Chapter 21

Chuck

Waking up in a strange bed, or in this case, on a strange couch is disconcerting. I had to look around to find my leg before going to the bathroom. As I traversed to the toilet, I thought I smelled coffee brewing. When I left the bathroom, I went straight to the kitchen and found Julie and Missy sitting at the big kitchen table with fresh cups in front of them. In a chair across from them was a steaming cup of coffee. Julie smiled, pointed to it, and said, "Good morning, enjoy."

After a couple of sips, Missy said, "I have a ton to talk to you about. Mercy and the wizard know most of this, but just hearing the name Tasker yesterday was enough to make me almost wet my panties. I shouldn't be that concerned, as I'm at least two generations removed from Taxton, or Tasker Town, as it used to be called. My grandmother ran off with a traveling preacher and ended up in San Francisco, where my mother, and eventually, I were born. My mom was extremely perceptive, and my grandfather, Burt, used mom's abilities to work with his parishioners. The man did good work with the help of my grandmother, but they sadly only had one child, my mother. My mother met a soldier and was going to run off with him, but he received orders to go to Viet Nam. The two had already secretly married, and I was the product of a very happy wedding night. Sadly, he was killed over there and never even was able to see a picture of me. My mother never remarried.

"When I was about sixteen, I met my loveable despot, Merlin, and wanted to run off with him. My mother recognized all of the signs and convinced me to stay in San Francisco, but agreed that I should try marriage. Boy did I like marriage. Merlin was so tired from our trysts, he could hardly go to work. I walked around bowlegged for the first two months we were together. The result of our fun was Mercy, a true love/lust child.

"Well, Merlin finally landed a couple of good club dates and showed the world how good a magician he was. He was so good that a group of businessmen offered to open up a magic night club, with him as the main performer three or four nights a week. Merlin offered magic lessons to budding young magicians and wannabees and made more money doing that. He probably would have done it for free if they had asked. Anyway, about ten years later, the group of businessmen said that Merlin could buy them out at a very ridiculously low price. Merlin and I had diligently saved over the years and had a good stake. We remodeled the business and added a kitchen. Dinner was served with an ongoing magic floor show. Afterward, the floor show was expanded to include the audience, and it was then that Merlin began wanting to include me as part of his act. We were a hit once again. We went on club dates in LA, New York City, Las Vegas, and even New Orleans. We never took a club date that lasted more than a week, so we would be home to take care of the business. Amazingly, Mercy never suffered from the crazy traveling, but seemed to always be in my mind. She was even more of a psychic or mind reader than I was. At the age of ten, Merlin began using her to amaze people in the dinner theater. Mercy also became a very good magician along the way. She was so perceptive of the audience; she could mesmerize them in seconds. I know you've seen it, Chuck, when she has everyone in a group seeing something that really isn't.

"Mercy and I began working together when she was seventeen and had finished high school. We developed an act that had people coming back a couple of times a month. That just encouraged Merlin to feature us more and more. Well, Mercy wanted to go to college, so she went to a community college first and actually did very well, considering she was working in the club a minimum of three or four nights a week. It was shortly after that when we remodeled again to what we now have. We charge an exorbitant amount of money for good food and fun entertainment. Everyone who is anyone in the San Francisco area has been to Merlin's. We get people from LA, Reno, and Las Vegas who come up just for the dinner and show.

"When Mercy took off with Steve and Sue, it was as if history was repeating itself once again. Another of my grandmother's descendants is whisked off by someone they have fallen madly in love with. In this case, it was two people, Steve and Sue."

Julie poured us a refill and sat back down, listening.

Missy smiled at me and said, "Now to tell you why the history lesson. I knew of your mother and father, Angelina and David Johnson. You see, both are offspring of the Taskers whose parents had abandoned the family. They didn't actually abandon it, but didn't carry on some of the ridiculous attitudes and traditions. Do you know what my grandmother's name was?"

