Chapter 26

The excitement was building when we were in the car. I was eager to see my sister and brother and their kids, as I'm sure Mom was, too. The difference this time was we were bringing another Grayson to the party. Little John was the featured attraction, and I know that I was proud and all you had to do is look at Millie and you could tell how proud she was.

Mom was kind of nuts over my getting married and now becoming a dad. I think she had written me off a long time ago, so her motherly instincts took over when I got married. Millie didn't have a mom and needed one. When we brought Marita into the family, we had a young lady who needed to have some mothering once again. Mom was right there, so she became the de facto mom to the two ladies.

Thinking about this was almost amusing, as Mom had become the matriarchal figure for the Latinos and more recently, to all of the road guys. Mom was the lady, the queen, the one to listen to and who took the time to listen to everyone, and the one to receive some mothering from.

It had been decided that we would have dinner at Sissy's house the first night. Since the weather was still frigid, everything would happen indoors.

My sister's home was really good sized, but it was big because she had finished her full basement into another living room. She was smart as it let the kids have a king-size romper room with TV, video games, game tables, and even their own mini-fridge for drinks. My brother's house was about the same, so when we arrived, all four of the kids were in Sissy's basement doing what kids do.

Sissy and my sister-in-law gave us a very warm welcome and couldn't get over how much John had grown. He was all smiles and giggles as he received all of the attention. The activity, of course, stimulated him into giving us a diaper full of smelly excrement. I wasn't paying attention when he was being handed around until he was in my hands and Millie sweetly asked if I would mind changing him. What a scam.

I found the diaper bag and laid John on the floor. The ladies were aghast that I would put our kid on the floor to change his diaper. Well, no one pointed out a changing table or somewhere I didn't think my mini-rug rat would roll off of. I had my kid cleaned and diapered in a minute. It's a good thing I did it right as I had five women standing over me to give directions. I had to choke the laughter back.

When I picked John up, I whispered in his ear loud enough for all to hear, "You and me, Bud; we're going to show these babes who's boss." Little John actually giggled. I must have tickled his ear.

Now that the baby was clean, he once again became the focal point. I slid around the group into the kitchen, and found a beer in the fridge. I also saw a Hooter's box that had some left over chicken wings, so I heated them up. At least they were a little spicy.

Knowing the kids were all downstairs having fun, I figured I might go join them for a while.

Four kids under twelve hit me full force as soon as I reached the floor of the basement. They were getting big, so it was everything I could do to hold four of them up at the same time. We wrestled and hugged for a minute until they decided to get me involved in a game that was like a futuristic war. The kids were much better at it than I was, and I soon had to give my console up to another so that all four kids were now blasting each other with special ray guns and blast grenades.

I watched until I almost fell asleep, then I advised the busy kids that I was going up to get something to eat and drink.

It was still only four, so it would be an hour and a half to two hours before the guys would get here, so I told the ladies, "I think I'll go down to the sporting goods store and see what kind of hunting stuff they have."

Their only acknowledgement was an air kiss from Millie and Marita.

My first objective was a snack, so I stopped by a Taco Bell for a couple of crunchy tacos. That would tide me over.

The sporting goods store was a big chain located in a separate building in the mall complex, and had just about anything you could want as far as sports is concerned. I spent some time going through their hunting clothes, but didn't find anything that impressed me. Their boots were good, but the ones I was buying at the surplus store were better. What I wanted was a rubberized boot similar to my desert boot. They didn't have any.

Their gun counter was interesting, since they had just about every type of shotgun, rifle, and pistol made. The Mossberg we had at home was a good working gun and handled well. If I was to buy another pump, it would be a Remington, but did I need one? The Browning semi-autos were really interesting. I loved the fact you could have six rounds in the gun at the same time.

The salesman behind the counter knew his guns and showed me how this Browning could handle the three and half inch shells all the way up to a slug with no problem. He did offer a barrel especially made for slugs to shoot more accurately at a longer distance. The rifled barrel would be an asset with a magnum slug at a hundred yards. I sort of grinned as I indulged myself and bought a very expensive shotgun with an extra barrel.

