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For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Aari, Cal and Burk had arrived at Whitaker’s nightclub and sat down at the only empty table in the place. “I’m sorry gentlemen,” said the waitress, “you can’t sit there, it is reserved for Mr. Whitaker and his guests.” “I am his guest,” said Aari, “so tell him that I am here to talk with him, my name is Aari. He will want to talk with me.” So she went and told Whitaker and he came out with 4 men and sat down at the table. “I don’t know you Mr. Aari,” he said, “so why should I talk with you?”
“My name is Aari, no Mr. attached to it,” said Aari, “and you should tell your boys behind the bar to stay cool. If they touch those guns they have, you will die immediately. You see, I have a gun aimed at you right now.” He and his men laughed about that. “Sorry Aari,” he said, “but no one can carry a gun in here without getting stopped at the door. We have detectors there.” “I know you do,” said Aari, “but I still brought a gun inside, as did my two friends, as you can see.”
Then Aari showed his gun that he had been hiding under the table. “Now, tell your boys to stay cool,” said Aari. “Tell them Phil,” said Whitaker, and one of the two men who were standing, went and told the others, so they put their guns away. “Now we can talk Whitaker,” said Aari, “I know you had a club in New York, plus the two here.” “Not had, I do have,” said Whitaker.
“True, forgive me,” said Aari, “but the one in New York needs a major renovation after my boys finished with it. You see, it’s like this, I’m the leader of an organization called the Black Wolves. We’re from Canada, but we move around when necessary, like when someone decides to try and hurt my organization, or one of my family members. You did the latter, again and again. You even had Mr. Fats over there beat my little cousin, something I really do not like.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” said Whitaker firmly, “Mr. Fats doesn’t beat women.” “I never mentioned that my cousin was a woman Whitaker,” said Aari, “but thanks for the confirmation. Her name is Celestine, and you were present when Mr. Fats hit her on your orders. I don’t like giving second chances Whitaker, because it never works with guys like you.” Cal then stood up. “Ladies and gentlemen, please leave this establishment right now,” he said, “or risk being hurt. This is your only warning.”
“What’s he talking about Whitaker?” yelled one man. “It’s just a joke, pay no attention folks,” said Whitaker, then turning back to Aari, “your move.” “Now boys,” said Aari calmly. Then men began coming in the door with clubs, knocking aside the doormen. “Your men move, you die Whitaker,” said Aari, “now it’s your move.” “Stand down boys,” said Whitaker. Then one of Aari’s boys went around with a cloth bag picking up money from the guests.
After he was done, then the rest began knocking dishes off the tables, some landing on the guests, and when they were finished with that they smashed all the liquor and glasses, mirrors and anything else that was breakable. Then Mr. Fats tried to intervene with Bear and the fight was on! People ran and screamed but no one was allowed to leave. The rest of the Black Wolves continued breaking things, now on the dance side of the room.
“Let me teach Whitaker a lesson,” said Carine. She had been there all along, but invisible, as is Kristina. “Go right ahead my dear,” said Aari. So, she went over to Whitaker and began to bounce him around a bit, while Kristina fought with two of Whitakers men. Cal and Burk took on the other two men. The rest of the male employees were knocked out during the smashing spree. When all was finally done, Mac came out of the office with a large amount of cash from the office safe, then Aari began to leave with his boys.
“I will have all of you arrested for this!” yelled that same man from earlier. “And who are you?” asked Aari. “I’m the Mayor and the police will arrest you very soon,” he said, smiling. “I wouldn’t be so sure Mayor,” said Aari, “I happen to know you have a half interest in Whitaker’s nightclubs and that makes you half involved in whatever Whitaker does. He has murdered people, like Celestine’s parents, her brother and her grandmother, just for starters.
He has also murdered at least 8 other innocent people and he is involved in sex trafficking. That means you are a partner in all of that Mayor, and you made 2 million dollars in US funds last year, from your half interest in this place, and I can prove all I say. Do you still want to have me arrested?” “Uh, no, no I guess not,” he said sheepishly, “we’ll just forget the whole thing, okay?” “Sounds good to me Mayor,” said Aari, “now, have yourself a good night.”
Then Aari and the Black Wolves left. Only Mr. Fats was killed in all of this, though several other “employees” were seriously hurt. No guests were physically hurt, and their money was left behind for them. Whitaker lost his money however. Amazingly, the police did not receive an emergency call from Whitaker’s place. Their emergency line to the police wasn’t working for some reason and no cell phones were working either. Oh well, these things do happen.
