The Dark Lady Ch 07

After my lesson in being loved and told to take on the offers from the university, hands marched me down the hall and filled a duffel with stuff. Clemmie, Kim and Selma all had their signals straight. I was ordered into Selma's car, driven to her house and folded into her bed.

I was awake just before the alarm went off in the dark at 5 am. Selma had my arm firmly tucked around her and resting on the warm curve of her breast. Her breathing changed and I gently tweaked her nipple. She pushed back into my hardness. I whispered, "Maybe we should call off the trip and make gentle love all day."

She turned and pulled my lips to hers. The kiss was hot and carried a lot of messages. None of them included lying in bed.

She went for coffee, I went for the shower. We were gone in fifteen minutes. She drove and sipped her coffee, glancing at me now and then. "Are you ok now that your women have told you to be superman all over again?" There was a laugh in her throat.

I kissed her hand and said, "Why don't we arrange for Parsons to sponsor a research fellowship in the math department and put you in it. You can romance the young faculty into helping with the analytics agenda."

She looked at me sharply, "I thought you had to visit before you made up your mind?"

"Do you know any of them?"

'There is Patrick Green. He just got his PhD from Princeton. Told me at a local meeting that he came to the sticks because he loves the desert."

"What's his field?"

"Surfaces. He will blow you away with surfaces."

"You know, we are going to have to do magnetometer runs over the mine property. DR already asked me for it. If you hire him as a consultant, he could help with subsurface mapping. Help DR figure out about the pipe."

"Theo, it is so early for you to make my brain work. I can't keep up." She squeezed my hand and drew it to her mouth. Then she made me put the seat down and folded the blanket from the back over me.

When I opened my eyes, she was hugging DR and giving him a kiss on his whiskery cheek.

DR and I shook hands. He said, looking admiringly at Selma, "Do you have an endless supply of beautiful women?"

"DR, she has a very large, tough Mexican husband named Eduardo, who you do not mess with. Show me the latest work, Selma and I have to get headed to Nogales in a few minutes."

He opened a strongbox in the living room. There were two small ingots of gold and a soft fabric jewelry sack. About thirty ordinary looking rocks spilled out of it, some of them two or three times as large as the ones he handed me last week.

I was looking at them when Kim and Clemmie came in with Evie. As DR and Evie were kissing and hugging, Clemmie whispered, "That's what raw diamonds look like, is it?"

DR chuckled and said, "Yep. Takes a really good guy to know how to cut and polish them."

Kim said, "DR, if you are going to be our goldsmith, do we need our own diamond person?"

DR eyed her and the pile on the table, "Well, that wouldn't keep someone busy for long. But who knows what we are going to find out there? A fella I know has a brother working in the diamond business in New York, who might need some vacation and bring his tools along if the price was right?"

I shifted back to the gold. "Clara has a great idea to launch our jewelry program. Have you make one of your best necklaces and auction it for charity on the first day we offer gold pieces. But we really have to have enough stock to be able to sell behind the auction."

DR's eyes were glittering. "I could fashion at the most a dozen pieces from those two ingots. There is ten ounces of pure gold in them. Has to be alloyed and hardened up some before I can do links and such."

The women and I stood there, looking at a lot of raw wealth. The stuff of dreams. With an effort, I put the genie back in the bottle and said, "Selma and I have to get going. Why don't the rest of you work out the game plan for the next couple of weeks before Kim and Clemmie go back to town."

I drove this time, my arm across the console to hold her hand. She worked on my fingers and made low noises in her throat. I brought the hand to my lips and kissed it. "You have to shift gears for your real lover."

She leaned over and kissed my cheek. "You are so nice to say that, Theo. Does it bother you that when we are loving, I am usually thinking of Eduardo?"

"Oh yes, I am terribly jealous that my teacher won't dump that husband and marry me."

She pulled my hair, but it was more like a caress than a punishment. "You promise to keep teasing me? Making me laugh?"

"If you promise to help me with math. With more crazy ideas about math. We have to impress those professors at the U."

"Theo, I have a favor to ask. One of the men who works for my husband has two sons who live with their mother in our city, but visit with him as many weekends as they can. She has a green card and they were born here and are citizens, but the husband is like Eduardo and can't get a card. Carlos, the oldest, graduated from Central High this year, and is planning to attend UA. He is a very good quarterback and wonders if he is good enough to do a walkon for the team. While Eduardo and I are having our playtime, would you be willing to have him throw to you and tell him what you think?"