None of the rifles turned me on, and the pistols I already owned were more than enough to keep me happy. I checked out a .357 revolver with a six inch barrel that would chamber and fire the standard .38 special. I figured that I should teach Millie and Marita how to shoot. That led me to look at another Winchester. Should I get another .30-30, or should I up the bore to a 30.06? There wasn't much difference other than the carrying distance. We didn't use scopes, so a .30-30 with iron sights was probably a better buy and more useful to us. I bought that and a few boxes of shells for the .30-30 as we were low on those. I bought some slugs and a variety of game shells for the shotgun, and then bought five boxes of .38 special rounds for the revolver I decided to get. I had a couple of boxes of .357 rounds at home, so I didn't need any of those.

As I paid for the toys with my debit card, I contemplated whether I should buy a lock for our house door now that I had a baby at home. That was going to take some consideration. Would a locked door invite someone to think there was valuable stuff inside? Of course, as time went on, people would know I wasn't poor and might think I had something worth stealing. Like I said, that was going to take some consideration.

My brother and brother-in-law were just getting home when I got back to the house. After shaking hands and hugging, the guys pulled me into the kitchen where we each had a beer and talked about their jobs for a while. I really wanted to tell them about the treasure, but thought I should just forget it and let that stuff be there for when we needed it.

Their world was made up of offices in high rises, negotiating with other men in high rises next door, across the city, state, or country. Or even across the ocean, since in my brother's case he had a lot of dealings with companies in Europe. My brother-in-law was a numbers guy for an investment fund. He said his job was boring, but he was being bombarded with federal people lately, making sure the books were accurate.

My claim to fame was the new wine and grappa. I had brought a couple bottles of each. We each had a taste of the grappa and promised ourselves more after supper.

Bill, my brother-in-law, said that he was originally almost upset because we didn't want to stay in either Frank's or his house. After the two couples had discussed it, they agreed that we would probably be more comfortable in a hotel with the baby.

When the women kicked us out of the kitchen so they could put supper together, we went into the living room and continued our bullshitting there. I told the guys that I had bought a new Browning semi-automatic shotgun. They were fascinated and both wished that they could take time to hunt. Bill admitted that he had been a city boy and had never been hunting. Frank immediately told him that he was going to have to learn and he would teach him. Plans were immediately begun to get Bill down to the farm for some rabbit hunting. You could tell Bill was eager to try, but apprehensive about using a gun. That was something else that Frank picked up on, and an excursion to a shooting range was planned.

That's when I almost rolled over on the floor, because Bill admitted that Sissy went to the range about once a month with her girlfriends and Frank's wife. Sissy had tried to get him to take some shooting lessons, but he didn't think he would ever need a gun or to know how to shoot.

Frank told him, "The way things are out there today, I'm even thinking of applying for a concealed carry permit. A couple of people have been robbed right in our parking garage. A woman was raped there when she left work late just last week. I'll bet she's taking gun lessons now."

I told the two men, "Mom and I applied for our concealed permits, but it's legal to have a piece in the car glove compartment. It's also legal to have a rifle or shotgun in a gun rack in your truck. I'm not sure if they are allowed to be loaded, but they probably are, since in Kentucky we are allowed to wear a loaded pistol without a permit as long as it's not concealed. Mom keeps the Beretta I got her in her car, and Frank will tell you, she can shoot."

Bill said, "I suppose you two are right and I do need to learn to defend my family and myself. Take me to the range, Frank, and I'll start learning. I'll take that gun owner safety course, then go buy a gun and learn how to use it. If I can shoot pool and play golf, I should be able to learn how to shoot a gun."

Frank began laughing, "Yeah, you shoot pool, all right. I slaughter you every time we play. We can show Mike how good we are tomorrow. He always used to beat me, but I doubt he's played much for a long time. Sissy can probably still beat him. Hell, I always have trouble beating her."

