Reunion Fever Ch. 01

I heard the disappointment in my mother's voice and the reasons for it, so I said "I'm sure we'll stay with you in the future. This weekend I figured we'd better stay at the hotel, what with all the drinking that Apple Grove High graduates are known for. And Teresa usually is doing Police work, protecting and serving, serving and protecting, while Todd makes his business trips."

My mother chuckled, then said "That's true."

We went onto the back balcony. Across the lake I could see the Hilton Hotel underneath the lowering sun. In the far distance to the left (south) I could see the lights of the Junior Biggs Dam.

"This is my favorite part of the apartment." said my mom. "We get a good breeze most of the year, which is very good in the summer.

Laura said "Don, why don't we take your mother to dinner." I surmised that Laura really was really hungry... for food. "Phyllis, where would you like to go eat? And name someplace nice."

Phyllis said "Our dining hall here is good, and you could be my guests."

Sensing Laura wasn't happy about that, I diplomatically said "Why don't we have lunch there tomorrow or Saturday. Your fellow residents will be there, and you'll be wanting to introduce your firstborn son to them. Tonight let's go to one of the new restaurants around here, and then we can talk amongst ourselves, and catch up. So what's good?"

My mother said "One of the two best new restaurants is the Luigi's just south of here. The back outdoor seating and the balcony on the second floor overlook the lake and are nice in the Spring and Fall. Then there's The Chop House, which is just southwest of the town square. It's the best steakhouse I've ever been to, but I don't know if we can get a reservation, even on a Thursday."

"That won't be a problem." I said cryptically, and made a phone call after Laura voted for steaks over Italian. We piled into the Mercedes and drove towards town to the Chop House... yes, same name as the steakhouse in my Town & County, and it wasn't a coincidence.

It was Thursday and a bit early when we arrived, but it was already busy and people were waiting. But when we got there and I gave my name at the front desk, we were seated immediately. After our drink orders were taken, my mother asked "How did you skip to the front of the line, Don?"

Laura asked "Name drop?"

"Yes, but not the way y'all are thinking." I said. "Moe Molinari owns The Chop House steakhouses all over our State, and Jimmy 'Coffin' Cerone owns the Luigi's restaurants. It is possible that I suggested to them to continue their friendly restaurant competition up here in Fillmore County, and they've done very well with the restaurants, so far. They both have given me codewords to use to make reservations that put me at the head of the line. And I suspect the service and the food will exceed expectations, as well."

And it did. Laura said she'd never had a better steak, though I suspect her hunger contributed to its deliciousness. She worked hard to eat with manners and decorum instead of wolfing it down. My steak was delicious, as well. My mother had a steak, chicken, and fish sampler platter, and pronounced all of it to be exceptional.

I looked over the clientele of the restaurant. They were mostly well-dressed white families, with a few well-dressed black families. Some of them may have come in early for the Reunion, like we did, but there were also some groups of men in suits and ties, and I could see they were executives of some company or other having dinner as part of a business gathering.

As we ate, we talked about... what else... my mother's grandchildren. I waxed poetic on Carole's exploits while Laura bragged on Jim's. I talked about how Ross had been so interested in the Queen's passing and the mourning time and Her Majesty's funeral. And I said that Tasha was liking first grade, and doing very well.

Then I asked how Apple Grove was doing. My mother said "They just completed the renovation of Apple Grove Hospital. It used to be pretty much a clinic with a poorly equipped Emergency Room, but now it has two full operating rooms and the E.R. has been certified as a Level 1 trauma center."

"That sounds very good." said Dr. Laura Fredricson.

Phyllis: "That's the best news. As to the rest of it, the Mayor and Council have done a good job making sure Apple Grove can grow, but in an orderly, measured way. And that goes for the County Government, as well. The Police Force and Sheriff's Department are still understaffed, though."

Phyllis: "The biggest problem has been illegal immigration. Donny Hall became Sheriff in the last Election, and he has been surprisingly hard-line against BigAgraFoods and the other 'big boy' companies, prompting anger from them. He's undaunted, and he has worked with ICE to crack down hard on Illegal Persons. Todd has been very vocal in his support of Sheriff Hall's efforts, and even the people in Springer support the Sheriff."

Phyllis: "So the Big Boy companies literally created a new town in the southwest corner of the county, and it's virtually all Hispanic. They have their own Police, which is pretty much a Security company owned and operated by BigAgraFoods, and the county Sheriff has been told to keep himself and his Deputies and the County Police out of there, or they will be shot dead."

I said "They should call in the State Police and even the National Guard, and go in there and lay down the law. Raid the town, arrest every Illegal Person, turn them in to ICE. Anyone that shoots at them gets shot, and survivors will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

Phyllis said "Spoken like the Commander of the Town & County Police. Unfortunately, son, this is not there. The Governor of this State is a Democrat, so don't hold your breath waiting on State support. As it is, there is an unofficial agreement that the county will leave Veracruz alone, and the Big Boys will confine their Illegal Persons to that area, and to Rome, where Illegal Immigration has been a problem for years."

"So crime is low?" I asked. "They're holding it in check?"

Phyllis chuckled sardonically. "Fillmore County has not changed that much, Don. Just as when you were growing up, a lot of the white boys here are still rednecks, drinking hard and trying to get girls into trouble. They don't mess with Providence Springs or Springer very much, but there have been some physical assaults of Hispanic families. Leanne... that's Captain Wisocky, who is the Police Chief... has cracked down hard on that. though. So it's the same old small-town crimes, for the most part."

