Chapter 42

Mornings in Hawaii are important to me. I was out on our suite's patio waiting for the first light to bloom over the water. A tall drink was placed into my hands as I watched intently. Dewey said, "I don't get to see this where I live. I'm as addicted to it here as you are."

Arms encircled me as I watched and lips kissed my ear as the person said, "I knew you would be up to watch the sunrise. Hold me while we watch the show."

Mercy came around and sat on my lap with a drink of her own. Lisa came to me, holding a juice glass at that moment, and sat on my other knee. She told Mercy and me, "You know that you broadcast when you're attacking my man. I don't mind, but I like to watch. I'm even kinkier than you are, Mercy."

The two kissed in front of me while I tried to focus on the blooming sunrise.

Steve came to the patio and sat down in time for Sue to sit on his lap; both of them had one of Dewey's special good morning drinks.

The horizon suddenly brightened, and then faded. The sea horizon began coming alive once again, giving us just a peak of the day coming over the horizon. The sun began to come over the edge of the sea, inch by inch, to give us the new day.

Dewey said, "This is what a new day is all about."

Mercy and Lisa kissed my ears and cheeks as they hugged me to them. My head was filled with thoughts of something. Was it thoughts of love? Was it thoughts of completeness? The two women on my knees were hugging me as we watched the greatest show on earth.

Mercy kissed me before moving to Steve's lap. Lisa whispered into my ear, "She loves you the same as we all love you, Chuck. She still belongs to Steve and knows it and loves it. You're another of her lovers, as I am. Crazy, isn't it?"

I hugged Lisa as we watched the bright yellow ball rise above the horizon, and I told her, "You're my special person. You and I are linked forever somehow, and I'm not going to argue. I love you and want us to be a part of each other forever, Lisa."

"No sweat, Chuck. We're bound to each other whether or not we like it. Tina and Jane are a part of us, but you and I are the keys to all our relationships."

Sounds and noises were coming from the suite, so we went in to help get the little ones up, changed, and dressed. You have to love the way they're so happy in the morning. They immediately wanted to run and play, so we had to shut the patio doors. Mickey brought Sue Ellen in to join the kids her age. They were all trying to see who could walk the best and who could run. It wouldn't be long before all the kids would be able to outrun their caretakers.

The older kids, Lisa, Jane, and Tina all moved to the studio where the kids were beginning to come in after breakfast to tune their guitars and get ready for some serious practice. Bonita told me, "This is different because it's something that means something now. Who would believe we would play a concert with Santana?

I assured Nita, "The man is here to have fun, just like you. We'll practice this morning, take a nap, and play this evening. It's just like always. He knows the drill and he'll be ready when we are."

We were in the studio tuning instruments when Carlos came in. He joined the kids and tuned his guitar, showing that he was just like them. He hadn't plugged in yet, so he was tuning by ear and tuner the same as the kids. Carlos was sitting with the kids on folding chairs when the guitars were tuned, and looking at me for direction the same way the kids were.

This was classic for me to be in front of a group that included internationally known Carlos Santana, and be expected to lead them. I thought it would be fun to loosen up with some blues, so we did some of our composed blues that would let Santana let it out a little and enjoy us.

That was the right thing to do. The more blues we played the more he loosened up and began wailing in the background. He and Lisa were side by side playing some awesome licks.

We began doing the show in the order we had decided when we settled down. I didn't feel like this was the way it should go while we were doing the initial pieces. I made the suggestion, "How about we do a couple of Santana cover pieces, and then do our Comenzar? We can then do our blues stuff, with Carlos adlibbing behind us. We'll get him out front in the beginning, and then show the audience that he is a part of the whole, instead of all of it."

We felt we were ready around one in the afternoon. The roadies came in and said they would take everything to the stadium.

I was sitting in the lounge of our dining room, thinking about how strange it was to be doing something like this, when I realized that this is what Steve and my women wanted to accomplish. They wanted me to continue to perform in public and not be doing a Lone Ranger imitation in real life. Well, I was going to have some fun with the kids and enjoy playing with a famous performer, but I wasn't going to give up that other part of my life as a professional troubleshooter for the Marshal Service or the Secret Service.

Santana's agent never showed up, so I figured he was satisfied with what was going on. All the kids were ready to get on stage as the road crew showed some of our previous shows on the big screens. There was the Lucky Lady Blues Band doing their stuff, followed by some clips of us playing in Europe, here, and at the military shows.

The stage was darkened while we got into place, and then it began. Lisa let out a blast of guitar that had everyone's short hairs on end. Bonita answered with another blast that let the listeners know there was another guitar to consider, and then it was my turn to begin dancing between the bass high strings to make it sound like a guitar.

This led right into our first piece. It was a jam from there until out first break. You could see everyone take some extra breaths of air if you watched the video. We were really cooking.

Our next set was some Santana cover tunes with the real Santana playing lead. He was doing his best to hide behind his hat in front of fifty thousand people. Lisa was backing him and bringing his lead out. Greg was doing a special job with his bass in bringing the guitars to the front.

