Out Of The Past

"Good one" the man standing by my side told me as I grinned up at him, saying "thanks" as I looked at the credits display rolling upward at a nice clip. This I enjoyed a lot; but unfortunately, as usual in gambling, it was not something I got to see very often. 

Finally the tally stopped at 2400 credits and I hit the cashout button on the machine. I then waited while the machine printed a slip telling me I had won $2400.00. I had spent over two to get it so it wasn't a bad payoff. Once I had the slip I stuck another 100 in the machine and played that down rather rapidly before getting up and heading off the floor to an elevator.

Once I got on, I hit the appropriate button for my floor. Once the doors on the elevator opened, I headed to my suite. 

Opening the door and entering, I was greeted with an armful of little boy who had launched himself into my arms before the door had a chance to shut itself. 

"Daaaaaaad!" was the cry as I caught him and hugged him to me. 

"Well hello little one, happy to see me?" I kidded him. "Uh huh" was the reply. Sammy was a very affectionate child and I encouraged it as I certainly loved him to death. 

"Did you win anything?" he asked as I walked with him in my arms over to the couch and dropped down with him still in my arms. 

"Sure did!" I told him 

"How much?" he asked eagerly.

"Well all told about $3000.00 when you add what I spent into what I won" I told him. "So what have you been doing since I left?" 

"Nuttin, just hanging around."

Sammy was a great kid and I had left him here while I went down to the casino for a couple of hours. There was a time when I spent a lot of time playing but since he came into my life I limited it to a lot less. I knew he would behave himself even though he was only eleven he was a very responsible eleven. 

"So what would you like to do?" I asked him

I felt him shrug his shoulders and mumble "I don't know." After a pause he added "Can we just hang out together?"

"Of course we can honey" 

That got his head to raise and a smile along with "cool" 

He grabbed the remote and snuggled into me some more as he started going through the channels to find something to watch. 

I knew that for him unlike a lot of kids he was completely happy just staying with me and cuddling. He didn't need to be constantly entertained; being loved was enough. It was quite usual for us to just sit together and cuddle for an entire evening; sometimes watching a movie or television program, or one of us reading to the other, and often just sitting quietly and talking with one another off and on. We talked about everything from superheroes to feelings and more serious stuff. I found his mind fascinating in the way that he often looked at things. 

He might be eleven but sometimes he seemed more like 111 then again sometimes he seemed like he was 3. I guess that is the way it is with kids. Sammy was a brown haired sweetheart, and I called him my cuddle puppy as that was what he was. He was never more happy than when someone was touching him somehow, whether just a hand on his shoulder or holding him in your lap. 

"Dad are we still heading home Wednesday?" he asked suddenly.

"Well I was planning on it; why?"

"Nothing, just wondering?" he said.

"Come on munchkin what's up?" 

"Well I kind of saw this commercial today for this place and I was wondering if we could go?" he asked me.

"Why don't you tell me what this place is and then we'll see" I told him.

"Its called Circus Circus"

"Oh down in Vegas huh?" 

"Yea, can we?" he asked again.

"Well you know I volunteered to work Thursday, Friday, and Saturday don't you?" I reminded him.

"Well yea; but can't you like work different days or something?" he wheedled 

"You really want to go don't you?" I asked him. 

"Yea it sounds like a lot of fun" he responded.

"Okay; let me call Eric and see what I can do" 

He turned around with a huge grin on his face and gave me one of his patented super hugs and said "thanks dad!"

"Well let me call before you say thanks okay? He might say no you know" I responded, chuckling softly. He promptly stood up and gave me room to stand. I guess he really wanted me to call. 

I went over to the phone and dialed the number to my good friend, the sheriff of Campbell County, Eric Carlson. 

I listened to it ring a couple of times before a gruff voice came over the phone saying "Carlson, what?" 

"You really need to work on your interpersonal skills there Eric" I said jokingly to him. 

"You can shove your interpersonal skills up your ass. What the hell you want anyway?" he asked me.

"Oh nothing; just calling to give you hell"

That got him laughing as he replied "Why doesn't that surprise me in the least, how are you doing down there Reno way, cleaning them out yet?"

"Not quite, but we are doing great. How's everything up there?" I asked.

