Chapter 22

Sure enough, when I joined Steve and Glenda for coffee, Steve told me, "I want you to go in this morning and set your people up for three or four weeks. They can call you on your cell phone if they're stuck, but I want you out of your office for most of a month. You've not missed a day, and the only time you've really taken off has been for flying lessons, and I consider those to be part of your duties. You've used almost every minute of your spare time for more flying lessons and hours, so you've built up a ton of time owed."

While we were having coffee, cute Shawna, with the obnoxious T-shirt, came in with Charlie, her huge husband. He sat with me, sipping his coffee, and said, "I have to show Hank what I want him to do with a frame this morning, then we'll go see a man about a bike. We're going to sign you up for a motorcycle safety course too. I know Doc Crawford, one of the old instructors, and I'll bet he would give you some private instructions if I called in a favor. He's retired anyway, and doesn't have anything to do. We'll get you taught, Sal."

My family all knew that I was apprehensive about getting and riding a motorcycle, but I was being encouraged by all of them, especially the kids.

I moved over to the table that had my five women, two infants, five older girls, and two older boys. That is, if you could call Jeff a 'boy', or Grenaline, Niki, or Donna a 'girl'. Rita's twins were still girls even though they haughtily wore the 'teen' designation. This was my opportunity to play with Deuce and Trey. I think I had more fun when I could lay them on their backs on the floor and play with them, since I could only hold one at a time while they were so small. I could put both in my arms, but I'm too clumsy to do much of that safely.

Everyone had eaten as the clock drew near to seven forty-five; the adults were getting ready to go to work, and the kids had left for school. The twins were a year ahead in school, so they were freshmen in high school, instead of being in eighth grade. Both were being encouraged to take advanced courses, even during their first year. I've watched them do their homework, and they never seem frustrated or in too much of a dilemma as they studied.

I spent the next two hours getting work together that I thought should take my crew of programmers at least three or more weeks to do. One of the projects would take all of them working together at least two weeks to complete, then we would have to shrink it to make it fit in the weapon computer's available memory.

Back on the patio at ten, I checked with the women who watched the boys during the day. The two little ones were asleep, and there was a window up in the corner of the big TV that showed both of them in their beds.

Charlie walked up behind me and said, "Seeing your kid sleeping like that is about the sweetest thing there is, except when you see their mom nursing them. When some of the kids out here were born, there were so many babies at once that the moms fed whichever baby was hungry. I think all the kids were nursed by all four of the mothers at some point during that time. It was a riot to watch the kids grow up and go through their twos and threes."

Charlie made a motion to head out the door as he said, "Okay, Sal; unless you want some more coffee, let's go see a man about a bike."

We drove north from the trailer park and went east on state highway fifty-four. We turned off on old fifty-four and went more to the northeast for a while. Charlie slowed his pickup down and was watching for a turnoff. At a rickety mailbox with a 'No Trespassing' sign nailed to the post, Charlie turned down a rutted tire track driveway.

We came to a rather large old style farm house, with a huge porch all the way around, back behind some trees. Charlie pulled up near one of the outbuildings that wasn't close to the barn and parked. He honked twice and said, "Wait until Duke comes out. He might shoot us if we go wandering around. I don't think he sees all that well anymore."

An old guy came from the house, putting a cap on his head. He walked with a limping shuffle that had Charlie getting out of the truck to go meet him. Charlie waved for me to join them after the two greeted each other. I was glad I had worn Levi's and boots today, as I fit in a little better with Charlie and this old guy.

"Duke, this is Sal Feeny. He works out at the research building in the park. Sal, this is Duke, an ancient biker who's having a hard time saying 'quit'."

I stuck my hand out and waited. Duke looked at my hand, then me, then back at my hand. He finally firmly grasped my hand and gave it a shake. "Good to meetcha, Sal. Charlie says you want to buy a motor. He says you're a real Texan, and ride bulls and horses in rodeos."

"It has been a while since I've done that, Duke. It's something that still gets me excited."

"Motors will do that for you, Sal. Come over to my motorcycle bedroom and I'll show you what I have."

We went into the nearest big metal building that had a garage type rollup door. There were three shiny motorcycles, set up as if on display, when the door came up. One was obviously very old and the other two appeared to be fairly late models. The newer ones were spotless from tire valves up. You could tell the man spenta lot of time caring for them.

Charlie told Duke, "Sal has about the same problem Steve has. He has too many women and would like to get something he can ride two or three of them at the same time. Do you think you could part with the FLHTC with the sidecar?"

"Gotta part with them all, but I may keep the old Pan just to say I still own a motor. These other two have to go, or I'll be out riding and probably kill myself and hurt someone else. I been kinda going downhill since Effie died, and need to clean up some loose ends. I been trying to get my oldest to come up from Naples and give me a hand selling stuff, but he just can't seem to make it."

Listening to Duke made me sad. I wanted to tell him to tell me what had to be done and I would help him right then. Hell, Dad and Granddad would jump right in and help too, if they were here. I made up my mind to bring some of the kids out and see what we could do.

