Bart and Chris
by: E Walk
(© 2009 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 29

The Petition Is?

Judge Evans finished,  “The petition is denied until such time as Christopher Warren Leavitt finishes paying his contempt of court fine from the last time he appeared before me.”

Farmer Bear spoke, “I object, Your Honor.  If he gives you all those kisses, he won’t have any left to kiss us goodnight.”

Judge Evans wasn’t going to back down, “If he doesn’t pay then I don’t rule.  Besides Chris is a growing boy and can make some more.  Maybe Bart can give him some money to buy some at the grocery store.”

Chris went to the Judge and gave him the four kisses that he still owed Judge Evans from the last meeting.  Judge Evans grabbed Chris and held while he pounded his gavel.  “This court rules that all assets that were in the name of Mr. Warren Winters are to be transferred to Mr. Bartholomew Leavitt and Mr. Christopher Leavitt.  Mr. Mark Leavitt and Mr. Zachary Jackson are to manage those assets judiciously until such time as Bartholomew and Christopher Leavitt are capable of wisely handling the funds.  This court stands adjourned.”

Judge Evans came to the table where we were sitting and started talking to Bart, “Bart, you certainly are extremely talented.  I saw you and the band performing at the Children’s Theatre Benefit.  Are you performing anywhere this weekend?”

“Yes, Your Honor, we have a gig tonight at the Guys and Dolls singles bar.  Don’t worry though; my dads are going to accompany us and make sure that we don’t get accosted.  Then tomorrow night, we are doing our usual gig at the Pizza Palace.  We will probably be working there every Saturday until the teenagers stop coming.”

“I heard about the mob at the Pizza Palace.  Our daughter was there last week and came home raving about the band and you in particular.  She won’t be there this week though since she is debuting at the Debutantes Ball on Saturday night.  It’s too bad your band isn’t going to be there.  It would be a lot more fun.  They will have some band trying to pretend that they are Glenn Miller or some group from the forties.”

Bart giggled, “Good, then I won’t have to worry about our dads getting in trouble while they’re there.”

The bailiff interrupted, “Judge Evans, you have a phone call.  I think you might want to take it.”

The Judge started to leave, “Mr. Jefferson, I’ll have the paperwork signed and you can pick it up on Monday.  Farmer Bear, you take care of Chris and make sure he gets a fresh supply of kisses for the next time I see him.”

The Judge shook our hands and we started to leave.  I looked at Ty, “We’ll go pick up the other children and we’ll see you at the house when you get there.”

Ty surprised us, “Guys, I told the office I wouldn’t be back anymore today.  I’ll go pick up the children and Tip can take Chris and Bart home.  You can go pick up your tuxedoes and that will be taken care of.  We’ll take care of dinner.  You both need to get your hair styled.  You’re looking a little shaggy.”

Bart started to laugh, “Yeh Dads, we don’t want people calling you Shaggy Dogs tonight or tomorrow night, do we?”

We picked up our tuxedoes first.  We had to try them on, especially since Zack’s had been ordered by phone.  It’s a good thing we did because Zack’s pants were too tight and left nothing to the imagination, even though he was wearing briefs.  The gentleman who was helping us was laughing, “I guess it was Thad, who took your measurements.  He gets excited when he sees a well endowed male come in.”

We stopped at a hair salon that I hadn’t been to before and when we went in, there were two stylists standing there looking bored.  We were shown to the chairs by the two young gentlemen.  The young man who was going to be taking care of me was a little effeminate.   He started to talk, “My partner and I are trying to make enough money to open our own shop, but we need to establish a client base before we can do that.  What do you do?”

“I’m a Nanny and I have just been offered a job with the school system for next year.”

“What’s your relationship with the gentleman you arrive with?”

I was floored by the brazenness of this person, “If you must know, he and I are partners and we have two sons.”

 That got the guy’s attention.  He stopped what he was doing and turned the chair around so he could look directly at me, “Mister, how could you have two sons?  Is one of you a transvestite or dressed in drag.  From the look of the pouches in your trousers, you appear to extremely healthy males.”

I looked at his name tag, “Paul, trust me.  We have a sixteen and eight year old son.  They are adopted.”

Paul muttered, “I don’t believe you.  You too young to have a sixteen year old son.”

