Life after the Lottery Ch. 76

"Son, what is that helicopter going to cost?"

"It should have cost nearly 3 million."

"Damn!"

"Dawn doesn't know it, but it won't cost nearly that much. I'll tell you why when we get to Hawaii."

I told my dad how all the corporations were being set up so we could write off a lot of the expenses. He couldn't believe that Dawn and Samantha had been flying Linda's big helicopter. Charlie came and got a beer and some wine for Amelia and Ann.

"Can I get some wine for Dawn and the girls?"

"They are all pregnant, remember."

"Oh...yes. You are sure going to be busy this Christmas!"

"Now that the girl's mom is living in town, she is going to help us out."

"How is she doing?" Dad asked.

"She is doing great. She has really bloomed. We moved her into a house the girls bought for her. She has been in the house a few weeks now."

"I'm sure Sam and Amy are happy," Charlie said.

"They are very happy to have her close now. Claire is very happy about the prospects of being a grandmother."

"Can't wait to meet their mom."

"She is coming by this evening to pick up some things. She is going to keep tabs on the house for us. You can meet her then."

"Good."

We went back to the den and joined in the conversations.

*****

We ordered a stack of pizzas for dinner to keep Dawn happy. I would have to make sure we got all the boxes and trash outside before we left.

"What time will we be leaving for the airport?" Ann asked.

"We better be out of here by 2:30," I replied.

"Who's Yukon outside?" Dad asked.

"We rented it so we can all get to the airport. We'll drop it off when we get there and when we come back, pick one up to get back home."

"If everything is packed, we should just go ahead and load everything now," Dawn said.

Our parents got the things they needed from their bags, and then we loaded up the two SUVs.

By 9:30, we had everything ready and only had to grab carry-on things.

"Does anyone want to try and get a little sleep?" I asked.

No one seemed to think that would be possible, but I thought Ann and Amelia might want to try since they had been up early. We had enough to talk about until almost 11:00. Ann and Amelia did decide to go and lay down for a while. Dawn talked the girls into trying to get some sleep.

"Where do we have to change planes?" Mom asked.

"Dallas. I think there are almost two hours between flights."

"That should be enough time to grab some breakfast, so we don't have to eat so much of the airplane food."

"Mom, when you fly first class, the food is better."

"We are flying first class?"

"You know I can't fly coach for that long of a flight!" I exclaimed.

By midnight, Dad and Charlie had dozed off on the sofa. Dawn and Mom had gone down the hall to talk. I went up and checked on Samantha and Amy. They were both asleep on the bed.

I went to my study and double-checked the cameras I was taking, and made sure the new digital camera had plenty of batteries and memory cards. I finished packing all the film and everything else in my camera bag and got it ready. I went and packed the video camera and its accessories in a hard case and locked it, and took it back to my study.

After that, I went down to the basement and grabbed some cash for everyone. I would have to break it up between all of us. Airport security had started looking for large amounts of cash on travelers; the media had been reporting. I didn't need to take a lot because I could get it at a bank once we were there. I just wanted to make sure we had enough to get there.

*****

I started waking everyone up just before 2:00, so they could get ready. By 2:15, everyone was up and had things ready to go. Dawn and I went through a checklist with Amy and Samantha to make sure we had everything. Then we made sure our parents had everything. At 2:30, we were getting in the SUVs. Dawn drove ours, and I drove the Yukon so I could drop it off.

When we pulled up in front of the airport, I hailed three skycaps and showed them our tickets and gave each $100. They made sure all the bags were being taken care of as I drove the Yukon about 1/4 mile to drop it off. Dawn was going to park the Escalade and grab a shuttle.

Dawn and I caught up with everyone at the gate about 4:00. It had taken me a little time to get through security with my camera bag and computer bag. Security had gotten tighter recently. We all double-checked we had everything, though it was a bit late now.

We grabbed some coffee and found a place to sit. By 5:00, they were boarding first class. We got on the plane and took up the first two rows in first class and one of the remaining seats in the third row. I told them I would sit in the third row. That worked out well because a hot-looking business lady sat next to me. I found out she was taking the early flight to Dallas for business.

We pulled away from the gate right at 5:30 while the stewardess gathered all the cups of coffee.

The flight to Dallas wasn't that long, and soon we were getting off the plane. We were lucky because the plane to Maui was in the same wing of the terminal. While we had time, we grabbed some breakfast and sat at the gate.