When supper was called, we sat at a fancy table in the dining room. Sissy told Mom, "If it wasn't for Bill thinking that we need to have a formal dining room, this room would house a very nice pool table. I heard you guys talking pool and have been thinking of getting one for the basement like Frank has. There's enough room down there and the kids would enjoy it as well."

There were some remarks like, "Yeah, get a pool table. We know how to use it now. Come on, Dad, get one so you can beat Uncle Frank."

Frank softly said, "And his wife."

Mom glowed, having all of her kids and grandkids together. She made an announcement. "Sissy and Frank, I want you guys to know that I'm going to adopt Marita. Mike and Millie were going to do that, but Marita has become like one of you. I'm having a great time teaching both Millie and Marita how to cook and do various things women do. Millie really sews well and crochets and knits up a storm. She's been crocheting a lot lately and sells fancy little doilies at the market for five and ten dollars each."

Millie interrupted, "I brought each of you ladies a few. I thought you might like them."

"See," Mom continued, "Millie is just like or is one of us. It's almost like Mike married his sister. I have another surprise for the two families, but we'll talk about that after supper. The one thing I want to know though, is that if Mike built a couple of more rooms onto his house, would you all come at once? I'd love to have you down so you could enjoy helping with the planting and during harvest in the fall. It's really busy in the fall, but a lot of fun."

Sissy was first to talk, "You don't need more room; there's enough room for all of us there now. The kids can sleep on the floor with the dogs in front of the fireplace. They would love that."

Bill looked sideways at his wife. "Don't those dogs have fleas and such?"

I laughed, "They might, Bill, but I put Advantage on them every month and give them a flea bath about once a month as well. The vet comes by and they get heartworm shots so that I don't have to worry about those. You might be surprised how clean the dogs are unless they find something dead and roll around on it. I think they are getting smart though, since they seem to know that they get a bath when they show up smelling like that."

Mom said, "Spook came back smelling really bad, and when I went out he went right to the hose by the pump house. He's a smart dog."

After a delicious meal, and a quick cleanup, the adults sat in the living room. Mom took her purse, then sat with Sissy on one side, and Frank on the other.

Mom sat between her two oldest kids and held their hands. She began, "I know you kids have been struggling a little this last couple of years since the girls lost their jobs. I understand Shirley is making a couple of dollars doing something on the computer at home."

Sissy said, "I'm starting the same thing, Mom. It won't make us rich, but it should replace most of what we were making before. At least we get to be home for the kids."

Mom continued, "That's good that you two have something that will bring in some extra money. That's what I want to talk to you about. Since I've moved out to Mike's, I haven't spent the first dollar of my pension money. I've rented the place out in the over fifty-five community here and that's bringing in some money, too. Mike, Millie, and Marita want me to stay up on the mountain, and right now I want to do that. I really love it up there and it has made me feel young again. That means that I don't need some of the cash I have right now. I'm giving each of the families some money so you can catch up on the bills you talk about and hope you stop using the credit cards to make ends meet. Talk to me privately another day if you think you should, but enjoy what I give as something to make your life easier."

Frank immediately said, "We can't take money from you, Mom. That's money from the farm and what you and dad worked for all your life. That's your money to enjoy your life wherever you live. That you're staying up at Mike's right now is nice, but you may get tired of the cold in the winter and the backbreaking work in the summer. We can't take money from you, Mom."

Mom smiled, "You can and you will. Listen once again, this is money that I haven't needed because I've been living with Mike and I've been renting out my place up here. If you don't use it to clear up bills, put it in the kids' college fund. This is to make your lives more enjoyable."

With a slick move, Mom pulled the two checks from her purse and laid one in each of their hands. Sissy's eyes got real wide and her mouth opened, "Oh, Mom, this is so much. You're right, though; it will pay off what we went short before we learned how to live on less." Sissy just held the check out to Bill and told him, "Look at that; isn't that almost exactly what we were talking about?"

Bill was as surprised as Sissy when he looked at the check. He looked at Mom and smiled, mouthing "Thank you."

