Chapter 31

Chuck

Lisa and I were having fun doing what we liked to do when we were relaxing. We were both sitting on a little raised stage at the bottom of what was like a theater in the round. The platform had a baby grand with a bench and two chairs, with Lisa and me sitting on them. An interesting part of this is that there was absolutely no sound system. If you were looking for un-plugged, this was the ultimate. The acoustics in the theater had been designed so that what was played on the little stage filled the stepped up dining area perfectly. An architect earned his wages on this one. Sue's Blues dinner theater had multiple levels of tables. Each level only had one row of tables circling the stage. As the levels got higher, there were more tables as the circle became larger. The step up to each level curved in toward the center stage in a parabolic arc, which we were told was the secret of the great acoustics in ancient Greek theaters that could seat thousands outdoors with the back row audience still able to hear a pin drop on stage.

Lisa and I had our acoustic guitars and were alternately playing a melody for eight to sixteen bars, then swapping with each other to the backup rhythm for another eight to sixteen. We decided to meander. By that, I mean that we would play something we liked and it led to the next thing one of us liked and so on. We were doing a combination of soft blues and jazz, with some gentle show tunes mixed in. We were going to do this with the piano, but we liked the idea of gentle guitars better.

I know we were supposed to be given a break once an hour, but we played non-stop for two and a half hours. When one of the horn players came out and said for us to take a break, we were surprised to see him sit down at the baby grand to serenade the diners.

As we walked away from the little raised platform, there was an unusually loud applause for lounge music. Lisa and I were both pleased to be appreciated.

As we walked into the musicians ready room or 'green room', all of Pop's and Rags' men were ragging on their leaders for keeping Lisa and me out so long. You would have thought they had been torturing us.

We had a small dinner. About a half-sized piece of meat, with a half of a baked potato each, alongside some buttered green beans. This was nice, not overfilling. We each snuck in a good scotch on the rocks with some water on the side. We noticed that none of the others were drinking.

Rags came over and sat with us to tell us what they were planning. "We'll do a set of six of your stuff before the magic show, to let all of the diners hear this side of the joint cranking up. The sleight of hand show will last about thirty to forty-five minutes before we go back on. Merlin don't need no back up music, so we'll come back in here for a soft drink or something. When the main magic show is over, we'll let the other magicians mesmerize the audience for about ten minutes, then we'll begin sneaking in some soft blues stuff until we build up to some get down and dirty. I'm feelin' like some good blues tonight, and I knows youse two are gonna give us some good licks."

Pop's added, "I want you to swap around with Rags on lead and bass. Both of you can swap around with Lisa. We'll practice some more stuff, but tonight we'll build from some gentle to some kick ass midnight brass shit that will rattle the walls. Lisa, we're going to do those vocals Chuck wrote that we've practiced, especially that duet you two do. Your backup vocals will be us. We're used to doubling the chorus with a singer. Are you two ready for your debut?"

Lisa and I had enjoyed another short Dewar's and were relaxed, but ready.

Lisa leaned over to me. "This is different from what we've been doing lately, isn't it? We'd better look out, though, as I'm sure I saw Kenny's axe on a stand in the back, and there are a couple of extra keyboards there, along with a bunch of microphones. I think they are going to slip in on us. What do you want to bet it's when we're doing some of your hard stuff?"

Oh shit, was I ready for a real kick ass show? I thought the little party we put on at the patio was cute and would give Kenny all the time he needed to let off steam. He has been quiet lately, with only an occasional major hint at some studio and tour time. I'm not doing any tours for a while. I have some kids to play with and enough projects underway to keep four men busy.

We were sitting behind the curtains at the back of the stage, ready to begin playing. We watched the last of Merlin, Missy, and Mercy performing their mentalist act. Funny though, I kept hearing Mercy and Missy in my head, they kept telling me that Lisa and I were going to have a ton of fun tonight. I hoped so.

