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

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Chapter 33

So What’s The Big Deal?

I followed the teenagers down the steps.  Bart waited until everyone was in place, “I just had a call from a Mr. Templeton at KGIB-TV.  He would like for us to come perform on the 12:30 news on Thursday. I have already informed him that you are all in high school and that it might be difficult to arrange.  We wouldn’t be getting paid for the appearance.  He seems to think that we might be able get some gigs, if we did it.”

Andy spoke up, “We are pretty much booked for the summer.  I don’t think my parents would permit me to work more than two nights a week, especially when Steve and I start working at Mrs. Sweet’s farm this summer.”

Tory answered, “Andy, I agree that we don’t need to any more work.  But just think of what the viewers might think when they see us performing.  Maybe they would realize that all teenagers aren’t hoods or drug addicts.”

The young man who played the electronic keyboard, Jordan, spoke up, “Bart, I think you and Steve should call Mr. Templeton and have us appear on Friday, instead of Thursday.  We don’t have classes on Friday.  That is a workday for the teachers so they can turn in the grades.  Set it up before some of us get grounded because we have been sloughing off.”

Steve looked at me, “Mr. Leavitt, what do you think?”

“Steve, this is something that you, as a group, need to decide, and get your parents’ approval.  What Jordan suggested makes great sense to me, and I can not imagine that any one your parents will object to you appearing.  After all, they have given you permission to appear at a singles bar.  I can’t imagine any of the television crew trying to hit on any of you.”

I handed Bart and Steve the phone.  Bart dialed the number, “This is Bart Leavitt.  I believe Mr. Templeton is awaiting my call.”

Bart put the phone on speaker.  “This is Templeton, how can I help you?”

Bart wasn’t about to be intimidated, “Mr. Templeton, this is Bart Leavitt.  You asked me to call you as soon as I could have an answer for you.  I have put the call on the speaker, so the band members can hear what you have to say and can ask questions if they chose to do so.”

“Our leader, Steve, is standing right here beside me.  He can explain what we are suggesting, better than me.”

Steve spoke into the phone, “Mr. Templeton,  we would be more than willing to do the show.  But since we will be in class on Thursday, is there any way that we could appear on Friday instead, since we will be off from school?”

Mr. Templeton could be heard  conferring with some people, “We’ll work it out so that you can be on the show on Friday.  We would very much appreciate if Bart could make his grand appearance as Elvis and do his You  Ain’t Nothing But a Houndog number.  We would like for Bart and Tory to sing a song and you should showcase each of your members.”

Steve asked, “Mr. Templeton, how did you find out about us?”

The voice came back, “I was at the Debutante Ball when you came and made the party come to life.  My daughter has been giving me grief for not spotlighting you since she and her boyfriend saw you at the Pizza Palace a couple of weeks ago.”

“I look forward to meeting you all in person.  See you on Friday, about eleven thirty, so we can make sure that your pimples aren’t showing.”

Bart hung up and looked at me, “Dad, I think you and Dad Z need to go with us on Friday, to smack that man on the side of his head.  He’s not going to put make up on me.”

I started toward the stairs, “I’ll be too busy to accompany nine teenagers with acne to the television station on Friday.  People, we have an entire week we need to get through before Friday.  Have a good practice.  Oh yeah, make sure that you clear the Friday appearance with your parents.  They might have a heart attack when they see you making fools of yourselves.”

I received a resounding round of boos for that comment.

I started dinner and was watching the young people in the yard as they were playing.  They were huddled together talking.  Chris came into the house, “Dad, Barbie wants to give Bart his bear.  Can we take him downstairs and I can show the kids how I can make the bear speak?”

I nodded yes and watched as Barbie went down the steps and placed the bear on the landing.  She came back and was sitting with the other four children on the steps.  When the band stopped playing, the bear yelled, “You people smell bad.  Why can’t you play good songs like, Mary Had a Little Lamb or Baa Baa Black Sheep?  Who wants to hear songs about a Houndog or a Blue Moon.  Who the heck cares about True Love?”

Bart caught on rather quickly as to what was going on and said nothing, but Steve was definitely irritated, “Who said that?”

The children were having a very hard time to keep from laughing, but Chris was able to control himself, “Me, Elvis Bear, do you want me to show you how it should be done?  I will make sure that the police get you the next time you try to leave the gas pump without paying.”

Steve realized he was being had, “Chris, get your backside down here, right now.”