"You are talking about Carlos Gutierrez?"

"Yes, do you know him?"

"We've never played against each other, but I know his name and his reputation is good."

"So?"

"So I have some football scrimmage in Mexico. Will the soccer kids even let us on the field?"

"Call Eduardo for me and say you are happy to have Carlos throw footballs to you."

"You realize this means the Parsons Analytics venture just got bigger and better?"

She gave me her tough teacher-student stare, and laughed. "You are very bad boss, Theo."

Carlos and his younger brother Arturo jumped into the car with their sack of balls and gave me directions. The field was big and we had plenty of room. I hoped my sneakers wouldn't slip too much on the grass. We set up an imaginary line and Arturo called signals. I told Carlos, "A couple in the flat to warm up, and then some long ones."

It turned into a lot of fun. Carlos was only 5-7, but his arm was like iron, and the passes perfect. I ranged all over the field and he hit me every time. Then I called signals and Arturo showed how good he was as a receiver, which was very good.

"Carlos, you could play for a lot of colleges with that arm."

"Si, but my people don't get much of a chance."

As we drove back to their house, I asked, "Do you have a summer job lined up?"

"No. Hard to find jobs, especially for us."

"I have an idea. My mother's art gallery needs some security people and two of my teammates are going to be training for that job, part time, after school is out. Why don't the two of you go on the payroll for security too, and then we have five guys to do passing practice with. I think Coach Lyle will let us use the field. He might even coach us some when he is around. I'll tell my mother that security trainees need a good workout every day to build up their muscles."

I looked at the brothers, who were trying to hide their amazement at such sudden good fortune.

"Ok?"

"Si. Very ok."

As they hopped out, I said, "You know Selma, so we can make arrangements through her."

When I walked into Eduardo's house, he was on the phone, chatting excitedly in Spanish. Selma, looking very loved, handed me a beer and led me into the living room. "He is talking to Carlos' father."

I sipped my beer and wondered what was happening on the phone.

Eduardo came in and we hugged and exchanged greetings. "Theo, you have made a great friend in my foreman, Manuel. Carlos is on the ceiling with excitement about working out with you and being a security guard in the summer."

Selma was behind, cuffing me as hard as she could.

"Esposa, why are you hitting him?"

She laughed hard, "Marido, this one is truly special. You ask him for a small favor and he gives you a complete solution! All of his women have to beat on him to show their appreciation."

Eduardo looked at me and laughed. "Senor Theo, this is very strange, but Selma tells me it catches women. Very beautiful women too!"

She laughed and beat on me some more. I said, "Eduardo, if we were at my house, your wife would be getting some beating back!"

This was very funny to the Mexican husband and he sat back with his beer.

I said, "Did Selma tell you any of what we need to talk about?"

He looked at me and said, "That one, she knows how to make a man happy. We did not talk about work." His smile was big. Selma got up, huffed at us, and went to the kitchen to work on dinner.

"Eduardo, Kim has a mine property southeast of town. She got it from an old miner who was broke and thought he was stealing from her. Now it turns out that there are both gold and diamonds on the property. We don't know how much, but we immediately need to build some security. When the gallery starts selling gold and diamond jewelry, there will be spies everywhere trying to find out where our mine is."

I stopped to sip my beer and let him digest that. I went on, "One of the big problems at active mines is the employees stealing from the company. I came to see you to talk about creating a company that you would run that would hire and manage the workers on the property, both the security people and the miners. You know more than I do about keeping people honest, but certainly paying them fairly is a start."

He sipped his beer and let the silence build. "So, you want me to put my business on hold, recruit men, and go chasing with you after bandits in the U.S. who want your gold and diamonds?"

He laughed long and heartily. I blushed and realized how green I was at all this.

"Eduardo, the only thing I can say is that I have enough intelligence to come here and ask your help and advice."

Selma came in and sat in the chair with him. He wrapped his arm around her and said, "Theo, you are as Selma says, a man who makes others feel good. Yes, I will help you. My brothers and I and our uncles and cousins will find honest men to do the work. You should not keep them from their families for many days. Maybe two weeks maximum. An unhappy man is a man looking for trouble. We can use some of the electronics my company already sells. Maybe we dig a hole and have a place to watch cameras and motion detectors. Maybe we are very careful about what is seen from the air."

