IT WAS WILD chapter 3 part 4 of 4

IT WAS WILD chapter 3 part 4 of 4


Our pool enclosure was completed more than a week before Thanksgiving, necessitating a party in celebration the following Saturday afternoon. Poor Sandy: jumped up from Scarlett’s feet as soon as Nellie and Allison ran in. A second later she disappeared out her doggie door in hopes of playing Frisbee with the girls. She poked her head back in, Frisbee in her mouth, just as the girls jumped into the pool. That scene was repeated when Gail’s daughters, Ginny and Andrea appeared a few minutes later.

We all had a wonderful time, and I used the grill to cook hot dogs and burgers for dinner. Four Seasons had installed a stainless-steel exhaust vent complete with a solar-powered fan over the grill to eliminate smoke and odors from the pool area. It worked perfectly I learned over the following months and years.

My first official meeting as a member of the school board was something that locals remembered for years. There were fireworks aplenty—as many as Fred had provided last July Fourth. I introduced five resolutions, all dealing with how the board spent the taxpayers’ money. I was cussed out by several members who swore revenge, but in the end, they were all approved unanimously at the next meeting. I met privately with the dissenting members and threatened to expose them as abusers of the public coffers and trust. One guy had spent more than $10,000 on his wife and children during his four-year tenure on the board. I was reelected three years later and spent twenty-four years serving the children and taxpayers, most of them as board president.

Scarlett had an uneventful pregnancy although she did suffer badly from morning sickness. She laughed it off telling me it was a small price to pay for attaining her lifelong dream of being a full-time wife and mother. I laughed as I reminded her that she was already a full-time wife. She got the last laugh later that night when she fucked me until I could barely move.

After standing by her side during the birth of our first daughter I thanked God I was a man. Anyone who thinks of women as the weaker sex has never witnessed a woman giving birth. It was enough for me to stop after one child, but Scarlett was not deterred. All told, we had four and, as I had predicted they were all girls—Alicia, Brianna, Heather, and Christine.

Thankfully, they all looked like their beautiful mother. As promised, I did teach them some serious self-defense moves. After sixteen-year-old Alicia came home early one time from a date I knew my teaching had been successful. Her date was sporting a lovely shiner when he walked her to the door. She never had another problem and neither did her sisters. Word travels fast in a small town.

Alicia was almost five months old when I received a phone call from Caleb Oates, the CEO of Omni, asking if I could come to Houston to receive an award. “Thanks, Caleb, but we have a daughter now who’s only five months old. She is too young to travel on a commercial airline. God only knows what she would be exposed to in the airport and plane.”

“Do not worry about that, Sean. I will send our corporate plane for you, and we will put you up at my ranch. I have an entire wing you and your family can use. I know my wife will be thrilled to see your baby. I will also arrange for a limo to pick you up at home and drop you off once you are back in Philadelphia. Of course, the entire trip will be on us.” I did agree once he told me that my parents could join us to serve as babysitters during the banquet. I laughed when he told me not to pack a suit. “We will all be wearing casual clothes. Jeans are considered fancy dresses in these parts. Make sure you bring bathing suits, too.” He also asked if I could bring a short video about the firm. I turned that job over to Angus and Paul Martin. They brought a DVD to the house the Saturday before we left.

With Sandy safe at Fred and Judy’s, we climbed into the limo at 10:00 Sunday morning for the flight to Midland, Texas where Omni had its headquarters and primary factory. I had to admit that the trip was great. Our seats were better than any first-class flight I had ever taken, and we even had an attendant to see to our every need. The Oates’ ranch far exceeded our expectations, but the highlight of the trip was the video.

The banquet was held at a big convention center and Scarlett, and I were surprised at the number of people—at least three hundred, I guessed--in attendance. Dinner was a tasty steak with baked potato and no sooner was dinner cleared away than Caleb Oates and Bill Preston got down to business, introducing Scarlett and me, commenting that my efforts had made their entire jet engine project possible. After surprisingly enthusiastic applause they asked me about my company. “I think this video will tell you all you need to know. At least, I hope so because I have not seen it. My production manager and forge supervisor made it over the past week.” I stepped away from the podium to my seat as the lights were dimmed and the huge screen came to life with a picture of the main factory building and sign.

Next, we listened as Angus and Paul introduced themselves. They spoke for a minute before the camera turned to Lisa and Jennifer, my two mold makers. After a few general statements, they started to get into specifics. As they did Angus held a sign that said “CENSORED!” in large black letters and honked a big bicycle horn that made it impossible to hear what they were saying. That procedure continued throughout the entire video, and I thought it was hilarious. The crowd must have agreed because they laughed even louder than Scarlett and I did.

We laughed again when Paul Martin told everyone, “Now you know as much about what we do as we do, but I still have to tell you about our most important asset—our boss, Sean Sloan.

“Sean is two years older than me and I still remember the day we met. I was a new kid in school in second grade and a bunch of fifth graders was picking on me on the playground. They had pushed me to the ground when this kid I had never met walked up and told them to knock it off. He was not much bigger than me, so I thought he was in as much trouble as I was. Thirty seconds later the two biggest bullies were on the ground and the third was running away as Sean helped me up. We have been friends ever since. Now I want to show you some photos from Sean’s wedding. It was held in his huge backyard.” There were shots of the big canopy, dance floor, and the back of our house. Scarlett took my hand and pulled me forward for a quick kiss.