"Besides Jimmy not being able to find his ass with both hands and a GPS unit just fine" he told me which got me laughing. His newest deputy was somewhat lacking in directional skills to say the least. 

"Oh lord what did he do now?" I asked kind of fearing the answer

"You don't want to know, he got a call down to Spring Creek and somehow ended up in Johnson County."

"Johnson County, how the hell did he get clear over there?" I asked in disbelief. 

"Well, he can't even answer that; how the hell am I supposed to" Eric said to me laughing still.

"So what do you need Mike?" the banter dropped and he was all business now. Eric came off as somewhat of a simpleton if you didn't know him, but in reality he had a Masters in Criminal Justice and B. A. in Psychology; he just didn't flaunt it to people. He could come across as one of them versus stuck up with his learning, which was important out in the country. He once told me that you can always talk down to whatever level is appropriate for a specific audience if you have the learning for it. but if you don't have the learning you can never talk up to a higher level, and he was right.

I cut the banter and got right to the point "Sammy wants to do something and I was just wondering if I could change around my days a bit?"

"To what?" he asked.

"Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday with Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. I'll come back and work extra for you next week."

"Hmm let me talk to your boss there" he said and I handed the phone to a very excited little boy who took it in his hand and stared at it for a second as if he was unsure what to do with it.

"He wants to talk to you" I told him laughing, which got me a scowl as he put the phone up to his ear and started talking softly into it. I stood there and couldn't hear too much but I heard ‘Circus Circus' a couple of times and then he grinned and handed me the phone back.

"I'm back" I said to him. 

"Hmmm, so you are. Okay I'll let you switch on one condition" he said and then stopped. He was setting me up for something and I knew it. I glared at Sammy and got his "who me" look as well as his angel look, which didn't work this time any more than any other, so with some trepidation I turned my attention back to the phone

"Okay what's the condition?" I very cautiously asked. 

"Now it ain't that bad" Eric replied, which told me that it was going to be bad, very bad. I took a deep breath and said "What?"

"Well you know that the little ones are out of school…" 

"No" I interrupted while trying to keep a straight face just so I could see the look which was appearing on Sammy's adorable little face. 

"Now Mike…" 

"No, I am not going to get myself saddled with the unholy trinity for a whole weekend." I interrupted again finding it more and more difficult to keep from breaking out into laughter as the look on poor Sammy's face just got worse and worse. 

"Mike they love you, now you know that and they aren't thaaaaat bad" he said.

"Dad please" Sammy whined with the most sad puppy dog look imaginable on his young face. It was more than I could take; with both him and Eric begging I broke out into laughter to the point I had tears soon running down my face as Sammy looked totally shocked realizing that he had been had. I could hear Eric screaming expletives on the phone which I had down at my side trying to recover.

Finally when I could get myself together enough to stop laughing I noticed the scowl that was on Sammy's face; when he saw I was in control of myself once again he said "That wasn't funny Dad!", which caused me to lose it again and break out in laughter while trying to say "Oh yes it was, if only you could have seen your face!" 

Finally I got a hold of myself again and got Eric calmed down and told him "I would love to have them Eric so calm your sorry ass down."

"My sorry ass huh, I'll put you on 11-7 for the next 6 months" he said to me in a mock angry tone.

"And you'll have to find yourself another sergeant too" I told him laughing. 

"You sure Mike? I know they can be a handful." 

"Come on Eric you know those three are part of the family. They are always welcome." I told him. 

"Okay then fine I'll let them know sometime or another and thanks." 

"Great! Well we are going to be coming back tonight, and I just need to know when you want me in tomorrow for shift." I told him

"Well why don't you work 10-10 open; are you going to pick up the hellions tonight?" he asked me.

"Sounds good; and yea I can stop by and get them on my way home. Have em pack enough until next Monday how's that sound."

"YEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!" a very excited 11 year old yelled.

"I guess someone likes that idea" Eric said chuckling. "What time you going to be back?" he asked.

"Well its 5 now and we haven't eaten or anything so figure probably sometime between 9 and 10, I'll call when I get in." I told him

"Sounds good, and thanks Mike" he said to me.