It felt good when Pops brought us up in a gentle slow blues piece that didn't detract from the magicians roaming around the audience. Lisa played some good riffs first, then I had a turn; the hair was up on my arms. We sounded exceptional tonight. The third piece in was our second joint vocal and it was a killer. We followed that with Lisa doing an Eva Cassidy imitation to calm the place.

However, from there it was balls to the wall. We built up to some dangerous dB levels that became hotter as the entire Blues Expedition joined us. We went through some of theirs, some of mine, some Santana, and some from a variety of blues performers that we enjoyed.

A little after midnight, the Sue's Blues manager was trying to get us to wind it down. His staff was already on overtime, and those not into the music wanted to go home. The problem was that the audience that had to be near capacity didn't want us to quit. They knew when they were getting something special.

The manager finally came on stage and grabbed a microphone, "Ladies and Gentlemen, these guys are getting weary and need to shut it down. I'll do my best to see if we can do this again on a weekend when we stay open until one or later. Thank you for your patronage and please come back to dine with us. Good night."

The guy turned and frowned at all of us, as we brought a sweet sounding piece to a close. There were high fives all over the stage as we were still wound up. Rags said, "Now we need an after-hours joint to keep on playing. Damn, we were good tonight."

The Blues Expedition guy, Kenny, told Lisa and me that if we were going to begin doing shows again, he wanted to make some tour dates. He says the agent was panting in his office to begin making some bookings.

When Lisa asked, "Isn't all the music you have recorded good enough? You have to have cuts for releases for over a year."

Kenny looked sheepish, "We do, but we need to be out showing off all of our new stuff. You two made an impression on our followers and gave the group another sound dimension. All of us love to play with you two and want to do it more. When can we really do some studio time?"

Lisa told Kenny, "We're going to set up a couple of the girls to keep track of open times for us. Let's book two days straight to work on studio stuff, and if you have a single tour event that you really want us to do, plan one for this coming month. Make it a single concert, no two and three concert series, just one night."

Kenny moaned, "You guys know our style. We give people more than any other group around. When people want to come to our appearances, if they can't get in the first night, they can often get in the next. We're generous, and besides, we do make good money on concerts."

I had to laugh, "Kenny, Kenny, don't you ever consider how much it costs you for all the roadies, transportation, the venue, the security, etc, etc, etc? I'll bet you don't make nearly what you think. Just look at your stage and the video system you have. That's a million dollars' worth of equipment. You should spend some time with your accountant, Kenny."

"Oh, Chuck, I know it costs a fortune for us to do a show, but we do make good money and every time we do a show, our record, or rather, CD and iTunes sales go nuts. Besides, we don't play for the money, Man, we play to entertain."

Lisa and I had our guitars put in their cases when she said to Rags, "How about practicing a couple of hours after lunch tomorrow. We'll work with you here the rest of the week, which is tomorrow night, then we'll see. We don't want to take away from your music either."

Rags grabbed me and hugged me. It was a bone crusher, "Man, Chuck, don't you know you are like family. You're my kin, my brother, like in sibling. All of us feel that way. The way you took us in and have us making music the way it should be done is wonderful. Pops and I even have real CDs on the market that are selling, and it's all because of you. Do what you have to do, my man. Play with us when you can, but know when we play, it's all of our music."

All of us went back home, as the patio was long since shutdown for the night. Lisa and I had another drink to slow us down, then snuck into her little room for some heavy duty humpin' and bumpin'. We were into some serious stuff when Tina came in, still wearing her scrubs and stripped to join us. By the time we were done, the room smelled delicious. We three found room in one of the big beds and were out.

Steve

Wow, it's already past six AM and I'm still not functioning. I guess I got worn out worrying about everyone. I need to get up and talk to my morning coffee girlfriend so she knows I'm okay.

I did my triple S in record time and only heard groans of "I'm not getting up yet" from the girls in bed. Mickey's and Gio's little ones were still snoozing, and didn't act like they were ready for the day either. Both were probably up with the babies during the night, so both new moms and babies would sleep a while longer.