Frank looked at the check, then at Shirley. She was smiling at Frank and said, "Are you too proud to admit we have the same kind of problems? Since I lost my job, it took us a year to figure out how to live on just your salary. Thank God you have been able to keep your job. Thanks, Mom, you've always treated me like I was one of yours to the point that I've accused Frank of incest with his sister – which would be me."

Mom smiled and told all of us, "Doing things like this makes me so happy. Always remember that your dad and I built and worked that farm for you kids. Sure, we always thought it would take care of us in our old age, but I ain't old yet. I'm still enjoying life and enjoying it on the farm."

Mom received hugs and kisses from all four of the adults.

Sissy looked at me and said, "Mom didn't give you anything, did she?"

I shook my head no.

"You were always the one that had an extra nickel or quarter when we went to town. You would give Frank or me what we needed to get that something special we wanted. Is this from you or Mom?"

"It's from Mom. I should probably be paying her a salary, but she does get a bed and breakfast."

Mom laughed, "That's breakfast after milking the cows and gathering eggs."

That lightened the mood as the checks disappeared into pockets. I could see some strain leave Sissy's face as she pocketed her check.

I decided to make an offer, "You know that I'm going to have another big garden this next year and will be raising a lot of beef. How about you guys help a little during the summer? The guys will have to work up here, but the rest of you can help with the garden and vineyards and stay with us on the farm. "For that, we'll make sure your pantry is full of canned vegetables and your freezers are full of beef. I'll bet that will help the budgets for six to nine months."

There was a cloud that passed over Bill's face at first, but he thought of it a minute and said, "You know what? The kids would probably enjoy the summer on the farm a hell of lot more than going to a park day camp up here. None of the kids are into summer sports, so why not? I know what you want, Sissy; how about you, Shirley?"

"I'm a city girl, but I will try a summer on your mountain, Mike." Shirley said this almost as if she was still thinking it through. "If this helps the kids understand they have to work for a living, then it's the best thing Frank and I can give them. For food for the winter and spring, I'm good with that. That's a lot of money. Count me in. I may not be a good farm girl, but I can learn."

I think my brother was going to get on his knees and propose to Shirley all over again. It was easy to see how watery his eyes were. He had finally seen the recognition in his wife for the life of his youth.

Bill asked of Frank, "What do you say we schedule our vacations when it's final harvest time for the grapes and apples? I think that's when Mike needs the most help. We might not be much help, but we can be a part of it. Want to try?"

Frank was all smiles, "You bet, Bro, we're going to be an asset to baby brother. Damn, I'm already excited about it."

The happiest person in the room was Mom. We talked about what each of the adults could do this coming season. I did mention that it was not all work and no play, as I'm sure the folks at the Starlight would let the kids come down to play in the pool. I was sure I could make that deal.

It was soon time to get the kids home for bed on a school night, and for the adults to get a good night's sleep for the men to go to work in the morning. Millie had been nursing the lazy sucking John, but received a lot of attention from the two adults and two children leaving.

Mom told Sissy, "It's time to let you guys get to bed. Thank you for the great supper. We'll call and meet you two ladies of leisure at the mall. I'm sure we can find something for my grandkids. Come on, Mike, Millie, and Marita -- oh my God, we are the '3M company', ha, ha, ha, ha -- it's time to let these folks relax after having company."

Sissy was all over Mom for her saying that she was company. After hugs, kisses, and handshakes, we went to the hotel.

Our palatial suite was two bedrooms and a sitting room. The only addition was the bassinet in the bedroom. John was cool with a cuddle before bed as we all crashed.

You can take a farmer out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the farmer. I was up at five, pacing. I couldn't go do any chores. I didn't have to scoop ashes from the fireplaces or cow poop in the milking parlor. The dogs didn't need to be let out. Shit, what was I supposed to do?

I looked in on Mom and she was restless. In the other bedroom, Millie was stirring and Marita was on her back, doing some fine snoring. Might as well shave and shower. This was nuts, how do people live without having things to do?

