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

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

Chapter 46

Call Me Tio

I decided to let Chris sleep instead of waking him for dinner.  That turned out to be a bad decision.  Bart and the other children were in the kitchen taking care of the cleanup.  I explained to Zack, Ty and Tip about the release that Mr. Templeton wanted me to sign to send the videos of the guys’ shows to a friend in New York.

Zack shrugged his shoulders, “Have Ty look at them to make sure that someone won’t be using them for any monetary gain that should be the boys’.”

I went to get the releases and Ty reviewed them.  “Mark, I see no problem with these releases.  Go ahead and sign them and I’ll drop them off at the television station on my to work in the morning.”

I had just signed the releases when Chris appeared, “Dads, why didn’t you wake me for dinner?  I’m hungry and I have homework to do.”

I hugged him, “I saved your dinner for you.  Dad Zack can feed you while you do your homework.  Let’s get your food;  you can eat in the kitchen.”

It was so neat to watch Chris tell Zack about his day while he was eating.  I went to see if I needed to get Ty’s children ready for bed, but they were already in their night clothes and their Dad was reading them a story in his and Tip’s bedroom.  Tip was holding Barbie on his lap.  I thought to myself, ‘This is the way it’s supposed to be.’

I went to the apartment to see what Bart was doing.  He was lying on the sofa reading a book with his left hand inside his jeans; it was obvious that he was massaging his penis.  I grinned, “Whatcha’ doin’ son?”

Bart giggled, “I’m reading a book that I have to read and playing with my cock and checking to make sure it isn’t shrinking?”

“Well is it shrinking?”

Bart sighed, “I let you know as soon as you get a yardstick so I can measure it.”

I threw up my hands, “I don’t think they’ve invented miniature yardsticks yet.  I guess you’ll have to check with Doctor Feren and see if he can find it with his optical equipment and measure it for you.”

“Dad, you’re evil.”

Our discussion was interrupted by the arrival of Chris and Zack.  Chris asked, “Dad, why is Bart playing with his penis?”

I sighed, “He’s trying to find it.  Did you get your homework done?”

Chris nodded yes, “Dads, could you read my library book to me tonight?”

The four of us were sitting on the sofa and Zack and I took turns reading the story.  I was surprised when Bart was laying with his head on my shoulder listening as we were reading.  Chris was sitting between us.  I finally stopped reading.  Chris looked up at us, “This is the way that families are supposed to be isn’t it, Dads?”

Zack answered, “Yes, Christopher Warren Leavitt, this IS the way families are supposed to be.  Now I suggest that you take your shower and get ready for bed.”

Chris jumped up and hugged Zack and me, “Whatever you want, Dads.”

After Chris had gone to the bathroom, Zack asked, “Bart, isn’t it a bit unusual for you not to be talking to Tory as you usually do about this time each night?”

Bart nodded, “Tory’s family had to go to her maternal Grandmother’s funeral in Joplin.  They won’t be back until Friday about noon.”

Chris appeared in his briefs, “I’m finished.  Next.  Dads, thanks for being our dads, I love you.”

I picked him up, “Chris, thanks for telling us, and we love both of you, too.”

Bart went to take his shower and Chris was sitting between Zack and me.  “Dads, what are we going to do when Uncle Tip and his family go to Disney World?”

I looked at Zack, “I think we’re going to be here, since Dad Zack is just starting his job.  He’s only been working for three days.  I don’t think Mr. and Mrs. Benson would appreciate if he wasn’t here  to take care of the biusiness.  Would you like to go with Uncle Ty and Uncle Tip’s family?”

“Not unless we can go as a family.”

Bart appeared in his briefs, “Come on, Chris.  Farmer Bear is crying because he thinks you deserted him.  Dads, I'm not cleaning the shower if you make a mess.”

We did make a mess in the shower, but we did clean it, so their were no telltale signs of our activity.

The next morning we were awakened by a frantic Chris.  “Dads, we overslept.  We need to get ready to go to school and work.”

We had forgotten to set the alarms, so there was a logjam in the bathroom as we tried to get ready at the same time.  This was a cereal day for sure.

We made it to school in plenty of time and I was greeting the boys and girls as they arrived.  When Wilt and Jason arrived, I was suspicious.  They were standing greeting the students at the other door when DoDo arrived.  When the bell rang,  we watched as the children went to their classes.  The tardy bell was ringing as Horatio came running up the sidewalk yelling, “I’m here.  I’m here.  Don’t count me as tardy again or my parents will have a fit.”

Wilt grabbed Horatio, “Slow down, dude.  I’ll take you to your room and make sure that Mrs. Howard doesn’t mark you tardy.”

 

DoDo looked at me after Wilt and Horatio had departed, “Mark, I really think some of us need to make a home visit to that family.  I’m beginning to wonder what the mysterious Mr. Oleander is like, or even if there is one.”

We had a quiet morning and were able to accomplish a great deal as far as making plans for the program.  When it was lunchtime we went to the dining room and were visiting with the children as they arrived.  Everyone was eating and talking but there were no loud voices.  Dr. Plummer came in with a visitor.

She came up to me and asked, “Mark, what did you do to these children?  They’re never this quiet.”

“Dr. Plummer, we’re just treating them as if they were adults and making them feel comfortable.   If we see a problem, then we step in.”

Dr. Plummer sighed, “Mark, this is Mr. Markel.   He and his organization are the people who made the grant possible.  He wanted to meet with you and your team members.

I shook his hand, “We’ll meet with you as soon as we kick the last fifth graders out of the lunchroom.”

Our conversation was interrupted, by Chris, “Dad, I mean Mr. Leavitt, would it be okay if I ask Horatio to come home with us after school?”