Chris made the bear talk, “See Grandpa Leavitt, I told you he was a mean one.  Barbie, take me away before Steve and Andy beat me up.”

Barbie ran down the steps and retrieved the bear who was saying, “Bye people, gotta go to the bathroom.”

When the band was leaving, Steve and Andy stopped to talk to me. Steve looked at me, “Nano Mark, you sure fell into a bucket of honey when you rescued Bart and Chris.  They are not only neat people, but they also are talented.  How did Chris learn to be a ventriloquist?”

“Believe me guys, none of us know how it happened.  It just happened when he got Farmer Bear.  The other children didn’t even know until today.  Chris asked us not to tell them.  You guys must be special to him for him to do what he did this afternoon.”

Chris came into the kitchen, “Hi guys, Elvis Bear is hiding under our bed.  He’s afraid that you’re going to beat him up.  Dad, do you need me to do anything?  Do you want me to set the table?”

“Thanks for asking, Chris.  I would appreciate that.”

 

Andy shook his finger at Chris, “We’re reporting you to Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.”

Chris stuck out his tongue, “That’s okay, we don’t believe in them people anyway.  Just make sure that you don’t report us to the groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, or Cupid.”

Steve had to ask, “What’s so important about Punxsutawney Phil and Cupid?”

Chris was ready, “If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, then Cupid will get his little you know what frozen when he’s delivering valentines.”

Both guys started to laugh.  Steve could hardly speak, “We wouldn’t want that to happen, would we?”

After dinner, I went to get dressed in my slacks and blazer again.  I was just about ready to leave when Chris stopped me, “Dad, I think you forgot to do something.”

I looked at how I was dressed but saw nothing wrong, “What did I forget?”

 

“Dad, you forgot to fix your hair.  You look like woolly monster.  Bart, go get Dad’s brush and hairspray.”

I looked in the mirror and Chris was right.  I had forgotten to fix my hair.  I guess I was more nervous than I realized.  When Chris was satisfied with my hair, he looked at me, “Daddy, you are really a handsome man.”

When I arrived at the Board Room, Dr. Trout met me at the entrance and directed me to a chair that was directly behind where he was to be seated.

When it was time for the Personnel Committee part of the meeting, Dr. Trout handed the board members each a packet.  “These are the contracts for new hires for the next school year.  One or more of the board members were in involved in the interviews, except for the last applicant and position in the packet.  I have asked Mr. Leavitt to be present at the meeting tonight, in case you might have any questions for him.  He just agreed to work for the district, as of today.”

A Mr. Kaufman looked up from the packet, “It says here that this is to be a pilot program for the district and was made possible by a special grant.  Mr. Leavitt, would you please tell us what you envision the program to entail?”

Mr. Kauffman, and board members.  “I really can’t give you too many specifics as of yet, but basically we would be trying to create an environment where troubled young people will be able to enjoy some success.  I think a program such as this has great potential.  If I’m hired, Dr. Delaney and I will be working on developing the guidelines for the program over the summer.”

Mrs. Gess looked up from the packet, “Mr. Leavitt, you do realize that it is listed here as a three quarter time position.”

“Yes, by my request.  I am not prepared to give up my other position at this time.”

Mr. Kauffman interjected, “Dr. Trout, this sounds as if it should be a full time position.  Why did you not pursue hiring someone full time?”

I suddenly didn’t have a very good feeling in my stomach.  Dr. Roosevelt answered,  “Mr. Kauffman, I asked the same question, but after I met with Mr. Leavitt today, I am convinced that he is the right person for the job,  He comes to us highly recommended by some of our staff people.  Dr. Plummer, would you be so kind as to tell the board what you have observed while Mark was volunteering in your school?”

Dr. Plummer reported on the things that she had observed.  She made the mistake of mentioning that my first big success was Chris and that I had subsequently adopted him.

That caused seven of the board members’ heads to swivel.  Mrs. Enright spoke first, “Mr. Leavitt, it says on your application that you are aren’t married, so how could you adopt an eight year old boy.”

I took a deep breath, “Mrs. Enright, due to a series of unfortunate events, I was not only able to adopt Chris but also his 16 year old brother.”

Mrs. Enright shook her head, “Mark, excuse me for using your first name, but you don’t look to be more than a teenager yourself.  There must be a really wonderful story here.  You mentioned that you weren’t ready to give up your other position.  What might that be?”

“I’m the Nano for Mr. Tyler Jefferson’s four children.”