"Eduardo, that is a terrific start. Do you think I can get Manuel a special visa? If he is the site foreman, Carlos can do security and be a courier too. We do not want much of what we are doing to be on a phone."

"Si. Perhaps Selma can help. I do not know what his past problem was."

We left it there. Eduardo would start putting a plan together, in Spanish so his people could read it easily, and Selma would do the English version for the Parsons people. The papers would be closely guarded.

After dinner I was fading fast. Selma showed me to a nice bed and I said, "You deserve as much time for loving as you want. Just tell me when we should go. Maybe I need earplugs?"

She kissed me and cuffed me and said we would go for a run in the morning and then decide when to leave.

I woke to the smell of coffee. She was in running clothes and handing me a cup. "Eduardo says people will talk but it is ok if we run together. Especially if you let me stay in front." She giggled.

"Selma, I am going to tell Eduardo that you are a terrible, beautiful flirt. Let me get dressed."

After a piece of toast, we were out the door. She said we were going to Manuel's house so she could get some information about his visa troubles. It was a couple of miles and she led me a merry chase. Being around her husband had her all pumped up. We stopped a ways from Manuel's house and caught our breath walking in. She knocked on the door and was met by a very attractive woman about her own age. She beckoned me over, "Theo, this is Maria, Manuel's wife and Carlos's mother. She is visiting this weekend too." I said hello and asked if Carlos was around. She shouted inside and he appeared quickly. We high fived and I said, "Let's throw some balls in the street. Selma has to talk to your dad."

My new security guard was doing his best to be cool, but his excitement showed. I said, "Carlos, one of my problems is hanging on to the hard ones. Give me a few."

We went at it and he really zinged me. Arturo showed up and we had a good thing going when Selma walked out with Manuel, who wanted to meet me. I shook his hand vigorously, "Buenos Dias, Senor."

He thanked me in heavily accented English, and said he hoped we could work together. I told him his son was a terrific football player and we would also work together on the UA possibility. I could tell that he thought it more than strange that the gringo executive was out running on Sunday morning with his boss's wife. As we ran down the street, I asked, "Does he know you are my teacher?"

She reached out and punched my arm. "No! That would be so much trouble down here. They would not understand how important man like you is studying with woman teacher."

"But they do not know I am unimportant man when my women beat on me!"

"Theo! We do not go there down here. Never, ever!"

After a shower, I got another marvelous Selma omelet along with Eduardo, who gazed on his wife with affection. Selma said, "Eduardo says it is ok for us to go back so you can do your important work." She smiled and almost giggled at me.

She made me drive and we got through U.S. Immigration without much delay that early in the day.

"Eduardo told me this morning that you and I wore him out. He said he needed a day to recover!"

We laughed and talked about the zillion things going on at home. She kissed my hand again and said, "Theo, I told him that you were all grown up and had other women friends and that we were just going to be friends now. Is that ok?"

Her eyes were wet. So were mine. The white line on the highway was blurred.

"Selma, you have a wonderful, loving husband who deserves all of you. You helped me when I needed it. It is so good to work with you, I'm almost crying. I will be your friend forever."

She wiped her eyes and said, "Oh Theo, you are so good to me."

It was quiet for a while until I asked, "What about Manuel's problem?"

"I can't tell for sure, but it sounded like he got caught in some kind of Catch-22 paperwork tangle. I think we should talk to Kim about Parsons asking for a priority visa based on essential work skills. We'll find something about mineral exploration. Doesn't that sound essential?"

She was smiling. I said, "Extremely essential, as far as the President of Parsons is concerned."

We were going to be home soon. Selma checked in and discovered Keeler was having a barbeque and pool party. We were invited. As we got to town, I said to her, "I meant what I said yesterday morning about the math department. They are reaching out to me, so we should reach out to them with some of our challenges. Why don't you do a little investigation about what research support they have now, and what are their unfunded areas. You could take Green to lunch and pick his brain and try to hire him as your surfaces consultant. Wear one of your flirty dresses."

