Chapter 28

Steve

After thinking my aunt and cousin in Lakeland would enjoy watching Merlin at Sue's Blues, I went inside to get my cell phone to call the two. When my cousin answered, I happily greeted her, "Hey, Gail, how're you doing? This is Steve, your nearby cousin who never gets to see you."

Gail was suspicious. "What did you call for? We don't talk but a couple of times a year. Do you need something?"

I laughed. "Actually, I am calling to offer you something. A good friend of mine who is a magician from San Francisco is in town for a couple of weeks. He's performing at Sue's Blues this week and I thought you might like a couple of front table seats to watch the show."

Gail stated, "I do like that club. I've been there for supper several times and have stayed to listen to the music. Is this magician any good?"

That was an improvement. She actually sounded interested in something.

"This guy is great and does an excellent job of entertaining. He does a lot of cutting up with the audience and if you wear something with a lot of cleavage, you'll be part of the show."

Gail gave me a "hmmm" before saying, "I know Mom would enjoy herself, and I know I'm past the need to go out for an evening. Is the show expensive?"

"That's why I'm inviting you, Gail. I'm sure you remember this is one of my wife's investments. That's why it's called Sue's Blues. How about I send a limo for you and Aunt Rita so you don't have to worry about driving? If you want, you can stay over here with my family after the show. We can get you a room at the Holiday Inn Express, or if you want, the limo will take you home."

I could tell Gail was smiling. "Have the limo come for us. We'll be ready in a half hour or so. This does sound like fun. Thank you, Steve. We really do need to get to know each other again. Mom talks of you often, but we don't do anything about it."

"Let me call a limousine for you. See you at the club."

Sue was standing next to me and told me, "I'll call for a limo while you call the club to reserve some tables. This is a little spur of moment, don't you think?"

I had to agree, "Yeah, it is, but I was thinking of them while watching Merlin showing off with the kids. It's the right time, or Gail wouldn't come, and she actually sounded excited about coming."

The club manager was happy the owners were going to be there and wanted to feed us before the show, but I assured him we had just finished eating. Sue had called the limo service and was guaranteed a car would be in Lakeland to pick the two ladies up within thirty minutes.

Sue went through the women to ask who might want to go to the show with us. I gave Giovanna some kisses to show her how happy I was for us to have a baby, and told her she could come to the club when she was in better shape. I don't think she minded, as she was still totally fascinated by her baby.

I put some clean jeans on, with a decent looking western style shirt and a pair of my newer boots, and sat at the bar, having a drink with Tiny and Henry. Tiny kept checking his watch. "Ruth always takes an eternity to get ready. This spur of the moment stuff is the hardest. I'd bet she still hasn't made up her mind about what to wear."

Henry told Tiny, "I'm lucky, my lady only takes a few minutes to dress and get ready. She'll come back decked out, showing us how good a lady her size can look." Over the next few minutes, Kathy and Sue showed up ready to go. Juanita wanted to stay home with Giovanna. I think she didn't want to take a chance on Merlin embarrassing her in front of an audience.

We left for the nearby club and were met at the front door awning by the club manager. Sue told him, "Relax, we're not here to grade you. We're here to have some fun. Thank you for getting us some front table seating."

The man told us something we didn't know. "Merlin didn't give me enough time to advertise this first show. I bought a bunch of radio spots and a few TV spots, using last year's show for the video portion of the ad. We should have a decent crowd, but I'll have to keep the advertising going this whole week. By next week, we'll be packed every night."

I told the manager I was going to wait for my aunt and cousin, and that he should seat the others. In a few minutes, Gail and Aunt Rita arrived, looking more than stunning. Gail is built big on top and she was showing off in her usual manner. I'm sure it was on purpose, as she already knew Merlin would have fun investigating any available cleavage.

There was a surprise inside. Merlin had brought several of his junior or apprentice magicians who were now warming up the crowd with humorous magic tricks to prepare the crowd for Merlin's show. The audience was already in a good mood, looking forward to a full magic show.

The beginning was a sequence of increasingly more difficult magic tricks. Merlin was using his apprentices for a lot of the tricks and even suspended a lovely young magician in the air. The man was really good and was giving an excellent performance.

Merlin came forward toward the audience and asked, "Is there anyone here that can't take a joke?"

He looked around and added, "How about you guys out there? Are you jealous if the lovely lady with you displays a little more than normal?"

There was nervous giggling as Merlin waved a huge sheet in the air, and when the light from behind it shined through, what looked like a nude woman's figure appeared silhouetted from behind.

