“And you have several other planes than these?”
“We have a total of six, so we can usually get to you within a day or two of when you call.”
Juan looked back at Tom and extended his hand.
“Thank you for the tour. We will definitely need your service and will get back to you soon.”
As they walked away Tom thought, wealthy businessmen, they didn’t even ask the price.
Juan and Luis got in the car and Juan turned to Luis.
“We need to monitor the area around the airport for several nights to check security. The planes are ideal and he fuels them and cleans out the tanks before they leave each night, but it won’t do us any good if we can’t steal them without anyone noticing they are missing until morning. I want to head up to the San Joaquin Valley and find two more. Then we will split up and spend several days at each location to make sure there won’t be any problems when the pilots go to steal the planes.”
Juan and Luis found almost the same situation in the San Joaquin Valley.
“This is easier than I thought,” said Juan to Luis. “We need to go back to Barstow and get another car and you come up here and I will go to El Centro for several days. Stay in town and just drive up here several times during the night to check things out. We don’t want anyone to get suspicious. Then after several days we will switch and I will come here and you go to El Centro. We don’t want to miss anything and have any surprises.”
Chapter 12
“Mom, I’m going down to the beach to go surfing.”
“John, you have to be back by 10, that’s when Robert’s family should get here from the airport.”
“Mom, I still can’t believe we’re going with them.”
“We’ve been through this,” she said. “We are going, and you will have fun.”
“Yeah, right. Have fun with the Prada sisters. Like that’s going to happen.”
Mom was adamant. “You had better be back by ten or you will be a very unhappy camper”
“I already am a very unhappy camper, it can’t get any worse. See you at ten.”
Nancy walked into the family room just as her younger son walked around the corner wearing only his boxers and plopped onto his back on the sofa, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. Cody was only fourteen and still had the thin chest and arms of a boy, all of his body brown from the sun. He was quite athletic, spending most summer days out in the sun playing beach volleyball, soccer and surfing. He looked up at his Mom, shook the hair out of his eyes and said. “Are they still coming?”
“Cody, you know they’re still coming, we’ve been through this several times so don’t start up again. You have a couple hours before they come. If you’re bored I can think of some things you can do. Why don’t you start by cleaning your room and putting on some clothes?”
Cody looked at her thinking fast and jumped up. “I just remembered, I have to take Jacob’s shoes back before I leave. I better go do it now.”
Cody ran to his room, got dressed, grabbed Jacob’s shoes and was back in less than a minute.
“Mom, I’m going to Jacobs, I’ll be home by ten.”
“Before you go, let’s talk about this week. I know Sarah and Ellen are not your favorite people and you would rather go to the lake with someone else, but this is important to your father. He hasn’t done much with his friend and he wants this to work.”
“Mom, they hate us. They are going to hate this as much as we will.”
“I know they have a different life style, than we do, but let me put it this way. Going to the lake with them is not an option. How you act this week is your choice. If you want to have a miserable week, that’s your problem. My problem is you can make the rest of us have a miserable week because of your attitude. But believe me that is a place you do not want to go with me.”
“Mom, they are going to hate this as much as we will. It won’t work.”
“I’ll make a deal with you,” she said. “See if they’ve changed. If they really hate what we are doing, I won’t force you to spend much time with them. But you will treat them politely. You won’t ignore them and you will be a good host. Believe me Cody, you can't win this fight.”
“Okay, I’m good with that. I’ll be polite, but don’t hold your breath. I know what they were like a year ago. People don’t change that much.”
“We’ll see. Be back at ten.”
Cody walked in Jacob’s front door without knocking and saw Jacob sitting at the table wearing only a pair of shorts eating cereal. Cody threw his shoes on the floor.
“Here’s your shoes.”
“Thanks. You came over this early just for that?”
“No. I needed to get out of the house. I have to be home by ten. My father’s friends from hell are still coming.”
“Oh, the Prada sisters. I still don’t understand how you got stuck going to Powell with them. What’s their story?”
Cody grabbed a bowl and poured himself some cereal and milk. “He was my father’s best friend growing up. They did everything together like we do. After he got married and his wife was killed in a car crash, he went off the deep end. He finally moved to New York City to start a new life, and he met this woman at an AA type meeting to help people whose spouses were killed. Her husband was mugged and killed during a robbery gone bad. To make a long story short, they got married and he adopted her two loser girls.
“So what’s the problem with them?” Jacob asked. “What are they like?”
“He’s okay but his wife and daughters are the biggest losers ever. We went to New York City a year ago to meet them and it was the weekend from hell. First of all the girls hate me and my brother. They are stuck up, snobby socialites who think they are better than anyone else. They only wear designer clothes and spend all their time playing drama queens with their stuck up friends. We went to a Broadway show that I didn’t understand, ate at restaurants that didn’t even serve normal food, and went shopping in the garment district. The only tolerable part of the whole trip was the boat ride to the Statue of Liberty. They spent the entire weekend making fun of the clothes John and I wore, and texting their friends about what losers we are.”