I was in the shower when Millie came in to hug and get wet with me. That didn't stop Marita, who came in and hugged both of us, and ignored my morning interest in nude women. Millie looked at me and shrugged, mouthing, "Sorry," as we washed. I spent some time giving both of the women a thorough head cleaning. I would have made a chimpanzee proud the way I picked through Millie's and Marita's hair.

We were drying off in the room when Mom walked in with a towel around her body and one on her hair. "Do you mean that you get to shower naked with my son? Damn, that's one of my fantasies and this interloper is already doing it. Did he do anything else?"

Marita told Mom in a totally innocent manner, "No, Ma'am, he doesn't show that kind of interest in me. It is disappointing, but since his wife is with him, I doubt if a girl like me is competition."

If I wouldn't have embarrassed Marita, I would have been rolling on the floor. Mom gave me silly grin and quickly turned her back, as I was still standing there trying to hide my front while drying off.

Millie gave me a quick hug and tugged at my appendage, "Maybe I should send you back in the shower with your mother and Marita?"

I pinched the wicked mother of my child on the butt. She jumped and went to change and feed John.

Mom found the complimentary coffee and fixed us some. As we had coffee and John had titty milk, we talked about how last night had been a success all around. Mom thanked me for having given the kids the money. I told her it was her fault that it wasn't more. All of our stomachs were growling, so with John sort of satisfied, we went to the hotel breakfast area.

It's funny how spoiled you get at home. We ate scrambled eggs, bacon, tough sausage, cold toast, with more milk and coffee. The coffee was weak, the milk wasn't very rich, and the bacon sucked, just plain sucked. We were used to homegrown, home-smoked thick bacon that had a flavor without all of the greasy taste.

On the other hand, they had a waffle maker that made a fresh waffle from batter in 2½ minutes, so we tried those – not bad – and finished with some slices of melon and grapes. Mom said, "That's what city folks think a breakfast is. See, Son, you were raised to know the difference."

The problem was it was now only seven thirty and what should we do now. Mom said, "Let's run out to my place to see if it's still standing. The couple who rented it will probably be up and will be glad to have us visit for a minute."

Sure enough, the couple was outside when we pulled up. You would have thought we were their close relatives the way they welcomed us. It was then that I recognized why Mom wanted to live with us instead of the cold over fifty-five park. Their kids were nearby, but strangers. Their only friends were others who were as lonely as they were.

We left about nine-thirty and drove toward the area where my siblings lived. Sissy answered when Mom called and said she and Shirley would meet us at the food court at ten.

I don't know about Mom, Millie, and Marita, but I was about to be malled out. The other two young moms wanted a breakfast sandwich before they began, so we sat and had another cup of coffee. The ladies wanted to roam the department stores, and I said I would wander down to Sears and the sporting goods store at the other end of the mall. They would call me when they wanted to meet.

I didn't make it to Sears. I sat on a bench among some real plants and smelled nature for a few minutes. It's amazing how you miss the smell of real plants in such a short period of time. I was able to watch people hurry and scurry along in a rush to buy ... what? Would it be a pair of shoes, a tablecloth for tonight's festivities, something really important?

Finally tired of watching the same expressions on people, I walked into the sporting goods store. They had the same selection of boots, and their gun case was anemic. My gun closet had a better selection.

I went into Sears and looked at their work boots, but didn't find anything I wanted. The tool area was right around the corner, so I looked through their selection. Nothing grabbed me, as they had tools for city people and not necessarily for farmers and working men. They had a deal on combination boxed and open end wrenches as a buy one get one free, so I could get two full sets of wrenches up to an inch for half price, or was it that I bought a set and they gave me another one? Nothing else really grabbed me, so I walked back to the mall.

As I was strolling down the mall, a young lady accosted me, "Hi, Mister. My name's Connie. Are you lonely? I can help with that. Want to come home with me for an hour or so?"

I almost dropped the tools I was carrying. "You can't be serious, can you? You are propositioning me right here in the mall? What time is it, not even noon and you're already working?"