Merlin waved his hand and the sheet fell to the floor at his and the model's feet. He had her spin in place to show us she was not nude, but in an opaque body suit. She was almost sexier than if she were nude.

Merlin went through some suspension tricks then gently raised her into the air and made it appear as if he sent her around the room, over the crowd, before having her land at his side. Merlin announced, "This is my lovely wife, Missy. You must watch her closely as she can make you see things you don't want to. Show us, Missy."

One of the apprentice magicians was on each side of the stage when a wand appeared in Missy's hand that she waved toward each side. The crowd broke up as the two men's pants fell to the floor, showing off a pair of bright red boxers on one side and a pair of tighty whiteys on the other. The two men covered their fronts, but Missy told them, "Pull your pants up; you shouldn't embarrass your audience like that."

Merlin began one of his famous card tricks. First he fanned the cards out in one hand showing that, at a glance, he appeared to hold a normal deck with four suits in thirteen denominations each. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the cards flew into the air and stopped, suspended, waiting for something. Next, he chose a lady with enough cleavage for it to be considered dangerous for her to pick a suspended card from the air. Of course this had to be my cousin Gail. When she had picked a card, Merlin held out his magic top hat to collect the rest of the suspended cards as they fell into the hat. Instead, the cards all headed straight for the well defined cleavage of Gail, the lady volunteer. Missy had to help get all of the cards from the lady as they appeared to be stuck.

Missy stood in front of Gail with her hands on her hips and grinned. With a wave of her wand, cards began falling from Gail's skirt to the floor. Missy said, "There are still a couple more missing. I wonder how we'll get those."

Missy rubbed her chin, scratched her head, and waved her wand. A tiny red thong fell to the floor at Gail's feet, along with three more cards. While Gail was standing there with her mouth open, Missy picked the cards up and waved her wand again, sending the panties back up Gail's legs to where they had been.

Missy gave Gail, the volunteer, a hug and said, "Keep the card you chose with you and Merlin will tell you what it is pretty soon."

Gail displayed a sassy sense of humor by sliding the card between her bountiful breasts. Missy looked at Merlin and said, "Remember, Husband, you could lose a hand if you're not careful."

The two were having fun with the audience and the audience was rewarding the pair with laughter and applause.

Merlin had a nearby male volunteer come up and check the cards now in the hat. He instructed the man, "Stand here at my side and count the cards to make sure there are only fifty-one. You can even put them into suits if you like, but that might give me a clue. Counting them should be sufficient."

While the man was counting the cards, Merlin waved his hand over Gail's deep cleavage and out popped a wispy scarf. He reached for Gail's ears and found a scarf in each ear. Missy acted as if she was pushing Merlin from the woman and waved her wand. What looked like hundreds of the wispy scarves fell from Gail's skirt. My cousin, Gail, could do nothing but stand there with her mouth open.

The man held up his hand. He announced, "Only fifty-one." Merlin had the man dump the cards into the hat.

Merlin asked Gail if she still had her card. She pulled just the tip out of her cleavage.

Merlin took the top hat with the cards in it and turned it upside down to dump the cards, but nothing came out. He banged on the inverted top, attempting to loosen the cards, but nothing fell out.

The magician turned the hat over and looked inside, but shrugged his shoulders. He handed the hat to the man and asked, "What is in there now?"

The man began fishing out tens of diamonds. Every card in the hat was a ten of diamonds. Merlin asked Gail, "Will you show us your card?"

Gail was grinning as she pulled a ten of diamonds from her cleavage.

The crowd yelled and applauded for the great trick. Merlin sent both volunteers back to their table with a handful of tens of diamonds.

Missy was once again standing in front of Gail's table with her hands on her hips. She said to the man at the adjoining table, "And where are you going with my rabbit? The crowd all looked at Missy as she held up a popular personal vibrator and said, "And not this kind of rabbit either."

The crowd was really laughing loud now. Missy waved her wand which caused the man and Gail to stand and rise from the floor until they were suspended at table height. Missy said, "Now, Peter Cottontail, come to momma."

A bulge became apparent in the man's pants and wiggled down the leg until a white rabbit jumped from the man's pants leg to the table. As Missy picked up the rabbit, the two volunteers were returned to sitting positions at their tables.

The applause was deafening.

Merlin and Missy stood apart and held their arms out to each other, then back toward the curtain. A glow began that became brighter and brighter. From what seemed to be almost a fireball, came an eerie figure, floating toward the front of the stage where Merlin and Missy were.

To the audience, Merlin announced, "This is my oldest. She is also my youngest. Actually, she is my only child. I don't think I could have handled any more like her. Between her mother," Merlin waved at Missy, "And my lovely daughter," Merlin waved at Mercy, "I would have been insane in days, not weeks, months, or years."

