Algeria Here I Come
by: E Walk
(© 2008-2009 by the Author)
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 45
Hello Daddy, Hello Mother

When Brahim and I pulled away from the Daniels’ house, the guys waved to us.  Mr. Daniels was correct.  It was almost a straight shot to the Katy freeway from their house.  I noticed a bus stop just as I was about to get on the freeway.  It only took us 20 minutes to get to the apartment.

We took the fish from the cooler and put it in the freezer.  When that was done, I washed my hands and got my cell phone.  I called a number.  A male voice answered, “Dad, it’s Ed.”

“Where the hell have you been?  We haven’t heard from you in a month.  I guess you must need money”

“Dad, I was sent on an overseas assignment have spent the last three weeks on a cruise ship.  If you would join the 21^st century, I could have sent you an email to let you know where I was.  We just arrived in Houston yesterday.”

“Who is we?”

“Dad, I brought a special friend and his young brother home to live with me.”

“In that postage stamp apartment you live in.  You’ll die of asphyxiation.  So your friend is male and how old is his brother?”

“Dad, Allie is ten.”

My mother obviously was listening on the extension, “If Allie is ten, how old is his older brother?”

“Brahim is 28.  Because of Bra and Allie, I have been promoted and will be in charge of a division at Shell Oil.  I have received a sizeable raise.”

Dad was laughing, “So you finally found someone to give you a son?”

“Dad and Mother, as a matter of fact, Allie does refer to me as Dad.   You will love Bra and Allie.”

Mother sighed, “We’ll see about that.  We will expect you here at the ranch next Friday night, as soon as you can get here.  I’ll let your sisters know that you will be here.”

Dad interrupted, “You do realize that this Allie person is probably going to be the only grandson that I’ll ever have.  Now what did you call about?”

“Dad and Mother, Bra and I were looking for a place where we could move, today.  I got lost and we stumbled onto the perfect place.  It would have enough room for you to come and stay with us when you decide to visit the big city.  The problem is that I would need approximately $250.000.00 to be able to swing the deal, since I have no furniture of my own.  Once I get my raise, I can start paying the loan back.”

Dad wasn’t making this easy, “So what is this Brahim person going to be doing.  Is he going to be sponging off of you?”

“Dad, it looks as if Bra might be going to the University of Houston.  We are going to find out on Tuesday if that’s a possibility.”

My mother asked, “What would he be studying?”

“Brahim is a singer.  Both guys have voices that will wilt your hearts.”

Dad spoke up, “So, you’re saying that this Brahim is a tooty fruity?”

“Brahim is anything but a fruit.  I bet he could best you in a wrestling match.”

Mother came on, “Ed, we’ll give you the money on the stipulation that you bring Brahim and Allie to the ranch next weekend if at all possible.”

After my Mother’s pronouncement, we said our goodbyes.

I guess I need to tell you.  My Mother was the person who had the  money when she married my father.  He was a very good steward of the money and the ranch thrived.  The ranch is located in the hill country just north of Austin.  My parents struck it big when oil was discovered on the ranch land.

I have two sisters and they each have two daughters.  It will be interesting to see how the sisters and their husbands and their daughters react when they meet Brahim and Allie.

I hugged Brahim, “I guess we’re going to be taking a little trip this weekend, and it looks as if we’re going to be able to buy the Daniels’ house.”

When Brahim and I crawled into bed, he did as he threatened and wore my body into submission.  The next morning, when I woke up, I knew that I had been invaded.  I smelled coffee and went to see what Brahim was doing.

When I walked into the kitchen, Brahim scolded me, “Ed, how many times do I have to tell you that you need to be decent when you come out of the bedroom?  What if my innocent brother were to see you?”

I put my arms around a similarly clad Brahim with my front side against his backside and nibbled his ear lobe.  I pouted, “So you’re saying it’s okay for your innocent little brother to see you naked, but it’s not okay for him to see me?  That doesn’t seem very fair.”

Brahim turned around and took my penis in hand and started to manipulate it.  Of course it started to respond to his manipulative actions.  He pushed me away, “That’s precisely why you should not appear naked in front of my innocent little brother.  If he were to see that monster of yours, it would cause the poor child to develop an inferiority complex.”

I pointed to my engorged penis, “You caused this; how are you going to fix it?”

Bra dropped to his knees and applied his oral skills to remedy my problem.  When he finished, he let the limp organ slip out of his mouth and looked up at me, “Are you satisfied now?”

I leaned and pulled Brahim up and held him, “What wound you up this morning?”

“Ed, I woke up early and started to think about how fortunate it was that I was assigned to be your bodyguard when you arrived in Oran.  Not only are Allie and I in the United States, but good things seem to be happening to us.  I’m afraid that I'm going to wake up and find out that it was all a dream.”

I pulled Brahim tight and kissed him, “Listen, mister, I can assure you that after what you did to me last night and just now, that it definitely isn’t a dream.  We need to get our butts in gear.  We have things to do and places to go.”

We ate breakfast in the nude.  After we did the dishes, we got dressed, so we could go to the grocery store to buy the melons for the picnic.  While we were in the store, I saw something that reminded me of the glorified rice that my Mother makes for picnics.  I bought the items so I could make the rice while Bra fixed the melons.  I figured that it would a different kind of dessert than other people might make.

