Bart and Chris
by: E Walk
(© 2008 by the Author)
 

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

Chapter 16

The Dream 

When Bart arrived home, he was so high that he was almost flying.  “Dad, that school is the neatest and Mrs. Warner was so helpful.  She would like for me to go back tomorrow afternoon if possible.  Ms. Sweet, everyone says you’re the greatest.”

I looked at him, “Cool down, Son.  I’m sure that I can get you to the school.  What makes you think it’s so neat?”

“Dad, they don’t grade on tests but more on performance.  It’s like people are graded for how well they can prepare a presentation based on what they have learned.  Dad, I’m an auditory learner.  I’m not a visual learner.  I haven’t been able to read for a long time so how could I learn anything.  Do you realize how different things seem to me now that I can see?  It’s like a whole new world,”

Bart switched gears on me so fast that I didn’t know what was happening.  “Dad, I told Tory that you wouldn’t mind if she brought her three brothers over to play with the guys.  That’s okay isn’t it?”

Before I could answer the doorbell rang and Tory and her three brothers entered. “Hey Grandma, we were wondering where you were.”

Randy looked at me, “Nano Mark, is it okay if we came to play with the guys?  We promise not to make a mess.  Grandma, can we go back to the farm next week, so me and Chris can milk the cows again?”

Ms. Sweet looked at Randy and Chris, “Boys, we have to see what is going to happen this week.  I suggest that you go play and not get into any trouble.  I need to go home.  I have a meeting that I need to go to tonight.  Tell your sister that you need to leave by five.  Mark, I’ll talk to you tomorrow,”

I was fixing dinner when Billy and Robbie came in, “Nano Mark, can the boys stay for dinner?”

I wasn’t quite sure how to respond, “Billy, what if their Mother has fixed a nice dinner for them.  What would she think?”

Tory was standing there, “Nano Mark, the parents are going to some benefit for something that they are involved in with Grandmother.  Mother gave me money to buy some fast food on our way home.  I thought I would stop and buy some Kentucky Fried Chicken .”

“Tory, I’ll tell you what.  Why don’t you and your brothers just plan to eat with us.  I’ll just put some more puppy chow in the soup.  Do you suppose that Bart and you could set the table for us.  It looks like there will thirteen of us.”

I had baked a ham, thinking that we would have leftovers for a couple of meals so there was plenty of meat.  I had made a hash brown  casserole a big casserole of baked beans.  I decided to make cole slaw even though the children probably wouldn’t like it.

As I was watching everyone eating, I was beginning to think that none of the people had eaten all day.  I knew that wasn’t true because Mrs. Sweet had taken Barbie, Bart and me to lunch at the Mexican restaurant.  I was thinking I should go pull out Bart’s leftovers from lunch and see if anyone would eat them.”

Randy looked at me, “Nano Mark, may I please have another piece of the meat.  It tastes so good.”

I offered another piece of meat to the children and I was surprised at how many takers I had.  Tory, looked at me, “Nano Mark, our Dad doesn’t like to eat pork of any kind.  He claims that he got ptomaine poisoning from eating bacon.  So we almost never have ham or any pork at our house.  We mostly have poultry, beef or seafood.”

Tip looked at the children, “Eat as much as you want but don’t get sick.”

When dinner was over, the young children cleared the table and Bart and Tory were doing the dishes when the doorbell rang.  The young children had disappeared so I went to answer the door.  Andy and Steve were standing there.  Andy spoke for them, “Mr. Leavitt, is Bart here so we can talk to him, please?” 

I shook my head, “Guys, I thought I made it clear last night that I preferred to be called Mark or Nano Mark.  Perhaps you should start  over.”

Steve caught me completely by surprise.  He dropped to his knees  and started bowing to me, “Please, Mr. Nano, may we speak to your son?”

Andy was laughing so I decided to retaliate.  I reached down and grabbed Steve around the waist and picked him up and started toward the kitchen.  Andy was following us.  I plopped Steve in a chair, “You’re in time out until you can be respectful to your elders.  My son can’t talk to anyone who tries to lick my shoes.”

Steve knew he had been had but he wasn’t going to surrender.  “I was just checking to see where the horrible smell was coming from.”

I decided to surrender.  “Okay guys, what did you come to talk to our son about?”

Steve stood, “Good, both Tory and Bart are here.  I had a call from Mrs. Wareham and they would like us to perform at the benefit dinner for The Children’s Theatre on Friday.  They would like for us to start playing at 7:00.”