Missy was waving her wand as Mercy settled with her parents. Missy told the audience, "You have to watch out for Mercy. She is full of tricks and can make you think you're seeing what you're not. She also reads minds, so if you have a deep, dark secret, this may not be the place for you. This is your only warning, leave now or your deepest secret could become conversation."

Merlin spun Mercy around and around while Missy held her wand out. As Mercy spun around, she grasped the wand from Missy and was pointing straight out as she spun.

When Mercy stopped, she was pointing straight at my cousin, Gail, who screamed and told everyone, "You can't use me again; I'm one of the owners' relatives."

Mercy smiled. "You don't act like it. What do I see in that pretty head? Actually very little, ah, of what you know about your cousin. Look into my eyes and let me fill your head with years and years of memories."

Mercy pointed at my aunt and accused, "You have been neglectful of your family, as well. Let me tell you what your nephew has been doing."

The two women were standing with their mouths open as their eyes rolled back, showing the whites only.

Mercy and Missy both said, "Susan, ah, Susan Worthington?" As a lady stood up, Mercy said, "You have a very active mind. I'm sure the man with you enjoys how active your mind is. Do you want the answer to your big question? Can we tell it to everyone?"

The lady was dressed in a black understated cocktail dress and looked stunning. She could have had a dog face and still be good looking. The woman was looking at Missy and nodded her head, "Tell me, tell me the truth, I want to know."

Mercy leaned toward Missy and said loud enough for everyone to hear, "Go ahead, Mom, tell her she isn't losing her job. Tell her. Tell her she is getting a promotion instead of being shown the door."

I thought the lady was going to faint. Mercy said, "You see, magic can work in many ways."

Missy came back to my aunt and cousin standing at their table. She said, "You two need to go home with your cousin, Steve, tonight, and ask him about everything you have just learned."

Merlin threw some exploding balls onto the floor of the stage and waved his hands. Missy and Mercy both disappeared. Merlin held his hand up with more of the balls in it and said, "These are wonderful to make your spouse disappear for a few minutes." Merlin continued to hold the balls up and added, "More of these will be for sale after the show."

Merlin looked from side to side and held up his hand as if to whisper, "And now, some more magic from the sorcerer's apprentices and some music for your entertainment."

The show was great, a perfect way to be entertained. Gail and my aunt were still mesmerized by whatever Missy and Mercy had been telling them. When I suggested we all go home to the patio, the two ladies stood to go with us. My aunt said, "It's time I see where you live. I know you live in a trailer park, but for some reason, I also now know it is different."

Back home, inside the patio, my cousin and aunt could not believe the size of our outdoor living room. The idea that it was air conditioned was a great surprise. Another surprise was Bonita, Lizzy, Lisa, and Chuck playing some gentle music for everyone's pleasure. Lisa's gentle voice sang the ballads with clarity, but softly, almost a lullaby.

My aunt and cousin were drinking a little heavy. I could soon tell the two needed to go to bed. Sue took the two and showed them rooms. Kathy came up with a couple of nightgowns for the ladies, while Juanita fussed around, getting them into bed. Julie and Chuck's Aunt Etta helped put the ladies to bed. This was truly becoming a family affair.

We were all relaxing when Merlin, Missy, and Mercy showed up. The three were laughing and talking about how neat it was to put on a show together again. That's when Merlin gathered everyone around him.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Merlin announced, "I want to inform you that I am going to officially move from San Francisco to right here among you. I have set up the restaurant and theater back in San Francisco to be successful for many years to come. At the same time, I am opening a twin to that dining theater right next door to Sue's Blues, so close that it is going to be a part of it. The plans have been drawn, the contracts let, and the building has begun. 'Merlin's' will now also be in Tampa Bay, Florida. It will be the same size as San Francisco, but I hope I don't have the same amount of business. I think it will be more fun to have about half the crowd down here. We'll see though. My first order of business is to begin teaching waiters to be magicians, or would that be magicians to be waiters?"

Merlin paused as we all looked at him in surprise. Missy hugged her man and said, "Oh thank you, thank you, Merlin. I am so happy we will be together all of the time again. You will love to be so close to your grandchildren."

Mercy hugged her dad and added, "I'm happy we will be together again, Dad. We will all really enjoy being around you."

Chuck

When Lisa and I were putting the borrowed guitars in their cases in anticipation of going home with our now huge family, Hap came up to me and asked, "I have a small favor to ask of you. Do you have a couple of minutes?"