“How old are they?”
“Ellen is 16 a year younger than John, and the younger one Sara is my age.”
“At least they are about you and your brother’s ages. Do they do anything fun like go to the beach or play sports?”
“Never,” said Cody. “The only good thing about them is they live 3,000 miles away from us so we never see them.”
“Except for the next week at Lake Powell. They don’t seem like the type to go on a houseboat vacation. It’s hot and you spent all day in the water wake boarding, tubing and riding wave runners. What will they do?”
“That’s what doesn’t make any sense” said an exasperated Cody. “They don’t even like being in the sun. They have this pasty white skin that makes them look like vampires. I have no idea why they are coming unless it’s to make my life miserable.”
“Why don’t you drop them off when you go through Vegas on the way to Lake Powell and pick up your cousins David and Darren? They would probably love Vegas with the shows and shopping, you would get rid of them and get to go to the lake with your cousins.”
“Tried that. My parents want it to just be the eight of us.”
Jacob was thoughtful. “What if it was their idea and you were just going along with what they want?”
Cody just stared at his friend.
“How could we do that?”
Jacob started thinking. “Get John on board and make sure your parents don’t figure it out. I’m sure the Prada sisters don’t want to go to the lake anyway. You just have to be careful that nobody thinks it’s your idea. It has to come from them. You need to get them alone to work on them.”
“How are we going to get them alone? We’re all going the lake together.”
&n
bsp; “Are your wave runners still out it the desert? Remember we dropped them off at your grandfather’s house at the Jensen Ranch on the way home last summer so that mechanic could work on them.”
“Yeah, they’re still there. We have to pick them up on the way and put in new batteries.”
“Aren’t you going to need two cars? Talk your parents into letting you and John take the girls in the Explorer as far as the ranch. The four of you will be alone in the car for a couple hours so you can work on them without your parents hearing what you say.”
“Jacob that’s an awesome idea, I think we can do this. I need to get home. Are you sure you can’t come with us to the lake? I might be able to talk Mom into letting you come.”
“You know how much I want to. But with our situation I just can’t. I’ll be stuck here watching my little sister.”
“Why can’t she just come too? We have plenty of room.”
“Mom won’t let us. She’s about ready to lose it already.”
“Is the foreclosure sale still on?”
“Unless we come up with a boatload of money, which we don’t have. We just hope the new owner will let us rent for a while so we don’t have to move.”
Cody thought of Jacob staying at home for the next week, taking care of his little sister while he went to Lake Powell. I don’t understand why life is so unfair sometimes. Jacob is one of the best people I know and he gets handed this. His mom has to work all the time and he has to babysit. They don’t have any money and now they are losing their house, but he’s always still happy and ready to help anyone..
“I just wish I could do something to help your family.”
“Thanks Cody for trying. You better get home.”
Chapter 13
Ellen was sitting in the backseat with Sarah texting her friend.
We had the worst flight ever. Dad wouldn’t let us go first class so we had to go business class. I couldn’t even eat the food. I don’t know how people live like this. Now we are in Los Angeles and all I can see are cars. There is no one walking, everything is so spread out. People drive everyplace. I don’t even know if they have a subway and everyone is brown. They walk around all day in the sun without sunscreen. I look like a ghost here.
Ruth looked into the back seat and watched her two daughters texting their friends. They seem so different from each other. A year ago they almost seemed like twins. Then Sarah’s life changed after her trip to Arizona. I hope this trip works out, she thought. This is so different than how they have always lived. At home in New York we would be shopping, stopping for a salad and planning on going to a show. They have lived such a pampered, sheltered life. They never had any challenges, we just gave them everything. They have never had to adapt to anything outside their comfort zone. This whole trip is going to be such a shock for them. I am really interested in seeing how they handle it. I’m not going to be here in 6 months to help them, so they need to learn to take care of themselves. Ellen is so caught up in her world of fashion and drama. I just wish she would care more about other people. She and her friends are so self-centered. She seems so fragile. It doesn’t help that she hardly eats and is so thin. I hate that look. It seems like she could just break in half. At least Sarah isn’t into that super thin model look. Playing soccer has helped a lot. She is getting some sun and exercise. She eats better now and looks so much healthier.
As Ellen and Sarah were both busy texting their friends during the drive from LAX to their father’s friend Russ’s house in Newport Beach, they overheard their mother talking with their father about the houseboat and started listening to their conversation.
Ellen spoke up first.
“I know we agreed to this but I’m really worried about spending a whole week with them. Mom, they have absolutely no culture. They ride motorcycles and surf. Do you know what my friends would say if they could see them? And look how they dress. They don’t even wear designer jeans and T-shirts. They wear board shorts and flip flops. Why don’t we spend most of the week in Vegas and just go to the lake for a day?”
