to soundproof your shower, you know."

Mercy gave Glenda a hug. "Isn't that so much better than a couple next door fighting and yelling at each other all of the time?"

Glenda grinned, "I was just teasing, but it did make me blush to think of what all you guys were doing. Maybe I was a little envious that Martin just isn't up to do everything Steve can do. I love that old coot, and he does make me a happy woman as often as he can. Too bad we're not fifty years younger."

Tiny and Ruth came through the back door with Henry and Nancy. Ruth and Nancy were almost wearing gowns. The loose sheerness of the gowns was enough to make any man gawk a little. Nancy and Ruth gave me kisses, making sure they rubbed their nipples across my arm and chest. That'll give you a rise. Henry and Tiny shook my hand, but only after they had poured themselves a mug of coffee.

They sat down with us, and Tiny said, "Henry and Nancy were so tired that they just bunked with us last night. That turned out to be fun, if you know what I mean. That boat can bring couples together, very close together."

Henry was blushing and said, "Since coming down here, I don't think Nancy or I have any qualms or hesitation to enjoy ourselves. I always think of how forward we were with Crystal, then Crystal and Bear. We have really changed and I think it's to the better."

Glenda stood and said, "Come on, Stud, let's get breakfast started while these guys brag about their sexual exploits."

We left the others laughing as we went into the kitchen. We quickly had pots and pans doing their thing. While I began frying bacon, Glenda lined up a dozen glasses and poured orange juice. I turned the ovens on before I pulled a huge bowl of boiled potatoes from the fridge and began slicing them up.

Glenda began making biscuits, filling about eight cookie sheets, giving us somewhere around a hundred of those delicious things.

The kids began coming from their rooms, taking a glass of orange juice and going out to the patio to sit with the adults. Glenda poured another dozen glasses of juice as more kids and adults arrived to have some coffee, orange juice, or a treat from the bar prepared by Tiny. The more women who showed up, the more difficult it became to hide my interest. As more ladies came in to help prepare breakfast, the more difficulty I had, as Nancy would give me a hidden squeeze, Ruth would rub her hand across what was sticking down my leg, Sue was rubbing a stiff nipple on my arm, and so on. When the tiny, but demonstrative, redhead showed up, Shawna hopped up on a stool in front of the bar, looked around to make sure none of the kids could see her, pulled up her big T-shirt and pointed to a red haired pleasure center, "I have breakfast for you right here, Steve. Come taste what Charlie left for you."

Charlie had come up behind her and reached down to run his finger through her drooling mess. He stuck the gooey finger in Shawna's mouth and said, "Perhaps Hanna would like that better."

Glenda scoffed, "You kids will drive me crazy with your sexy, nasty nature. Now get out of here so we can finish breakfast. Steve, get those pancakes going so the kids can eat sometime this week."

I had the fried potatoes almost done, the biscuits were almost finished, the eggs were all scrambled, and the bacon and sausage were on trays. I made at least three gallons of grits before I made at least a hundred pancakes, twenty at a time on the huge grill, while Glenda was making several gallons of gravy. As we filled baskets, bowls, and platters, they were being hauled out to the tables as fast as we filled them.

Glenda grinned at me and gave me a hug. When she released me, we gave each other a high five. She said, "We've been doing this on Sundays for a long time. I just love for us to put out this big breakfast. It's so much fun. Let's go eat."

I had a shock when I walked out onto the patio; Dewey, Sheena, and Shelia were standing at the bar, with Bloody Marys in hand, grinning at me. Dewey held out another tall glass filled with the morning treat for me, and said, "We got in a little late last night, so we just stayed at the hotel. I wanted to surprise you this morning."

Chuck was standing with Dewey and said, "You guys can stand around gabbing, but I know you have to dig in if you're going to get to eat around here."

Chuck went back over to the table that had Mark, Marty, and Diego sitting together. They were all piling their plates full and chowing down. Giovanni was sitting with them, enjoying a real down home breakfast. You could see he and Mesa were enjoying the food the way they were slowly chewing the combined taste of fried potatoes, gravy, and biscuit. Sometimes the bite would have some sausage, sometimes a piece of bacon, but it was all going down smoothly.

