Home Away From Home - 47. Chapter 47

When I went to the kitchen in the morning, Al was there. Good morning Al, how are you? It has been a while since you were here.”

“Yes, almost two weeks, you must have some pull with the Colonel. He suggested to the Captain of my squad that I might want to work the days when some of the crew took a leave, then they would arrange for me to have a longer leave. So now I’m here for a week.”

I thought Giovanni will be happy to hear that.

“Where are the kids?”

“It's Saturday, no school. They take advantage and sleep in.”

Mom and Aunty came in for coffee. David and Troy was in charge this morning. I had a tea and chatted with Mom and Aunty for a second. Mom took a coffee for Dad and Aunty went with her. I was glad to reunite Mom with her family. “When are your parents and Aunty going home?”

“My Mom and Dad live here now and I’m not sure about my aunt. She has a family back home, I think vacations but not permanence. We shall see.”

“What about Giovanni’s plans?”

“That depends on you.”

“Me, why me?”

“He may like you.”

“I like him too, but he’s gay.”

“Did he tell you that?”

“No, I just felt it.”

“We call that gaydar”

“What is that?”

“When one gay guy can tell someone else is gay just by looking and talking.”

I noticed the silence. “David, are we going to have breakfast or are you still thinking about last night?”

“What about last night?”

“The whole house heard you and Larry last night. I think Puppy was going to get the security out of bed. We thought you were being killed.”

The look on David’s face was priceless. He's so easy to tease.

“I’m kidding David, you should know I like teasing you.”

He set a piece of unbuttered toast on a plate and gave me the plate with a glass of water. “Bread and water is all you get today.”

I cracked up. David finally had a sense of humor. I got up and gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek. “Welcome to the family David. I love you.”

That was when I heard ‘WHAT’. It was Larry. “Cool down Larry, I think David finally learned how to respond to my teasing. And I do love him and you too.” I went over grabbed him and gave him a kiss on the cheek as well.

Al just shook his head. “You think we're nuts don’t you.”

He laughed, “No I don’t think you're nuts. I wish I had a family that I could kid around like that.” He was serious and there where tears in his eyes.

“Al, you do have a family that you could kid around like that. We're your family, you're part of this crazy group as David, Larry, Doug, Troy, Charles, Dan, Roy, Joe and Giovanni. We all consider you a brother. I think Mom and Dad think of you as their son.” Saying that I put my arm around him and kissed him on the cheek. I could taste the tears.

David set a piece of unbuttered toast and a glass of water before him. “That is all you will get today for disowning us as brothers.”

The tears really started to come. I pulled him into me so he cried on my chest. Sure, I'd get a wet shirt so what. I knew who would get the other hut. The guys stood around watching, they knew what happened. They realized that Al just realized he had a large family. I guess growing up as a single child and then losing your parents could make you feel isolated. That would never happen in an Italian family. For one, there is no small Italian families and two, a child of one family is treated as a child of all families.

David set a plate of eggs and sausages in front of Al. Eat your breakfast brother. Yes, more tears but he thanked David, wiped his eyes. Looking at David, “Do I have to eat this piece of cold, dry toast as well.” I cracked up. I laughed so hard at David’s expressions that I had tears in my eyes. Al grabbed me and pulled me to his chest and started to pat my back.

Our Al had a sense of humor. “Carlo, you have released a devil.”

More laughter, it turned out to be a giddy morning. When Gio walked in, he was surprised to see Al, he couldn’t figure out why everyone was laughing and we all had tears in our eyes. Troy brought Gio a cup of coffee and he sat next to Al.

“Giovanni, if you didn’t sleep so late you could have been here to welcome Al home. He’s been here since 5 and it is 10 now. You have wasted 5 hours.” More laughter as we watched Gio’s face.

“Carlo, get changed. I want to swim.”

If Puppy would have said sink the sub, I wouldn’t be able to swim. My stomach was hurting from laughing already, that would put me over the edge. I did change into my trunks and dove into the pool coming up beside my Puppy. He took one look at me and I knew what he was going to say. Before the words got out of his mouth, I kissed him. Then we heard the splashed, Rita, Tony, the kids and a few of the guys. We started to do laps until Giovanni and Al jumped in, followed by Doug and Troy, Larry and David and a few of the security guys. The pool was full. You could still swim laps as long as some of them hugged the pool walls.

“Mac, change and jump in.”

10 minutes later a canon ball right into the center the pool getting us all. Then it was dunk Mac. I stayed in for an hour and then got out. I rinsed myself off, wrapped a towel around me and headed for the kitchen for a cup of tea.

With my tea, I sat on one of the pool chairs. Puppy came out of the pool, are you looking for a pool boy?”