The flight was supposed to take off at 9:45. They boarded first-class a little after 9:15. I sat on the aisle seat of the third row so I could talk to everyone. There were four rows of first-class seats on this flight, but after everyone was on board, there was an empty seat next to me. That would let one of the others sit with me on and off. We had been in the air for about an hour when everyone started taking a nap. I even moved next to the window to sleep.

I napped for a few hours but woke up when they started serving lunch. It looked like everyone was awake. We all ate, and by 3:30 local time, we descended into Maui. Once we deplaned, we made our way to the luggage claim. I found two skycaps and made their day so they would collect all the luggage and help us load it on the shuttle to the rental car place. I remembered that it was a little bit away from the airport.

About 20 minutes later, we were there. We unloaded all the luggage, and Dad and I went to get the two large convertibles we had reserved. Even with the two large convertibles, it was going to be tight. They had our cars up front waiting. Dad and I looked and decided all the luggage was not going in the two cars.

"Now what?" Dad asked.

"Hmmm. Maybe we should rent another car."

Just then, a van taxi pulled up to drop someone off. I ran over to the taxi.

"Sir, we have more luggage than will go into our rental cars. Can I pay you to take the luggage to the house we rented?"

"Where it is?"

I gave him the address.

"That is nearly a 45-minute drive from here," he said.

"How much?"

"There and back...$300."

"Okay. I'll give you $400 if you'll help load all the luggage in your van."

"Sure, man!"

He pulled over to the pile of luggage and loaded it.

"Is he taking just the luggage?" Samantha asked.

"Yes."

"Can I ride with him so I won't be jammed in the backseat?"

"I'm sure you can."

Before we pulled off, Amy had joined her sister in the van. Our little convoy headed off. Dawn's parents were riding with us, and Amelia was with my mom and dad. We took our time making the drive. On the way, Dawn called Lieke and told her we were on the way.

When we pulled up to the huge house, my mom couldn't believe it. Lieke met us, and we unloaded all the luggage and carried it into the house.

"This is some house," Mom said.

"This old thing," Dawn replied.

The luggage was left at the door as everyone explored for a while.

"I have stocked the pantry with plenty of food," Lieke told me.

"Thank you. Did I send you enough money?"

"Plenty. When do you think everyone will want to eat? I know your clocks are off."

"Well, it is about 8:00 for us. So soon. We could just go out to eat."

"I think everyone is probably tired," Lieke said. "I have a ham in the oven. I can have dinner ready in an hour."

"Thanks, Lieke."

I went around and told everyone we would eat in an hour. Until it was ready, everyone explored the house and pool or went down to the beach.

About 6:30 local time, we were around the big table eating.

"All that flying makes me tired," Mom said.

"I know, but flying first-class made a big difference. Thanks, James," Ann added.

"I can't fly in coach and won't anymore," I replied.

"Flying first-class has other advantages too!" Samantha exclaimed. "I got my mile-high pin last time."

"No way!" Amelia questioned her.

Samantha told everyone about our sexual escapades the last flight.

"I was wondering about your pin," Charlie said. "Where did you buy it?"

"You have to get it awarded to you by the pilot," Dawn said. "Or, a crew member...or it doesn't count."

"Are you going to have pins for your helicopter rides!" Amelia asked.

"Oh, yes. James is ordering some," Dawn replied.

"Seriously?"

"You'll have to get yours."

"Okay!"

Everyone finally unpacked and explored the house and grounds before the sun went down. That evening we discussed some things to see and do.

*****

We all slept in Sunday morning because we were tired, and the time difference was catching up with us. About 8:00, Dawn and I got up and went to the kitchen. Lieke and her cousin Kalea were putting some groceries away.

"Good morning, you two," Dawn said.

"Good morning. Is everyone ready for breakfast?" Lieke asked.

"If you start cooking, I am sure they will all get up."

Dawn grabbed some orange juice and sat at the long bar. I waited until the coffee was ready and grabbed a cup.

"Are you going to get Sam and Amy up?" Dawn asked.

"They'll get up when they smell breakfast."

"Good morning," we heard Ann say.

She grabbed some coffee and sat with us.

"What are the plans for today?" Ann asked.

"Whatever you want to do. It takes a day to get used to the time change," I told her.