After dinner, we went back to my mom's apartment. As she made decaf coffee for us, I pulled out the old picture books from the cabinet where they'd been stored, and hunted for some pictures. When I found the ones I was looking for, I showed Laura, saying "That's Patches, my childhood dog that followed me home."

"Oh wow." Laura said. "That dog does look exactly like the Owens's dog we saw today."

My mom came up and looked, and said "Oh yes, I heard about Gypsy Girl, and you're right, she looks just like that dog that followed Don home all those years ago. But don't be fooled, Laura. Don all but carried that dog home, and he was bound and determined to keep him. He did get a couple of Merit Badges for his work feeding and caring for that dog, and Patches followed Don everywhere."

"Patches was an awesome dog." I said. "He was to me what Bowser and Buddy are to our kids."

"The man loves dogs, Phyllis." Laura said flatly.

"And so do you." I told my wife. My mom laughed as Laura 'shrugged' her eyebrows.

My mom turned the lights down low and we went onto the back deck. It was pleasant outside, but the strong breeze off the lake would be bringing in cooler temperatures later in the night. We sat down in the plastic chairs and looked over the lake. The Hilton Hotel could be seen on the other side of the lake, and the sign just below the roof and above the fourth floor windows glowed a bright red.

"That hotel sign is such an eyesore." my mother said. "This facility's management asked them to turn that sign off, since it faced the lake and not the road. They said that it guided people over the dam from our side, so they won't do it. They had been pretty good about turning it off after midnight, but in the last month or two they've been bad about leaving it on."

"They have mostly business clientele?" I asked.

"In the hotel, yes." my mom said. "They have two restaurants, one for fine dining and the other is a bar and grill. And I understand that the bar is packed every night with businessmen meeting women, if you know what I mean."

"Prostitution? Here?" I said jokingly.

"And that's where the upper-class sex trade goes on." my mother said. "Rome has its own version of the Tenderloin District on its northside; that area of the town is getting rougher. And I've never been within miles of Veracruz, but I understand there are streetwalkers on virtually every street and in their seedy bars."

My mother then said "Don, you had to have seen the Owens today, since you saw their dog. Was Tommy Baker there?"

"Yes." I said, explaining how I'd visited Renée and had seen that the place next door was occupied and went to investigate.

My mother patiently waited for me to finish the story, then said "Tommy Baker's father is Roddy Baker. You might see Roddy and his wife Lisa, who was Lisa Lewis, at the Reunion; they graduated ten years ago. Roddy got Lisa pregnant and they married while still in high school. Roddy is the town bad boy, and he's been in trouble his whole life. He and Lisa have three kids; Tommy is between older and younger sisters."

Phyllis: "My moral to this story is that Lisa has had a number of waitressing jobs, and the Hilton hired her to work in their dining room. A few months later, she was arrested for soliciting prostitution, accused of going to mens's rooms with them after getting off work. She denied it, but she was pretty much caught in a sting, which was run by Captain Wisocky. The charges against her were later dropped, but Lisa was fired by the hotel. Funny thing, though, no one else was arrested, and they've never run another sting operation there..."

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

It was late when we returned to our hotel room. Laura checked the hidden camera to make sure no one had come in while we were gone, then we began undressing to go to bed.

"Your mom really wanted us to stay with her this weekend." Laura said. "And I suspect she'd like for us to visit more often, and stay in the spare bedroom."

"Yes, and we can do that." I said, then slid my hands around my wife's waist. "But not this weekend. We're about to make a lot of noise, a 'joyful noise' to be sure..."

"Mmmm, I like it when my nasty husband comes to play." Laura said as she turned to face me and wrapped her arms around my neck. We began making out, and soon I was leading her to the bed.

As we kissed and fondled each other, I said "I guess that roleplay of me picking you up at the bar is out. You might be mistaken for a working girl, and me your john."

"True." Laura said. "And it's lucky you're my husband; otherwise, I'd be damned expensive."

I did not say out loud that she was already damned expensive, and we husbands pay for our marital sex in a lot more ways than a guy buying an escort for the night. Instead, I began kissing my way down my wife's firm abs to the fur-lined treasure between her long, shapely legs, determined to get my 'money's worth' in as pleasant a way as possible...

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

1:30am, Friday, October 1st. Laura was sleeping soundly in the bed nearest the back window. She had been determined to wear me out, but after I ate her pussy to two orgasms, then 'tortured' her with my cock to two more, filling her with two loads of semen in the process, she had been the one that was worn out.

She also had been under tremendous stress the past few months, as we had faced dangers both practical and existential. She'd needed this vacation more that I had, and she was now sleeping as soundly as she had in months.

I put on my bathrobe and stepped outside onto the little balcony. It was cool outside, but not unbearably so. I looked at the ground, seeing a couple of concrete paths to an overlook that bordered the Lake. There was a line of shimmering red on the lake, a diffused reflection of the lights of the sign above me.

I looked across the lake and saw the Senior Living center. My mom's apartment's lights were not on. I saw the pier where boats could dock there. Looking to the right of that facility (south), I saw the lights of the Junior Biggs Dam, and the restaurant on the road with a great overlook of the Lake.

It seemed quiet and peaceful, like Apple Grove often did. But I knew that that tranquility was a façade, an illusion, and that under the surface there was much chaos waiting to break out. Always had been, maybe always would be, I thought to myself.

Just at that moment a gust of wind blew into my face, chilling me. It was an East Wind, both directionally and in warning, I felt into the very depths of my soul. Yes, an East Wind was coming to Apple Grove...

To be continued.