Missy looked at me, but I just shrugged, she almost whispered, "Johnson, she was a Johnson from the original Johnsons that first broke the traditions of the community. If you and I began putting a family tree together, you, Mercy, and I will be right there on the branch. I've spoken to Lisa extensively, and I know her folks came from the same family of Johnsons. That's why both of you are so perceptive. You two can control your psychic abilities even more than Mercy and I can. We are more clairvoyant than you, and maybe better mind readers, but you two could be trained. Just think, all those years the Taskers have wanted to regain their abilities, and that ability was growing stronger and stronger away from them. Now I know how the both of you can turn us on and off. I know that you can listen to us, as well, but you don't. You need to be more of a snoop, Chuck. You might hear and learn a lot."

I was stunned. I wanted to run in and wake Lisa so she could hear this. She was going to have a fit. I asked Missy, "Does Aunt Etta know all of this?"

Missy said, "Yes and no. She and I have met mentally and hinted around our heritage, but I'm going to wait until we can be together to have some really good discussions."

"I definitely want Lisa and I to be a part of that discussion. This psychic stuff is very interesting, and almost scary."

Lisa and Tina walked into the kitchen and both sat on my lap; they actually both sat on a leg. Lisa said, "You've been talking about me. My ears were ringing so bad that I woke up. Tina woke up with me and we decided it was time to start the day."

I told Lisa, "You and Missy need to have a long talk. I should probably be there, but you need to know what Missy just told me."

Hugging Tina, I said, "I'm not sure you should hear this, but we three are so close, you probably should. Missy has some surprising revelations to share."

Lisa grinned, "I don't want to wait; I want to know now."

I laughed, but Tina broke in, "If it has to do with you and Lisa, I want to know as well. Come on, Missy, talk to us."

Missy told the story again without leaving anything out. When she was finished, Lisa said, "Wow, you must be a cousin or something to me, Chuck. A pretty far off cousin, but a cousin of some kind. Does Florida have any rules or laws about that?"

Tina spoke up, "The only problem would be direct family like mother and son, dad and daughter, or brother and sister. I think that brother and sister thing has been broken thousands of times. Just look at Ben and Beth."

Missy said, "This far removed, it doesn't make a difference other than that the two of you possess some powerful abilities that you have inherited from the same family as Mercy and I."

Two little girls, Marion and Virginia, came running into the kitchen. Marion rushed to say, "We're hungry. Do you want us to make you pancakes? We know how to mix up the batter and everything. We know how to make bacon and eggs too, but we always mess up and break the yellow."

Julie stood and said, "Come on, let's whip something up." She turned to me, "You should probably do your morning thing, since you're going to want to get to the hospital early. Your aunt is going to want to come home as soon as they even think about releasing her."

I did a quickie and dressed, leaving Tina and Lisa showering. I straightened up the living room by putting the couch back into a couch, then went in hunt of more coffee.

In the kitchen, Julie, Missy, and Mercy were assisting the two girls and putting stacks of pancakes on the table. Just then, Lisa and Tina came into the kitchen, with Tina telling all, "I'm hungry, and those pancakes look great."

As we finished eating, Julie, Mercy, and Missy all took turns using the bathroom and getting ready. The two girls helped with the dishes before running off to get dressed. We made the short trip into the clinic, arriving just before eight-thirty. As we walked in, we could hear someone telling a helper, "I can do it myself. I've been feeding myself for almost fifty years, and I can still do it today."

The lady in the lobby asked, "One of you wouldn't be a Johnson, would you?"

I smiled and said, "That's my aunt, isn't it?"

The lady nodded and said, "Hopefully, the doctor will be here soon, as she's ready to run out the door naked, if necessary. She's been up since six, took a shower that she wasn't supposed to do, raided the supply closet for fresh dressings, and was dressing to leave when we caught up to her. They convinced her to eat, wait for the doctor, and to wait for you guys, her family."

Marion asked, "Can Virginia and I run see Grandma?"

The lady at the desk smiled, "Go see her. It might slow her down for a few minutes."

A minute later, Virginia came out, pulled my head down, and whispered, "Grandma wants you to come and talk to her."

