78: Into the Storm

Whitney saw fireworks on the Fourth of July. So did I. I'd seldom seen her so passionate, using her height to gain leverage over me. She dominated and brought herself to several orgasms before I'd had one. Then she reversed her polarity. She was just as submissive as she had been dominant. She clung to me, begging me to take my pleasure from her. She reminded me that I had accepted her virginity as she had accepted mine and that made us bound together for life. When we exploded in our final orgasm of the night, she molded herself to my body, kissing my cheek and ears.

"I'm going to join the Marines," she whispered. "Not right now, but at graduation. I've been drifting. There is talk about a women's professional basketball league starting, but it could be years away. In the meantime, I will do something good for myself and my country. I've talked to the recruiter and there is a course I can take here at the university that will set me up for officer training. I'm taking it over the next two semesters."

"Whitney, I'll never see you!"

"It will be just like going off to summer basketball camp. Except I'll get my head shaved and have a tattoo. You don't mind, do you?" she giggled. It was a well-calculated move. Our conversation quickly shifted from her leaving in ten months to what kind of tattoo she should get and where it should be placed.

Rhonda was the last of 'our generation' to turn twenty-one, on Monday. Our parents were still at the ranch as it was the holiday.

"No offense, Danielle, but how do you stand drinking this stuff?" she asked after taking her first sip of the 21-year-old bourbon.

"Honestly," Dani said, turning her back so her father couldn't see her, "I don't like it much. But it would hurt Pap's feelings if I didn't have a sip on special occasions. Except I can't now. I'm pregnant. I think I'll stay this way." Rhonda bent over and kissed Dani's belly. She wasn't really showing yet, but everyone in the family took any opportunity to pet her tummy and kiss it. "I feel like Buddha!"

"Well, I have enough personality disorder that I don't think I need to add forcing myself to drink alcohol," Rhonda said. "Surely there must be some other adult thing that I could do to celebrate my birthday." She had a crinkled up innocent look on her face and one finger in her mouth as if she was trying to puzzle out some great mystery.

"I believe that is the cue for parents to leave the party," Sunshine said. He hugged his daughter. After the way their relationship had been strained to breaking when we were in high school, it was really wonderful to see all the love they'd had before renewed and reinvigorated. "I love you, my daughter. And I am so proud of the young woman you have grown to be."

After the parents left, it took about thirty seconds for the rest of us to lose our clothes and about two minutes after that, Rhonda had her first birthday orgasm.

It was a peaceful week. I went with Danielle and her sisters to her first prenatal doctor's appointment. The doctor had some concerns that revolved around the trauma and anesthesia Dani had been through before she knew she was pregnant. We were advised that she should wait to have any further reconstructive surgery until the baby was born and weaned. Dani was a little sad about having to live with her scarred face so prominent for a couple years, but she was more than willing to agree that the baby's health came first.

I was alone in the car—a rare occurrence—as I headed toward the ranch from an appointment at the university to talk about grad school. I slowed up to take a look at the construction project for John's new airport. It was going to be pretty cool. None of us were concerned about noise since the airplanes didn't make much more noise than a lawnmower and the airport would be unlit, so available only for daylight landings. The neighbors on the far corner of the section were more directly in the flight path, and John had done a lot of flights over the neighborhood, mostly carrying passengers from there, before he floated the proposal. He actually ended up with a couple students as a result. There was grading equipment at work, leveling and smoothing the base for the runway.

As I started up again, I saw a couple trucks and cars stopped in front of our gate. I couldn't think of any reason. I pulled over and grabbed the CB, which, of course, I'd never turned on today. Once I had a signal, I started my call.

"Breaker 19. This is Kitchen Chef Brian One Niner Six Eight. Base, are you there?" The response was almost immediate.

"Brian! Thank goodness you called. We've been trying to reach you. We have a bunch of press camped out in front of the house. At the moment they are blocking the entrance," Courtney said over the radio.

"Any idea what they want this time?" I asked. This was getting a little irritating.

"Whitney went out to talk to them."

"Do they have both entrances blocked?"

"No. Just the main drive to the ranch."

"Send someone to the other gate to open it for me. I'm going to put a stop to this."

"Are you sure?"

"Can't live with people camped out at our home." I waited a few minutes to give someone time to get to the other entrance and then drove forward slowly. There were two television vans and two cars. They actually had signs in the window that declared "PRESS" on them. Like that gives them special privileges that are not accorded by law. I could see four people at the gate arguing with Whitney, Josh, and Judy on the other side. As if that would get them somewhere. "Hey! I yelled. Move your vehicles. You are blocking access to Corazón, Indiana."