“Yes, could you get me and my friend a glass of iced tea” giving him my empty cup.

He leaned over as he took my cup, “As long as the other iced tea is for me.” I gave him a kiss on the cheek. He came back a few minutes later followed by Colonel Haskins.

“I found this guy handing around the kitchen looking lost.”

I got up, “Good morning Colonel. Would you like a coffee?”

He nodded yes while scanning the pool. I knew who he was looking for, when out of the sea rose this merman on the shoulders of this Italian stallion. Puppy handed him his coffee and came and sat on my lap. We watched the Colonel. Mac hadn’t seen him yet. There was pride in the face of the Colonel, you could almost reach and touch the love he had for his son. Then one of the guys must have mentioned to him that his father was there. He tried to turn to face him but Gio kept turning away. Then after a few turns, Gio walked over to the edge and Mac hopped off his shoulders. A dilemma, Mac wanted to hug his dad but he was wet. So he did the next best thing, he saluted him. We all bust out laughing, Al being Al went and got a towel and gave it to Mac. After drying, as best as he could, wrapped the towel around himself, he gave his dad a hug.

“I didn’t know you were coming over today. I’ll go and get dressed.”

I then found out what kind of guy the Colonel was, he picked up Mac and threw him back into the pool, towel and all, "This fish is too small." The expression on Mac’s face was worth the wet towel.

“Colonel, have a seat.”

He pulled up a chair and sat beside us watching Mac in the pool. “I’ve never seen him so happy. I can’t thank you enough.”

“We should really thank you. Mac is a great example for our boys. They look up to him. He's polite and very aware of his surroundings. I don’t know what kind of man your ex married, but if he doesn’t like Mac, he’s an ass.”

“Where did this name Mac come from.”

“He asked us to call him that. He said that's what his friends called him. I actually felt honored that he thought we were his friends. He’s a great kid Colonel.”

“Yes, he is. I really love him and I can’t thank you for letting him stay here. He mentioned something the other day when we went for lunch. I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, he said that for gay guys you were A ok. He said he wished he had stayed with me, instead of his mother. He said he felt a love from me that he didn’t feel from his mother. I think my chest expanded a few inches. If I wasn’t in the military, he would've been with me. But the military is not for kids. So I accepted that my wife would have custody and I'd see him on vacations and holidays. That never happened as often as I wished. But thanks to you and her new husband, I have him and I’ll keep him.”

You could feel the love that the man had for his son. I looked at Puppy and got kiss and a face full of water. Al threw water on us. “I think we may have created a monster.”

Mom came out to ask the Colonel if he was going to have lunch with us. “Yes, Mom, he will. Maybe we should eat out here. Most of us are wet.”

She brought out a plastic table cloth, where she got that I don't know, later Puppy told me it looked like the one we ate off of in Pavia. Soon everyone was walking around with towels. Tony knew the Colonel, but I did introduce Rita to him. Mac sat next to his dad, and the rest just filled up the seats. David got up to help Mom and Aunty, but they told him to stay. Plates were passed around, then silver ware. A tray containing glasses and cups was set on one corner of the table, Carlos jumped to his feet and started to pass out glasses and cups for those who wanted tea and coffee. When Mom came out with two bowls of salad, they were passed around and where empty by the time they got back to the front. Then I noticed how the boys were seated. After everyone had taken what they wanted, the bowl was passed to the boys and by the time it got to the end it was empty. Next came soup. I knew what this was. Every good cook knows how to turn leftovers into a tasty soup. When the soup got to the end of the table, it was passed back but in reverse. It was empty before it left the boys places. Then Mom brought out some grilled cheese sandwiches, which followed a similar pattern. Dishes came out full and went back empty. Dessert were pieces of fruit. Puppy took an apple, cut it in half and gave me the other half.

We sat and talked as a group for a while. The boys were polite and very respectful, but they always were. “Colonel, have you sorted out Mac’s education?”

“I have a meeting tomorrow.”

“Doug, you finished school here and have done well in college, maybe you could give the Colonel a little heads up before his meeting tomorrow.”

That led to another conversation, so we had a conversation at one end of the table and another as the other end of the table. Puppy just sat there enjoying our family. We conveyed our feelings for each other through touch. He held my hand and when we wanted to convey something, we would squeeze hands. Of course, once in a while a hand would be kissed. Joe went and brought out some of his sketches, now the conversation took a new turn. A few of the guys asked if he could draw them so they could send it home to their girl or family.

No problem, he went and got his sketch pad, some pencils and a spray can of something. Roy said it sets the sketch so the pencil marks don’t rub off. Joe is clever, he drew a nice sketch of the boy and then down in the corner he put a caricature of the boy. I think Joe made lot of fans that day.