How could I slight Hap after the way he came to my rescue up in Montana? We walked to the bar where we pulled a couple of beers. Charlie came over to be with us and sat.

Hap didn't seem to know where to start. "Ah, Chuck, when you first came to Tampa, or at least when you got out of the hospital here, you met a couple of people I know. Do you remember Bart? Bart Simpson and his old lady, Shirley?"

"How can I ever forget those two, Hap? Bart has the wanderlust and Shirley is down to earth and knows her way around. Bart was a clubber out at your old place. How are they doing now, or do you know?"

Hap was moving his mug from hand to hand. "Bart has run into a problem he doesn't know how to handle." Hap paused a second before turning toward Charlie to say, "Ah, um, Charlie, you have to keep your mouth shut about this."

Hap turned back to look at me. "Chuck, Bart found me down at the St. Pete club and asked for my help. It seems the club up here has aligned themselves with some very nasty people. They are using, or trying to use, club members to move some very heavy weight from here to other areas. Bart tells me that he doesn't want to be a part of the whole thing, but he recognizes that he wouldn't breathe very long if he pulled out while they are involved in this."

I looked at Hap. "What do you want from me, and how does Shirley come into this?"

Hap wiggled around trying to get comfortable. "Um, Bart moved Shirley out of their apartment, and she is staying with us. She won't come out of the house as she doesn't want anyone here to recognize her. Bart has been bunking down in St. Pete, but has been showing up for work every day and at the clubhouse at night. He seems to think the law is going to bust the clubhouse any second, and he doesn't want to be a part of it."

"Hap, that still doesn't tell me what I can do."

"Damn, Chuck, why can't you just wave your hand and make this shit go away? Bart has made a turn around and is a different man lately. He has to pass drug tests now and hasn't failed any, so you know he's serious. Can you bring in some of the big guys, like the DEA or FBI, and take the club down? That other club is going to get a lot of men killed if they keep this up. They want the local club to front for some very bad people."

I pulled my cell phone and called George Heckler, the local station chief for the DEA. The first thing he said was, "What the fuck do you want, Chuck? I thought you were laying low for a few months."

"Nice to talk to you too, George. Tell me, do you have any local bike clubs under investigation? And if you do, do you want an in?"

George chuckled. "What are you, Hap's ambassador, or just trying to help out a wayward biker?"

"Probably all of the above, George. I know a guy who wants out, as he doesn't want to be involved in what's going on or what he considers to be an imminent arrest. Hap asked me help the man, and I'm trying to do that."

George said, "Tell you what; it's late, but probably the right time to do something. I'll meet you at Park Place in a half hour. Bring Hap, and if you can get hold of your buddy, get him there too. You ride don't you?"

I replied, "I do."

"Well, ride your bike. I will ride as well. We won't look out of place up there, especially if your buddy shows up. I really want to hear from this guy."

When I hung up, I told Hap, "Ride with me up to Park Place. See if you can call Bart and have him meet us up there. He should be about done with his evening's activities, so it shouldn't be suspicious. Let me go home and change clothes and I'll meet you here."

Lisa was determined to come along with me, although I didn't think it would be a good idea. When we rode to the patio, Hap was sitting on his bike with Margie, and Charlie was on his bike, but had the anemic looking little Shirley on the back of his.

As soon as I put the kickstand down, Shirley was hanging around my neck, telling me how she had missed me being around, but that she had her man back now.

The six of us rode over to Park Place and parked next to several other bikes. Inside, I saw George sitting with another guy. Although they were trying to dress down and look scroungy, both were appearing to be typically clean Rolex riders.

While the men sat, Margie, Shirley, and Lisa moved to a table relatively far away and ordered something. Jan came in and sat with George and his second in command.

Sitting across the room was Bart Simpson and a couple of other men. While Hap and Charlie joined George and the man with him, I walked over to Bart. I shook his hand and told him it had been a long time. Bart and the other two men were wearing their colors but the vests were turned inside out so not to make people nervous.

Bart motioned for me to lean over and whispered, "These guys want out too. Can you help us?"

I told the three men, "Come join us, and if you tell these men the truth, I guarantee we will help you."

The three men exchanged looks with each other and at the other table before moving with me.

I made some cursory introductions before George looked at the three men. "I understand you three don't want to be a part of something you feel is going to be trouble for you. I recognize each of you from recent file photos of your club. The first thing you're going to have to know is that I know each of you have dealt and used drugs to some degree. I can't prove you were dealing, but I'm sure you know what I mean. You guys can prove that you're not using with a simple test, but according to Hap here, Bart has been passing regular random tests. How about you other guys?"