I could see tears in Carlos' eyes as we played the opening of "When My Guitar Gently Weeps" with Bonita using her violin for the intro, and Lisa singing the lead, with Jane joining her,. This was special and we were his backup. We played his music for him and with him.

The crowd somehow knew this was special and quieted when we began Comenzar. Carlos played the lead perfectly as the kids did their one line vocals. They then went into the harmonized vocals once, let the theme play through once, and then repeated the vocals again. This was different, but it worked.

Bonita couldn't stand it and got in front of Carlos and gave him an extended lick that had the hair on your arms standing. Lisa saw what Bonita was doing and gave it back to her. Then the Santana we all knew caught on and gave his response just as I put my SG into the mix and hit them with an extended blues riff. Carlos answered along with Bonita, and then Lisa, with me following again. This continued for almost an hour until the loudest whistle I've ever heard came from Greg. He calmly said, "Can we get back to business now?" We four turned to him and just gaped at what this kid was asking. We all realized we had been way out there and settled down.

The last set was announced as something different and was for fun. We played a couple of our country songs that everyone enjoyed, followed by the new fun song that I just wrote. We announced that singing along with us was welcome, and sure enough, the stadium was having fun singing along the second time through.

Our encore was the same song with a lot louder sing along by the announcers. I was ready for it to be done as we were now into the fifth hour. I was thinking that we were attempting to best the Blues Expedition for their tour shows.

When the stage was dark and the crowd was leaving, Carlos told us, "This is the most fun I've had doing a concert in at least twenty years. I want to do some more with you guys, and I'll pay too. I know you guys don't do this stuff for free."

I told the man, "Don't get upset, but we would have done this gratis. We charged a whole ten bucks for general admission to pay for the roadies and transporting the stage and equipment. Your agent wanted some bucks that we didn't have a problem with. This was fun for us, and we loved having you with us. Call me if you want us to do something with you, and we'll set it up. If you want to come to my home in Florida and work on something, do it. I have a studio just like the one you practiced in here. Our goal is to have some fun while playing some good, fun music, Carlos."

Carlos hugged Bonita and Lisa. He was going to hug me, but we shook hands instead as he grinned on the way out.

I was sitting on the edge of the stage when Bonita came to me, and asked, "Are we ever going to learn how to have a two or three hour concert?"

Lisa told Nita, "We have to quit having so much fun during our concerts for that to happen. We didn't stick to our scheduled stuff, and when you challenged Carlos that began almost an hour of uninterrupted mayhem. You can't do that if you want to get to bed at a reasonable hour, Nita."

Steve and Kathy came to the stage, and Kathy told the wild child. "Get your instruments into their cases so we can go to bed. You've had enough excitement today."

The Mistress of Music left us with a smile with her two guitar cases and her violin case under her arm. She said, "That was a good one. We're going to do some more like that," as she left.

Lisa smiled at me, and said, "Not right away, I hope. That was a real workout. Just look at Elmer and the video producer. They are both trashed from the activity. That was almost five hours of nonstop music, and we gave it away for ten bucks each. The folks who came were given an amazing show."

"Yep, they were, and we also performed a few pieces that will become part of our legacy for the first time. I'm really excited about Comenzar."

"You should be," Lisa exclaimed. "That is a classic piece and will probably be played along with Samba Pa Ti or one of his other cover pieces. We're talking classic here."

Elmer and the video producer attempted to begin editing, but I interrupted them, and asked, "Would you two rather bring all of your equipment to the studio and do this at your leisure? I know you two will have some great editions to market, but it can wait. Get your staff out of here and go to bed. The roadies can take the stage down tomorrow and haul it all back to storage on the mainland."

Elmer smiled at me, and nudged Maggie who was falling asleep from exhaustion. The video producer said to me, "You aren't like most of the guys who hire me. They always want everything instantly and we are almost coronary cases by the time we're done. Do you mind paying for another day or so here in Hawaii? I'm the only one who will still be on staff. I have to work with Elmer, but the two of us work well together."

I waved Brandy over and asked her, "Make sure this guy is housed in the resort for as long as he needs to be here. Make him stay another day and have some fun when he says he's done. Make it happen if he wants to stay three or four or five more days. I want some good video and I want those who make it happy and rested."

I turned to the video producer and asked, "You do more than music videos, right?"

"I do any kind of video documentary you want. Do you have something in mind?"

With a smile, I told the man, "Let me think about this tonight. I might have a project for you that will take up all your time for a while."

The man became alarmed and asked, "Can you afford to have me do something like that? I can't wait for royalty money to come through. I have expenses and obligations that I have to fulfill."

I told the man, "Tell Brandy what your monthly nut is, and what you need to have to live and have fun. She'll work it out with you."

Tiani was shadowing Brandy and giggling at how people never realize how well off or fixed we were.

Tina accompanied us back to the resort with the very pregnant Jane, Lisa, Brandy, and Tiani. We were all dead tired, and were all surprised and pleased to find a buffet laid out for everyone in our suite. Dewey was fixing drinks and pouring juices for the pregnant babes.