"We're waiting right here until ... It's Brian Frost!" one of them shouted.

"Josh, call the sheriff and get a tractor ready to remove these vehicles from the fire lane."

"You can't do that!"

"You're blocking a fire lane and a volunteer fireman has gone to get equipment to clear the lane. You can pick your vehicles up out of the ditch on the other side of the road."

"You have no legal right to do that."

"We will as soon as the Sheriff arrives and he gives the order. He will also ticket and arrest violators. I'd suggest you move now," I said sternly.

"Mr. Frost, how long have you been training your private military here?" one of the reporters shouted. A microphone was shoved in my face.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. What private military?"

"Are you denying the report and pictures?"

"While you are moving your truck, someone can give me a hint as to what you are talking about."

"You haven't seen the tabloids?"

"Why on earth would I read supermarket tabloids? For that matter, why are you? I thought you were reporters."

"I am," said a sharp looking woman in a business suit with a microphone. She marched straight up to the car. "That's why we are investigating a new round of serious allegations about you, published in the Star. It claims that you are drilling nearly a hundred people in a private militia. Are you survivalists?"

"Does anybody have a copy of this so I can read what you're talking about, or am I going to have to drive all the way back into town? I usually do grocery shopping on Tuesdays. It's such a zoo on Friday." A guy standing next to the woman with a pocket recorder shoved a copy of the Star into my hands. I looked down at it while people continued to ask questions. I knew I was being filmed, so I tried to keep my face neutral. These guys just wouldn't give up. 'Sorority Row Hero Trains Secret Militia!' Below the headline there was a picture of all of us walking to the Zen Garden on Sunday. Somebody had managed to sneak onto the property and photograph us. He must have come through the woods.

"What are your comments on this secret militia, Mr. Frost?" the woman pressed.

"Well, it's such a secret that this is the first I've heard of it," I said. "Thank you for the copy. This looks like good reading for after Saturday morning cartoons. I'll talk to you after I've read it. Feel free to move your vehicles now."

"When?"

"Well, it's the weekend. Why don't you call this afternoon—I promise we'll answer the phone—and we'll set up an interview on Monday. I think it's time for some of you to visit Corazón. Here. Here's my card. Give me time to get inside and let people know we're going to get calls. I really do think you need to unblock the fire lane before the sheriff gets here," I said. I pointed up the road where people could see the flashing lights. While they were all looking that direction, I drove away and swung into the other gate that Larry held open for me.

My family was under siege. It was time to take the battle to the enemy.

"What do you want us to tell them?" Rhonda asked. Elaine, Jennifer, Courtney, Samantha, and Rose also sat at the table with me. Other hearthmates and cónyuge were nearby. Dani was behind me, rubbing my shoulders. Josh, Cassie, Mary, and Angela were banging pots in the kitchen. Nicki was taking notes over on the sofa. I had no doubt she was already working on a statement for me to read. I'd have to talk to her about that.

"Is the studio ready to be filmed in?"

"Yes. We were going to run some tests next week," Rhonda said.

"Then let's run a test on Monday afternoon. I'd like it right before the news hour so they don't have too much time to doctor it up. They'll probably want to use their satellite trucks. There were only four reporters out there at the drive. I'd guess more will show up tomorrow or will call. Let them know that I'll do a group interview. Then let's get a couple of our good people here. See if you can get Roslyn Knightly here from E! Tell her I'll do an exclusive with her after the general interview. Then alert our syndicate that we will have a news feed for them just prior to the six o'clock. We'll tap them in live so they can edit while we're recording. Get April and Jason and work some magic. Make sure that every reporter's face gets a good close-up. Have the kitchen set prepped so that we can move from Elaine's set to the kitchen for coffee and keep taping. I'll choose reporters to sit at the counter with me. I want everyone in house gis. And I need to meet with Leonard. I'm going to have him tell them how the gis were designed. We might as well get a plug in for Designed by Leonard. He might have to add gis to his line for sale. See if we can get Maggie, Jess, and Joanne back for this. She doesn't have to do anything, but I'd like her to just walk through. Am I missing anything?"

"Shit, Brian!" Rose said. "How long have you been planning this?"

"It all just came to me. It's time..."

" ... to become the storm," Whitney concluded. Everyone looked at her where she was sitting next to Nicki. "Master Xi told us. You can't fight the storm. You have to become the storm." Everyone stopped to consider it. I nodded.

The phone rang.

"Four o'clock setup. We go live at five," I said. Rhonda snatched the handset off the cradle.