When we arrived at Daniels’ house, there were groups of adults sitting on lawn chairs in front of the house.  Mike from next door saw us and directed us to park in their driveway.  Brahim and I were both carrying large plastic containers when we arrived at the Daniels’.  Nancy met us and showed us where to put the melons and the rice. 

The Daniels’ garage had been set up like a buffet.  After we had placed our containers where Nancy directed, Mr. Daniels came to us, “Ed and Bra, let me introduce you to the neighbors and the families.”

He introduced us to everyone and of course we knew the Sorensons from the cruise.  The last people we were introduced to were the two gentlemen doing the cooking.  “Ed and Brahim, I'd like to introduce you to our son, George, Jr.  and our son-in-law, Brad Winston.”

“Guys, these are the two gentlemen who are contemplating buying the house.”

“Mr. Daniels, you might want to change that contemplating to wanting to buy your home.  I’m prepared to write you a check for earnest money and have arranged for the rest of the financing which I will have after this next weekend.”

Mr. Daniels had a funny look on his face, “How could you arrange for financing already, especially on a holiday weekend.”

I grinned, “Simple, I called my financial backers, my parents.  The only hitch is, I have to take Brahim and Allie, so they can meet them, next weekend, before they’ll give me the money.”

Brad asked, “Ed, you look familiar.  Where do you have to go to get this money?”

I looked at Brad, “My parents have small ranch in the hill country north of Austin.”

Brad smacked his head, “Ed, your last name is Waller, right?”

 

I nodded yes.

“Dad, Ed’s description of his parents spread is bit understated, His parents’ spread encompasses half the county.”

Our conversation was interrupted by the appearance of Allie, “Good, I was beginning to think you weren’t here.  Dad, are we going to buy the Daniels’ house?”

“Yes, but we need to visit your Grandparents before they’ll give us the money to buy it.”

Allie got the strangest look on his face, “I didn’t know I had any grandparents.  Do we have to go back to Algeria?”

I shook my head no, “Nope, we have to go see my parents, and they don’t live in Algeria.”

Allie wiped his head, “Dad, you had me scared for a minute.”

Mr. Daniels stopped the conversation, “Allie, go tell the other young people that the food is ready.”

Allie snapped to attention and saluted, “Aye, Aye, boss.”

It was interesting to watch as Allie returned with the other young people.  Most of them went to get their food but Allie was standing next to me watching.  He looked up at me, “Dad, they aren’t being very considerate are they?”

I was saved from having to answer by Mrs. Daniels, “Allie, aren’t you going to eat anything?”

“Yes, ma’am, but I’ll wait until most of the adults have finished getting their food.”

Allie went through the line with Mike and Dan, from next door, and Bra and me.  Mike asked, “Allie, why didn’t you go through the line with the other young people?”

“Mr. Strong, I’ve always been told that it was polite to let ladies and older people be served first.  Besides, there’s plenty of food for all of us.”

We had our plates loaded with food and were sitting on the ground eating.  Most of the young people gathered around Allie and they were talking.  When Allie finished eating, he got up and went to talk to Mr. Daniels.  The two of them disappeared.

When Allie and Mr. Daniels returned, Allie was carrying a box of large garbage bags.  He started to collect the paper plates and eating utensils things that people had been eating off of.  The other young people quickly joined him.  After that was finished, Allie and the cleaning brigade started to clean the containers that people had brought food in.  There was almost nothing remaining so it was easy.  We heard the young people giggling from time to time.  John came and announced, “Grandma Daniels, Allie says that we’re ready for inspection.”

Mrs. Daniels went to see what was happening, and when she returned, she announced,  “My kitchen hasn’t been this clean in a a long time.”

After the dishes were finished, the young people were playing kickball in the cul-de-sac. That was when Allie won the respect of everyone.  He would deliberately miss balls that the younger children would kick but wouldn’t let a ball kicked by one of the older young people get by him.

It was nearly five o’clock when  Mr. and Mrs. Daniels’ children decided that it was time to head back to Dallas.  The two families climbed into their cars after they had said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Daniels.  Allie was standing next to me, “Dad, why didn’t they hug and kiss their grandparents goodbye?”

I shrugged my shoulders to indicate that I didn’t know.  By seven o’clock, everyone had departed except Mike and Dan, from next door, Nancy, Jim, John and the Sorensons.  Jim and John were helping Allie take the patio furniture back to the deck. 

Doctor Sorenson approached me, “Ed, I am so glad that you are going to be living next door to the twins.  Their Dad hasn’t been a very good father or roll model for them for the past several years.  They already idolize you and your two guys.”

While Doctor Sorenson had been talking to me Bra, Mike and Dan had been helping Mr. Daniels take down the tables and store them.  Nancy appeared, “Jim and John, we need to get you home since you have to start school in the morning.”

Jim looked at me, “Dad Ed, are you going to bring Allie back in the morning or what?”

“Jim, I need to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Daniels.   We can’t enroll Allie in your school until we have proof of where we’re going to live.  I already have two or three appointments tomorrow.  I’ll see what I can do.”

