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

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Chapter 38

The Graduation Ceremony

Everyone was ready to leave for Lawrence by 10:00.  We decided to take three vehicles, since Beau and Becca were going to have dinner with some friends in Lawrence after the ceremony.  We stopped at a Village Inn for lunch, because it didn’t look too busy.

After lunch we needed to stop by Zack’s apartment, so he could get his gown and motor board.  He wanted us to meet his landlord and landlady.  When we got to where he lived, an older couple was sitting on the wrap around porch.

As we were walking toward the porch, the gentleman spoke, “Well if it isn’t our favorite tenant.”

Zack laughed, “ What do you mean, Professor Grove?  I’m you’re only tenant.   Everyone, I’d like to introduce Professor Susan, and Professor Ed, Grove.  They have provided me a home away from home for the past six years.”

The lady grinned, “Yes, and we’re going to miss him very much.  Now let me see if I can figure out who everyone is.”

She pointed to me, “You have to be the Nano, Mark, who stole our Zack away from us.”

She looked at Chris, “You could only be young Christopher, who makes bears talk. And you must be the singing fool, Bart.”

She looked at Beau and Becca, “I gather that you’re Zack’s bosses, Beau and Becca.”

She looked at Ty’s children, “Now let’s see if I can get this right.”

She pointed to each of the four children and called them by their correct names.

She looked at Tip and Ty, “It’s obvious that you are the two brothers, Tip and Ty,  but I’m not sure which of you is who.”

The gentleman spoke, “Suze, that’s easy.  He’s Ty, because his mug shot was always on television when he played for the Chiefs.  Don’t you remember the picture of Tip that was in the paper after he delivered that baby, at the Kansas City airport?”

After we had shaken hands, the lady announced, “We should probably get to the appointed places.”

The gentleman suggested, “Why don’t you leave the cars where they are and walk to the stadium from here?  It will be a lot easier to make your getaway after the ceremony, than if you park where everyone else is parking.  We need to get our gowns and get to the starting pointing.  We’ll meet you back here after the ceremony.”

Zack handed me eleven tickets, “Here are your reserved seats.  They’re in a cluster on the forty yard line.  Make sure you wear your hats and take some water.  It’s a nice walk to the stadium from here and the streets are lined with trees, so it won’t be too hot.  When you get to the sidewalk, turn left and you’ll run into the stadium.”

As we were walking to the stadium, Beau commented, “It’s apparent that Zack has two very good friends in the Groves.”

Tip looked back, “They have treated him like a son.  I have no idea how many meals that they had together.  This is the first time we’ve met them.  They travel a lot and are respected experts in their academic fields.  Zack was their security system many times, while they would be away.”

When we got to the section of the stadium where our seats were located, I handed Tip the first six tickets.  I handed the next two to Beau and Becca, and kept the last three.  I saw that one was not in the same row, so I gave it to Bart, because I didn’t want Chris to be sitting by himself.

It turned out it wouldn’t have mattered, because we were all right behind each other.  Chris and I were in row six, Beau, Becca and Bart were in row 5 and the others were in row three and four on the aisle.  Chris and I weren’t on the aisle.  There was one seat between us and the aisle.

It was almost two o’clock when a gentleman came and sat down next to Chris.  Chris looked up, “Hi, I’m Chris.   Do you have a son or daughter graduating today?”

The gentlemen was surprised, “No, my wife is getting her master’s degree today.  My name is Lew.”

“My Dad’s getting his master’s degree, too.”

The participants started to enter the stadium and the Professors Grove were right behind the Chancellor.  Chris looked up at me, “Dad, why are the Groves leading the procession?”

“Son, I don’t know.”

The Lew person looked confused, “I thought you said your Dad was graduating.  How can he be graduating when he’s sitting beside you?”

Chris looked up at the man, “Our other Dad is graduating.  This is Dad Mark and Dad Zack is graduating.  There’s Daddy now.  Dad, who is the lady he’s walking beside?”

Lew looked down on the field, “He’s walking with my wife.  I guess your last name begins with J?”

Chris shook his head, “No, my last name is Leavitt like this Dad.  That Dad’s name is Jackson.”

Lew was chuckling, “So this Dad is Mark Leavitt and that Dad is Zack Jackson.”

Chris nodded yes, “What’s your last name?”

Lew answered, “It’s Jacman.”