I looked at the nurse and she just waved me toward the door. One of my shadows followed me. When Tina and I entered the room, Aunt Etta asked Tina, "Aren't you the medical girl? You can release me, can't you?"

Tina said, "No Ma'am, I'm really not a real doctor yet. I'm learning how to be one."

"You did a fine job on me, young lady. I'll take your word for it over that pill pusher, Laurence, any day. How can you trust some guy named Howie Lawrence. All you gotta do is ask Doc Howie for a pill, and the next thing you know you're off in dreamland, whether you want to be or not."

"Now, Etta," the doctor, wearing a white coat, said as he came in. "You know I don't give everyone a feel good pill. I do give out a lot of aspirin, and in your case, some Excedrin. You're so tough that plain aspirin doesn't work for you."

Etta actually grinned, but said, "Well, get your butt over here, and check me out so I can get going. I have a life to live, and I can't do it in this hospital."

Dr. Lawrence corrected her, "We're just a clinic, Etta. A hospital has more than one doctor and a lot more than a half dozen physicians assistants and a dozen nurses. A hospital also has more than fifteen patient rooms. Now hush up, and let me listen to your heart before I check your wounds."

The doctor lovingly and methodically inspected Etta, then wrote on her chart. He said, "I hate to tell you this, Etta, but you can leave if you want. I assume these folks are family and are going to care for you, right?"

All of us in the room nodded our heads.

The doc told a nurse to get a bunch of material to change dressings and some antibiotic cream to apply to the wounds. He told Etta, "Come back in next week, sooner if you're hurting, but come in next week. If you go off with these folks, make sure they take you to a doc to see how you're progressing."

The doctor turned to me, "You're that Chuck Johnson that the Sheriff is raving about. Thank you for everything you did. It's too bad lives had to be lost to rid ourselves of that New Wave problem. If you take Etta away for a while, take care of her, okay?"

I smiled at the doctor, "No problem, Sir; she's pretty special to me and all of us."

Etta said, "Are we going to jaw all day, or can I get out of here? I want some real coffee and more to eat than a fruit cup."

A nurse was scurrying around, helping Etta up to leave. She said, "Now, Etta, you know you had two eggs, some hash browns, toast, and coffee. That was a good breakfast for you."

Etta smiled and hugged the nurse, "Thanks for taking care of me, Barbie."

"Etta, you know my name is Lucy."

Etta grinned some more, "You're so darned cute; you're just like a Barbie doll. Too bad you're already hitched, or you could interest my nephew. I think he's a good catch."

Now I was blushing along with Barbie, or was it actually Lucy.

We left the clinic and barely fit into the Expedition. I asked Aunt Etta, "Are you serious about getting more to eat?"

Etta said, "Naw, I was just pulling their chain, but let's stop by 'Rachel's' for some good coffee. I'd bet the girls would love one of Rachel's breakfast sweet rolls."

Rachel's is easy to find in a town with one traffic light, and that one appeared to be dead, totally not working, so everyone treated the intersection as a four way stop. It was nice to be in a small community. Everyone waved, and as we entered Rachel's, men leaving tipped their caps to the ladies. We all had a famous sweet roll with the adults drinking coffee while the two girls had milk.

While we were sitting there, I asked the girls, "Aren't you two supposed to be in school today?"

Marion said, "No Sir, Grandma teaches us just like our mom used to. We have to go into town a few times a year for tests, but we're what you call homeschooled. A lot of kids around here are homeschooled as the winter is often too hard to get out to go anywhere and the buses don't always run."

Etta said to us, "It's really not difficult to teach them. We have a lesson plan to follow, and we work through it pretty fast. The girls are a year ahead so far. I don't know whether they are exceptionally smart or if the schoolwork is too easy. They have almost perfect test scores, so it's one or the other."

Tina said, "The kids back home are all homeschooled. They have a great time in class together. The moms have a real teacher to help them, but the kids are all learning fast. I think Marion and Virginia are about the same age as Bonita. Lizzy might be a little older, but you two are right about the same age as Bonita."

Virginia asked, "Do you have a lot of kids where you live?"