"No problem buddy, see you later" I told him and hung up; only to be jumped on by a very excited child.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, dad you're the bestest dad in the whole world" 

"Keep that up and I might change my mind" I told him but he didn't bite this time and just squeezed harder and gave me a big kiss on the cheek before letting me go and running into his room yelling "I gotta pack"

I just chuckled and picked up the phone again calling the front desk to have someone come up and get my luggage in about 20 minutes and also to have a car ready to take us to the airport. I then called the airport to have the plane prepared. After that I got on the laptop and filed a flight plan for a 7 pm local time departure; finally logging off just as Sammy came running back to the room. 

"Dad aren't you packed yet?" he asked impatiently before starting to run around checking the room diligently for anything that might have been left. 

Maybe I forgot to mention it, but Sammy could be a bit energetic at times as well. 

I went into my room and put my things into their appropriate bags and such, bringing it all back into the room with me. About then a knock came on the door; it was our bellman who proceeded to load up the bags. I gave him instructions on bringing the stuff down to our car while we followed him down. 

When we got to the lobby he went one way and I went the other with Sammy to check out and cash my winnings in. They knew me here and I was quickly processed through; and was told that my money would be waiting along with the final bill when I returned from dinner. 

I never thought I would see an eleven year old boy who was interested in not eating; but that is what I was faced with as he gobbled a small amount of food and then asked if I was done yet. When he could tell I wasn't he ended up eating some more; by the time we were done it was 6:20 and time to head to the airport. 

Once we got there we preflighted the aircraft and climbed on board, heading to the cockpit where we got things going. It was now 7 as we went through the pre-flight and got the engines started and systems checked. Finally it was time and I turned to Sammy and said "You want to get the weather and open our flight plan?" 

He grinned and said "sure" turning the radio to the ATIS frequency of 135.8 for the latest weather information. I watched and saw that he had his knee board on with several frequencies written down while I had the same. I then saw him write some things down and switch the radio over to 124.9 which was Clearance Delivery and proceed to enter several frequencies in the Nav radios. 

Meanwhile I was programming the NavComp direct BOI then direct to the IAF at Mullan Pass with a FL of 410 finishing up about the time Sammy finished programming the radios. 

"Ready munchkin?" I asked him. 

"Yep" 

"Well then call Clearance and get us out of here." I told him grinning.

"Clearance Delivery Lear 7175 Romeo with Charlie" he called over the radio.

"75R go ahead" was the response

"Lear 7175 Romeo is ready to activate our flight plan to Missoula." Sammy told the controller; very professionally I might add.

"Lear 7175 Romeo cleared as filed departure runway 16 right, maintain runway heading, climb and maintain 12000 expect 25000 10 minutes after departure, departure frequency will be 119.2 squawk 4771 flight plan valid until 0300 Zulu contact ground 121.9 when ready." the controller told us.

"Lear 7175 Romeo cleared as filed runway heading on 16 right climb and maintain 12000 expect 250 10 minutes after departure on freq 119.2 4771 and 0300 Zulu on the flight plan and ground when ready on 121.9." Sammy rapidly read back to them.

"Lear 7175 Romeo, read back correct have a good flight." was the response. 

Sammy had a big ole grin on his face with the praise. 

"Very good SamSam you ready to roll?" I asked him

Which got an even bigger grin and a "Yes dad!"

"Okay then call ground and let's roll." I told him.

He hit the button which would switch between frequencies and waited a moment listening for traffic before keying the mic and saying "Reno Ground this is Lear 7175 Romeo with Charlie at JetWest ready to taxi 16 right." 

"Lear 7175 Romeo, Reno Ground cleared to taxi to 16 right hold for the American 757 pulling out of the gate at terminal 2 then follow in line to runway 16 right. Hold short of 16 right."

"7175 Romeo cleared for taxi, hold for the 757 and follow to 16 right hold short upon arrival, 7175 Romeo." he said once again perfectly. 

I eased the power levers upward to get it rolling then pulled back as we headed out. We quickly saw the 757 and stopped until it got out on the taxiway and then followed at a safe distance until we got up to the departure end of the runway. 

"Okay lets get going on some of the final checklist items while we're waiting." I said and we proceeded to do what we could before we got to the runoff area. Then it was time to move up and finish the final power up checks which we did in short order before I said "Okay Sammy you have comm. tonight lets get home."

"Alright thanks dad" he said switching to 118.7 which was the tower frequency.