“Ellen, it’s only a week. I’m not going to argue with you. You will go and get along with them or we will not go to Paris this year and that is final.”
“Not go to Paris Mom? Dad promised. We have to go.”
“No, we don’t have to go and we won’t if you don’t get along this week.”
Ellen texted Haley
You won’t believe this. It’s not going to work to be able to go to Vegas to shop. We are going to meet our father’s white trash friends and spend the whole week on a houseboat.
What actually is a houseboat?
It’s this boat that you live on for a week. But there isn’t any room for servants.
Who will bring you food and clean up. What will you do all day on a houseboat?
Spend all day texting with you and the rest of my friends. I just know this week will be hell. I’ll keep you posted every few minutes.
Ellen quit texting for a minute and asked her mother,
“What do we actually do all day at the lake?”
“There are lots of water sports to do in the lake. You’ll have fun.”
“In the water!! In the sun!! With those boys!! I’d rather die. Do you know what this will do to my skin? ”
“Now Ellen, It won’t be that bad. We have sunscreen, give it a try.”
“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me.” Ellen whined.
“Robert, you deal with her. I need to stop at that store and pick up a prescription.”
Ellen texted back to her friend,
You won’t believe this. All there is to do is water sports, out in the sun.
In the sun! What about your skin?
Ellen and Sarah’s mom, Ruth, went into the store and Robert turned to the girls.
“Ellen, put down that phone. I need to talk to both of you while your mother’s in the store.”
“Just a minute. I’m texting Haley.”
“That’s it. Give me the cell phone. I’ve had it with your attitude.” Exclaimed a frustrated Robert.
“Just a minute. I’m texting.”
“No. You’re done texting. Give me the phone now! I am so sick of your attitudes. Both of you. This trip is for your mom. She always wanted to see Lake Powell, so this trips for her. And if you ruin it, not going to Paris is the least of your worries.”
“I’m still not sure why we aren't doing this trip with other people instead of just your friend.”
“Because that’s what your mom wants, and the two of you are going to ruin it with your selfish attitudes. All you care about is texting your friends about how hard your pampered life is and how important you feel you are. You never think about anyone else. I will not let you ruin this trip. If you don’t change your attitudes you’ll lose a lot more than your credit cards. I’ll take away your phones. “
“Dad you can’t. I can’t live without my phone!”
“Your mom’s coming. If you think I’m not serious try me. You have no idea how mad I am right now and what I’m capable of doing. So try me and see what happens!”
Ruth got back in the car and as they drove off, Sarah piped up.
“Mom. I’ve been thinking. Maybe this trip’s not so bad. I’ve always wanted to see Lake Powell.”
“You do. That’s wonderful. I thought me and your dad were the only ones who wanted to see it. I’m so glad you want to see it too. This will be so much fun. How about you Ellen? Do you also want to see Lake Powell?”
Ellen thought for a minute.
“Sure, Mom. I can’t wait. I just can’t believe we are doing this.”
“I’m so glad you feel that way. I was worried about both of your attitudes. Robert, aren’t you glad Ellen and Sarah have such good attitudes?”
Robert turned around and glared at the girls.
“I always knew they would come ar
ound. Right girls? This will be a great trip. Won’t it?”
Sarah looked at him. “Sure, Dad. I wouldn’t want to be anyplace else.”
They pulled into Russ’s driveway in Newport Beach and the family looked at the house. Robert had all the memories flooding back of growing up near the beach, summers surfing, and Lake Powell with all their old friends. Ruth looked at the house with the wide driveway and three car garage, green lawn with lush landscaping surrounded in a cull de sac with several houses just like it. It is so different from how we live in New York. They drive everywhere they go instead of taking the subway, they shop at places like Costco and large supermarkets instead of the neighborhood store, there are no skyscrapers, all the stores are chain stores and there is fast food on almost every corner. There are no shows to see. All they have is movies. And everyone is brown, like they spend all day outdoors in the sun. This is so much different than how my daughters and I have ever lived. I don’t know how we will ever fit in.
Ellen looked at the house and asked,
“Where’s the doorman? Who’s going to get our luggage?”
Chapter 14
Jensen Ranch
Joseph sat on his prayer rug reviewing the plan in his mind, looking for what might go wrong and thinking of any problems that might arise.
He heard Abdul approach from behind.
“Abdul, are you sure everything is ready? Are the planes ready? Are the pilots in place? Is the nerve gas still stable?”
“Joseph, relax. Everything is in place. The pilots are in El Centro and Visalia, waiting for it to get dark and for the airports to close so they can steal their planes. They will be here by midnight. The first two shipments of nerve agent are already in the barn. The final shipment will be here this afternoon. Uday is transporting it now. The hoses and pumps have been tested. The additional fuel is here for the planes. Be calm. Everything will go according to plan. By tomorrow morning nothing will ever be the same in America. Just sit back, relax and enjoy our triumph.”