Dad agreed to take the new plane and return PUPPY I. I told Dad we'll need additional security with the new plane, he said he'd see what he could do but for us to check with the base and see who was leaving.

I had told him about the payment problem with the German project. He said he would check it out. It was sad to see them go, but I knew they would be back before long.

Life at the house return to normalcy, if having a house full of people all the time is normal. I called upon Colonel Haskins concerning the additional security personnel. Tony did send PUPPY I back and we had to have two new pilots. Getting the pilots wasn’t the problem, were to find a place for them was the problem. The rooms over the garage were occupied by Roger and Bob.

Colonel Hastings gave me a list of guys whose enlistments would be concluded in the next 6 months. There were total of 10 men, of which 4 had no one to return to, the other 6 had families back in the States. Of the 4, two of them were regular visitors to the house and two were casual visitors. I asked Larry and David, to talk to the four indicating I was thinking of enlarging our security force. Marcus said he know one of the guys and would vouch for him.

“Puppy, we need to figure out how to house two new pilots. I don’t think we should put them into PUPPY’S. Any ideas?”

“How about one of the huts?”

“No, I'd rather we use those for family. What do you think about enlarging the garage.”

“You mean like a two story dorm, bedrooms second floor, lounge and kitchen 1st floor.”

“Yes, maybe I’ll get our builder to see what he can come up with. I’ll ask Tom and Jerry to stay, with the idea that as soon as we get the new quarters built and new pilots checked out, we'll send them home.”

“Do you think Dad will go for that?”

“He will if you ask him.”

When you get in the habit of waking at a certain hour each morning, your internal clock takes over. I now no longer use an alarm clock. I automatically wake at 5 am. I have a morning routine that I have followed ever since Puppy had finish his internship. I find it difficult to sleep past 5 am. Even when we went on trips, I'd wake up at 5 am.

Routine provides a rest for my brains, that's what I tell Puppy. A human robot, at least at 5 am. The kitchen was empty, no one there, which was very unusual. I started breakfast, made coffee in the large coffee urn, we only use the press for Tony, made tea for Puppy and I. Set the table for the kids including Mac. The Colonel did go to the school and signed Mac up. He now attends with our children.

“Good morning David, how are you this morning?”

“I seem to be following in your footsteps, I’m finding it hard to sleep past 5 in the morning.”

“Did you and Larry interview those guys for security?”

“Yes, we think you should hire all four. You'll need two for the additional plane, you're one short and you should have one to drive the kids to school.”

“That's a good idea. We’ve be relying on the bus to provide security since many of the kids are from the base. Having our own security and driving the kids to school and back would be more convenient and safer also. I think I’ll do that.”

In my conversation with Tony, I told him about the new security personnel and providing security for the kids going and coming from school. He agreed that now the kids were getting older, it would be a good idea. We talked about the German project costs. He said he would forward some information and once I get it to set up a meeting with the agent. We talked about the new pilots and he said he'd help me find them.

I told Marcus that my decision was to hire all four as security. He was glad because one of the four was an Afro-American. I don’t think Marcus was a bigot, but I'd think having someone of the same culture background would be someone to relate to.

“Carlo, Annetta would like to go home. Can you arrange it?”

“Sure, when would she like to leave?”

“She said anytime you can arrange it, she just wanted you to know.”

“I have a meeting coming up with my agent in Germany. When I leave for that, Aunty can fly with me and I’ll drop her off. Do you suppose we could get some sausages and salamis when I drop her off?”

“Maybe some cheese also?”

“Absolutely, and anything else we can bring back with us.”

That evening, “Aunty wants to go home. So I'll take her when I go to Germany.”

“She has been here a long time. I’m sure she misses her family. Are you going to say anything to Giovanni?”

“Yes, I’m going to tell him. If he wants to go home that'll be ok. He also has the option of staying. I’m going to take two of the new security guys with me as well as Charles. It will be a short trip. I think we'll meet on the plane and then when the meeting is done, will be ready to leave.”

“What is the purpose of this trip?”

“I need to see the German agent concerning a project where some money turned up missing.”

“Is it the agents fault or project management?”

“No, it isn’t the agents fault, he indirectly flagged it. I think it was payoff money, the financial guy has to be involved, I don’t know who else. Dad and I discussed this and he has provided some information. The money will be returned to the project, it ended up in the Bahamas. Dad got it back and we're holding it pending my investigation.”

“Dad never talked much about his work. I’m glad you do.”

“I’m sure he told Mom. We don’t tell the kids.”