We were in the garage as I finished. We walked toward the elevator and she gave me a hip. "Here I am, struggling to keep up with your fine mind, and you tell me to use my fine body on a Professor!"

I kissed her and said, "Now that you are off limits, I'm just being a pest."

"OMG, Theo. This may not work. I have to talk to Eduardo about terrible temptations."

I hugged her fiercely and said, "No. He deserves all of you. I will clean up my act."

We were kissing as the doors opened and Kim stood there. I grabbed her and led the three of us to her room. "I want you to know, but not the others, that Selma and I have a new deal. We are close friends, we are partners in math, but we are not lovers in bed any more."

They hugged and kissed and looked at me. I felt awkward and embarrassed. Kim pulled me into her arms and said, "You are going to do that for me some day too, aren't you? When I find a husband. But not yet." She repeated, "But not yet," and gave me a searing kiss.

We walked out to bikini clad bodies everywhere, and Erica making margaritas. Clemmie came up in the skimpiest outfit I'd seen and said, "Get a drink, I have a report for you. From the hostler and field assistant." She tried to punch me, but I caught the hand and wrenched it around her back. My teeth fastened on her neck and I whispered, "I want you to learn those tumbling moves the twins do. We have to have our cheerleading team in place by fall now that you all have insisted I play football. Let me get my suit on and I'll be back." She went screaming off, shouting to Laura, "You won't believe what he is up to now. Says it's all our fault."

In my suit, I accepted a drink from Erica and stood behind, tickling my hand up and down her side. She shuddered and said, without turning around, "There's only one reason you are being nice, you have hired someone without consulting me."

I worried her neck with my teeth like I did to Clemmie. "If I promise wild sex, will that get me off the hook?"

"Are you kidding? I got that promise the last time you did this. Kiss me and tell me about it."

I led her to the pool and we did several laps before leaning against the side with our drinks. "I've hired a security consultant for the mine property. He is Selma's husband Eduardo and can find honest men in Nogales to protect the property and use the mining equipment. His foreman, Manuel, is going to be the site supervisor, and we need to get him one of those priority work visas. Manuel's son, Carlos, is going to join our security guard program and will have unspecified additional duties related to his dad and Eduardo. Carlos is also an outstanding quarterback and is going to be part of my summer training program."

She pressed herself to my front, ignoring the smiles from all around, and said, "How the hell did you do that all in one weekend?"

I kissed her and pinched her boob, and told her she was one hot woman that I lusted for. She rubbed on me and said, "We can't leave yet, can we?" I followed her out of the pool, laughing. She held onto my hand, "Do I at least get a memo about all that?" I stuck my tongue in her mouth and said, "First thing tomorrow morning."

Clemmie was at my side, "Am I supposed to do the memo you promised her first thing in the morning?"

"For a new PA, you are catching on fast. Let's go see the twins."

The twins were busy using Clara and Susan and Karen to be the base of a human pyramid. They scrambled to the top, standing on shoulders and then did simultaneous front somersaults to the ground. Everyone clapped madly.

Laura came front flipping across the grass and landed on my shoulders. "Theo, is that an ok start? Are we actually going to your games?"

"Yes, but first I have to make the team."

I noticed Phyllis with a sleepy Betsy. I sat down and kissed her cheek. "Is life improving?"

"Theo, that lawyer Karen found is marvelous. She even thinks I can get child support for Betsy out of him. And working with Karen and Susan and Clara is a dream. I am so energized!"

Telling her I would be back, I found Susan and Karen and said, "Let's eat with Phyllis, I have an idea I want to try out on you."

I put my plate down when I got back and asked to hold Betsy while mom got her plate. Betsy gurgled at me and smiled. Karen said, "I think Betsy's got a new uncle." More gurgles.

When we all got settled, I said, "Now that you have forced me to play football..." Hoots and laughter.

I went on, "I was thinking that maybe we could have some Saturday morning events for school kids tied to art and music and football. What if we designed something called Team Parsons and asked well known players to come down for an hour or so to promote your program. The new Parsons cheerleaders could be there. I'm thinking of buying a pipe organ to put in the back of the gallery for show music. We might be able to get media attention and put in a plug for reviving music and art in the schools. We could offer the football players a little gold or diamond thing as an honorarium. Something for them, or something for their girlfriend, their choice."