“Here’s the kicker.  She specifically asked if Bart could do his Elvis act at 8:00 before they made their presentation.  They would like for us to play dance music from 9:00 until 11:00.  She said that she heard that Bart and Tory sang really well together and suggested that they would provide excellent background music for people to dance to and visit.  They are willing to pay us $200.00.”

Tory started to laugh, “Guys, my Grandmother has struck again.  She and Mrs. Wareham have been friends forever.  Mrs. Wareham is also on the board at the academy.  We had better accept the gig or we may all get expelled and Bart isn’t even enrolled yet.”

Tory looked at the clock, “Guys, I’m in if Nano Mark gives his okay.  My parents will do whatever my Grandmother says.”

I shrugged my shoulders, “I suppose it would be okay.  Tory, you’re probably going to suggest that your three brothers spend the night here so that Zack and I can baby-sit them.”

Tory started to laugh, “Now that you mention it. That might be easiest way to convince my parents that there is nothing sinister going on in this house.  I gotta’ go.  My brothers need to get ready for bed and I have some schoolwork I need to do for tomorrow.”

Tory and Bart left to find the boys and Steve looked at me, “Mark, Andy told me what you said.  Can we please talk to you and Zack sometime this weekend?   When did you know you were gay?”

“Guys, you may certainly come to talk to us this weekend.  I knew I was gay when I was very young.  I had a special friend who helped me realize that I should keep my hormones in check until I met the right person,  Everything came together when I took this job and met Zack.  We’ll talk more this weekend when Zack is home.  I need to get the children to bed.”

Both Andy and Steve hugged me.  Steve had tears in his eyes, “Mark, thank you.”

As the guys were leaving, Steve called back, “We’ll come right after school on Thursday so we can practice if that’s okay?”

Ty had come out of the study, “Guys, that’s great.  Andy, have your Dad contact me at my office.  Here is my business card.  I’m concerned about what you said about his health.”

Andy put the card in his pocket, “Mr. Jefferson, I’ll have Dad call you.  Thank you.”

I looked at Bart, “You take the guys and get them ready for bed and I’ll make sure the young ladies are ready for bed.  After everyone is in their pajamas, I'll have a snack for them.”

There was no argument and the children were assembled around the kitchen, eating their desserts. 

When they finished eating, I stared at them.  “I want to hear five tooth brushes whirring while Bart does the dishes.  I’ll tell your Dads to check for any the areas you missed when they tuck you in.”

All five of the young people hugged me as they went their separate ways.  Tip and Ty followed Ty’s children and I went to check on Chris.  I watched as he brushed his teeth and he was doing a very good job.  When he finished, I tucked him in and leaned down to kiss him. 

He grabbed me around the neck, “Daddy, I love you.  Please don’t let anyone take me away from you and Dad Zack.”

I was rattled, “Chris, why would someone take you away from us?”

“Daddy, I had this dream that some people came and grabbed me and Bart out of the bed and they drove away with us.  They thought we were rich because we lived in this big house.”

“Bart tried to tell them that we weren’t rich, but they just started to laugh.  Daddy, it was an awful dream.”

I held Chris, “Son, I’ll make sure that the house is secure before I come to bed.  Now go to sleep.  I need to talk to Uncle Tip and Uncle Ty.”

I went to the den where Tip and Ty were sitting,  “Bosses, Chris just told me something that was very disturbing.  He said he dreamed that he and Bart were kidnapped because the bad guys thought they were rich because they lived in this big house.  What concerns me is that someone might try to abduct one of Ty’s children.  I sure don’t have any money.  I guess I need to be more careful when the children are here.”

Ty looked at me, “Mark, I have been thinking the same thing especially in these economic times.  If anyone is aware of where we live, then we have to be prepared for any eventuality.  Living in a big city, like this, is different than living in the small towns in Nebraska where we grew up.”

Tip added, “We shouldn’t alarm the children, but we need to make sure that we watch them carefully.  If someone is planning to do something, it will be when we least expect it  and we probably will not be able to do anything about it.  We need to pray that the supreme powers will make sure that none of the young people are harmed.”

I said goodnight and made sure all of the doors were locked then I went to the apartment and Bart was sitting in the living room area, “Dad, I’m scared.  I’ve never performed in front of a group of adults before.”

I took exception, “Bartholomew, If I remember correctly, you did just fine when Ms. Sweet, Dad Zack and I were in the audience on Saturday night.”

“But Dad, that’s different.”

 

I shook my head, “Son, this should be easier because you won’t know anyone.  If they don’t appreciate what you do, then that’s their problem.  That probably means that many of them are there under duress.  If this weekend doesn’t work out, you can always tell the band, ‘Thank you, but no thank you.’”

