Reunion Fever Ch. 01

Laura said "In a way, that's unfortunate. I'm sure people of different classes meet and make business contacts. By the way, did you come to your tenth year reunion?"

"No." I said, my voice getting a big solemn. "I was married to Melina, and she definitely did not want to go. So I told myself and the Committee in sending my regrets that I couldn't get away from working in the lab. I regret it now more than I did then."

Laura said "Have you ever heard of girl named Lori Lovlin?"

"Err..." I said, thinking about it, "not really. Should I?"

Laura said "She graduated from Apple Grove High ten years ago, and she is expecting to be here. She started doing yoga podcasts, and evolved them into workouts that concentrated on routines that improved women's sexual capabilities and pleasure, such as Kegel exercises. She ended up becoming the yoga instructor to the stars... mostly porn stars; Callie's heard of her.

Laura: "Her podcast and online classes, especially the NSFW ones, got popular, and she opened Patreon and OnlyFans accounts, as well. She made enough money to open yoga studios and gyms for women, called 'Lovlin Yoga'. They're all over both coasts, and she's beginning to be national in scope."

Laura: "She contacted me years ago, to ask questions to make sure that what she was teaching was correct. I helped her out, gave her pointers, and she puts me in her video credits as her 'technical consultant'. She's offered to pay me, but I told her all I'd accept was a free membership for life to all of her studios and gyms. We've never met personally, though, and we're both looking forward to getting acquainted..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

We had taken the road at Rome that led to Apple Grove. I expressed my surprise at how much growth had occurred on the southside of the town. I also noted a lot of store signs in Spanish as well as English.

Laura asked "Is Rome benefitting from the aquifer?" She meant the aquifer that had been tapped and was fueling the growth of Apple Grove and Fillmore County.

I said "The road we take to get to Rome is built along a river that ultimately flows into the Big River south of our State Line River. That was why Rome was always larger than Apple Grove. The Army Corps of Engineers is controlling access to the aquifer, so that it doesn't get overdrawn and only last 50 years, but Rome is getting some water from it."

There were several new businesses along the road from Rome to Apple Grove, but it was still mostly working farms. I told Laura "Most of the new industries are west and southwest of Apple Grove. There was a town in the very southwest corner of Fillmore County, called Millardsville. About 25 years ago it had a grand total of twelve residents, all over 60 years of age, and it lost its incorporation."

Me: "This past Spring, a group of lawyers that my nephew Todd discovered were hired by BigAgraFoods, went and reincorporated the town, then renamed it 'Veracruz'. They literally built a new town out of it: supermarket, theater, schools, and they built neighborhoods of homes and apartments for their employees and the employees of a couple of other industries that located southwest of Apple Grove."

Laura said "And those employees are Hispanic?"

"Yes." I said. "Todd said that the Apple Grove and Fillmore County politicians were surprisingly difficult to work with, i.e. bribe, and were not looking the other way at the number of Illegal Persons being brought in. And Rome was saturated, and couldn't really hold a lot more Illegal persons. Soooo, BigAgraFoods and their fellow 'Big Boy' industries created Veracruz literally out of thin air, and the rest of the county just leaves them to their corner and doesn't bother with them. And that's why a lot of the industry is to our south."

Laura said "Todd and BOW Enterprises are not part of that, are they?"

"Noooo." I said. "Todd put out word that not only would BOW hire only completely legal people, he said that if any Illegal Persons applied for work there with false papers, he'd turn them in to the Police and to ICE. So even legal Hispanics don't apply there. But that's okay, because he hires blacks in Providence Springs, which the Big Boys avoid doing if they possibly can. Todd even bought an old school bus and reconditioned it, and it shuttles employees from Providence Springs to his plant on the west side of the Reservoir."

"Lake Donald Troy." Laura said proudly. She looked over at me and said "You still haven't gotten over that, have you?"

"No, not quite." I replied, remembering how humbled I'd felt when that had happened. "And I probably never will..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

4:45pm, Thursday, September 30th. We pulled into the parking lot next to the sign that read 'The Troy House'. The front door faced south, and the gravel drive extended north from the road that curved from east-west to north-south right at the place the driveway met the road. Thus, there were houses that faced east along the road further south, and larger tracts of land along the road that went east.