Jim and John hugged us as they were leaving with their mother and grandparents.  Mike punched Allie on the shoulder, “Never fear dude, Uncle Mikey will fix it so you can go to school with Jim and John.  Everyone let’s go to Dan’s and my house and we can solve Allie’s dilemma.”

The Daniels, Allie, Bra and I followed Dan and Mike to their house.  Mike led us into what appeared to be a family room.  Mike went and got a pad of paper from a desk.  When he sat down in a chair he looked at Dan, “Danny, why don’t you get us a drink.  I’d like a tall bourbon and water.”

Dan brought our drinks.  Allie, Bra and I had a soda since I still had to drive to the apartment.  When everyone had their drink, Mike started, “George and Edie, how much are you asking for your property?”

Mr. Daniels answered, “We had it appraised.  The appraiser valued the property at $197,000, so that’s what we thought we'd ask.”

Mike turned to me, “Ed, offer the Daniels $190.000 with the stipulation that you will pay all of the closing costs and my exorbitant lawyer’s fee.  How much earnest money are you prepared to put down?”

I was confused by what was happening, “I’m prepared to write a check for $25,000.00.”

Mike looked up, “Forget that.  Write a check for $5000.00 and use the remainder to buy some furniture.  Speaking of furniture, George and Edie, what are you going to do with your furniture?”

Edie sighed, “Since we’re looking at moving into a small condo, we will probably only take some of the master bedroom furniture, the baby grand piano and a few other things.  We certainly won’t need a big space when we move to Dallas next year, since our family will be there.”

Mike chuckled, “Mr. Waller, I’ll write another contract so that you and the Safi brothers can purchase the furniture that the Daniels decide not to take.  We’ll offer them $20,000.00 for the things they leave behind.  Of course there will be another exorbitant lawyer’s fee for all the work I have to do.”

Allie had moved next to Mike as Mike was typing at the computer, “Uncle Mikey, how much are these exorbitant lawyer’s fees that you keep talking about?”

Mike looked at Allie, “I was thinking a thousand for each contract.”

Allie took a deep breath, “You mean, you’re going to get a thousand dollars for writing two pieces of paper and notarizing them.”

Mike hugged Allie, “Look kid, it’s hard work, thinking, on my time off.  I didn’t say a thousand bucks did I?  I was thinking more along the line of a thousand pennies.”

Allie stopped to think and then threw arms around Mike and hugged him, “You’re a phony just like everyone else, around here.”

Mike pulled Allie on his lap and hugged him, “How dare you accuse me of being a phony?”

Dan had been very quiet during the proceedings.  He stood and asked, “Ed, where are you living now?”

I was almost at a loss for words because this was totally changing directions from what was being discussed.  I looked at Dan, “I have an efficiency apartment at the Pine Grove apartments.”

Dan took a deep breath, “Ed, do you realize how long it will take you drive Allie here and back so he can go to school?  You’ll spend between two and three hours driving back and forth each day.  Mike and I lived at the Grove before we bought this house.  You people are going to meet each other coming and going.  Why don’t you plan to move in with Mike and me until Dad and Mom Daniels find something suitable?  That way Allie can make sure the house is clean and that dinner is ready when we get home at night.  Brahim can catch a direct bus to the campus once he’s enrolled, or he could drive, which would actually be slower.”

Brahim was as stunned as I was, “Dan and Mike, I don’t have a driver’s license so that’s not an option.  Are you sure that you want us to live with you, even for a short time?”

Dan was having fun, “Well, after the way that Allie cleaned up after the picnic, I figured I might never need to run the vacuum cleaner or clean the bathrooms again, since Mikey is allergic to work.”

Mike threw an eraser at Dan.  “Look, Danny boy, you will be sleeping in the bathtub tonight if you’re not careful.”

After the papers were signed and we had agreed on what Mike had proposed, Brahim, Allie and I started back to the apartment complex.

It took us an hour and a half to get to the apartment complex.

 When Allie saw the apartment he had a fit, “Dad, this is smaller than our house in Algeria.  How much do you have to pay for it?”

When I told him that I was paying $1200.00 a month, he just about choked, “Dad, that’s stupid.  We could live with Uncle Mike and Uncle Dan for much less and I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in a car riding back and forth to school.”

Allie wasn’t finished, “Dad, are there any people my age living in the apartments?  If so, where would we be able to play?  Dad, I think that we should take Uncle Dan and Uncle Mike up on their offer for us to stay with them until we can live in our own home.”

When we were finally in bed, my mind was whirling.  I kept thinking of all the things I needed to decide and take care of.  ‘Were Mike and Dan sincere in their offer for us to live with them until we moved into the Daniels house?  What’s going to happen to my two guys?

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: It looks to me as if things are going to work out really nicely for everyone concerned, with the exception of the apartment complex's income. They will certainly have to find other renters.  Allie will be starting out at school, already having friends, and besides he gathers friends faster than anyone I have ever known.  Bra will be close to the campus, and have easy access to public transportation. Yes, I think things are going to work out just fine.  As always, I am ready for more!

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 09/18/09