"Reno tower Lear 7175 Romeo is with you 16 right ready for takeoff." He told the tower controller.

"7175 Romeo position and hold."

"Position and hold 75 Romeo."

I eased it up and lined up with the centerline of the runway and now we waited for a couple of minutes. 

Finally the controller came back on "Lear 7175 Romeo cleared for takeoff."

"7175 Romeo cleared for takeoff, rolling" and I said "Okay, take it up."

He looked at me shocked for a moment, but then placed his hand on the power levers and gently started pushing them forward. I kept a hand lightly over his while we began our roll down the runway.

I watched the ASI climb rapidly and soon called out "V1" followed shortly by "V2" as he gently applied some pressure to the yoke pulling it towards him slightly. Once we reached 500 feet he called "gear" and pressed the button retracting it and then called "gear up" followed by "three in the green" meaning that all three wheels were up and locked. 

As we passed 1,500 the controller called us. "Lear 7175 Romeo contact departure on 119.2 good day." 

"75 Romeo 119.2 good day sir." Sammy responded as he hit the button switching us to the departure center frequency. 

"Reno departure Lear 7175 Romeo is with you out of one thousand eight hundred for one two thousand." he called.

"Lear 7175 Romeo, radar contact climb and maintain one five thousand."

"One five thousand, 75 Romeo" Sammy repeated.

I went ahead and cleaned up the aircraft for climbing; reducing the power and raising the flaps and such while our altitude continued to climb. As we were passing 12000 the controller came back on.

"75 Romeo climb and maintain two seven thousand" 

"Up to 270, 75 Romeo" Sammy said back to him. You'd think he had been doing this for years the way he handled himself and I was so proud of him.

"You did great with the take off and everything else for that matter" I told him which caused him to beam with pride.

"75 Romeo contact Oakland Center on 134.45" the controller called to us and Sammy was right on top of it. 

"134.45 good day, 75 Romeo" he replied switching once again to the new frequency and calling

"Oakland Center Lear 7175 Romeo is with you out of two four thousand for 270" 

"Lear 7175 radar contact turn left heading 050 expect direct as filed climb and maintain flight level 350" he told us.

"050 and up to 350 expect direct as filed, 75 Romeo" Sammy answered. 

I watched as he gently nudged the yoke to the left putting us into a slight climbing turn and continued to watch as we approached the heading we were assigned. 

"That was excellent, maybe I should go and take a nap" I told him which got one of those patented "DAAAAAADs" from him which caused me to laugh. 

After several minutes the controller came back and said "Lear 75 Romeo cleared direct Boise then direct Missoula as filed contact Salt Lake approach on 133.4, good day."

"75 Romeo cleared direct as filed Boise then direct Missoula and switching to Salt Lake on 133.4, so long" was repeated by Sammy.

He changed channels and checked in with Salt Lake Center and I hit the auto-nav and let the computer take over for a while. It would fly us all the way to the ground if I so choose and right now would have us heading directly to Boise.

"I'm going the bathroom and get something to drink you want anything?" Sammy asked me as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

"No I'm fine you relax for a bit, you done great kiddo." I told him.

He left and I started thinking how lucky I was to have him. It seems like only yesterday when I found Sammy and my family was born; now I couldn't imagine life without him.

************************Flashback****************************

Now where would I like to go now, I sat there thinking in the comfortable leather chair in the coach. I was playing on the computer and wondering what I should do now. I had spent the last week at the Harrah's Bluff's Run casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa and was thinking about moving on. I loved the place but it was time for new pastures for a while. 

I was trying to think whether I wanted to head down to Louisiana or maybe out west towards Albuquerque, each had their advantages, it was simply a matter of deciding what I felt like doing. I was hitting some of my favorite casinos around the country and just killing time messing around. 

In actuality I was bored with my life. I was missing something and I didn't know what it was. I used to dream of being rich and being able to just travel around and do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted; but now that I was I found it wasn't as fulfilling as I thought it would be. I had bought a large area of land up in Montana several years ago, and had a house built which was where I called home these days; but still something was missing. 

Oh don't get me wrong; I loved it up there and had some good friends, especially Eric and the unholy trinity of his, but oh I don't know, something was just not right and I wasn't really all that happy with my life any more. 