Tina said, "We sure do. There are so many kids you won't be able to learn all their names in a week, maybe longer. They will all love to play with you and teach you how they play back home."

Etta looked directly at me and asked, "So, you're going to take my grandkids home with you?"

"Yes, Aunt Etta, if you will come with us for a while. I don't know what it would take for you to leave your home for a while, but I would love to have you stay with us, at least until you're healed."

Etta didn't think about it very long. "The only real ties here are these two kids and my dog, and he's dead. I sure hope I killed the bastard that shot my dog." After pausing to think about things, she said, "You know, I could let the preacher use my house for a while, as he always has a family or two who need a place to stay. Times have been tough lately, and a lot of people aren't making ends meet. The preacher always seems to be able to help one more around here."

I thought to myself, 'I am going to have to visit that preacher before we leave'.

Etta said, "I have a couple head of beef that the preacher can have to feed his flock. I need to tell him to get some more calves so the meat keeps coming in. Did you folks feed the chickens this morning?"

Marion tried to hide her face, "No, Ma'am; we forgot in our rush to come and get you."

With a smile, Etta said, "No harm done. We'll feed them when we get home. I just don't want those hens thinking they are going to sit on some eggs, is all. They get ornery when they want to hatch some chicks."

I said, "Etta, let's go home and get some clothes together for you and the girls, and I'll take you all home with me. We should probably stop by the preacher's and have a talk with him."

Etta nodded, and she pointed the way when we were in the car. At the church, we went into the basement where there were a lot of people. You could see a variety of people; there were some older folks, some just average, some families, but a lot of people eating a breakfast that seemed to be steadily coming from a kitchen.

A man, carrying a platter of scrambled eggs, came from what had to be the kitchen area, and Etta caught his attention as he placed the platter on the table. Etta said, "Can you take a break and talk to me for a few minutes?"

The preacher said, "Hi, Marion, Virginia, we sure missed your help around here, serving all of these people. You two were a great help."

As the preacher and Etta began moving away from the others, Etta pulled my arm to follow. We sat at a table in the corner, where Etta explained that she was going to leave town for a while and visit with me. She said that she wanted the preacher to use her farm to house a family or two, as needed, and to use her stock to help feed the people that needed it.

"God bless you, Etta-Mae. That is a wonderful thing to do. I'll make sure we take care of the property the same as you have, and we will raise some more beef before we butcher what you have. You know we all have modern things around here, such as telephones. You need to call to see how we and your place are doing. You know we even have the Internet here, so you can e-mail us. You have to send us pictures of where you will be staying and pictures of Marion and Virginia, of course."

Etta smiled and stood, "Thank you for watching the place for me. When I know I'm coming back, I'll give you plenty of warning, so you can find any folks staying out there another place."

Etta turned to walk off, but I touched the preacher's arm, and said, "You are really helping a lot of people here. How do you do it? I mean, how do you pay for all of it?"

The preacher smiled a very satisfied smile, "The people in this community care for each other. This is just a place that helps to express that caring. God blesses us and helps us maintain this facility, and we hopefully will be able to build on so we have some quarters for our temporary homeless."

I said to the preacher, "Do you have a card, or could you write down your church information? I want to contribute something to help you and your church help these people. I might even know someone who would want to build a factory in the area. That could help all of your folks and the local Indian tribes around here. I noticed a lot of Indians here today."

"They are having as much financial trouble as we are. A lot of government funding has been slowed down for the tribes. These people don't have casinos to support them, and even if they had one, the area is too poor to support it. They need an opportunity the same as the people who live in our town, village, or city, whatever you want to call it."

The man smiled as he took out a small notebook and wrote on a page. He wrote his name, of course, the church address and telephone number, his cell phone number, and his e-mail address. As he handed me the page, he said, "Your family is doing more than enough for us, but anything helps us. Your blessing will go a long way, no matter what it is. Thank you for wanting to help."

You could tell by his clothes that the man wasn't living high on the hog. It could be just old clothes to work around the church in, but I had the feeling this is all he had and would make do.