Dewey and his women sat with me, Sue, and the girls. We went right to it, eating with pleasure, as all you heard was some occasional conversation, but mostly noises of eating, forks and knives hitting plates, mugs and glasses clinking when being put down to close to flatware or a plate, and satisfied sighs as bellies were filled.

It wasn't long until there was nothing left of gallons of grits and gravy. The biscuit baskets were empty, and the meat and egg platters were bare. Even the pancake platters were empty. I wondered how many people were overly full, but I could see Charlie, and his huge new friend, Donny, looking around to make sure there wasn't anything left. I know Charley can put it away, but I couldn't imagine what it took to keep Donny going. Once again, Gerry was sitting next to Donny with a happy grin on her face.

The dishes were being hauled off to the kitchen by some of the kids, while other kids were washing tables in preparation for maybe some Sunday games or doing homework. It was still drizzling outside, so the outside games were out until it dried up a little.

Dewey asked, "Can you get Chuck and Mark together for a powwow?"

I told Dewey, "No problem, but we need to include a couple of new players in this game. Chuck is gathering people he thinks will be important cogs in our machine."

When I asked Chuck, he immediately found Marty, who was having a discussion with Tiny, and Diego who was surprisingly deep in conversation with Giovanni. The six of us sat at one of the big round card tables with some coffee.

Everyone was reintroduced to each other before Dewey wanted the floor. "Mark, you, Diego, and Marty aren't really a part of this first part of the conversation, but you might as well know how the chips are falling in order to get to where we want to go. Chuck, I need to convince you to let our Amsterdam friends in on this deal. They have the architects for resorts; they have pros lined up for golf courses; and most importantly, they know how to market a place like we're going to have. We can buy all of this knowledge by selling them, not giving them, but selling them twenty percent of the project. Like I told Steve, they want in as it would be their introduction to South American tourism."

Chuck said, "So far I've figured on retaining somewhere around thirty-five to forty percent of the project. I kind of thought we would split it three ways and possibly let Ben in for ten percent. I know the capital would be available from the S&S 401K account, but we don't need it and this is more of a long term investment than a quick hit. We're going to have some big bills to pay, and one hell of a payroll that Marty is going to have to manage, while we do this. With the work in front of us, Dewey, what kind of division are you thinking of in order to let these guys in?"

Dewey was deep in thought, "I really didn't think of Ben, so if we let him in for ten percent, we will only have ninety to split five ways. I think Chuck should retain the largest share as it was his idea in the first place, and he went out on the limb to get the property even if he did steal it, and he's spent a ton getting the islands this far. Let's see how these numbers work. Let's say the Dutch get in for fifteen, Ben with five, and Steve and I with twenty. Chuck, that would leave you with forty percent."

Chuck rubbed his chin, "How about you two go in for a little more. I'll keep thirty, you two in for twenty-five, Ben for five, and the Dutch for fifteen. Dewey, can you get all of the help we need from them for fifteen?"

We all looked at Dewey, he said, "I think so, I'm pretty sure they'll go for it. We'll find out though. I'll have those two guys here in five minutes. They are at the hotel too. Steve, they think your Holiday Inn Express is really well run and very clean and neat. That's something from a couple of guys who live in luxury."

I asked, "Are the numbers good for you, Dewey, for you, Chuck?"

Chuck said, "I recommended them, so I'm in."

Taking his cell phone and a card from his pocket, Dewey said, "I think Chuck is letting us in for a lot more than I thought he would. What do you think, Steve, we did well by getting him in with us in Alaska and Hawaii?"

Dewey made his call, asking for a bellhop, before talking to one of the Dutchmen about coming to the patio.

I sat back to observe our three non-owners. Diego was sitting with a look of amazement, Marty was rubbing his hands like Ben does, and Mark had his shit eating grin that you saw when he was putting something together.

Chuck asked, "How come Ben isn't here this morning? He usually comes out on Sunday."

I said, "Let me go ask Beth, she'll know."