The girl looked frightened, then sad, then indignant, but finally had a look of shame. She began to turn to leave, but a young guy came rushing up and backhanded her hard enough to almost knock her off her feet. "You stupid fucking whore, don't you know how to proposition a john? What the fuck's the matter with you?"

The guy raised his hand to slap her again and I grabbed his hand and bent it around his back. "Hold it right there. If you want to slap her around, you're going to have to do it somewhere else."

The kid struggled, "Who the fuck are you, old man? I'll cut you from your balls to your nose, now let me go."

When the kid's free hand reached for his back pocket, I did a simple leg sweep take down, planting his face into the tile floor of the mall. His forehead hit the tile hard and knocked him silly for long enough that I was able to remove a Buck knife from his rear pocket.

I grabbed his wrist again and was raising him from the floor when I noticed that his nose was bleeding profusely.

Sissy, Shirley, Mom, Millie, and Marita had been close and were rushing to me. Mom could tell the girl that had propositioned me was terrified and took her up the walkway to another bench behind some foliage. Sissy, Shirley, Marita, and Millie with John, were standing there watching when a mall security guard walked up holding his hand on the handle of his sidearm.

"What's going on?" the security guard demanded.

Holding the kid's arm behind him, I gestured toward the knife on the floor and said, "This kid tried to pull that knife on me after he promised to slice me from my balls to my nose. I didn't want that to happen, so you have a kid with his nose on the floor."

The guard didn't know what to do but asked, "Do you want to file charges?"

"Of course I do, call the local cops and get them here before I decide to just break this kid's arm and maybe his neck."

Sissy couldn't stand to be quiet and said, "You better move it or he will. He just got out of the Army after twenty years and is a badass."

That was almost embarrassing. I had been out way over a year.

The guard was now really flustered and used his radio to call the office. The kid kept struggling and telling everyone around him he was going to kill them all for sure, and that cunt was going to suffer like no one has ever suffered.

The guard asked, "What cunt, ah, l mean person, are you talking about?"

"Find the cunt that I sent to whore out to this guy. She'll tell you she's mine and does what I tell her to do."

The guard said, "I don't see another girl except these four right here, and I don't think they would have anything to do with you."

Millie said, "I am this man's wife and the mother of our child. This is my adopted sister, his sister, and sister-in-law. That man has a bad mouth."

The security guard finally took his cuffs out and was just looking at them, so I took them from him and cuffed the punk with the foul mouth. About that time a couple of mall executives and two local police showed up. I had the kid sitting on a bench and the security guard had a wet paper towel wiping his nose.

The lead cop asked, "What's the trouble here?"

I didn't have to answer; the kid did all the talking. "I was bitch slapping my whore and this guy stopped me. I told him I was going to cut him from his balls to his nose and he knocked me down and he may have busted my nose. He wouldn't let me up until this comic keystoner gave him some cuffs. I'm gonna sue everyone of you, then gut this son of a bitch."

The lead cop asked the kid, "Is that all you want to say? Do you maybe want to harm anyone else?"

"You slimy pig motherfucker, get these cuffs off me and I'll show you what a Red Shirt will do. Get out of my turf."

"Aha," the cop said, "A genuine Red Shirt. At least I now understand a little more about what's going on." The police officer looked at me and continued, "Ah, Sir, do you know that you've actually assaulted a real live punk that says he's a Red Shirt? Aren't you afraid?"

I didn't understand and asked, "Is this something I should go into that sporting goods store and get a shotgun for?"

The policeman laughed, "Only if you're afraid of the kindergarten of the kiddy street gangs. Can you tell me what happened?"

I thought to tell a little of the truth, "A young lady was talking to me when this guy comes up and slaps her hard enough that she almost fell. He was about to do it again, but I caught his wrist and pulled it behind him. When he told me he was going to kill me with his knife and reached for his back pocket, I took him down and took his knife away from him. That's the knife by the security guard's feet. You've heard the rest of what this guy has been saying."