The rest of the styling was relatively quiet because I guess Paul was thinking that I was a nut case.  

After we had paid the bill and given our stylists tips.  We started home and I started to tell Zack about the conversation with Paul.  Zack started to laugh, “Raleigh and I had an almost identical conversation.”

When we arrived at the house, Chris and Tip were fixing burgers and hotdogs.  Obviously the children had planned the meal.  It appeared to me that Tip and Ty were enjoying being parents.  As we were eating, the children were all telling about their exploits for the day.  I noticed that neither Chris or Bart talked about what happened in court.  I decided that I needed to ask Tip about that.

After dinner, Zack and I did the dishes and Tip came to talk to us, “Guys, I am so proud of your two boys.  On the way home, they decided that they should say nothing about what happened in court today, because they didn’t want to make Bobby, Becky, Billy and Barbie feel bad.  Do you have any idea of how much money they will be receiving?”

I turned to look at Tip, “Boss, I have no idea.  I’m not even sure that Ty has a full grasp of what all is involved.  I guess we will need to wait until Ty picks up the court documents assigning the assets to the boys to determine if there is anything coming to them.”

We were interrupted by Bart, carrying a hanging bag of clothes, “Dads, is it okay if I take one of the cars and pick up Tory and go to the club to make sure there is a place I can change and to check the setting before the crowd arrives?”

I nodded, “Bart, take my car.  We’ll see you there about 8:00.”

The next decision was what to wear to this singles bar.  We decided to wear a pair of Dockers and a nice long sleeve sport shirt.  We figured the after work crowd would have departed by the time we got there.  When we picked up Chrystal and Amy, they had on nice slacks and blouses. 

When we entered the club, the owner practically fell over himself taking care of Amy and Chrystal.  “Ladies, we have a table reserved next to the dance floor.  Might I ask who your two gentlemen friends are?”

I took the initiative, “I’m Mark Leavitt and this is my partner Zack Jackson.  We are here at the request of the band members' parents to make sure that the teenagers are not in anyway molested tonight.  They are all under the age of 18.  We also just happen to be friends with Ms. Long and Ms. Savage.”

The man was practically bowing as he took us to a prime table.

I looked around the club and it was almost empty.  A waitress approached us and asked what we would like to drink and left us with a basket of chips and dip.  She brought our drinks and I noticed that people were starting to filter in. 

The band appeared and it was exactly eight o’clock when they started to play.  They started off with a slow song so the four of us got up and started to dance, and the dance floor began to fill up.  The teenagers were getting an eyeful because members of the same sex were dancing together.  I wasn’t feeling real good about what was happening.

The band started to play a fast number and Bart disappeared.  When the number that had the floor overcrowded ended, the spotlight turned to the side of the stage and the band started to play You Ain’t Nothing But a Hound Dog.  Bart made his entrance the people in the club started to laugh until he started to sing.  When he started to sing a slow number that Elvis had sung, the patrons started to dance.

When the set was over, Bart and Tory came and joined us at the table.  They were drinking their cokes when Paul and Raleigh approached us.  Paul, looked at me, “Don’t tell me this is your son that you’re here to protect.  Gees, he’s handsome and so is the young filly who is with him.”

“Yep, we’re here to make sure that someone doesn’t try to take advantage of the band members since they are all under the age of 18.”

We invited Paul and Raleigh to sit with us as the band started their second set.  The club was getting really crowded and it was almost impossible to dance.  Quite frankly, I just wanted to go home because of some of the action that was going on.

After the second break, Steve and Andy came to the table with the owner.  Steve started, “Nano Mark, the management wants to book us every Friday night starting the week after next.  They are offering to pay us $500.00 each night we play.  Can you and Mr. Zack be here to make sure we’re okay?”

“Steve and Andy, I have no problem with what has happened so far, but I would like to reserve judgment until we see how the rest of the evening goes.  Some of the patrons seem to be getting a little tipsy, so I want to see what happens the rest of the evening.”

It was about halfway through the third set when Bart started to perform as Pat Boone when the evening turned sour. Bart was singing and some guy stumbled forward and approached the stage and tried to grab Bart.  Bart backed away and I reacted and pulled the guy away from the stage.  The manager came and took control, Mr. Leavitt, I’ll take care of this.  This asshole is my brother.”

