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

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Chapter 39

The Guys In Control

I guess Zack and I had fallen asleep, because I sure didn’t hear Bart come in.  When I got up in the morning, Bart was sprawled on the sofa in the living room.   He complained, “When I got home, on time, last night, there was so much snoring going on that decided to sleep out here.”

Chris came out of the guys’ bedroom, “Dad, don’t believe him.  He was watching people kissing and doing things on the computer.”

“Yeah right, I couldn’t even find the computer.  Where are you hiding it, this time?”

Chris pulled out the elastic on his briefs, “Well, it isn’t in here. Maybe you should check our Dads’ briefs, but I think you left in the basement.  Dad, can we go for a short run before we get ready to go to church?”

“Go check with the ninety pound weakling Dad, and see if he wants to go with us?”

Bart asked, “What was that about?”

We heard Zack complaining, “Get away from me, you fat kid.  I’ll be there as soon as I go to the bathroom.  You need to run twenty miles today to combat all of your fat.”

Chris came out of our bedroom with tears in his eyes, “Is Dad really upset with me?”

“Chris, Dad Zack loves you and Bart very much.  He was just teasing you.”

“But Dad, it still hurts when he makes fun of me.  Am I getting fat?”

Zack heard what Chris said, “Christopher Warren Leavitt, you’re just the right size for me to love.”

Chris started to say something and he stopped,

Zack asked, “Chris, what were you going to say?”

Chris looked up at us, “Dads, please just say what you mean.  I’m still having a difficult time believing that you love Bart and me, after everything that has happened to us.”

I looked at Zack, “Okay, let’s get ready to rumble.  I need to stop in the kitchen and start the coffee.”

I stopped and started the coffee maker and the four of us went for a run where we kept alternating partners.  No one talked much which was unusual.  As we were walking back to the house, Chris was beside me, “Dad, it’s okay if we just have some quiet time to think about everything, isn’t it?”

I picked Chris up, “Son, sometimes it is better not to talk.  I hugged my three guys and sent them to get dressed while I fixed breakfast. 

After we had a quick breakfast, we went to late church and then it was time to get ready for the party.  Zack suggested, “Why don’t we do something fun today?  This is the last day before I have to go to work for the rest of my life.”

Chris was lying on the floor, “Dad, how about we stay at home and enjoy each other.  We don’t always need to be doing something.”

Everyone was sitting around, doing whatever, when the first guests arrived.  It was Steve and Andy with the cake.  We were able to keep Zack from seeing it, as we took it to the dining room.  It didn’t take long before Zack realized that there was going to be a party.  Before the afternoon was over, we had more than thirty people in the house and I didn’t realize that we knew that many people.

The guys in the band started to cook hamburgers and hotdogs, while Bart pulled out the salads that we had made on Friday while Zack was working.

As everyone was eating on the deck, Bobby and Chris brought out the cake and the gift.  When Chris was finished with his food, he went into his act, “Get me out of this box.  I’m suffocating.  How am I ever going to teach you people anything if I’m dead?  Mrs. Sweet, help me; I’m dying.”

The people who didn’t know what was happening were looking around, trying to figure out what was happening and the rest of us were trying to keep our composure.

“Bobby, make your Uncle Zack open his gift, I can’t breathe.”

Bobby went and got the package and handed it Zack.  Zack opened the package and pulled out Graduate Bear.  Chris was in rare form, “Gees, mister it took you long enough to get me out of that box.  I need to explain the rules to you.  From now on, I’m the boss and don’t you forget it.”

Mrs. Sweet was looking around, trying to figure out who was making Graduate Bear talk.  “Zack, do you know who the ventriloquist is?”

Chris stepped forward, “Watch it Mrs. Sweet or I’ll sic Farmer Bear on you.

The fun was interrupted by the doorbell.  Bobby went to answer it and returned with a gentleman who was carrying a piece of paper.  He spotted Bart, “Here, sign this, so I can make you some money.”

Bart stood, “Excuse me, Mr. Ott, but I’m not signing anything without reading it first and getting some advice.”

Bart read it and handed it to Andy and Steve.  “Mr. Ott, let me see if I understand what the contract you want me to sign says.   You would get twenty-five percent of all bookings we have and the band would get seventy-five percent.  So your saying that if we got paid $100.00 for a gig, you would get $25.00 and each of us in the group would $8.00 and some change.  Is that right?”

The man looked around, “Yes that’s right.”