I finally decided on Sky City in New Mexico, I could go down 29 to KC and hit 71 out to Joplin where I could catch 44 all the way down to OKC and I-40 while stopping at a number of casinos I liked along the way. 

With that in mind I went out and got everything set and headed out. I drove down onto the turnpike in Oklahoma and went to bed for a while at a service plaza, waking up some hours later deciding to get up and actually go inside for something decent to eat for a change. I liked Burger King and this plaza had one so I jumped in the shower and then headed on inside. 

The first thing I noticed on the way in was a young boy with his back to me as I approached. I don't know what made me notice him but something just caught my attention. When he turned around upon hearing my footsteps it was like an electrical shock went through me. 

I had no idea why this child I didn't even know was having this effect on me but it was disturbing in the extreme to me. When he saw me he looked me up and down and then gave me this huge smile that just melted my heart when I saw it. 

What the hell I thought as I kept walking saying "hi" as I passed him and went into the restaurant, finding myself an out of the way seat and putting my book on the table then walking up to the counter and ordering a double whopper w/cheese and a Pepsi. Returning to my seat after I got my order I sat there eating and thinking about my response. 

I truly loved kids but the response I got upon seeing that boy was indescribable and I couldn't understand it. It literally was like an electric shock jolted through my system and when he smiled at me I thought my heart was going to stop. I also got extremely hard which also was disconcerting as I tried to keep myself tightly under control in that respect. In my entire adult life I had never given into those feelings I have known I have and yet with this boy I thought I might have an accident right there without even knowing his name, the feeling was that powerful.

I ate and drank and as usual just sat there reading for a long while after I was finished giving myself time to wake up a bit. I was emphatically not a morning person. I read until finally I had to use the restroom and decided that it was as good a time as any to get back on the road. I was awake now so I got up, throwing out my trash, and headed to the bathroom. 

I was at the urinal peeing when a small voice said

"Ten dollars and I'll jack it for you, twenty and I'll even suck it" 

I almost pissed all over myself as I turned quickly exclaiming "What the fu…" and stopped mid-sentence at the sight that confronted me. 

Here I was trying to pee on the one hand; while being twisted half around with one part pointing where it needed to and my upper body turned towards the child who had spoken when I found out it was the same boy from earlier. 

"Well, come on mister, you want some or what?" he asked me.

Strangely enough considering my reaction earlier as I finished urinating my piss hard on dissipated like usual and it went completely soft. I shook it off as I turned towards him causing him to smile real big and then for his mouth to drop open in obvious shock as I put it away and zipped up in front of him.

I just stood there for a moment before saying "What's your name son?" 

"You don't need to know that mister, you want it or not?" 

"Not" I said 

"Fine" he told me and turned to go; disappointment plainly on his face. "Wait" I said causing him to stop.

"Look kid what are you doing here offering that anyway?" 

"None of your bees wax" was his childish response as he once again started to turn away.

"Hold it…" I started to say when he turned around and said very low "leave me alone or I'll scream and you know what will happen to you then"

That kind of shocked me; but for some reason I wouldn't give up on this kid.

"You know" I said to his now retreating back "you just might have the right idea there" as I pulled out my cell phone. Like I hoped he stopped and turned back around, saying "what's that supposed to mean" 

I just looked at him and then raised my hand flipping open my cell while saying "I think maybe we should call the police and get them down here"

That caused him to completely freeze. His mouth worked back and forth, while terror started to flash across his eyes for a moment before he started begging "Please mister don't call the police, please I'll do anything you want, anything, I'll even do it for free just don't call the cops, please."

I stopped dialing and just looked at him before saying "Are you hungry?" 

His mouth just dropped open as that wasn't what he was expecting me to say but finally said "ahhh yea" 

"Okay then here is what is going to happen, we are going back into BK and you are going to order yourself some food and then we are going out to my coach and eat while you and I have a talk, okay?" I told him

He just looked at me and didn't say anything and I could tell he was trying to figure out how to get out of this, so I said "Look, when you are finished eating you can leave and I won't do anything to stop you and I won't call the police"

"And what else" he said suspiciously.

"Nothing else except talking" I told him.

"Okay." he finally said "You really don't want to do stuff?" he asked, still not believing me. 