"Hang out here, or anyone can go driving around. This is a pretty part of the island," Dawn told her.

By 9:00, everyone was up and eating breakfast. We told them some nice places to go if they wanted to drive around. Ann and Charlie wanted to drive around, and Amelia went with them. My mom and dad wanted to go down to the beach and hang out there for the morning. We warned everyone to make sure they put on plenty of sunscreen.

"Don't make any plans for tomorrow," Amy told me.

"Why?"

"I have plans for us."

"What?"

"You'll find out."

After everyone left or went outside to play in the pool, I sat and talked with Lieke.

"I hope we are not going to be too big a crowd for you and Kalea."

"Your not. We'll just have to make sure we don't run out of food!"

"We'll probably go out to eat in the evenings a lot. You two come with us."

"Okay. We have assorted things for everyone to snack on or eat during the day."

"That will be good. Just show everyone where everything is at."

"I wasn't sure how much wine and beer to get since your girls are pregnant."

"I'll take our dads out and get what they want at a liquor store."

"Susan said to ask you if you wanted another helicopter tour for anyone?"

"Let me ask."

I went outside and sat with Dawn while she lay naked in the sun. Amy and Samantha were in the pool.

"We need to find out if our parents want to go on a helicopter tour so I can have Lieke tell Susan."

"I'll ask when they come back."

I sat with her until Amy and Samantha got out of the pool.

"I think you two need long T-shirts and hats the rest of the day," Dawn told them.

"We know. We are heading in to get them," Amy said.

"And sunscreen..." Dawn told them.

"Don't you get burned either," I said.

"I'm not. I wonder if Susan will let me fly her helicopter?"

"Do you know what Amy has planned for tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"You'll find out. It is just for the two of you."

Everyone spent Sunday either hanging out on the beach or driving around.

*****

Monday morning, Amy had been up for a while before breakfast. When we finished, she came to me.

"Are you ready to go?" She asked me about 7:30.

"I guess...but where are we going?"

"Something I want to do, and you are going to do it with me."

"Okay. Do we need to take anything?"

"Maybe some towels."

We grabbed some towels, and Amy and I headed out.

"When will you two be back?" Dawn asked.

"Late this afternoon," Amy said.

"Why don't you take your dad and get another car?" I said.

"Okay. We'll do that first thing because everyone wants to explore the island."

"There are two copies of the Fodor's Maui guide in the small bag. Hand them out."

We went and got in one of the convertibles. Amy was driving, so I just sat back and enjoyed the scenery. We finally pulled into a parking lot at the harbor.

"Come on," Amy said.

We got out and started walking toward a surf shop.

"You want to learn to surf?" I asked.

"Nope. Follow me."

I followed Amy into a dive shop next door to the surf shop. I thought she wanted to go snorkeling. She walked up to a guy standing behind a counter.

"Hi, I'm Amy Smith."

"Oh, good! Are you ready to start?"

"Oh, yes! Me and my husband are going to do it together."

"Very good! As I told you, we will spend 4 hours in the classroom first. Then this afternoon, we will go out to the beach and begin."

"Great!"

"Fours hours to learn to snorkel? We did that last time," I asked Amy.

"No. You and I are going to learn to SCUBA Dive!"

"Hey! Great! Is that what you wanted to learn to do?"

"Yes. I want to learn to SCUBA dive and how to take pictures underwater."

"I think we can handle that!"

We sat through 4 hours of instruction. I found out Amy had arranged for private instruction for us. We tried on masks and fins with the help of the instructor until we found ones that we liked. He then walked us out to the beach, and the three of us snorkeled for an hour before we went back to the dive shop.

"There is more you need to read about before you can do your first dive tomorrow," the instructor said and handed us two books. "Read all this tonight, and we will cover it in the morning. After that, we'll grab some tanks and go on your first dives."

"Great!" Amy exclaimed.

"Ms. Amy, you should wear a dark-colored T-shirt tomorrow, or you will get burned."

"Good idea. What time in the morning?"

"The sooner you start, the sooner you can make your first dive."

"How about 9:00. That will keep me out of the mid-day sun."

"I'll be here. After your first dive, we'll get some lunch and discuss some more things you need to know. Then if you check out okay, we can swim out to the reef, and you can make a couple of dives before evening."

"I can't wait!"

"Do you teach underwater photography?" I asked.