Glenda and I were drinking our first cup of coffee when Chuck and his family came in the door. I was confused as I thought Chuck and Lisa had played at Sue's club last night. It apparently doesn't wear everyone out.

There were a lot of happy faces as the women put the babies in the living room and began making breakfast. Oh yeah, it was Saturday. I turned to Glenda. "Are you and me kicked out of the kitchen on Saturdays now?"

Glenda laughed. "Naw, the girls wanted to do something special this morning. That whole bunch is becoming very domesticated. They are all busy with their babies, taking care of the house, and worrying about Chuck and Lisa. You would think they would be a lot quieter, but they're not. They are full of energy, ready to get going."

Chuck had sat down with us and was drinking his coffee when he asked, "Is DeDe's school going to need instructors this morning or are we good to have some of Tiny's delicious concoction this morning?"

I told Chuck, "Have some and bring me one. You and I have a few things to go over this morning. Get us each one of Tiny's treats and come sit. We'll talk."

Ben staggered from the house after staying the night with Beth. He came over with a cup of coffee and sat, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. I told him, "Look around, Ben. Look at all of that female flesh showing off this morning. If that doesn't wake you up, you're dead."

Lisa laughed and told us, "I forgot to wear the required uniform this morning. I was wondering why the Funny Five were being exhibitionists."

Chuck came back with a bunch of drinks and set them on the table. As he sat down, he invited, "Okay, tell me what we've bought. When you open a conversation like that, we own something new."

I looked at Ben. "Do you want to tell him, or do you want me to give it a shot?"

At that moment, someone laughingly said, "Good morning all of you wonderful people. Check out this nightie and tell me if Jim doesn't have the sexiest looking toy around." Fran was whirling, showing off all of what she was. Jim was standing nearby, blushing and gawking at the same time. Sue was standing next to him with her balloons leading the way, capturing Jim's attention.

Fran saw Jim doing a triple check around the patio and asked him, "Should I line 'em up so you can do 'em all, Honey? There are a couple here I'm good for, too. Who is this cutie with the short hair and sexy ladies at his side?"

Chuck was about to laugh himself off his chair, so I stood. "Fran, Jim, meet our other partner, Chuck Johnson. The lady with him is Lisa Johnson, not wife yet, but best buddies. The lady on the other side of him is another of his ladies in waiting, my niece, Tina. Chuck, this is Jim and Fran Fisher. Jim is the plant manager of our new holding, and Fran is his lovely wife."

Jim and Chuck shook hands, but Fran was rubbing all over Lisa, followed by Chuck, then Tina. I thought Jim was going to have a coronary from Fran's exhibitionism. Jim and Fran sat with us and each took one of the Bloody Marys.

I began, "Chuck, Tiny and Henry became concerned when some of our older neighbors out here, as well as a couple with that terrible 'C' disease, couldn't get some of the chemotherapy medication their doctors wanted them to take. It seems that manufacturers have been cutting back on medications that are needed out there, but those medications are not as profitable as their newer high profile stuff. One pharmaceutical company recently shutdown a very successful plant here in Tampa because it was only producing the lesser priced products. Ben bought the plant for us and found Jim, the former successful manager, and Tiny and Henry are working with Jim to reopen the local plant."

Chuck sat back, took a gulp of his drink before commenting, "What the heck. I guess I need to leave every once in a while so you guys can buy something worthwhile. Ben, do I have enough capital here in the states to do this deal, and still have some operating cash for it, as well?"

Ben was watching Chuck to make sure he hadn't overstepped his authority with Chuck's money. "More than enough, Chuck, you don't need any of your debit card money or any offshore cash. This isn't a throwaway deal, Chuck. This plant made good money before it was closed, and I'm sure will make even more in the future with Jim running it. We'll expand production of the necessary products, and add on other medications that are being discontinued or slowed in production. We'll refill the pipeline and figure out a way to support the less fortunate and old folks that have a tough time paying for what they need. Steve, Sue, and I are in this with you. You are the majority owner, but this won't be for write-off purposes; this is an investment."