Charlie asked, "Do you like the FLH with the sidecar, Sal? It's only four years old and I doubt it has five thousand miles."

Duke said, "Only two thousand forty on it. I haven't been able to see to ride. I just don't want to take a chance."

I decided to say something, "I would like to buy the motorcycle, but I'm not good with their prices, so you're going to have to give me a number and I'll have to beg Charlie to tell me if it's fair."

Duke nodded at me, "You're honest about it, at least, and ain't tryin' to steamroll me."

Duke thought for a moment and said, "You know that if you have a sidecar rig, you don't get to ride free unless you go through the hassle of pulling the sidecar off. How about I make you a deal on both of these big motors and you help me out by taking them out of here."

Oh man, two motorcycles? This is getting deep, more than I really want and I don't even have a place to put them. Duke said a number and Charlie nodded and looked at me. I didn't know what he meant, but the number sounded low for two fairly new Harleys. Charlie walked over to the other bike and switched the key on and turned to me, "This one only has twenty-four hundred miles."

Duke said, "That one was more fun to ride without the sidecar, and it's only two years old. I bought it after Effie died so I could ride solo without the sidecar."

"Well, Duke, I seem to be getting the idea from Charlie that you are offering a really fair deal, so I'll take them. Do you want cash or would you prefer a check to go into the bank?"

Duke looked at me and asked, "Do I have to wait all day to get cash? If your bank is close, I can just ride with you and we can finish this deal real quick."

Charlie said to me, "If you're like the rest of us and use First Bank, they have a branch right at the apex of highway fifty-four and fifty-six. Let's run over and pay the man."

Duke locked the garage and house up, and came back out. I rode in the small jump seat of the extended cab and let Duke have the comfortable front passenger seat. We were in and out of the bank in ten minutes. It took longer for them to confirm my signature than anything else.

Back at Duke's, we had to struggle to get both bikes up in Charlie's truck. We got them loaded without scratching them or the truck. As I was shaking hands with Duke, I asked, "I'd like to come out to help you around the place, if you don't mind. I might be able to bring some kids that would also like to help you out. One good turn deserves another, Duke. Would you welcome some help?"

The old man was all smiles, "Write down my telephone number and call me when you can come. I'll plan some things for us to get done. I could really use the help and I appreciate that you would offer."

"I'll be talking to you later this week, Duke. I know some kids that will also help."

As Charlie was driving back out the driveway, with Duke standing in his parking area watching us, Charlie said, "You didn't have to volunteer to help him. He has a passel of kids that should be helping him. You can bet that they'll be all over the place, arguing about who gets what, when he croaks."

Charlie was quiet for a few minutes before saying, "He gave you the two bikes for the price of one. If you don't want one, you can sell either one for just about what you paid for both. That was nice of you to offer to help. When you go out there, tell me and I'll get a bunch of others to come along and we'll have a couple of work days for Duke. We'll get a bunch of food and beer, and have a party for him. He'll get his place cleaned up and have a good time all at once. Yep, you did good, Sal."

We arrived at home in time to get some help from some of the men who were having lunch. With eight guys, we were able to just lift the bikes from Charlie's pickup. We put the bikes under the car cover and Charlie said, "Let's get a sandwich, then you have to go pay the sales tax, and get insurance and tags. I already called Doc, and your lessons are going to begin this afternoon. You'll be a safe rider in no time."

We had lunch before driving to a local insurance office that Charlie said stayed in business because Steve used them. He told me that most of the park bought from this agent as well.

We went to the state office from there, and had to wait in line for a few minutes. I bought tags for both bikes, wondering if that was really smart.

Back at the park, I put the tags on the bikes and watched as Charlie pushed the bike with the sidecar out. He had me sit on the bike and began showing me how everything worked. I was taught how to start, stop, and shift in a few minutes.

"Now, Sal, let's start this thing and I want you to ride the streets of the park in first and second gear, just to get the feel of the bike. Don't go too fast and just enjoy letting this monster give you a ride."

It wasn't difficult to get moving, and I didn't like the high revs in first gear, so I pulled the clutch in and used my toe to move the shift lever up a gear. I was moving along nicely, but still had the revs up higher than I thought was necessary, so I did it again. Using third gear around the park was perfect since the motor wasn't turning as fast. As I got to the exit area to go into the business park, I turned and rode around to the cart plant, then made the circuit all the way around the park and came back going through the gears again. This wasn't too difficult at all. I could see that maneuvering around with the sidecar could be a pain, so I rode back to the house and parked the sidecar rig.

I pushed the other bike out and sat on it. I made sure the tranny was in neutral and started the bike. After letting it idle a minute, I pushed the gear shift down and let the clutch out. The big bike went right out on the street and acted very stable as I shifted into second and third, and rode along the street. I made the same circuit and pushed it a little in the business park, going past the posted twenty-five miles an hour. I had no problem turning the bike around in a tight circle. I tried and was able to drive it at about two miles per hour because my friend who used to ride told me that being able to ride slow without putting your feet down is an important art.

Charlie was standing with another man watching me when I rode back to my carport area. Both of them had big grins on their faces. I was a little embarrassed, as I didn't have a motorcycle endorsement on my license yet. I shut the motor off and put the kickstand down.