“Now here are some photos from my wedding six months ago. I am sure you can see the similarities. Sean and Scarlett not only let us use their yard for our wedding they also paid for the canopy, tables and chairs, and DJ. There is not a single employee or person who lives in our area who does not have the highest respect for Sean. We have been approached three times by unions who wanted to represent us and each time they have been voted down. Last time the vote was 134 to zero. We have higher wages and better benefits than we could hope for through a union. We also have profit sharing which is almost unheard of in our industry.

Would you believe that Sean trains us for eighteen months? We know OSHA regulations better than some of the inspectors. Thanks for taking the time to learn about us. I should also tell you that we did this video on Saturday morning on our own time. Good luck, Sean…Scarlett—enjoy your vacation.” The screen went black, and I returned to the podium while everyone applauded. Caleb Oates and Bill Preston joined me. They presented me with a plaque showing their appreciation for providing consistently outstanding quality products that had made their revolutionary jet engine possible.

We returned to the Oates ranch and flew back to Philadelphia the following morning. Our darling daughter slept through the entire trip. We picked up Sandy, thanking Fred, Judy, and the girls before driving home. Sandy was thrilled to see us. She showed her enthusiasm all night long, almost knocking us over with her tail when she was not standing guard over Alicia. She treated our daughter even better than we had hoped, even sleeping in her room, and running to us as soon as she woke up.

Enclosing the pool proved to be a fantastic idea. Scarlett and I swam every single day, even through her pregnancies. I did laugh when she cried, "Watch out, here comes the whale," in her later stages. I did laugh, but I always reassured her that she was beautiful and that I loved her.

Our closest friends and family had carte blanche to join us and they often did. Our only requirement was ten minutes' notice so we could be sure to be dressed when they arrived.

Our daughters inherited the best of Scarlett’s and my qualities. Physically they looked like lower-case versions of their beautiful mother. They were smart as hell, graduating at or near the top of their classes. Of course, they all attended and graduated from Penn State. Alicia played soccer, basketball, and softball in high school and starred in softball as a Nittany Lion. Brianna, Heather, and Christine starred in Cross Country and Track at both the high school and college levels. I had never found watching running races terribly interesting, but watching our daughters beat the snot out of the competition really got me charged up—Scarlett, too.

All four had successful careers and even better marriages—Alicia and Heather as accountants, Brianna, and Christine as teachers. They both worked at Boyertown Area High School teaching math. I did not help them, not at all. I had been retired from the board for more than five years and there was a new principal and a new superintendent. However, everyone in the community knew Scarlett and me and they knew our daughters as well.

Believe it or not, all four girls—yes, I still consider them girls, sometimes calling them that just to get a rise out of them—got married within an eighteen-month span. Luckily, I had a prospering business.

You might be wondering what happened to the four who had conspired to enslave me. My wish came true with Marge. She died in prison of a stroke. Michael was murdered in the shower when he was caught sucking the dick of the wrong inmate. His cellmate took offense and beat him to death. Troy was met by four of my friends when he was released. They drove him to the Reading bus station where they put him on a bus to Tucson with $500 and sincere advice that he never return to the Boyertown area if he valued his health. He must have taken them seriously because he was never seen again. Only Lori returned to the area. Scarlett and I saw her working as a server in the Pottstown Diner on occasion, but we never said a word to her other than our order. She made headlines in the Pottstown Mercury when she was arrested several times for prostitution. Her third arrest resulted in another prison term for her, and she must have moved away when she was released.

When Angus decided to retire, I promoted Paul Martin to his job and made Clark manager over the night shift. I promoted two of the furnace employees to supervisors. Sal did retire when the Route 100 project was completed even though it went on for five years beyond the original estimate.

Scarlett and I talked about me retiring as my sixtieth birthday approached. I had had a big national accounting firm analyze the business to determine its worth. I had made one more major expansion with a fourth building that was one hundred feet wide by eight hundred long. When it opened I had more than 490 employees split evenly between two shifts. I was well pleased when they told me that the firm, I had started on a shoestring was worth more than seventy million dollars.

I mentioned to Paul Martin that I was thinking about selling and what I would be asking. I was a bit surprised when he asked me to hold off for a few weeks. I was glad I did because he had worked out a plan with a local bank for the employees to buy me out at twenty million upfront and another five million a year for the next twelve years. That money, of course, would come from the annual profits.

Scarlett and I kept our house on Hidden Knoll Lane and bought another near Tallahassee, Florida. We started golf, poorly playing several times a week, but mostly laughing and loving each other as much as we had when we were young. We also bought a boat, one that was big enough to go offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, so we could go fishing or just find a secluded beach where we could skinny-dip. Other than just before and just after giving birth, Scarlett and I made love every day well into our fifties. Then we slowed down a bit, but not much. Making love was just one of the ways we told each other every day just how much we loved each other.

Sandra decided to retire when I decided to sell the business. Scarlett and I agreed to give her a $500,000 retirement bonus. It was Sandra’s advice that really pushed me to move forward with Scarlett. She had told me that I would be infinitely better off with Scarlett. That was obviously the absolute best advice I had ever followed.