I could see Chuck's eyes almost glaze over as he listened to so much, so fast. I told him, "You don't have to do anything with the project right now, except to give them plenty of attaboys as they get the plant operating."

Chuck said, "I'm really proud of you, Ben. You have invested in something that is totally to help others. This is really good."

Henry explained to Chuck, "If we can make the existing plant sing the way it should, we'll build a second one out here. We can really do a job for the industry. Instead of shortages, we'll fill up the pharmacists' shelves with our generics. Just like anything S&S, or now CS&S, does, we go into business each day with the idea of perfection. The added desire to help our fellow man makes it even better."

Chuck looked at me. "Another plant out here, huh? When are you going to run out of land? I think you better find out who owns that land on the other side of the motocross track."

Ben was almost giggling, "Ah, Chuck, ah, you do. We bought that land when it came on the market since you needed an investment at the time, and I knew Steve and Sue would eventually use it. Your agreement to buy the property included a method for Steve and Sue to buy into joint ownership as the property is needed. You see, I'm watching out for you. If you want to build on to your compound, you now own the land to do it."

Chuck was sipping an empty glass and laughing. He looked at me. "Never a dull moment, huh?"

Chuck sat up straight and stretched a little. "And what else is going on? Does DeDe need instructors this morning? If so, that's too bad, Lisa and I just disqualified ourselves for a few hours."

I told him, "No need for more instructors this morning. The new 737 jockeys are having fun giving lessons in basic and instrument flying. You'll have to visit with everyone out there for a little while, and when you and I have some time, I need to go over Wes' stuff with you. He has some questions for us."

I spent the rest of the morning with the kids at the motocross track, then listened to some of them at their guitar lessons. I wasn't surprised to find out that Bonita was actually supervising lessons for the kids, as she said she knew what they needed better than anyone. The youngest of that group of kids was a tyrant when it came to music.

Chuck

When there was a break, I told Lisa to come with me. I got Ace's attention and brought him along. After riding to the house in a cart, we took my car down to the Federal building and went to the range. Ace was impressed and did a decent job firing. Jan was practicing for a coming meet and grinned at me between rapid fires.

Lisa and I went through about a hundred rounds to make sure our accuracy was remaining where it should be. We were practicing at the maximum distances to make sure we could still shoot accurately. Ace finished his textbook twenty-five rounds on up to the twenty-five yard range and was lounging in the range officer's office. I went out and pulled another hundred rounds and motioned for Ace. "Go through these at ten yard increments for every ten rounds. Any distance you don't score all ten in the paint, stay with it until you can do ten in the paint. I want you to be proficient all the way to seventy yards. In time, I want you to practice up to be accurate up to a hundred, so start at twenty and work up."

I think he was a little put off, but he needed to be as accurate as Lisa and me. If we were going to have him back us up, we had to train him to do it. I think he spent too much time listening to some instructors who have never been in the field. You don't fire for effect, you fire for affect.

Ace eventually came to my firing position and asked, "Are you really accurate with a handgun at a hundred yards? That's impossible, isn't it?"

I told Ace, "Go ask Cap to set up the distance markers for this station at a hundred. I want a silhouette and standard sixteen inch target."

I could see Ace's attitude of 'yeah, sure', written all over his face. The target lights went out and a silhouette appeared at what looked like way down there. I had loaded three magazines and stood ready. Cap called over the PA, "Ready?"

The bell rang when I nodded. I picked up my Glock, slid a magazine in and chambered a round as I brought it up on target. The first ten rounds were all in the center mass paint. The second ten round magazine was in the head, and the third magazine was all in the bull's-eye of the sixteen inch target. I waved at Cap to reel the targets in.

Ace had been watching through a spotter's scope, his mouth dropped during the first magazine, and it got worse while I proceeded through the third. When the targets came up and I unclipped them, I said, "This was indoors and not what life is really like. You need to be able to do this under fire with someone who has a rifle and all you have is your sidearm. You need to learn this so it becomes second nature if you want to live to be thirty. You have volunteered and are being groomed for some tough duty, Ace. You're a good agent, get better. Be a great agent."