I just looked at him for a moment, and then figured the truth better start with me. "Whether or not I want to I am not going to" I told him, which caused him to cock his head at me and give me a little grin.

"Well what ya waiting for? Lets go, I'm starving" and with that he took hold of my hand and started pulling me out of the restroom and back to BK where he went up to the counter and ordered more than I could eat. 

I then took him outside and over to my coach where I opened the door and we went in. He made a beeline for the kitchen table and proceeded to start eating wildly.

"Hey slow down its not going anywhere" I told him chuckling softly while he shot me a glare without stopping or slowing down in the slightest. 

I just sat back and watched him eat. He went through half his fries and all of the double whopper before slowing down to what might be considered a normal pace for a semi-starved person; but not once did he stop completely until all the food and most of the chocolate shake had disappeared into what must be a bottomless pit. When it was he let out a loud belch and gave me a cheeky grin before saying "You got a bathroom in here? I gotta go pee"

"Sure down there on the right" I said pointing and he was off like a shot disappearing in the toilet. A few minutes later he came back out with his little dick in his hand and appearing very hard as he rubbed it up and down with a cocky grin on his face saying "You sure you don't want some, its really hard"

I looked at him and said "I'm sure you are, so either finish that up so we can talk or put it away so we can talk; one or the other"

I had moved into the living room and he stood there holding himself for a moment, clearly surprised at my response, before going over and sitting down in a chair across from me and continuing to masturbate. 

I leaned back and shut my eyes while he kept on doing it, which I am sure is not the response he had planned but it didn't seem to deter him; after a little while I could hear his obvious signs of an approaching orgasm and then he cried out and I could hear his rapid breathing as he came down from his high.

A few minutes later he said "Mister, you awake?"

"Yes I'm awake" I said opening my eyes and sitting up looking at him. 

He had that same impudent grin on his face as he said "Thanks that was great man"

"Your welcome, my name is Mike what's yours?" I asked him as he continued to sit there with his penis in his hand. I pretended that it didn't exist and ignored it completely. 

"Sam" he replied quietly. I could tell he said it begrudgingly but he did say it.

"You're weird" he said matter of factly which caused me to chuckle softly looking at this little wonder who had fallen into my life. He appeared to be around 7 and had beautiful dark brown hair and the most gorgeous brown eyes staring out of an adorable little face. 

"I've heard that before" I replied which got a mumbled "I bet you have" from him which made me laugh even more and elicited a beautiful grin from his face. 

"So Sam how come you're out here doing what you were doing?" I asked him which wiped said grin from his face

He shrugged his shoulders and didn't answer me so I just sat there looking at him. I could wait him out, I wasn't in a hurry. 

As the minutes went by his stare at me surprisingly didn't waver and he didn't seem to be doing what I expected, which was giving in and talking. Oh well I guess it was time for the next step.

I laid back and closed my eyes with him watching every move I made.

I heard the indrawn breath and then nothing for a few minutes before hearing "I was kind of hungry and didn't know what else to do" from him

I opened my eyes and sat up looking at him. "Have you done this before Sammy?"

"Once for money and the guy just handed me twenty bucks and walked away" he told me as I digested that. He had qualified his statement with ‘once for money' which led me to believe there may have been other instances. A 7 year old boy might like to mess around sexually but not often orally; but I would let it go for now.

"Why don't you start at the beginning and tell me how you got here?" I told him.

He looked at me and then took a deep breath and began "My grandma died last year." and he stopped as he fought obvious tears that were threatening to come forth.

"I'm sorry." I said to him and he looked at me closely for a moment before surprising me by getting up and walking over to me and crawling into my lap.

To say I was shocked was an understatement but it felt so good, so right if you will as I wrapped my arms around him and snuggled him deeply into me. He was purring like a kitten finally getting some of his mother's milk as he made himself at home in my arms. 

He didn't say anything at all for a few minutes and I was content just holding him. All felt right with the world suddenly and I never wanted him to get up. Somehow at that moment I knew without a doubt that regardless of anything I was not going to let this child go, ever. 

I can't explain the feeling really but at that moment I just knew that this small creature nestled in my arms was always going to be there and that he was now the missing piece in my life that I didn't even know had been missing up until then. It just felt right somehow, totally and completely right.