The ceremonies started.  The  Chancellor started speaking, “We have a unique event happening today.  We are conferring two of our distinguished professors with honorary degrees from The University of Kansas, as they finished their illustrious careers here at our school.  They came to us from some school named Princeton, right after they received their doctorate degrees.  During the years that they have been at our hallowed institution, they have impacted many lives.  Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to present Dr. Susan Grove and Dr. Ed Grove.”

The Chancellor put another stole over their shoulders.  I was surprised at how many people in the stadium, as well as the graduates, stood and applauded.  I looked at Zack and he was openly crying.  I looked up at the Lew person and he too had tears steaming down his cheeks.

Chris looked up, “Mr. Jacman, are you okay?  Why are you crying?”

“Chris, I’m fine.  The Groves are my father and mother in-law.  They would probably have retired earlier if it hadn’t been for your Dad, who is down there.  They have treated your Dad as if he were their son, who was killed in a car accident.  He was killed, just before your Dad started to live with them.  Your Dad made sure their lawn was mowed in the summer and their sidewalk was shoveled in the winter.”

Chris looked at me, “Dad, did you know about this?”

“No.  Chris, you need to remember what happened right after I met your other Dad.  We had a young man come riding into our lives in his pajamas.”

Chris looked as if he was going to cry, “Dad, are you saying it’s Bart’s and my fault that you Dad Zack and you haven’t had time to talk about things like this?”

Mr. Jacman sat down and put his arm around Chris.  “Chris, I know your Daddy Zack.  He would never do anything to deliberately hurt anyone.  He had two lives.  He had a life here, with the Groves and his studies, and he had one with his other family in Kansas City.  Your Dad is very proud of you and your brother.”

After the ceremony was over, we started to walk back to the  Groves’ house.  Mr. Jacman announced, “I’ll go with you, since our car is there also.”

Chris was walking with Bart, and I could see them talking but had no idea what they might be talking about.  Mr. Jacman was walking with me, “Mark, I hope I didn’t say too much today, but the in-laws think Zack is great.  I’m sure that it is going to be very difficult the three of them to say goodbye, today.”

When we got back to the Grove house, the Groves, Zack and a very pretty young woman were already sitting on the porch.  Chris looked at them, “How did you get back here so fast?”

Mr. Grove laughed, “We took a flying carpet.”

“We didn’t see any flying carpets.”

Mr. Grove frowned, “Well Chris, I guess you need glasses then.”

Bart interrupted the fun, “Dads, I really need to leave so I can go to work tonight, and I’m not ready.”

I watched as Zack hugged the Groves.  None of the three of them said a word.  Zack handed me the car keys so I knew I was driving.

It was extremely quiet for the first half hour, but Chris couldn’t handle the quiet, “Dad Zack, are you going to be okay?”

Zack turned to look at Chris, “Son, I’ll be fine.  It’s hard to say goodbye to people who have been so important to you, for so long.”

“But Dad, why can’t you see them again?”

Zack choked back a sob, “Guys, Mrs. Grove has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and may not live through the summer.  We need to pray real hard for her.  If she dies, I’m not sure what will happen to Dad Grove.  He has always been so dependent on her.”

Chris started to say something and I was watching in the rearview mirror and Bart tapped Chris on the arm and shook his head no, so nothing else was said the rest of the way home.

As we were getting out of the car, Chris hugged Zack and me, “Dads, we love you.”

After the two guys had departed, Zack looked at me, “Mark, what was that all about?”

“Zack, I'm not sure that I know, but I’m guessing that Chris was saying that it is okay to wear your feelings on you sleeve sometimes.”

The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Tip, Ty and the children.  When Bobby exited the van, he yelled, “Hey Uncle Zack, did you get my Harley motorcycle for my birthday?  I’m ready to roll.”

Zack started to laugh, “Bobby, I guess you’ll just have to roll down the hill head over heels.  Remember, I don’t start to work until Monday.”

Zack looked at me, “I’ll be back, in about thirty minutes.  You probably need to find something for our eldest son to eat to get him through the night.”

When I got into the kitchen, Bart had the kitchen brigade organized.  Bart looked at me, “Bobby requested hamburgers for dinner, so that’s what we’re making.  We’ve got everything under control.  Where’s Dad Zack?”

“He had something to do.  He said he would be right back.”

It was almost 45 minutes later and Zack wasn’t back.  I was getting concerned.  The phone rang, “This is Mark Leavitt.”