"Yes, I do. Amy said she wanted to learn how to do that too. After you make three dives tomorrow, you should be comfortable enough to start using a camera."

"Can't wait!" Amy exclaimed.

We left and found a place to eat.

"Is this what you wanted to do instead of flying?" I asked.

"Yes. I watched a show on TV, and it looked like fun."

"Did you have fun today?"

"Yes, I did! Did you!"

"I did. I could never get Dawn to do this."

"Well, we are!"

We talked while we ate.

"They have gear we can rent as well as cameras," Amy said.

"Sounds like you checked all this out."

"I did. I set all this up before we left. Oh...don't tell anyone yet. I want the two of us to learn first."

"Okay. But you know your sister will want to learn."

We got in the car and took our time driving back. When we got to the house at about 3:30, I saw an open Jeep in front of the house. We went inside. Samantha wanted to know where we had gone. Amy told her we were just driving around the island. She had wrapped our books in a towel.

"Did Dawn get a jeep?" I asked Samantha.

"Yes! It's cool! We have been out driving around."

I looked at Samatha's shoulders, and they were pink.

"You better make sure you put on sunscreen when in the convertibles or put on a shirt."

Amy and I grabbed some water, and she took her towels and our books up to her room.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Dawn's parents and Amelia are still out exploring the island. Everyone else is in the pool or down at the beach."

"Is everyone else naked too?"

"Sure..."

I went outside and sat next to Dawn as she lay in the sun.

"Don't get burned."

"I won't, but we need to go and get more sunscreen."

"Why don't we all go out to eat this evening and take Lieke and her cousin?"

"Good idea. We can go to the place down the road we found last time. Did you and Amy have fun?"

"Did she tell you what she wants to do?"

"Yes."

"We had a good time."

"Good."

Everyone was showering and getting cleaned up at by 6:00. We all got in the three cars at about 6:30 and headed to the restaurant. After we ate, we stopped at a little store and went in and picked up some things, including more sunscreen. Amy and Samantha found more T-shirts, of course.

The four of us got in the jeep, and Dawn drove.

"I wish I could drive," Samantha said.

"They don't let children drive," Dawn teased her.

"Bite me!"

"Later!"

*****

Tuesday morning, Amy came and got me at 7:00. She wanted to leave early so she could look around the dive store. Everyone else had gone out to the pool after breakfast. Dawn walked into the house before we left.

"Are you two about to leave?" Dawn asked.

"Yes. We will be back this afternoon," Amy said.

"Okay. You two, be careful and don't let anything eat you."

We went out and got in the car.

"Did you tell Dawn what we were doing today?" I asked.

"Yes. I wanted her to do it with us, but she said no."

"Dawn is not real comfortable in deep water."

"Maybe we can talk her into it."

"Maybe we can. This will be fun, and we can take short trips down to the Bahamas or Mexico," I told her.

"The show I watched...they were diving on The Great Barrier Reef."

"Isn't that off Australia?"

"Yep. Maybe we can go one day."

We arrived at the dive shop just after 8:00. They were already open, so we went inside.

"You two are early," the instructor said.

"We wanted to look at all the equipment," Amy replied.

"Sure. What can I show you?"

"Show us everything we would need," I said. Amy looked at me and smiled.

"We rent equipment. You don't need to buy anything."

"We are going to be here for a month, so I bet we will want to make a lot of dives," I said.

"You will have time to see a lot of great places. Since you will have time, after you get comfortable, you should make a night dive or two."

"That sounds like fun," Amy said.

We looked at equipment for an hour. After that, he got us the equipment to rent for the day so that we could check out a couple of different things. We grabbed what we could carry, and one of the other guys in the shop loaded six tanks in a cart. We all headed down to the beach.

He taught us how to get all the equipment ready and how to use the air gauges on the tank. He talked to us for a while about some other things we needed. After that, we put it all on and waded out into the surf. We swam out to where the water was about 30 feet deep and then went down.

We went down and just stopped on the sand bottom on our knees as he had instructed us. He said this was just a check-out dive to make sure we were comfortable under the water. He checked us out and went through some hand signals. After that, we followed him along the sand bottom. We saw plenty of fish for about 20 minutes before he signaled for us to go up.

"That was fun!" Amy exclaimed on the surface.

"Were both of you comfortable down there?"

"Yes!" Amy exclaimed. I told him I was.

We swam back to the beach and walked out.