Bart had something else on his mind.  “Dad, will you help me find some more Elvis songs that I can sing and then maybe we can find someone entirely different so that the people won’t get bored.”

I hugged Bart, “Son, let’s talk about this tomorrow.  I need to go get the call from Dad Zack.”

Zack finally called and when I told him everything that had happened he started on me, “Nano Mark, I hate to tell you this, but I just found out that I need to go to school for two more years to complete my degree.  I may even have to stay here on weekends to study.”

I decided that silence was the way to respond, so I didn’t say anything.  He realized what I was doing and he started again, “Mark, hang in there.  There are only three more weeks and then I can be there.  Are you all coming for my graduation ceremony or should I skip it?”

I looked at the receiver, “Zack, I can’t make any decisions until I talk to Ty and Tip.  Can’t we decide this when you’re home this weekend?”

Zack came back, “I had other plans for this weekend,  “I was thinking we could play ‘Pop Goes the Weasel’  and a couple of games of ‘Who Shot the Sheriff.’” 

I started to laugh, “I have several other games in mind.  We’ll discuss it this weekend.  Goodnight, my handsome stud. I’m exhausted.”

After I hung up, I double checked to make sure all the doors were locked.  ‘I almost wish that Chris hadn’t told me about his dream.  I’m going to be even more paranoid about the children’s safety now.’ 

When I took the children to school, I watched to make sure they actually entered the building before I pulled away.  As I was driving home from delivering Barbie to play group, my mind was thinking overtime about everything.

‘I will be glad when this week is over.  After tomorrow, I won’t have to worry about doing anymore presentations.  I need to get Bart driving before summer, so he can help me transport people where they need to be.’

After we had eaten lunch, I had Bart call the school to see what time Mrs. Warner would like for him to be there.  She told him that she was free and that he should come when he could.

I had Bart get in to drive to the school even though we had Barbie in the van.  I figured it would be better to start with an automatic transmission car rather than my standard transmission car.  Bart was grasping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.  He looked at me, “Dad, I'm scared.”

“Son, just relax.  It’s just like riding a bicycle and you don’t even have  to maintain your balance.”

He got out of the van, “Dad, I don’t want to drive to school.  Can’t we practice in some empty parking lot first, so I can get an idea what to do before I actually drive on the streets and highways?”

I slid to the driver’s seat, “Bart, I’ll give you this one, but I’ll win the next time.”  I had to hand it to Bart.  He had to have been thinking about this to have been ready with that suggestion.

When he crawled in the passenger side he leaned over and hugged me.  “Thanks, Dad.”

I dropped him at the school and watched as he entered the building.

I thought to myself, ‘Man, you are paranoid.’

It seemed so funny to have only Barbie and me in the house.  I was able to get a bunch of work done I didn’t even have to pick the children up today since I had taken the two girls to playgroup and picked them up.

At 3:15 the flood gates opened up and four excited children came running in the house.  Bobby started, “Nano Mark, there was this man on the playground after lunch today and he kidnapped one of the first graders and took him away in a black van.  We’ve had police all over the school all afternoon.”

Billy added, “Yeh, and we couldn’t even go out for recess this afternoon because everyone had to stay inside.”

Becky nodded, “They think it was the boy’s Dad who kidnapped him because the man and the boy’s mother had just gotten a divorce and the boy was supposed to live with his Mother.”

Chris had tears in his eyes, “Dad, is this what my dream was about?  Our Dad isn’t going to come kidnap Bart and me, is he?”

Why is Chris doing this to me?  Now I’m really concerned.  I had to be positive.  “Children, I’m sure the boy will be okay.  Things will probably be normal tomorrow at school.  Now eat your snacks.  I need to make a phone call.”

I called Ty’s office and asked to speak to him.  Fortunately he was available.  “Ty, there was a kidnapping at the children’s school today.   Is there any way that you can find out where Bart and Chris’ parents are.  I’m very jittery about their safety, now.”

Ty stayed calm, “Mark, let me check to see what I can find out.  I’ll tell you tonight when I get home.”

I had just hung up when the front door opened and Bart yelled, “Thanks for the ride, Steve.  See you tomorrow.”

I took a deep breath, ‘Everyone’s safe for now.’

To be continued...

Feedback always welcome:     

Editor's Notes:  I don't know anything that you don't, but I am a bit nervous right now.  After all, this is a story, and I think you know as well as I do, when something really drastic is mentioned in a story, there is often a reason that it happens.  I am pretty confident that things will work out all right, but I am still worried somewhat. I hope we get a new chapter soon so we can find out what happens.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 01/02/09