Ace was quiet as we cleaned our weapons and reloaded with field loads. I had been showing off and knew I was lucky to have been as accurate as I demonstrated. I usually can't hit thirty for thirty like that at a hundred, but Ace didn't have to know that.

At the patio, Lisa and I played with the babies and ate lunch before we went home to the studio for practice with Rags, Pop and the guys. While we were practicing, Elmer came in and was tinkering around in the booth. I saw that Aunt Etta and Julie were in there too, and wondered what they were up to. That's when I noticed that both ladies were wearing headphones and had their eyes closed. Elmer was playing something for the ladies.

When we had a solid sixty five minutes of music for tonight, we wrapped up practice and I went into the booth. Elmer held his finger up and offered us headsets.

We were listening to a couple of familiar voices that I didn't immediately recognize. You could tell they were young, but had a mature tone to them. Their backup guitars were adequate, but not that good. The two who were singing were very good. Lisa was smiling as these were songs she sang often, more Eva Cassidy tunes.

When the music stopped and we put the headphones down, Elmer said to me, "The first half of the CD is better than the last half. They had not practiced the last pieces much. The first half was after listening to what I recorded of you guys, Lisa and Chuck. I think those two will be a find."

I was about to ask who they were, when I realized who it was and said aloud, "That's Virginia and Marion."

Aunt Etta told me, "That's them. When they listen to someone singing and like it, they listen to it over and over again until they have the words down. They begin playing their ancient guitars and you just heard my babies making some good music."

I asked Elmer, "Have they played with Bonita much?"

"They don't want Bonita to know they can sing yet. They made me promise that I would not let on that they were very good until they felt they could impress Bonita."

Lisa told all of us, "I need to talk to those girls. The three of us can do some nice stuff together. I like what I heard and can't wait to listen to the rest of it."

Elmer had been pushing buttons and pushed one more to pop a CD out that he handed to Lisa and me. "Take this with you and listen to it. The first half is really killer."

As show time at Sue's Blues came closer, Lisa and I were mentally getting into the mood. We were ready to do a dinner set, but Pops said that others would take an hour each to give the audience more variety.

Our intro set for the after dinner music was gentle jazz that built to some really hot blues. We had practiced some features using the two saxes and emphasizing that sound. That works fine with the jazz, but as soon as the blues pick the tempo up, they have to sync with the two horns and trombone.

The after magic show music was all good blues. We would play and sing a ballad about every fifth piece to give the audience a change of pace. The place had great acoustics and Elmer was a wizard with sound.

We finished about one thirty, and as usual, a bunch of musicians wanted to play some more. Pop, Rags, and their group took off for an after hours place that featured an all-night jam session. They wanted us to come, but I told them I would rather sleep at night and be up during the day.

We really didn't get a whole night's sleep, but we wanted to get some things done while we had a chance. We were up and at the patio early for coffee only. John came in with two of his senior 737 guys and introduced them. "Chuck and Lisa, these are Tom Lambert and Greg Thompson. They are both ex-military jockeys that turned civilian. They have more hours in 737s than any of our other men. Both are experienced instructors as you asked. They know you both were trained on the 737s about five months ago, so tell them what you want."

I didn't get a chance to open my mouth before Lisa started talking, "Chuck and I have been so busy that we have not flown any charters, nor have we had any additional time in the 737. We're going to fly with you two today until we're too tired to continue. We want to switch instructors at lunch time, and we want you both to be tough with us. We need to be the best we can be. How about it? Want to teach for a day?"

Both men were smiling, but it was Tom Lambert that said, "We've both watched you come in and out with your Citation, at least one Lear, and a couple of G-5s. Why would you think you wouldn't be proficient in a 737?"

I told them, "The 737 is a lot bigger aircraft and has some unique handling issues we need to be aware of and practice. One of the training exercises we want to work on today is emergency procedures. The school barely covered emergencies. Lisa and I have been flying long enough to know that emergencies happen. We want to be proficient flying a 737 and reacting instinctively to a problem should it occur. I've checked and both of you have experienced more than one emergency in your many years of flying the 737. Teach us to be as prepared if we get into trouble."