"Hearthstone Entertainment. Brian Frost's office.— Yes. I'll be happy to reserve a space for you. Brian will meet with reporters at five o'clock Monday.— No. He will be happy to answer your questions in the public forum. If you need a follow-up interview, we will schedule it afterward."

"I'm going to the office to try to get hold of Roslyn," Sam said. "Elaine, can you help me?"

"I've got the numbers for WIUB, WBBT, and WNAP," Courtney said. "Jen, give me a hand, would you?"

I sat at the table looking at Rose. She shoved the tabloid over to me.

"He thinks you are a very dangerous person," she said. "That's the angle the press is going for."

"They don't know the half of it," Whitney said.

I spent Saturday visiting all the members of the clan on the ranch. They all nodded and agreed. Then I went to the village. Our parents were understandably furious. John and Bea simply grabbed me in a bear hug and held me there while they poured out their strength to me. Sly was cleaning a gun. I looked at him.

"I always clean my guns on Saturday," he said, noncommittally.

"Sly, don't do anything drastic. That's all they would need to rain down terror on us."

"Don't worry, Brian. I don't use them any longer. But it is always comforting to handle them."

Dinita was adamant.

"I will not wear the gi," she said. "I will go naked. If they take pictures of me in my home or my garden, I will sue them." We argued for a while. Eventually, she agreed not to embarrass us. I wasn't really sure if that meant she would wear her gi. Bart was considerably more enthusiastic.

"Hell, yes. That damned tent you fixed for me is the most comfortable item of clothing I own." He lowered his voice, glancing over at Sylvia, who rolled her eyes. "I haven't convinced her that we could just go naked like our neighbor. That Dinita is a fine-looking woman." Sylvia threw a kitchen towel at him.

It took me the better part of the day to visit with everyone. I had lunch with Marshall and Martha. I rode a horse through the woods to visit Del and Maribelle. I met Larry out in the field where he was baling hay. I sat in the dorms with Monte, Ross, and Rich, and with Amber, Addison, TK, Nancy, and Pam. I visited Susan, Leonard, and his mom.

When I got back to the house, Mom, Dad, and Anna were there.

"Tell us the plan," Dad said. I filled them in on all the details I could. Some of it, I was just playing by ear. Mom and Anna asked some penetrating questions. Dad sat and nodded. When I finished explaining he looked from Mom to Anna and back. They all nodded. Someday I need to learn that trick with my cónyuge. How do they know what the question was, let alone the answer? "We need to call the tribe," Dad said.

"That will take forever," I objected.

"We have a calling tree. Each of us calls three people. Those nine call two. I'll head over to John's. We don't want to tie up the phones here or in the office."

"My bra is killing me today," Anna said. "I'm on my way to Dinita's."

"I owe a visit to Marshall and Martha," Mom said. "Meet you all for dinner."

Sunday afternoon, people started arriving. Everyone was driving a motorhome or pulling a trailer. Joanne, Amy, Maggie, Jess, Adam, and Warren all arrived in a big motorhome and parked in their usual spot behind the barn/studio. We had empty lots in the village that had power and water. Trailers and motorhomes were pulled in. Ron came out on Sunday to turn on the power and water to each of the lots and help people get hooked up. By the end of Sunday, the big kitchen in the studio was pumping out food like it was going out of style. I warned people that it all had to be clean and sparkling before people started arriving on Monday. I got a lot of 'mom-looks' and decided to beat a hasty retreat. Monday morning, over a hundred people were on the ranch and in the village. The only event that had drawn more was Lionel and Sugar's wedding.

Among the people in the big house was Roslyn Knightly. She was happy to be there, but a little overwhelmed. We'd given her a guest room for the night. She hadn't brought a cameraman with her this time. Jess was going to be her cameraman and Rhonda would direct. Joyce Lakey, our mixer, would handle the editing and feed to E!.

She was a little shocked when she came to the kitchen early to see if she could get coffee. I was dancing around bare-ass naked making the family's favorite fried dough. I poured her coffee and turned to look at her.

"Are you ready for some fried dough?" I asked.

"You're naked," she said.

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry. Sneak preview, I guess."

"You're going to go naked on the air?" she gasped.

"No! Well, I didn't intend to. I mean ... I'm going to talk about it. When we are in our homes or we know the ranch is secure, many of us are nudists. We get so much traffic in and out, though, that our time nude is pretty limited. That's why there are gates at the entrances to the community. Once we secure them, a bell is rung and clothes go flying." Right on cue, Angela came into the kitchen. She gave me a quick kiss and grabbed a cup of coffee.