Bart showed no emotion, but it was readily apparent that some of the assembled people were getting a little tense.  I was surprised that no one interfered.

Bart continued, “Mr. Ott, did I understand that the contract says you would get your twenty-five per cent from all of the jobs that we currently are booked for?”

“That’s right.”

Bart collected the contract and tore it in half.  “Mr. Ott, we weren’t born yesterday.  There is no way that I am going to sign something like this.   We may be young, but we’re not stupid.  Now, I suggest that you leave.”

The man stood, “I’ll make sure that you never get another job in this town.”

Steve stood, “Mr. Ott, I believe Bart asked you to leave.  Besides, we have all the jobs scheduled that we can handle.”

The man started toward the door, “You’re a bunch of ingrates.  You’ll regret this day for a long time.”

Graduate Bear spoke, “Mr. Ott, you just met your match.  You’re the person who is going to regret this day.”

The man whirled around toward the voice, “Who said that?”

“I did, mister.  What are you going to do about it?  Go to the bathroom in you pants?”

The man turned bright red, “You’re all a bunch of losers.”

We watched as Chris followed the man to the front door.  When Chris returned to the deck, he asked, “Well losers, what do we do for fun now?”

The doorbell rang and Chris went to get.  I decided to follow him, just in case it Mr. Ott again.

“Hi, Mr. Jacman, did you miss me, or what?”

“Chris, you mean I came the entire way here tonight to talk to Bart and I was with him yesterday afternoon?”

“Yep, he was sitting right in front you, yesterday.  Come join the party.”

 

“Hi Lew, you’re just in time for a piece Zack’s graduation cake.”

“I’m sorry.  I should have called, first.”

Chris took Mr. Jacman’s hand, “No problem at all.”

When we stepped onto the deck, Chris announced, “Hey, everyone, this is Mr. Jacman.  His wife graduated with Dad Zack yesterday.  Bart, Mr. Jacman would like to speak with you.”

 

Bart looked confused as did Zack and I was curious as what Mr. Jacman wanted.  Bart asked, “Mr. Jacman, do you wish to speak to me in private or are we free discuss what you want to talk about in front of my family and friends?  You aren’t here to try to be an agent for the Fab Nine are you?”

Mr. Jacman was confused, “I’m not here to try to be anybody’s agent, but I do have a proposal for the Fab Nine.  My wife and I saw the show that you did for television that aired Friday night.  We own a small recording company in Saint Joseph, and would like to have the Fab Nine make a recording.  We think there might be a market for the type of music that you young people play.  We can’t guarantee anything, because it’s conjecture on our part.”

Bart looked at Tory, Steve and Andy. and they were shaking their heads yes.  “Mr. Jacman, there are three other members of the Fab Nine present.  Let me introduce them to you,”

Bart introduced Tory, Steve and Andy and asked, “How did you get my address?”

I called Mr. Templeton at the television station and he gave me your address.  He said that someone named Ott was going to try to get you to have him become your agent.  I thought maybe I could get to you before he did.  I don’t like working with agents very much.  They try to tell everyone what to do, when most times they know very little about what is happening.  All they’re interested in is making money off someone else’s talent.”

Everyone was laughing and Mr. Jacman looked at us, “Did I say something that was funny?”

Zack answered, “Lew, Mr. Ott was just pitched out of here on his ear for making some ridiculous proposals to the young people.  Why don’t you explain to the four people what you have in mind?”

As Mr. Jacman was finishing explaining his proposal, he added.  “It would be really great if you were to have some original songs that have never been recorded.  I don’t suppose that any of you young people have written any songs?”

Andy chuckled, “Mr. Jacman, funny you should ask that question. Steve has been working on some songs, but he hasn’t had time to finish them with school and the jobs that we’ve had.”

I could almost see Bart’s mind working, “Mr. Jacman, we need to talk to the other members of the group.  In any case, we wouldn’t be able to do anything until school is out at the earliest and Steve and Andy have jobs working on a farm this summer.  Do you have a number where we could call you?”

Mr. Jacman took out his wallet and handed a card to Bart, “There is no urgency.  I understand that school must come first and perhaps Steve can get motivated to finish his songs in the meantime.”

Steve stood, “Mr. Jacman, our business manager, Bart, will be contacting you sometime next week.  We are scheduled to practice tomorrow after school.  Thank you for being so straight forward with us and not promising us the sky.  This certainly gives us a goal to work toward.”