Back to us. Celestine asked if Sky and Angel would like to stay with us tonight, and they said yes. “Would you like one of us to sleep with you instead of Steve?” asked Angel. “Oh no!” exclaimed Celestine, “I mean, no, that is not necessary, um, we have things worked out between us and um, I feel nice and safe with Steve, it that’s okay.” “That’s fine,” said Sky, “I was beginning to think I was going to get stuck with him. I prefer my cousin Angel.”
“It is so amazing how you look like twins and yet you’re cousins,” said Celestine, “or triplets I guess. I can’t wait to meet the third one. Plus the blinking twins.” The girls laughed at that one. “Hey, we have a new name for those two, the blinking twins,” said Sky. I then went to Celestine’s bedroom and put a lock on the secret door that leads into her closet from a passageway that leads down to a window where Whitaker and his men would enter the house.
I had already put a lock on the window, but wanted an extra lock, just in case. Rock and John took the gems to Alfred and he will look at them. Then I came up with an idea for those gems and had Jennifer call Rossana. She thought the idea was great and she contacted the authorities over here and let them know what was going to happen.
Meanwhile, back home. Misty, Dawn and all the cats came out to tell everyone they had discovered where I was. They were all so excited! But no one else seemed to be excited. “How come no one seems to be excited by this?” asked Misty, “We know where Steve is hiding!” “Sorry girls,” said Jennifer, “you were so busy with the cats I didn’t want to disturb you, but I already told everyone where Steve is hiding.” Misty and Dawn stood there blinking.
“Hey, Dawn can blink now too!” exclaimed Tracy. “All that time,” said Misty, “for nothing.” “No, not for nothing,” said Jennifer, “you two, and the cats, have passed the test with a score of 100%, while everyone else failed miserably. So, they need to take a refresher course, but you don’t. And, you each get a dozen fresh donuts. They should be just about ready too.”
The girls were so dismayed looking, until they heard…”Donuts?!” they said together, “Did you say donuts?!” “Yes, in the k…” and that’s as far as Jennifer got when Misty and Dawn ran past her like two whirlwinds! They grabbed their donuts and off they ran yelling “oooooo, hot, hot, hot!” They ended up in the twin’s den with Cristy and Wisty joining them.
To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.
We were just eating our lunch when more of Whitaker’s men showed up, 5 of them in all. I should have realized they might have a tracker on Celestine’s car, that way they can follow without being close to us. “Wow, Steve, did you see how big that one guy is?” she asked me, “He’s like 4 men in one.” I almost burst out laughing when she said that. “Yes, he’s even bigger than Mr. Fats,” I said. “Mr. Fats?” she asked, “Are you talking about the chubby guy that works for Whitaker?”
“Yep, that’s the name he uses,” I said, “and he is very strong even though he looks fat. He comes from New York originally. Whitaker has a nightclub there too and that is where he worked before coming here.” “How did you find out?” she asked. “My wife told me when I called her last night,” I said, “you were asleep and I couldn’t sleep, so I called her. I found out a few things about Whitaker and his friends. He is going to get a big surprise soon, and I don’t think he’s going to like it either, but that’s what he deserves for allowing Mr. Fats to hit my Queen.”
“You be careful with calling me your Queen, my King,” she said, “or you might let it slip when you get back home.” “You mean when ‘we’ get back home, little sis,” I said, smiling at her. That’s when those 5 men came over and said they were taking my girlfriend from me. I told them to leave us alone before they get hurt. That’s when one of them pulled out a gun and put it against Celestine’s head. Fortunately I was holding her hand at the time so she was safe.
“Leave us alone!” I said firmly and loudly. I did that on purpose to alert Rock and John that we needed help. Rock was the man Celestine was talking about in being so large. They followed us on this hike deliberately in case we needed some help. They got up now and came over. “Is there a problem over here?” asked John. “Yeah, these guys want to take my girlfriend from me,” I said. That’s when Rock pounded the man with the gun right on the head.
His legs crumpled under him and he fell to the ground. Then he picked up two others and banged their heads together a couple of times which knocked them out. John was busy with the remaining two men and handled them quite easily. “Thanks guys,” I said, “I want you to meet Celestine. (then I turned to Celestine) This is Rock and John, two of my best friends. They also work on my team. I deliberately had them follow us, just in case we needed help.”