“What are we going to do if they bring excellent report cards from school. We can’t go back to Disney, we need to do something different.”

“We could go on a safari in Africa or a cruise.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Or we…. are you sleeping?”

Puppy can fall asleep at the drop of a hat. I wonder if all doctors are like that.

The trip to Germany was something else. We stopped in Milan so Aunty could get off. With an Italian family it isn’t hello goodbye. We had to deplane and have something to eat, it was in Pavia. I left Dan with the pilots to load the boxes of food they brought with them.

I enjoy my Italian relatives, but I was anxious to get to Germany. I made Charles accompany me to Pavia with the strict orders that once we finish eating, he was to insist that we leave. It took 2 hours to finish eating. I look at Charles and he was having a good time. When the time was up, I kissed Aunty goodbye, she had to thank me which meant another half hour.

They drove us to the plane, I told Aunty that when she wants to come back to Guam, just let me know. I didn’t realize it until Dan asked me where should he put all the food that had been brought on board. I walked to the galley and saw the packages of food Aunty’s family had given him. I just shook my head in disbelief and told him to put it wherever he had room.

The trip from Italy didn’t take long. I had arrange for the agent to meet us on board the plane. What I wanted to discuss with him was private, I didn’t want to take any chances of being over heard. When we finished the routine update, including new business opportunities, I approached the subject of the double payment.

“Gerhard, we traced the money that the supplier said he hadn’t received. As you know, we issued the money the second time. Our records show the money that was sent to the wrong Swiss account never was returned. We actually traced that money to a bank in the Bahamas. That money was actually paid into the wrong account on purpose. I want you to find out who made the money transfers and who authorize it. I want this done in secret as I don’t want to tip off the people who did this until we further determine why. I'll call you in a week and set up another meeting.”

“I had an idea something like this may have happened. We seem to have a lot of suppliers saying they never got their payments or they were late. In order to pay a supplier, we need the project manager to sign off indicating that the material was delivered. Then the accounting department codes the invoice which is sent to a clerk for issuing of the check or wire transfer. So I think it'll be easy to discover which person in the accounting department authorize the payment and assigned the code. Then we can compare the code assign to the one actually used to pay the invoice. I should have that information in a few days.”

“If it's gong to be just a few days, I may stay here rather than fly to Guam and back. I have relatives in Italy and I can stay there for a few days. Use my phone number when you call, it's a secure line. How would like to take some Italian food with you?”

Charles went to the galley and prepared a package of food for Gerhard to take. I called Aunty and asked if she could put us up for a few days. When we landed in Milan, you would have thought that the president of the US was landing. There were 5 cars there, all relatives. Aunty was very glad to see us. “I thought you were flying back to Guam.”

“The business in Germany will only take a few days and so I thought rather than make the trip to Guam and then turn around and fly back, we could stay here.”

Kisses all around, Dan stayed with the plane and one of my cousins stayed to drive him and the pilots to my aunts. I met Giovanni’s parents, they were in the southern part of Italy when we first visited. They wanted to know how Giovanni was. “I’ll make sure he calls you when I get home.”

Remember we had a big lunch when we left for Germany, “Carlo, we prepared a little snack for you. I know you didn’t have any dinner.”

Let me tell you, there is no such thing as a little snack at my Aunty’s. There wasn’t a lot of people, but believe me, there was enough food to feed twice as many that sat around that table. And, there was the home made wine. I didn’t care how much they drank tonight, but no more the next night. “Carlo, she feeds us like my grandmother did back home.”

“Yea Marcus, only no grits, southern fried chicken and okra. This is authentic Italian food.”

“Just like the guys at home.”

He was right, Mom was a great Italian cook and with real Italian ingredients, it tasted exactly like what we were eating.

The next morning, it was coffee and some home made bread with cheese, plenty for me. The rest of my gang had eggs, prosciutto and coffee. Then the relatives started to come in with their next door neighbors. The whole day was like that, talking, eating and drinking coffee. Charles was booking vacations in Guam. He looked at me as if not knowing what to do, I nodded that it was ok. After two days at Aunty’s, Gerhard called on the third day and said he had the information. I told Aunty that we had to leave, after lunch of course.

But we were not alone, another cousin and his wife asked if they could visit Guam. I couldn’t say no, they were family. So now we had more food and wine to take with us.

The flight to Germany was fast, I met Gerhard and he handed me a package. “Thank you. I have some more food for you and a few bottles of Italian wine if you can get it pass Customs.”

Charles reads minds, he handed Gerhard a package and I saw at least one wine bottle neck extending beyond the top of the package. Saying goodbye to Gerhardt, we began to taxi for take off.