Everyone having sex is at least 18. This story is a work of fiction. I made it all up. So, check reality at the door and enjoy it for what it is. Special thanks to goducks1 for his help. My stories are much better because of his advice.
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Chapter 10 -- The Fourth of July
I am up and about before the group comes over for breakfast. I have the coffee started when Mandy and Dana stop by. They are surprised to see me up so early.
My only comment, "No way she gets me in the morning."
Immediately a look of understanding and sadness comes over their faces.
I smile at them, "I get to spend the today with you, cooking hot dogs and hamburgers. The heat will suck, but at least I won't be lifting heavy objects. And I get to see you all day. Heather mentioned that she is coming with. She isn't prepared for it. It's funny, I'm worried about her. Her gold-plated world hasn't prepared her for reality. Heather and I've had our differences, but I can't be cruel to anyone, including Heather.
"She's human, maybe the shelter will affect her, and she may need help. I won't be watching everything she does. I would appreciate a few more eye on her as a favor to me if nothing else."
Mandy looked me square in the eyes, took my hand, and said to me, "For you, we'll watch her. I bet you're right, she isn't equipped for today. I know my first time there, I went home crying at the situation and the hopelessness. I understand. This is very sweet of you. I don't think I would be so concerned, but I am glad you are. I agree; it's never good to be cruel."
She gave me a big hug, and then we start cracking eggs for French toast and making sausage patties. Within thirty minutes, everyone has begun eating or is in line to eat. The cooking duties pass as we eat or finish eating. We really have this thing down to a precise, ordered process now.
At 10:00, we start filling vehicles so we can head out to the shelter. It's about a ten-minute drive. Everyone is quiet, nobody is excited to be doing this. Nobody has a gun to our head, we all volunteered for this. Seeing cute children is fun, it's not all bad.
We pull into the employee parking lot, and there are four large cooking grills set up already. No charcoal is going, but I can see how everything is laid out. There are tables to hold the bins of cooked food. Then our people will add condiments and a bag of chips, it's like an assembly line. There will be four assembly lines. They are well organized.
I start immediately by making sure the grill is level. There is an older guy there on a grill, and he is doing the same thing I am. I don't want hot dogs rolling off the grill. The other two guys are clueless, so I help them out by leveling their grills for them. I then use two chimney charcoal starters to start the charcoal. Again, the old man knows exactly what to do, I must help the other two.
The old man and I arrange our charcoal unevenly, we want a spot for warming hotdogs. I don't want my hotdogs burning. I try to explain to the other two, but they know better and lay them out evenly. I am just helping; I keep my mouth shut. This isn't my gig. The old man doesn't have the same restraint, he makes them change, so their coal is like ours and then explains to them why we do this. We can cook hotdogs faster than they can distribute them, we need cooler parts of the grill, so the hotdogs don't burn.
They have long tongs to work with the hotdogs. That is awesome because it's already sweltering and with the hot grills, it will be brutal. They are using the large ketchup and mustard containers. I go inside and fill up a cooler with ice and empty squeezable ketchup bottles, the reusable kind, with cold water. That will feel good later.
All too soon, people start showing up. In the beginning, it's mostly children. They are always hungry, and some will come through the line again later. We have all been instructed to allow them. It was kind of them to tell us ahead of time. The servers get lots of instructions, especially about sanitation. We pass our health inspection, and everyone is happy.
I start my grill half full of hotdogs. It's not scalding hot yet, but it's warm enough. I watch them closely. I watch over everyone and once again, the old man knows exactly when to turn his hotdogs and when to move them to the warming part of the grill. With just a little prompting, the other two are soon cooking like pros.
It's scalding hot out now. The four grills are throwing off heat, and the sun is beaming down on us. Carla came over with a water bottle for me, I have two hands going with tongs, I can't drink it. I tell her to open the cooler and hit all of us. Inside are the squeezable bottles with thin streams of water. With some practice, she hits the mouth accurately. The first two went into an eye and up my nose. Oh well.
My three friends all look impressed and relieved with the water. I give Carla a kiss for that. The old man laughs at her dreamy reaction.
The old man starts teasing me, "Quite the lady's man, huh? She'd do anything for you. I noticed you came here with several women."
I am honest with him, "I'm here helping rebuild their houses. My sister needed help. Before you go getting too impressed, one of them is my ex-wife. So no, not everything is perfect in paradise. There's so much to do that the husbands and wives are all helping, and I don't mean with the cooking. Every one of those women has helped lay floors, put up drywall, and assisted laying the tile. Each one of them is quite remarkable."
He joshes with me, "You mean you took each one."
I don't like this conversation, "No. Well yes, but I am too sore most days, working sixteen to eighteen-hour days. They do show their appreciation."
He continues, "I've seen all of them before but the one that's a fashion model. Damn, she is good looking."
I laugh at him, "Ha, ha, ha, she's all yours. Take her. Please. She is spectacular looking. She's also my ex. I made her come with me. Look at her, she is afraid to touch the people. This is way out of her comfort zone. It will break her eventually. That is when you have your best chance. Not much here for me, I will eventually move on."
Vicki comes by, grabs a bottle, makes us all drink, then squirts our backs and necks. That was awesome, she gets a big kiss from me. Vicki floats back to the tables, ecstatic because of the kiss I placed on her lips. All the mothers are laughing at her reaction to me.
Heather is taking a break and playing with the kids. This surprises me, I never thought of her as the motherly type.
I look up, and there is a massive line around the block. I say, "Oh my, that's a heck of a line. I don't know how much more I can take in this heat. I'll need a break in a while, do they have people to take over?"
The old man looks at me, "No, we usually just tough it out. Probably not the smartest thing though."
I call Jake, Jack, and Fred over to us.