When I turned back to the group I had left, a string of ladies, consisting partly of Julie, Tina, Lisa, Mercy, and Missy, along with Marion and Virginia, came from the kitchen carrying more food. Following them was a proud, straight-backed lady with her hair in a bun, covered by a hair net. She directed the placement of the food while smiling at all her help. "That's all of it for this morning. We'll have supper tonight around five if you want to come back and help."

The preacher introduced the lady as his wife and told her, "Etta is going to leave us for a while and wants us to use her place to house folks when there is a need. Almost all of our eggs already come from her, so we'll get to help gather them and feed her chickens. We need to find someone with calves, as we need to start a few more before we slaughter the beef she has ready."

The woman said, "Oh my, Etta, that is just a wonderful thing to do. I don't know how you do it, but you always have something for us. I'm going to miss these two young ladies. They have been a great help to me. Do you know they made me give them their school lessons everyday they have been here? These two are really good little ladies."

As she handed some keys to the preacher, Etta said, "These are the keys to the cabin, the shed, and my pickup. The tractor just has a switch for on and off and a toggle for the starter. Watch how you use her, as she is really old. I'll call to see how you're doing and will be back to enjoy the spring and summer. You know how I love it here."

There were hugs and handshakes all around as our entourage left. Back in the rented Expedition, Etta said, "Come on, let's get some clothes and get out of here for the hot sun of Florida. Chuck, I can't tell you how many times I wanted to pick up the phone and call you to tell you I was on my way to visit. I'm so excited to finally be with family. Chuck, your mother and I had some family stuff we might need to talk to you about, but since she's not here and I am, we'll talk as soon as we have a chance."

It took about an hour to get clothes together, as I kept telling them that they would need Florida clothes in Florida and that I would treat them. When the special toys, pictures, school books, mementos, along with a few clothes were gathered, we got ready to leave.

While the ladies were gathering, I called Ralph Davis, the local attorney, to advise him of what we were doing. He wasn't alarmed, but said, "We really need to talk about a few things and I think it should be done in person, if you know what I mean."

I told him, "Tell you what, Ralph; have your wife pack a few clothes for a Florida visit, and you can come back to Florida with us right now. You and I will get some time to talk, and you and your wife can spend a few days on the Florida beaches. I'll get you an airline ticket home, how's that?"

Anyone could hear the excitement in the man's voice, "That'll work. Where should I meet you?"

"I have to turn in the car you rented for me, and you'll need to leave yours at the municipal airport to use to get home. Meet me at the rental desk, and I'll make sure your car is taken care of."

When we showed up at the car rental desk at the airport, Ralph and a pretty lady were waiting for us. They didn't waste any time for a free Florida vacation. While Lisa was doing the walk around check of the Citation, I called Steve.

After he answered his cell, I said, "Hey, Steve, I'm bringing some people home with me."

He said, "I've already heard. Your family has grown by two cousins and an aunt."

I laughed, "News sure does travel fast."

Steve laughed too, "You wouldn't believe how fast it travels when you're traveling with a bunch of women."

"That's not all though, Steve. I'm bringing my aunt's attorney and want to put him up at the Holiday Inn the first night, then a few nights on the beach. Can you have someone make the reservations? The name is Ralph Davis, party of two."

"No sweat, my man. When are you coming home?"

"Steve, I'm getting ready to leave right now, so I'll be home for supper. Make the Holiday Inn reservation for tonight."

My friend, Steve Sharp, replied, "It will be done. Hap told me all about your confrontation up there. I'm glad it wasn't that bloody, and I'm especially happy you didn't fire a shot. Good going, Buddy. See you soon. Semper Fi."

I was smiling as I locked the door and made sure everyone was seated and buckled up. I had to give Aunt Etta an extra hug, because. You know, just because. I hugged Marion and Virginia on the way to the cockpit where Lisa was firing up the aircraft or spooling up the engines is the proper terminology.

We were nearing our altitude a few minutes later, experiencing one hell of a tailwind. Lisa said, "We're going to go right through a front, so it might get a little bumpy. You need to tell them to keep their seatbelts on."