I noticed to the east that the property next of mine (I own The Troy House property), which had been a big farm field with a grove of trees at the back (north) end, had a new fence that enclosed the entire property... no small amount of acreage.

Going inside, I re-introduced Laura to Renée, who ran The Troy House bed and breakfast as her business, and told Renée I was just stopping in for a routine check. "You didn't reserve the B&B for your stay?" Renée asked. "I'm afraid it's booked solid now."

"No," I replied, "we're staying at the Hilton, where the dinner will be Saturday night. Are you going?" Renée had been in my Class.

"Wouldn't miss it." said Renée. "Let me show you the books." Laura looked around the place as Renée showed me that her business was booming. As she did so, I noticed that the B&B had been reserved by BOW Enterprises, my nephew Todd's company, for Friday through Tuesday night, but I didn't say anything about it.

After we were done, I said casually "Did someone move into the house next door, with the big farm field behind it?"

"Yes." said Renée. "The Owens. One of the big chain pharmacies bought out his pharmacy, and he works there as an employee now. He used the money to buy that property."

"Ah," I said, "they must've fenced in the back yard for their dog." I remembered giving Timmy Owens the beagle puppy that he named 'Mr. Crowbar' after evil Sheriff Spaulding shot his dog Skippy to death... a barbaric act that (among other things) cost Spaulding his life at my hands. (Author's note: 'Along Came A Spider', Ch. 01-02)

A few minutes later, Laura and I left and went to the car. As we did, I saw in the distance a car pull into the driveway of the house next door. It was Mrs. Owens. I said "Let's go over and speak to them." I said. Laura didn't say anything, but she didn't protest, either.

We drove over as Mrs. Owens came outside to retrieve a second load of groceries. "Why Donny Troy! What a surprise! How are you?" Mrs. Owens had been just ahead of my grade in school.

"Let me help with those." I said, grabbing a couple of sacks of groceries. "This is my wife Laura, by the way."

"Oh yes, I met you at the dedication for the lake and the dam." Mrs. Owens said as she and Laura exchanged greetings. "Y'all come on inside, and have a glass of tea."

Around those there parts, 'tea' meant sweet tea, and with real sugar. Laura wasn't used to that, but I certainly enjoyed my glass. Just as we were served, Mr. Owens came home, and I (re)introduced Laura to him.

"Let's step out on the back porch." Mr. Owens said. "The boys and the dogs are out there."

"Boys? Dogs? Plural?" I said.

Mr. Owens chuckled. "Yes. The new dog may be skittish around unfamiliar adults, so don't insist on petting her. The plumber did, and almost got his hand bit off."

We went onto the back porch. Mr. Owens said "Several chain pharmacies were bidding for my business, so I asked them to fence in this yard to keep dogs in as part of the sale. Walgreens agreed, but I don't think they realized how much land they were enclosing. But they made good and did it. And now I'm working for them as an employee, so I'm still making money and we have healthcare."

"Good." I said. I saw Timmy in the yard. He was about 13 now. Mr. Crowbar was a fine looking, fully grown dog. Further down the yard I saw a little boy about Carole's age of eight, petting another dog.

I almost gasped out loud when I saw the dog. It looked exactly like my childhood dog, whose name was 'Patches'. It was a mid-size mutt, and its body seemed too large for its head. It had white hair with two large round brown circles on its lower back, just as my dog had had, and brown markings on it's ears and face.

"That's Gypsy Girl." said Mr. Owens. "Tommy there found her on the side of the road, and came to us for help. I took her to the vet, and she had a broken pelvis. She'd either bit hit by a car or thrown out of one. The vet couldn't do anything for her, but Tommy begged me not to put her down. So we brought her home, thinking she'd die."

"But she didn't." continued Mr. Owens. "And Tommy was over here just about every day, taking care of her. She loves Tommy and Timmy, but she won't let us grownups pet her. Tommy's parents refused to take her in, and said Tommy couldn't have a dog. I could understand that, because they have three children but no money. So we had her spayed, and we're keeping her. Do you know the Bakers, Don?"

I said "The only Baker I remember is Mitchell Baker. He was the bank owner, and one of the bad guys, that I call the Swamp Frogs, that we busted along with Sheriff Spaulding and his trash."