Charlie came over and asked, "I see that you like to ride without the sidecar too. I did note that you didn't have any trouble running around."

With his hand on the other man's arm, Charlie introduced me. "Sal, this is Doc Crawford. He's going to teach you how to ride correctly and safely. He's going to take you over to the new parking area behind the school, and use that for your lessons this week."

Doc and I shook hands, and he asked, "Did you look in those saddlebags? Duke used a helmet most of the time and you have to wear a helmet when I teach. You can ride without a helmet if you have enough injury insurance when you're licensed, but using a helmet doesn't make you a wimp. I use one, and recommend that everyone should use one."

I opened the hard bag on the FLH I had been riding and found a couple of helmets. Doc opened the trunk of the sidecar bike and found three. He picked one out and put it on and indicated I should do the same. When we had our helmets on, he said, "Let's ride these bikes over to the school parking area and begin. I don't have my cones today, but we'll work on that tomorrow. I want to work on a couple of basics right now."

We practiced stopping at a line and smoothly starting up again. The turns he had me make were sweeping, but he kept telling me to look where I was going around the corner and not at the road on the inside of the corner. He said that the bike would go where you looked, so it was important to keep your eyes on the road ahead.

Two hours later, Doc said, "That's enough for your first lesson. I'm going to bring cones and a couple small street bikes tomorrow. You need to learn to ride the little ricers as well as your big Harleys. I think you might need someone to ride with you so that you can go get gas in these two bikes. You used up a lot of fuel."

As I pushed my bike under the carport next to the sidecar bike, I saw some men working behind my house, setting forms in the ground. I walked back to see what was up, and found Martin and Abe watching the working men. "What's up back here, Martin?"

"Hee, hee, I think Steve is surprising you with a little workshop like he has. It'll take a couple of days to get done, but I'll bet it is a carbon copy of Steve's."

I thought about it and was happy to have a workshop, but I needed to slow Steve down with all of his help. It was still before four so it wasn't crowded inside the patio yet. I was about to have a beer when Garth came up to me and asked, "Can you give me my introductory ride today? You don't have to be an instructor for the introductory ride. Come on, Sal, we could fly an hour and a half to two hours without the moms getting mad."

"Okay, but how about killing two birdswith one stone? How about you fly right seat and we'll bring the twins with us?"

Garth colored with a blush and said, "Yeah, bring them so they see that I'm going to learn to fly."

It took only two seconds for the girls to join us. I called Rita on the way to the airpark, to tell her what I was doing and to have her advise Marilyn. She told me not to be too late, so the girls could eat and do homework.

I called the charter office while still on the way, and made sure that I could get a 172 for a couple of hours. We were set.

The aircraft was already out of the hangar, so I took the three kids around the aircraft while doing the preflight inspection, and described what we were doing and why it was important. I was using one of the training flip checklists the flight instructors had made up to teach students when they were beginning...

After I had everyone seated and buckled up in the aircraft, I handed Garth the big flip book checklist instead of the little folded factory card and told him, "Read each item, and wait until I say next. I'll tell you exactly what I'm doing at each step."

I knew that I would be a decent teacher when I became an instructor pilot as we went through all of the steps. I was parroting what all of the instructor pilots had taught me. I now knew that each item they taught me was important and I wanted to impart that importance to Garth. He might get tired of hearing the same things over and over again, but he would know how to do it correctly by the time he takes his exam.

We went across the state, then flew south of Melbourne, and just north of the bombing range. We flew in the unrestricted airspace along the coast before turning back toward home. The girls were excited to have seen the Atlantic from the air, and we were close enough to the cape to see the huge launch equipment out on a pad.

I kept referencing the GPS on the dash to Garth, showing him that it helped us to stay at least a mile outside the restricted areas. The equipment was set up to beep when I was less than a mile from an area where we shouldn't be flying. The other good thing about it was that it was able to monitor signals for "pop up" restricted areas, so that if, for instance, Air Force One was in the area I wouldn't draw a violation from the FAA for flying in a restricted zone that hadn't existed when I took off. I think Garth began to understand there were many responsibilities when you fly.

I had Garth help me refuel the aircraft after landing at the airpark, then all four of us pushed the plane back into the hangar. I made a big deal of showing Garth how to make entries into the aircraft logbook and in my own. We went into the charter office where the on duty clerk already had Garth's personalized logbook made up. She told him, "Sal will make the entry for your introductory ride, and from now on, you and your instructor will make the entries. Make sure to keep it current so you get credit for all your flight time."

This evening had been a triple win, as Garth had his intro ride, and the girls got to see the Atlantic from the air. All three kids excitedly talked all the way back home, and in the patio to their mother and friends. Jeff even came over to chat with us, and told Garth that his next lesson would be tomorrow. Jeff reaffirmed my promise to teach Garth to fly if he kept his grades up. I told the boy, "I'll make sure that you get three lessons a week if you get straight 'As'. For all but one 'A', two lessons a week. Less than that, you get only one lesson a week, and a failing grade gets you grounded."