Tom suggested that we travel to St. Louis to use a simulator that was set up especially for emergencies. He said it would be worth the trip and a hell of lot cheaper than live instruction.

Greg went for a couple of breakfast sandwiches and handed one to Tom. "Eat up, Tom, and let's go flying. If this guy is willing to pop for what it cost to fly two of those birds all day, we had better work hard giving him his money's worth."

Tom made the observation, "You know who Chuck is, right?"

"Okay, this is Chuck Johnson, the Deputy U.S. Marshal and resort developer in Costa Rica," Greg authoritatively said.

"Greg," Tom said with a grin, "He is the 'C' in CS&S. You know why the 'C' is first, don't you? The 'C' owns the most of the joint we work for. You're going to be training the boss."

Greg wasn't startled. "That's cool. The company is such a great place to work at, teaching the boss is a bonus. You can bet they will get the benefit of our experience today."

All of Sunday was realistically hard work. We landed, we took off, we set up instruments, and we learned all sorts of emergency procedures. The big deal was learning what checklist to grab for what emergency. When you were experiencing an emergency, you had your co-pilot grab the correct checklist and begin reading the procedures. By the end of the day, Lisa and I were much more proficient than we had been when we began.

The two men instructing told us they enjoyed working with us and were willing to do more when we wanted additional training.

As we went home, Lisa said, "Now I feel like we can put our family on one of those monsters and take them almost anywhere. If we go to Hawaii like you were thinking, we'll need another set of pilots. I'll bet those two guys would love to come."

"I'll have to check to see if they have families. If so, their wives and any kids would have to come with us. At least the converted 737 has enough room. You know, we need to look into a re-design so we have an area for bassinettes for the babies. Something anchored and that we can use as a form of seat belt for them instead of using a car seat." I thought about that a little, then added as we would have them anyway, "Since we'll have to have car seats when we land, we could put them into car seats for takeoff and landings, and put them into the bassinettes for the ride."

Lisa reminded me, "You know that if you decide to do this, Steve and family are going to want to go along. We may be just taking our family for a trip down to Costa Rica, but we'll be taking everyone to Hawaii."

"You're right, Lisa; I knew that, but really hadn't considered it. We'll have to see what kind of seating arrangement we'll need."

At home, we cleaned up and went to the patio. Sue's Blues didn't have a magic show, and had an alternate band tonight. Lisa went off with the ladies, and I joined Steve, Tiny, Henry, and Abe. While I was working on a Beefeaters, Abe said to me, "I'm told you went to some kind of welding school before you went into the service. Is that right?"

"Yes Sir, I did, but my mom and dad wanted me to go into the military before I had any actual experience."

Abe continued, "You know that's how Steve started up his businesses here. He did some welding for one guy, then more for another, until he expanded and was welding racing frames by the dozens."

"I've heard that story, Abe. I think I'm too old to go back and start a welding company."

Abe became defensive. "That's not what I meant. What I was getting at is that you and Steve have become great business partners even though you came from two different directions. I think it is really neat that you both were welders, you both were injured Marines, and you both stumbled onto something you wanted to do.

"Chuck, what I would like is for you to stop by the R&D center to look at a couple of items the folks there are working on. You might be able to give us another slant on things that could help us around the bend. We all have different experiences, that when combined, can create the unimaginable. How about stopping in? Call me first so I can give you a guided tour."

"I'll try to do that tomorrow, Abe. I'm not planning on any of my official activities for a while. I want to concentrate on getting my life and projects in order before I get involved in any more rough situations."

I was beginning to relax in my office at the house, when Ace came in. "Hey, Ace, what are you up to?"

"Chuck, I know I'm supposed to lay low, but I'm bored out of my mind. I don't play music like you, and I don't have a couple of dozen projects to keep me busy. Help me, Chuck, I need to do something."