Owens said "Same family. Mitchell Baker had a younger brother that he cheated out of the family inheritance, leaving his brother and brother's family flat broke. His brother's youngest son is Roddy Baker, who graduated high school ten years ago, so you may see him at your reunion. Roddy got Lisa Lewis pregnant, and they had a shotgun wedding."

Owens: "They're still married, three kids now, but it's been hard for them. Roddy's been in trouble with the Law several times, so Lisa has had to work a lot of odd jobs, waitressing and such, to make ends meet. Roddy is a pretty good mechanic and auto body shop repairman, but nobody will hire him due to his record... and the one or two that did hire him ended up firing him for... various reasons."

Mrs. Owens chimed in: "All the people around here tell Tommy to his face that he's trash, that he'll grow up to be bad like his father, and he'll never amount to anything. He's a good kid, though. That's why we let him hang around here with the dogs. And we set a place for him at the supper table, to make sure he's getting enough to eat."

"That's good of you." I said as Timmy saw us and began running up to us, followed closely by Mr. Crowbar. I sat down in a chair to greet them.

"Hi Mister Crowbar!" Timmy said, to me. The redoubtable Mr. Crowbar sniffed me, then allowed me to pet him, which I vigorously did as Timmy yelled "Hey Tommy! Come meet the real Iron Crowbar!"

Tommy hurried up. "Wow! You are real!" he said as I shook his hand.

"I sure am." I said. "Is this Gypsy Girl?"

"Yeah, but she don't like grownups." Tommy said. I had been concentrating my mental power on the dog, projecting love and friendliness. Gypsy Girl seemed to look less worried, but still would not approach me, even when Tommy called out to her. I extended my fist, which Mr. Crowbar had vigorously sniffed when he'd come up to me, but Gypsy Girl maintained her distance. Just like Patches, I thought to myself, very sure I was in the presence of my dog reincarnated.

Timmy said "We named her Gypsy Girl after Dr. Eckhart, who helped my dad after Sheriff Spaulding burned down the pharmacy. Dr. Eckhart told us he was one of the gypsies when he was a kid."

"That's true." I said. "And he would be proud to have a good dog like Gypsy Girl named with him in mind." Gypsy Girl stayed seated on her haunches in the yard.

A few moments later Laura said "I appreciate your hospitality, but we have to go, Don. We have to check into the hotel, and then meet your mother for dinner."

"How is your mother doing, Don?" asked Mrs. Owens.

"Very well." I said. "And very happy here in Apple Grove." I got up, then said "Bye Mr. Crowbar. Bye Gypsy Girl." Mr. Crowbar wagged his tail. Gypsy Girl just watched us carefully from the yard, though not acting threatened, threatening, nor hostile...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

We drove through Apple Grove on the main road, which went along the north side of town. The old road where the Battle of Providence Springs had been successfully fought had been partially submerged under the lake, so the road we were on diverted slightly south, then became the road over the Junior Biggs Dam to get to the western side of Lake Donald Troy and up to the Hilton Hotel on its western shore. It was a very nice hotel, but not overly lavish. It still had that 'new hotel smell', too.

"You're on the fourth floor, room 404, for three nights." said the girl at the desk. "It has a really great view of the lake--- oh! Are you related to the Troy they named the lake after?"

"Yes, I'm related to him." I said, keeping a straight face. Laura wasn't quite as successful doing so, and turned her head to study the main lobby.

I don't like bellboys or valets handling my luggage, and you know that the former Deputy Director of the CIA's Science and Technology Division felt that even more strongly. So we took our own luggage up the elevator to the fourth floor, which was the top floor. When we went into our room, we found two queen beds to the right, the bathroom to the immediate right of the entrance door, a kitchenette and breakfast bar just past it, facing the room. There was a flat screen tv over the desk and dresser to the left.

But the nicest feature was in the back of the room. The entire back side was glass windows, and a sliding glass door in the middle opened onto a patio. We went out on it to see the expanse of the lake before us. On the other side from us in the far distance was the Senior Living community that my mother lived in. The sun was beginning to set, and the eastern sky was becoming a deeper blue as reds and oranges were overhead and around the edges of the building.

"Really nice view." I said as I wrapped my arms around my wife, pulling her back into my chest and her magnificent ass into my groin.

"Easy, Tiger." Laura said. "You need to call your mom and tell her we're here. And I don't know about you, but I'm starved... for food."