Mr. Jacman shook hands with everyone and Zack and I walked him to the door.  As he was leaving, he commented, “Guys, you should be very proud of those young people.  I’m even more impressed now that I’ve met some them.”

Chris came from somewhere, “See you later, Mr. Jacman.  Dads, I need some help.”

After Mr. Jacman pulled away, we turned to Chris, and Zack asked, “What do you need, son?”

Chris shrugged his shoulders, “Becky doesn’t want to help me with the show because she’s afraid that she’ll do something wrong.”

Zack knelt down, “Tomorrow is just the tryouts to see who will be in the show, isn’t it?   Why don’t you do something like you did at the party with Graduate Bear?  You could have Farmer Brown in a box somewhere away from you’re standing and have him talk to you.  That way people won’t know that it’s you speaking.  You should probably keep what you do tomorrow relatively short and then work on making it longer if you are actually selected to be in the talent show.”

Chris looked at Zack, “Thanks Dad.  I guess that’s why you’re a Dad.  Can I use the box that Graduate Bear came in, please?”

When Zack and I went into the kitchen the teenagers were taking care of the cleanup and talking.  Zack and I decided not to interfere but instead went to check on the other people on the deck.  Beau started, “Guys, I’m really impressed with your sons.  Not only are they talented, but they are intelligent as well.  Quite frankly, I’m surprised that you didn’t intervene with the Ott incident.”

I interrupted, “Beau, we figured that Bart was intelligent enough to ask for help if he needed it.  If we had jumped in, the young people would have resented us for interfering prematurely.  As you have seen, there was no reason for us to get involved.  The teenagers handled the situation quite well by themselves.”

Mrs. Sweet asked, “How long has Chris had the skill of ventriloquism?”

I answered, “It surfaced when he received Farmer Bear.  In fact he is auditioning tomorrow for a talent show at school.  He’s had a lot of fun messing with people’s minds.”

Mrs. Sweet laughed, “He blew my mind away today.  He’s very very good.”

Becca nodded, “Mrs. Sweet, I agree.  I was watching his mouth today and it wasn’t moving.”

Amy and Chrystal stood to leave and Amy spoke for the two of them, “Let us know when the next show is, so we can be here.  We’re going to write a blurb about this afternoon and put it in the ’What’s Happening In Town’ column.  Don’t worry, we won’t mention any names.  You don’t need any more agents pounding on your door.”

The teenagers came onto the deck, and Bart asked, “Can we get anyone anything else?”  Everyone indicated no, “Dads, I’m going to take Tory home.  I’ll be back shortly.”

Andy spoke for him and Steve, “Thanks for inviting us.  It was a fun party.  I need to make sure that Steve gets home and works on his songs.  See you tomorrow.”

After everyone had departed, Beau looked at us.  “You sure do have an interesting assortment of friends.”

I checked, and Tip and Ty’s children were already in bed.  Bart had returned, so Zack and I went to the apartment.  Bart and Chris were sitting on the sofa in their briefs and Bart was saying, “Chris, you’ll do fine.  I get nervous every time we do a show.  I think if we didn’t get nervous, we wouldn’t be normal.  Everyone wants to be perfect and that just isn’t going to happen.  Just say to yourself, ‘I’m going to do the best I can and it will be fine.’ Now stop worrying.”

We stopped and  looked at the guys and Zack asked, “Chris, don’t you think it’s time for your little butt to be in bed?”

Chris reacted immediately, “Make up your mind, Dad.  Last night I was a fat kid and now your saying I have a little butt.  Why can’t you just say, ‘Hey normal kid, it’s time for you to put your mean Dads to bed’?”

Zach swooped Chris up and hugged him, “Normal kid, I going to put you to bed, and then I’m going to come back and take care of your normal brother and normal Dad.”

Chris was laughing, “Dad, you’re silly.  I guess that means you are the only one of us who isn’t normal, right?” 

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  I knew from the start that Mr. Ott was bad news.  He had “Scumbag” written all over himself, not just his face.

All the youngsters are extremely intelligent.  They put that jerk in his place, for sure. 

I do think that Chris still has some self esteem issues.  I hope that eventually, he can realize that he is a very well loved young man, and that he is, indeed, well worth being loved.

Mr. Jacman seems to be completely straight forward and honest. I like him, and I think his offer was a sound one. 

I am ready for the next chapter. I know that doesn't surprise anyone.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher 

Posted: 07/03/09