The trip would normally be around four hours, but with the strong tailwind we could possibly make it in about three to three and a half hours, depending on how long we kept the hundred knot wind at our backs. When we plowed through the front, we would probably feel the difference. Right now, it was pretty smooth, considering the tailwind.

Steve

I'm going to have a talk with that boy. Ha, boy, one hell of a man in anyone's mind. I think he was surprised by what just happened, and I know I sure was. Thank goodness we are a flying family. There I go again; Chuck is part of my family. I knew it was headed this way back when he took the vacation with us up to Alaska and Hawaii. We've become closer and closer like a family should. From what Hap has said, Chuck, his aunt, and his two cousins are all okay. The aunt was wounded, but is recovering.

Sue came out from the house and sat with me, "Can we follow up on the former 3M building? The place looks like it could be perfect for a really large clothing plant. I could shift all of my South American fatigue and uniform manufacturing down there, along with some local fashions. I'm sure we could keep the place busy without taking away even one percent of our demand up here. How about you? What would you do with some space down there?"

After thinking about it, I said, "We wouldn't put a cart plant down there. We might be able to have a South American distributorship, but I think that if we keep getting the surge of orders from all over down there, we could still build just about all our military vehicles ordered from South America there. That would require a good sized fiberglass and composite plant, along with the engine and assembly areas. We're not that automated while building the vehicles, so if we can stay at zero defects, I would build them there if we do decide to use the building that way."

Sue asked, "How much of the space down there would you need for that?"

I answered, "From the size of the place, only about twenty percent should cover all our needs for the foreseeable future. Chuck's recycled material box board plant won't take up that much space, since it's going to be tough to get that much material to use. He might have to buy other raw material elsewhere to keep the plant running. He is only going to need about ten percent of the area."

Sue said, "I won't ever be able to use seventy percent of that building. Maybe thirty if we get really busy, but I don't think I could use more than that."

I suggested, "What do you think about building a super lift repair center down there. We get a little business up here from the area, but I've heard most of the companies in South America scrap the equipment when they can't repair them cheaply enough. If we were to set up a center like that and put some men out marketing all of our products throughout South America, we should be able to support a building that size."

Sue was nodding and asked, "What have you heard from Chuck? Will he be coming back soon?"

"You probably know as much as I do with Mercy and Missy calling you every five minutes."

Protesting, Sue said, "Don't exaggerate so much. They don't call every five minutes. One of them calls me about every fifteen minutes to keep me up on what they are doing."

"So, what are they doing right now?"

With a "Harrumph," Sue said, "They are in the air and will be home before supper."

"That's what the man himself told me just before you came out."

Sue looked at me with a harsh look, "Why didn't you just tell me that when I came out?"

Kathy came out and sat on my lap, "Is Chuck really bringing his aunt and two young girl cousins home?"

I didn't get a chance to answer before Sue said, "Mercy told me the two little girls are Bonita's age and are both precious. Their names are Marion and Virginia. Chuck is going to have those two, Gina's kids, and Lisa's sisters. He'll have six kids that he's going to have to worry about. What do you think; is he going to slow down his charging around the countryside?"

Kathy said, "Not much chance of that. Chuck and Lisa are like Jake was; real adrenaline junkies. Chuck will settle down somewhat, but let the call of duty be loud enough and all you'll see is a cloud of dust."

Charlie walked in the door with Jim. They pulled a beer and looked at me to see if I wanted one. I nodded as Kathy and Sue left, talking more about Chuck bringing family home, enlarging his family. I could see them huddled with Glenda, Ruth, and Nancy. Chuck's Gina was chatting with Gio, their dad, and aunt in the conversation area on the other side of the bar.

As Charlie handed me a beer, he said, "Did you hear about Hank falling off a truck?"'

I was shocked, "No, what happened? Is he hurt bad?"

Charlie said, "He broke an arm and sprained an ankle. He's coming home now. Debbie and Shawna are with him and will bring him home. From what I heard, he stepped on some wet paint and slipped. He was supposed to be on a boom lift, but was standing on top of the truck."