Etta and Julie were downing some tall drinks with Beth and Missy as the latter two were telling of past times on the boat while we toured Europe and the Riviera. Etta wanted to go visit Monte Carlo and some of the Riviera casinos with the family. She was smiling as I heard in my head, "So that's how you have so much extra capital to do what you want with. I would love to watch that."

Missy answered Etta in our heads as she said, "I went with Steve once and we had success, but Chuck made a mockery of the casinos by almost cleaning them out."

I contributed to the unspoken fun by telling them that I really tried to give money back to the casino, but they stopped me before I was successful.

I was snuggled in my ladies' arms as I drifted off to sleep a short while later.

My eyes opened at the almost perfect time. I could see just a hint of first light through the glass patio doors. I got out of bed, put my peg on, peed, put shorts and T-shirt on, and made my way to the patio.

I had just sat down to watch the glow increase a fraction at a time, and then, WHAM, the entire horizon blasted us by displaying the beach in front of us, and the Lucky Lady tied up at the dock.

This morning was different, as it was Brandy who came out with one of Dewey's morning waker-uppers and sat on my lap. She kissed me and laid her head on my shoulder as we watched nature's morning performance. Brandy told me, "I have a bus for us scheduled to go see the house construction site at nine this morning. It's going to take until after noon to check the property out. You might have to go back later to make any changes or additions with the supervisory people on site."

"You're amazing, Brandy. You organize and schedule everything for us. You and Tiani are a pair of awesome sidekicks, wives, secretaries, or whatever you want to be known as."

"It's easy, Chuck. We all love you and that means all five of us. We all want to contribute to our lifestyle and happiness. You're a busy person and your work obligations sometimes mess up your personal plans. It's our job to keep the family on an even keel, and keep you informed of what's next when that's possible. I love doing what I'm doing. I know the others are equally as fascinated and enjoy putting things together. Our kids keep us busy, but we five are a force and we know how to get things done. That's we were when working together, Chuck; we were all working, organizing, making things happen at the employment office. This is just a continuation of that."

I hugged Brandy to me, and noticed her belly was beginning to show a little. I rubbed the belly and said, "How are you going to feel if this is another boy?"

"I'll feel like trying again and again and again until I get my little girl. Tiani's the same way, so we better have little girls. The others just want another baby, but all three of them are convinced this one is a boy."

"Taiying and Sing both say they want little girls too. I think that some of you may be disappointed in what you get. You know we're going to have twenty-three kids around if Maria comes back. She supposedly wants another, so that would be twenty-four. That's a lot of kids to take care of. Have you made arrangements for some help? You girls are going to have a whole schoolhouse full of kids on your own. One of you needs to go back to school to get an education degree."

"Ha, ha, ha, we have you there. Frieda, Nancy, Judy, and Tiani all have degrees in education. I was the only one with business management. Judy and Nancy have minors in art, but they are state certified teachers. I was going to make more than the others were as entry level teachers when I was hired on at the employment office, so they came down and applied to get on as well, and we began working together all over again. We have some certified teachers to work with our kids when it comes time to teach them. I think the biggest thing happening is what Beth, Missy, Julie, and Etta are doing. They work with our little ones every day in teaching them how to speak. Listen to our kids; they are already beginning to talk. Missy and Beth said our kids are younger than Steve's and the others were when they began working with them, but they think ours are more aware than the others. She compares them to Mercy's kids."

"It is fun to watch how interested the little ones are when they practice words. We will have some very smart kids if we can keep them learning. They have the ability, but it's up to us to help them learn to use it."

Brandy asked, "I don't want you to get upset with me, but you and Lisa are like Missy, Mercy, and her kids. I've watched and listened to Etta, Marion, and Virginia, and they have that same ability. Are all our kids going to be like that? Are they going to talk to each other in their heads? How are we mothers supposed to get them to do things? I'm worried, Chuck. This thing you guys have is special and different. We're just now learning how complex it is. You have the ability to keep us all happy, and you have the ability to find us. You seem to be able to anticipate things and know when there is danger or something coming. That's good, Chuck, but having my kids be able to read my mind is unsettling."

"Talk to Etta. I don't think our kids will be a problem, and they won't be worming their way into your head. They may surprise you from time to time, but it won't be bad. Something about this gift keeps most who have it from doing wrong with it. I witnessed how those who misused it became, but they had the wrong guidance. The gift will only enhance our family and make it stronger because so many of us with the right motivations already have it. I also think this gift is dormant in everyone, and you may begin developing more of it. You already have some characteristics in the way you five become agitated when I'm on a mission and you get the feeling and are on edge. It's your combined feelings that begin to reach out and feel me. Just relax with your feelings, and see what Etta can help you with. Missy and Mercy will help too."

It was soon time for us to ride out to the new house construction site. Brandy always warned the bus charter company that we would be slow in boarding because of the kids and car seats. We would also take longer than most would anticipate, so they needed to be patient drivers. She always wanted them to rent to us on a time and distance basis rather than on distance only.

It took less than fifteen minutes to drive out to the entrance location. The road looked more used than it had been, but it still resembled a farm road that the bus driver was hesitant to follow. I assured him that he would have plenty of room to get through and to turn around.