"You can make it up to me later tonight." I said as I went into the room and got my personal iPhone...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Senior Living Village was along the east side of Lake Donald Troy, and the road to it approached from the southeast corner of the property. We drove up to the gate and I pressed the intercom button. A nice lady answered, and I gave my name and the name of the resident I was going to visit. We were allowed in, and parked in the visitor's lot at the central hub of the main building, and went inside.

We signed in and were given name tags at the front desk, and a moment later my mother Phyllis appeared. My mother looked fit and healthy, and very attractive in a flower print dress of oranges, yellows, and reds, and cork-heel sandals. Laura and I each hugged her, then she led us down the hallway towards her apartment. We took the large freight elevator to the second floor.

Two 'arms' jutted out from the central area and ran along the lake shore that was 100 feet away (and downhill). Two more arms extended outward to the other side (not facing the lake), and the first two floors of one of them was the assisted living and memory care apartments, as well as the medical facilities..

There were also rows of separate cottages on the other side of the main building from the lake in a semicircle, and other cottages to the north of the facility closer to the lake and with a good view of it.

My mother's apartment was in the arm to the right (north) of the central hub. She took us along the hallway to her apartment. "Come on in and let me show you around." my mom said proudly.

I'll call the entrance door the 'front'. To the right as we came in was the kitchen. It was in the form of a square and had plenty of counter space. The back counter was extended to a breakfast bar. One thing I didn't quite like was that the sink was part of that same back counter, instead of somewhere else along the other counters.

Towards the back was the living room, which extended to the back of the apartment, with the large outside balcony overlooking the lake directly behind it, with a door with glass panels and two windows looking onto the balcony. "This floor plan has the largest balcony, and the windows and door allow in a lot of light." my mother said.

There was a sofa on the right side, facing the fireplace with a mantle on the left side of the room. Everything was either white walls or white marble. "It's a working fireplace." my mother said. "I could burn wood in it. But there's no gas at all; everything is electric. I asked if I could get gas run to the fireplace, in case the electricity goes out in Winter, but they said the only gas lines on the property run to the kitchen and the heated indoor swimming pool in the gym. That's probably the most unfortunate feature of the place."

I nodded as I observed the framed pictures. Hanging over the mantle were two paintings. One was of my mother and father on their wedding day, and the other of them about the time I graduated high school. Sitting on the mantle were framed photos of various sizes. The three largest ones were of me; one in my Boy Scout uniform from my Eagle Scout ceremony, one in my Army uniform when I was commissioned on my college graduation day, and the third was my official Police portrait, complete with MOV with oak leaf cluster.

Among the other photos were one of Todd and Teresa on their wedding day, a nice (and relatively new) photo of Todd and Teresa with Clarissa Belvedere Esterson to her left and Phyllis to Todd's right. And one of me between Teresa and Cindy, all of us in our formal TCPD uniforms with medals, and MOVs around our necks.

There was one of me, Laura, Carole and Jim. Another showed all the grandkids and great-grandkids, including Todd's boys Mike and Doug, and with no adults. There was a Christmas photo of Jim, Ross, and Ian with Buddy and Bowser, stylin' and profilin' as they struck the pose.

And one I liked had me on the sofa of The Cabin, with Carole and Tasha sitting at my sides, their backs pressed into my sides. They were laughing uproariously at something as I looked at the camera and the redoubtable Bowser looked at all of us as if we'd lost our marbles. And there was a small one at the end that Carole had taken; it showed Tasha and Betsy surrounded by and being rubbed by Tiger Mom and the other cats.

The master bedroom was in the back left corner of the apartment. Going back towards the front was the shower, toilet, and vanity with two sinks, then a huge walk-in closet. On the right side of the apartment was a smaller bedroom, the washer/dryer and closet with internet and television hookups, and a basic bathroom with lavatory, toilet, and shower/bath.

"Nice place, Mom." I said after the tour. "Plenty of space. But no office room?"

"The desk in my bedroom is plenty enough." my mother said. "Some of the apartments had studies in them, but those overall apartments were way too large for my needs. I got this one with the second bedroom, thinking the two of you could stay here when you visit, and Todd and Teresa could, as well. And Todd has stayed a couple of times, but he usually stays at The Troy House. And Teresa never comes up with him."