Beth was easy to find as she was taking care of Gio by giving her a gentle massage and talking to her. "Beth, where's Ben? Doesn't he usually come out on Sunday morning?"

Beth looked up at me and said, "He'll be here, he called me last night to tell me he's coming back from the Caymans. He was all excited about some big deal he had put together for all of you guys, and as he said, 'I'm bringing back barrels and bushels of money.'"

When I went back outside, Chuck and Dewey looked up at me expectantly, I said, "Bad news, Guys. Ben has been playing down south and is coming back from the Caymans this morning. I'm afraid to tell you this," I paused, as all of the men at the table leaned forward and held their breath, "Beth said he was bringing back barrels and bushels of money. Sorry, Chuck, you're just going to have to spend more money."

Dewey said, "Christ, I'm already at fifty-five percent. I hope they don't figure out a higher tax bracket for us."

Chuck was just staring down at the table with his eyes closed, shaking his head. He looked up and said, "Oh well, that hospital down there should probably be bigger." Typical for him, he gives away ten bucks and gets twenty back. He gives twenty for a good cause, and fifty comes in.

Chuck said, "If Ben wants more than five percent, I'll give him five of mine. I want you guys in at least for what I suggested."

Two men wearing expensive slacks and pullover knit shirts walked into the patio. I recognized them from Amsterdam, and I'm sure Chuck did too. Before we could get to the subject at hand, it took a minute or so for everyone to be introduced, and to explain what part each was going to play in the project.

Dewey became our spokesman, "Chuck is the originator of this project and we feel he should be the heavy on this deal. There is another investor that Chuck feels should get the opportunity to buy in at five. Steve and I will be partners at twenty-five a piece and we want you guys to jointly be investors at fifteen. Does that sound about right?"

The two men looked at each other and grinned, one of them said, "Perfect. We really want in on this and didn't know how you might configure the investors. Now all we have to do is draw up an agreement."

Chuck held up his hand, "Hang on for a second, gentlemen. Diego, can you come with me real quick?"

A minute or so later, Chuck came back without Diego. He sat down smiling, "Oh, one of the nice things about hiring Diego is he is a real live genuine lawyer who has studied international and investment law. He's typing up an agreement for us right now. We'll all have to print our names under where we sign, but it will be legal. We'll all get a signed copy and the deal is done. Mark, do you have those plans handy?"

Mark chuckled, "I thought you would never ask."

Mark walked to the bar and took his tube of plans out of a cabinet. He straightened out the plans on the table and showed how the three islands fit together first. Next, he showed an aerial photo of the three, followed by one of just the two islands to the south, and then some of each of those islands individually. He was explaining the features of each island and what some of the infrastructure would be. He showed them the drawings for the harbor and explained how it would be built. He showed how the land side of the harbor would be for large personal watercraft of the rich and famous.

Mark next showed the wind farms on his home island to show how he was planning to supply power. He also explained that he would be experimenting with solar panels and would be able to conceal them without any problem.

His next discussion point was to explain how lucky we had been in finding water. He explained how we might build a desalination plant, along with cisterns, but also explained that the higher aquifer should be fine for animals and irrigation.

Mark pointed to locations on all three islands, and described where the gas powered sewage plants that were purported to be odor free, would be. He discussed how the University of Florida was working with him to finalize the building of the plant on the home island, explaining the benefits of having natural fertilizer for the crops necessary to feed an extra thousand people.

I'm sure the two Amsterdam men were confused by the gas powered reference, but Mark added, "We have discovered a large deposit of natural gas that is reachable from each of the islands. We are already in the process of drilling wells for the brackish water, the good water, and for gas. We have already hit on everything at least once on all three islands, so we are way ahead. All we need to do is to continue to drill the proper quantity of wells and begin processing and piping everything.

One of the Amsterdam people asked, "You have really found a source for natural gas?"

Mark grinned, "A very good and very big source. The geologists think we need to be drilling offshore or slant drilling from the big island, as they feel there is oil there. That would pay your investment back overnight, wouldn't it? We still have to set up the ammonia injection system on all of the gas wells so we can detect gas leaks as that's a safety necessity."