The band stopped playing at eleven and the manager came to where we were seated.  “Ladies and gentlemen, this young band has kept the patrons here for the entire time they were playing.  Please permit them to play on Friday nights.  They are really exciting and aren’t afraid to try different things.”

Zack looked at the gentleman, “We have no problem with them playing here, but I think you might think about raising the amount you are going to pay them.  They worked their hearts out to get ready for tonight.  I think that you should hire some security guards to make sure that they are not molested again.  Otherwise we will not agree to them playing here, especially the lead singer, and he’s our son.”

The owner looked at us, “That’s blackmail.”

Zack threw up his hands, “But that’s what it’s going to need to happen before we will agree to our son and his friends ever playing here again.  I’m sure that Misses Long and Savage will make mention of the disturbance that was caused tonight in their review of the club.  I don’t think that is the kind of publicity that you are looking for.”

The gentleman muttered, “That’s extortion.  If they write something like that we would be out of business.”

This was a side of Zack that I hadn’t seen. “Look, Mr. Thorpe, we only want to make sure that the young people aren’t molested while they are here, and that they are also adequately paid for their services.  How much are you paying the band that is performing next week?”

Mr. Thorpe was beginning to realize he was about to lose this confrontation, “Okay, so the band next week is receiving $1500.00.  They are an established band and play almost every night of the week.  They bring some customers with them but the club has never been packed like tonight.  We probably made more tonight from the sale of drinks than we have in a long time.”

“Mr. Thorpe, we’ll be waiting to hear what your proposal is to the band tonight.  Now, if you will excuse us, we need to go to make sure the young people get in their cars safely.”

The four of us went to check on the band members and Bart was the last to be ready to leave.  When he exited the dressing room, he looked at us. “Dads, would you have a problem if we stopped by the Boomerang and got something to eat?  I promise I’ll be home before midnight.”

I nodded my head yes, “As long as it’s okay with Tory’s parents.”

When we dropped the ladies off after we had made plans to pick them up for the Debutante Ball, we made sure that they got to their apartment then made our way home.  Zack was driving and I was thinking out loud, “Zack, do you suppose that the pace of life will ever slow down.”
 

His answer rather ticked me off, “Probably, if you don’t keep trying to control everything.  Life isn’t perfect.  That’s why I took control tonight as far as the band performing at the Guys and Dolls again.  I had the feeling you were going to tell Mr. Thorpe, ‘No, but hell no.’”

I put my hand on Zack’s mouth, “Excuse me, sir, I would appreciate if you wouldn’t use such language around me and our sons.   You could have said,  I had the feeling that you were going to tell Mr. Thorpe, not over your dead body.”

When we got to the house, I went to check on the children.  Ty’s children were sound asleep with their bears.  When Zack and I got to the apartment, I looked in on Chris and we heard a voice, “It’s about time you got home.  Chris has been worried to death about you.  Where’s Bart?”

Zack and I went into the boys’ bedroom.  I hugged Chris and Farmer Teddy.  “You two should be asleep.  Bart will be here shortly.  He and the band members were going to stop at the Boomerang for a snack.”

It was about 30 minutes later when we heard Bart come into the apartment.  He knocked on our door, “Dads, the band members want to thank you.  We’re going to be working at the Guys and Dolls for the summer months.  Mr. Thorpe has offered us a each a $100.00

per night plus an additional $100.00 for expenses.  He also agreed to hire two security personnel to make sure that we aren’t sexually harassed.”

After Bart had gone to his room, Zack grabbed me, “Look my husband, sometimes it pays to play blind man’s bluff.  We'd better watch out or our oldest son will be making more money than we are.  I think we need to go to sleep.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  Bart is one smart cookie, isn't he?   I believe that he and the rest of the band members are going to become really successful, and that they are already very popular. 

It is very sweet to see how much Chris loves his big brother.  Those two deserve to have a good life and to receive the love and caring that they are now receiving.

I do wonder what kind of monetary enrichment they are going to receive from that person who called himself their father.  I have a feeling it is going to be substantial.  I also have the feeling that it won't in the least go to their heads.  They are both very sensible young people, and both very caring. 

This is becoming a habit with me, but I can't wait for the next chapter.  Of course, I guess I will have to, though, because I won't get it till E Walk finishes writing it. Darn it.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 04/24/09