Mr. Coleman spoke, “Excuse me, Mr. Leavitt, what’s a Nano?  I’ve never heard of a Nano before.”

Dr. Plummer laughed at me, but I answered, “Mr. Coleman, I guess you would refer to me as a male Nanny.  Mr. Jefferson’s oldest son decided I couldn’t be a Nanny and decided the children would call me Nano Mark.”

Mr. Gallagher pounded the gavel, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is probably one of the more fun committee meetings that we have had in some time.  We need to get on with business.  Is there a motion?”

Mr. Wisher spoke, “I move that all the proposed contracts be accepted to include that of Mr. Mark Leavitt.”

A roll call vote was taken and the vote was seven in favor of the motion. 

Mr. Gallagher announced, “The motion is carried.  Mr. Leavitt, I would ask that you and Dr. Delaney prepare a presentation about your program for the August Board meeting to show our constituents that we are trying as best as we can to meet the needs of all people.”

“Mark, before you leave, I would like to commend you and Dr. Robinson and the two young people who did the presentations on hearing and visual impaired  throughout the district this year.  I was fortunate to have been able to attend one of your presentations.  You will be a great addition to our staff.  Thank you for coming tonight.”

Dr. Roosevelt gave me a thumbs up.  I left the meeting with Dr. Plummer.  When we were outside the Board Room, she grinned, “Mark, you wowed them tonight.  I was sure that you might get more static from two of the board members.  They are resistant to any new ideas.  See you later.”

When I got home, the first floor was dark which told me that everyone was already in bed, or so I thought.  I was as quiet as I could be going up the stairs to the apartment.  Bart was lying on the sofa with Chris lying on his arm.  I had a sinking feeling. 

I heard Chris ask, “Bart, am I going to get hair around my penis like you and our Dads have?”

 

“Chris, I’m sure you will start to see some, when you get to be eleven or twelve.”

“Bart, will I be able to make the white stuff come out of my penis like you do?”

“What white stuff, Chris?”

“Bart, I’m not a baby.  I know what you do in the shower.  Tonight when I was brushing my teeth I heard you go uh-uh as if you couldn’t breath.  You do that when the white stuff comes out of your penis, right?”

“Chris, why do you think white stuff comes out of my penis?”

“Bart, I’m not blind.  I’ve seen the drops of stuff on the shower walls after you take your showers.”

“Chris, I think you should talk to our Dads about this, rather than me.”

“Bart, why can’t I talk to you about this?  You’re my brother.”

“Chris, please just talk to Dad about this.”

I decided to step in, “What is Chris to talk to me about?  Chris, it’s already after nine o’clock.  You and Farmer Bear should be in bed.  Now give me a hug and a kiss and get you backsides into bed before I make them red.”

Chris did as I bid him to do.  I went to tuck him in and he looked at me, “Dad, will you talk to me about why Bart makes white stuff come out of his penis, sometime?”

“Chris, I promise that you and I will talk about it sometime tomorrow.  Okay?”

I went back to the sitting room.  “Bart, how did that conversation get started.  You handled the questions very well, but in the future, just answer the questions, as best as you can, to preclude Chris from getting the idea that what he’s asking is bad.  He’s just curious.”

Bart leaned against me, “Dad, I guess I will need to be more discreet as to when I relieve the pressures, in the future.”

I started to laugh, “I think you will need to also make sure that you clean any telltale signs from the shower walls, from now on.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right Dad.  How did the meeting go?”

“I was hired.  You are going to be in charge of the children, some of the time, this summer, while I’m working.  I’ll try to not monopolize your time though so you can still have time to do some fun things.”

“Don’t sweat the small stuff, Dad.”

“I suggest that you get the small stuff to bed, Mr. Bart Leavitt.  Remember, I saw it today when you stepped out of the shower to talk to Mr. Templeton.”

“Dad, that was mean.  Goodnight Dad.  I love you.”

I was getting into bed when I realized that Zack hadn’t called.  Bart came in, “Dad, I forgot to tell you that Dad Zack called.  He said that he had to go to some reception and that he would call tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Bart.  See you in the morning.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  it looks as if things are moving along pretty smoothly at the moment.  I was a little scared for Mark at the board meeting. It looked for a minute that one or more of the members was going to be negative toward him.  It looks as if he passed the test with flying colours, though. 

I am certainly ready for another chapter, aren't you?

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 05/22/09