"There's one more feature that I just love that we found a little over a week ago. There is a natural artesian warm water spring and pool at the top of this small rocky hill on the big island," Mark said this while pointing at the location on the photo of the big island. "I'd bet that thing can be a huge draw. You could even advertise it as the fountain of youth."

That got a chuckle from around the table.

Diego came out with a stack of paper. He said, "I had to get Miz Sue to get me more paper, but I have copies for everyone, including the Ben Phillips that isn't here. All of you, please read the contracts carefully to make sure you are in agreement with all the provisions. Also, please note that I have prepared this agreement in my role as project manager, since I am not licensed in the US as a lawyer and it would be illegal for me to do this here ... as a lawyer," he said with a lopsided grin. "If that is unsatisfactory to anyone, we need to call in a Florida lawyer to bless the contract."

There was silence as each of us read the agreement word for word. The two men from Amsterdam spoke among themselves a couple of times, but there was no raising of heads with a question. One of the men did raise his head as he turned his documents back to face up, "The only thing wrong with this deal is that it doesn't have two hundred percent to divide. We're in agreement, how about you?"

Dewey looked at Diego, "Good job, my friend. I hope Chuck is paying you well."

Diego grinned and winked at Chuck and me, but didn't say anything. Heck, he doesn't have a clue as to how much we're going to pay him.

We all signed all of the copies, and Diego had Mark and Marty witness them. Sue came out with her notary stamp, but checked the three foreigners' passports and Marty's ID before she signed and notarized each copy.

I said, "This calls for a toast. Come over to the bar."

Tiny was there, and I asked him to break out the champagne and pour us some. "Tiny, we have just finalized Chuck's island deal." Everyone had a tall slim glass of champagne and held it up. Chuck said, "This is to all of us, we've become friends and business associates, and I want us to remain friends forever."

There were several hear, hears, as glasses were clinked and lowered to lips for a drink.

From that point on, it was a full discussion of how soon the architects could get with Mark and Chuck, along with when the golf pros' surveyor could get access to the islands. Cruise ships were discussed, and it was agreed to keep them on the mainland. We would have some of our suites at rates affordable by upper middle class, but the bulk of the suites would be for that top five percent who wanted a fun, private, relaxing vacation. It was considered that we could always offer packages at lower cost, if necessary.

Mark made the comment, "I'm going to have to expand the aircraft parking area. A lot of these high rollers are going to be flying in on their own aircraft. We'll also need a small hotel and facilities for the aircraft crews. That brings up the problem of possible maintenance issues for incoming aircraft, so we'll need some mechanics, and at least one additional hangar."

Chuck said, "We also need to import a customs official to work the three islands to keep us kosher with Costa Rica. I'm sure they will give us some leeway, but we need to have our own resident official to speed things up. I think I know just the man. We'll build him a house and he can live and work out there happily ever after."

A Dutchman said, "You guys are a lot farther along than I thought. You have plans for almost all of the infrastructure, power, water, and sewage. Do you have plans for the trash? How about communications? Any thoughts of phone and internet?"

Mark said, "We have plenty of gas, so we're going to incinerate the trash that isn't recyclable. The local university is experimenting with air scrubbers for incinerators, so we're going to let them test it on the middle island. There's a good source of high quality lime for the scrubbers up the coast in Mexico, and we can have it shipped coastwise by barge for almost nothing. We plan on separating the trash and sending as much as we can to mainland recycling plants. Limon has one for metals, plastics, and glass, but none for paper yet. That would be a hell of way to open a cardboard box plant."

Chuck looked up quickly and had his silly grin going. Just what he needs; another plant in a foreign country, but knowing him, he'll give it away.

Mark saw Chuck's reaction, and continued, "One incinerator plant should take care of all three islands. The alternative is to barge it to Limon to be hauled to their landfill. I want the incinerator though, as I'm told the ash will assist in building up the local soil, just like the sewage, ash will fertilize it."

An Amsterdam guy asked Chuck, "So how much do you have tied up in this project?"