“Mark, I’ll be there in ten minutes.  Don’t wait dinner for me.”

We had just sat down when Zack came in and placed a gift in front Bobby, “Here you go Bobby Baby; this is the best I could do on short notice.”

Zack sat down and Bart went and got his food.  Bobby couldn’t stand having a gift sitting in front of him, so he just had to open it.  Everyone was watching as he opened it.  It was a super sized model of a Harley Davidson motorcycle with a thousand pieces, some of which moved.

Zack smirked, “That should keep you busy all summer.”

Bobby looked up, “Dads, Uncle Zack’s being mean.  Can we trade him in for a new uncle?”

 

I looked at Chris and motioned for him to get our present for Bobby.  He came in carrying a box that was almost as big as he was.   He handed it to Bobby, “I don’t care if you are eleven, you still can’t boss the rest of around.  Happy Birthday.”

 

When Bobby opened the race car set, he smiled.  “Good, only four people can play at a time.  That means Uncle Zack will have to pay to watch.  Thank you, guys.”

Ty handed Bobby an envelope, “Happy Birthday, Son.”

Bobby opened it and looked at it.  He looked at everything and looked at it again, “Dads, does this mean what I think it means?”

Tip spoke, “Bobby, we have no idea what you might be thinking.  What do you think it means?”

Bobby took a deep breath, “I think it means that we are going to Disney World after we take a cruise on a Disney ship.  We are going to be staying at the resort and that we will be able to go to other places in the area like Epcot Center.  Dads, who all is going?”

 

Ty answered, “Zack decided that he couldn’t go, because of his new job.  We have provisional reservations for Nano Mark, Bart and Chris.”

Bart spoke first, “Thank you for asking, but I probably won’t be going because of the gigs we have for the band and I have no idea what Mrs. Sweet has planned for the summer.”

Chris looked at me, “I think Dad Mark and I need to stay here to make sure that Dad Zack and Bart don’t get into trouble.”

Chris added, “This will give you time to have some quality family time and I can whip my family into shape.”

Zack stopped eating, “I think I know an eight year old boy who is going to be sleeping standing up because his little back side is sore.”

Billy stopped the fun, “Everyone, stop being silly.  This laughing is making my lip hurt.”

Bart stood, “I cooked.  The rest of you can clean up.  I need to go get ready for tonight.”

After the dishes were done, the four oldest children were lying on the family room floor, playing with the new road race game.  Barbie opted not to play, and was sitting on her Daddy’s lap.

The phone rang and Tip answered, “Mr. Ott, Mr. Leavitt isn’t here.  He’s working.  I thought I heard him tell you that he would talk to you tomorrow night about seven o’clock. … It’s none of your business where he’s working.  Good night.”

Tip was upset when he returned, “Guys, we need to make sure that we’re here when that man comes tomorrow night.  I think that Bart was correct in his assessment of him.”

I looked at the clock.  It was 8:30.  “I think that it is time for all good little boys and girls to get ready for bed, since we need to go to church tomorrow.  Besides, your Dads are falling asleep in their chairs.  We need to give them something to do while I fix your snacks.”

Zack picked Chris up and started toward the apartment, “Nano Mark, I think we need to stop feeding this one. He seems to be getting a little heavy.”

“Dad, don’t believe him.  He’s just a ninety pound weakling.”

The children reappeared in the kitchen and all three boys had pajamas on and I wondered how long they would be wearing them.  I had a caramel fudge sundae ready for each of them and the vacuum cleaners swished them away.

I looked at them as they were putting the dishes in the dishwasher, “You people need to brush twice as long tonight after what we ate today.”

I hugged the five children and they disappeared.  I looked at Zack, “I think I going to call it a day.  Bart, Beau and Becca can get in by themselves.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  I find myself worrying about that “agent” that keeps calling to talk to Bart.  I don't trust him one bit. 

What is going to happen to Dad Grove when Mom Grove passes?  Personally, I kinda hope he will move closer to Zack and Mark, etc. Of course, there is the possibility that she will recover. 

I have a feeling that something serious is going to happen very soon.  I don't know what that might be yet, but I am sure that something is afoot, so to speak. You can call it intuition, if you like, but Mark my words, something is about to happen.

Does that constitute a cliffhanger?  I don't think so, since I am not the one writing this story. I am only telling you my feelings.  You can choose to ignore my prediction.  

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 06/26/09