Celestine looked at me blinking the way she does, just like Misty and Cristy. “And what other surprises do you have?” she asked. “Well, there is also Sky and Angel,” I said. “Did you call for us?” asked Sky, “Looks like we are too late for the party.” Fortunately they appeared behind Celestine. “Hey, they’re the twins you were watching at the beach!” said Celestine, “You have been lying to me! I don’t want a friend that lies to me!” Then she slapped me, rather hard.
That’s when Sky and Angel took her aside to talk with her. “I think I messed up again,” I said to Rock and John. “Yep,” said Rock, “that’s normal.” “Thanks Rock,” I said, “I appreciate that.” “Oh, you’re welcome,” he said. “I think Steve was being sarcastic Rock,” said John. “Oh, he was?” asked Rock, “What a strange thing.” I just sighed. I went over and told the family that it might be a good idea for them to leave now. They agreed and headed back the way they came.
That’s good, that way we will be behind them, and these guys will be behind us. We took the gun and the knives that each man had with them. Odd that only one of them had a gun, perhaps Whitaker doesn’t trust these guys enough to give all of them guns. That’s good for us anyway. The girls have finished talking with Celestine now and she came over to me and gave me a nice hug. “Is it okay for the Queen to kiss her King still?” she asked.
“I would be hurt if you didn’t,” I said, “and honestly, Jennifer won’t mind.” Meower!= “Oooooo, another long one!” “You be careful Sir Night,” said Celestine, “or you won’t be introduced to any of those pretty girl cats at our new home.” His ears went straight up. Meower.= “Ooopsy, me be quiet now.” We got back to our cars and John found the tracker on Celestine’s car and gave it to Rock. He then threw it at a passing bus going the opposite way and it landed on the roof.
“That should keep them busy for a while,” said Rock. We got in Celestine’s car and drove off and the others followed behind us. “Sorry I slapped you again,” said Celestine. “I’m getting used to it now,” I said, “but apology accepted.” We got back home without problems and our 4 friends stayed with us to help with this next clue. “I hope there isn’t too many more of these riddles,” I said. Celestine looked at me. “Did you forget your promise already?” she asked me.
“Promise, what promise?” I asked in return. Meower.= “You promise my human this be last clue you look.” “Oh, that promise,” I said, “but you want to find that, um, whatever we’re looking for, don’t you?” “After all we have been through,” she said, “I can honestly say NO. Well, maybe no anyway.” “Aha! That’s it, don’t give up,” I said, “now, where is the clue?” She took out the latest clue for our big riddle and read it to us,
“Now the Queen must kiss her King, or she’ll not see a thing. Sitting round on the chair, gently blowing in her hair. Reading now beneath the cat, then in his tummy, think of that! This is half of what you need but now you must move with speed. Where you sleep with your King, underneath you’ll find a thing. Open wide, reach inside, feel around, till you have found. It will not work to rush ahead, follow clues just right instead.”
“I don’t understand why I need to kiss you to see something,” she said. “Well, try it and see,” said Sky, “I want to know why too.” “But we need to do it right,” I said, “first we need this round chair by the window, with the window open to blow your hair around.” Celestine looked at me. I opened the window and there was a nice breeze, then I sat on the chair and Celestine sat on my lap and kissed me. She then opened her eyes and on a small shelf on the wall, was a ceramic cat which Rock got down and handed to Celestine.
It was hollow and there was a hole in the bottom and something rattled inside. She shook it a few times and out dropped a key. “Hey, we’re getting close,” I said excitedly. “Yes!” exclaimed Celestine, “Now, off to bed!” We went but didn’t find anything underneath of it which was disappointing. “Maybe those fake ghosts found it already,” said Celestine. “Was the bed always in this spot?” asked John. “No, it was over here,” she said, “but when I took over the house 3 months ago I moved it over here.”
John looked at the old place and there on the hardwood floor was a lock, very easy to miss since it was just a spot to put a key. I let Celestine unlock it, but she wanted me to feel around inside, in case there were spiders in there. I reached in and pulled out a cloth bag filled with gems of various kinds. “Alfred will be able to help us with these,” I said, “some, or all, of them may be stolen gems.”
“That would be my luck,” said Celestine, “all this searching and we find stolen gems.” “Well, they may not be,” I said, “but we have to be ready for that possibility.” Meanwhile, “Someone named Aari is here to see you Mr. Whitaker,” said a woman, “he said you will want to talk with him.”
To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 