Chuck gave the guy a glazed look, "I have no earthly idea. Mark has a list of expenditures, Tiny has kept track of what I've bought from S&S and the labor I've used, but I don't know and don't really care. I want this thing to happen."

Mark said, "You need to know that Chuck has built wind farms and an experimental solar panel farm, with the help of Florida State University who is doing some experiments. He's built a runway with an instrument landing system, two large first class hangars, an R&D building for research, and paid a small fortune to a few drilling companies. Chuck now also owns four tugs and four dry barges he is using to transport equipment and materials. He's built a cement plant and has authorized a bigger one on the big island. There's more, like the village he's building on the home island to house U.S. workers and supervisors. This is in addition about two hundred portables homes for housing. He bought those cheaply, as they were leftovers from hurricane Katrina and had never been used. I'm going to let Marty come up with that figure, and let him divide up what is for the resorts and what Chuck did exclusively for his home island."

Everyone, including myself, was astounded at how much Chuck and Mark had accomplished so far. It was totally amazing.

Dewey said, "Man, you sure know how to make improvements. You know how to spend money too. I'll bet you're getting back as much as you're spending, aren't you?"

Chuck just grinned, as I'm sure he's thinking that he still has some American Express debit cards with a lot of money on them. For a guy like him, he could probably live the rest of his life in comfort with only a fourth of one of his cards.

I got Tiny's and Henry's attention and had them come over and join us. When they were seated and introduced around, I said to Tiny, "Remember what you had to do to catch me up on what I had spent to get into business?"

Tiny laughed, "You at least had all of your receipts and had begun doing business as a corporation."

I said to Tiny and Henry, "Well, that's what you're going to have to do with Chuck, only magnify the amounts by several hundred percent. You're going to have Marty to work on the project, and eventually become the CFO of the operation. Diego is going to be Chuck's overall construction manager for the projects down there."

Chuck said, "I know you guys have access to my investment cash accounts, so could you advance Diego the same amount that you give Terrell each month? I figure Diego will be doing what he does best. I also need to fix Marty up with what you guys think is the right salary numbers. Check with him to make sure it's agreeable. Diego is going to stay here at least through tonight or Monday, so if you can get him some money, I'm sure he will appreciate it."

I turned to Marty, "We're going to take over the lease or rental of Diego's office to give us a place to work from. I noticed at least one other empty office in his suite that I'll bet could be a great place for you to work from when you are down there. The way I remember the building and office, I'm thinking it is easily wheelchair accessible."

To Tiny and Henry, I said, "I know I'm a scatterbrain sometimes and push to get something rolling, but that's what I've always done and it has been successful for me. I don't mean to run you over and I will pause to listen to any good ideas, but all I like to see are assholes and elbows working to get the job done."

It was plain that the Amsterdam guys and Diego had never heard the asshole and elbows phrase before, as they were laughing loudly.

Dewey said, "I'll follow up with getting the golf course agent down there, and have the architect here to work with Mark and Chuck tomorrow morning."

I knew that Chuck had work out west that he needed to do, and looked up at him. He smiled and like it was just to me said, "Hey, they told me that if I had to take care of some business that wouldn't be a problem. This is some business that I need to take care of." He waved at Lisa, had a conversation with her before turning back to the table.

Everyone at the table was grinning, happy with the conclusion of the deal. Dewey said to the two Dutchmen, "We'll stay for lunch before heading back to the west coast. I'll send you two on to Hawaii as soon as you land in Seattle. Will that work?"

One of the Dutchmen said, "I love that you and your two friends get things done, Dewey. We usually mull things over and discuss decisions until we're tired of trying to make the decision. I think we need to follow your example and become more decisive in our business thought process."

We all stood up, stretching our legs and noticed some sunshine trying to peek through the clouds. It was as if the heavens were smiling at the deal we just reached.

I saw Chuck corner Tiny and have a conversation. The two of them went over to Terrell and Deanne to have a quick conversation with Terrell. Tiny and Chuck talked for a few minutes, shook hands, and Tiny left. Tiny came back with at least three envelopes, along with one of the S&S payroll sign off sheets.