I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to make a home visit if his parents would agree to let him come home and have dinner.  Then I could get someone to go with me when I took Horatio home.

“Chris, it’s fine with me if he goes home with us after school.  I need to come back to school and attend a staff meeting.  Get me Horatio’s parents’ work numbers, so I can call and make sure it’s okay.”

As I was escorting the fifth graders to the classroom, Bobby was whispering to me, “Nano Mark, we’re never this quiet and none of you even yelled at us.”

I stopped at my office and collected the other two, “A Mr. Markel wants to meet with us.  His organization is the group that funded the grant that got us hired.”

We went to the office and I introduced DoDo and Wilt to Mr. Markel.

After the introductions, Mr. Markel looked at me, “Mark, we’ve met before when you were at a meeting for David who lives with Dr. Robinson.”

“Mr. Markel, I thought you looked familiar.  David and Dr. Robinson are in Washington, D. C. enrolling David in Gallaudet University for the summer session.  Mr. Markel, I’m sure you didn’t come to meet with me to talk about David.  How can we help you?”

Mr. Markel started to laugh, “You don’t waste words, do you?  I would like to sit down and talk to you and your team after you get your plans developed.  I would like for you to visit with the board members of the endowment fund later this summer when you have your plans developed.” 

“I understand that you have had some interruptions to your planning time and that’s exactly the type of things you need to tell the board when you meet with us.  I know that this seems like a long time out but keep the first of August open.  That’s when we will be having our next meeting.”

I looked at DoDo and Wilt, “Some of us or all of us will be there.”

I pulled out a business card, “Mr. Markel, why don’t you call me with the details and I’ll inform Dr. Del Rio and Mr. Franklin.  Now if you will excuse us, we haven’t eaten yet, and I for one am starved.”

Will added, “Count me as number two.”

I looked at Dr. Plummer, “We're going to go to the deli that’s within walking distance, “We'll be back in forty-five minutes.”

As we were walking to the deli, DoDo started, “We can use this walking time so you two can inform me about your backgrounds.  Mark, why don’t you start.”

I had just finished an abridged story of my life since I applied for the Nano position when we arrived at the deli.  As we were eating, Wilt told his story.

I asked,  “Did you just tell us that you’re going to be living with Jason?”

Wilt looked embarrassed, “Yes, I moved in with him last night, and no, we didn’t do anything sexual.  I did sleep in the same bed with him, and we cuddled and kissed a little, but that’s all.”

DoDo started to laugh, “So, you’re saying that I’m going to be working with two queers.”

I looked at her, “Do you have a problem working with two gay men who keep their sexual activities at home?”

DoDo shook her head, no, “Guys, you don’t know how relieved I am that I have someone to whom I can send our oldest foster son to talk to.  I know that neither of you would try to take advantage of him.  He came to us last Saturday in tears and told us that he had decided he was gay.  He wanted to know what we were going to do about it.”

“To say the least, my husband and I were so stunned that we probably didn’t help Roddy very much.  Would you please talk to him?”

Wilt looked at me, “Mark, I think you and Zack should be the persons to talk to Roddy, since my contacts were more prostitution situations than being gay.”

I shrugged my shoulders, “Why don’t you have Roddy call me and we can make arrangements to meet with him?”

When we got to the school, I called Mrs.Oleander’s work number to see if Horatio could go home with Chris. 

A very formal voice came on the line, “This is the Oleander and Oleander Law Office.  How may I direct your call?”

“This is Mark Leavitt from Belvedere School.  I’d like to speak to Mrs. Oleander, please.”

“Just a moment, sir.  I’ll see if she is free to speak with you.”

It was almost immediately after that, that a squawking voice came on the line, “What in the hell did the Rat do now?”

“Mrs. Oleander, this is Mark Leavitt.  Horatio has had a good day.  My son, Chris, has invited him home after school to play.  Would it be possible for him to stay and I’ll bring him home after dinner?”

The woman had the audacity to ask, “Why don’t you bring him home about 8:30?  We’re taking some perspective clients to dinner.  It would be so much easier to entertain them without the sniveling brat.”

I was not liking this woman at all.  “Ma’am that’s a little late for an eight year old to out on a school night, but we’ll have him there at 8:30.”

When I told DoDo and Wilt about the conversation, DoDo commented, “The woman sounds as if she needs a good kick in the rear end.”

I went to Mrs. Howard’s class and walked around.  I knelt beside Chris and whispered, “I’ll meet you and Horatio at the door.  It’s going to be a tight squeeze to get everyone in the van.”

I called Bart and told him that I was going to be dropping the children off and leaving, and that there would be an extra person.

DoDo came into my office, “Mark, when do you ever do anything fun?  You and your family always seem to be going twenty miles over the speed limit.  You need to slow down.”

No sooner had she left the office than Wilt came in, “Mark, I’ll accompany you to the Oleander house tonight.  Jason is going to be trying out for the role of Bob Cratchett in the Christmas Carol at the playhouse tonight.  I’ll have him drop me off at your house on his way.”

The dismissal bell rang and I collected my eight children and delivered them to the house.  Bart was waiting for them so after they were in the house, I went back to school, so I could attend the staff meeting.

The meeting was a very educational experience for me.  I finally explained the program and what we wanted to be able to accomplish and I told the teachers that we were going to need their assistance.”

An older teacher, Miss Dancer, asked, “I’m still confused about what you people are going to be doing.  It almost sounds as if you are going to be telling us classroom teachers what we should be doing.”

DoDo stood, “We will have nothing to do with your teaching, except to have  you identify a student who needs our services.  None of us are going to come into your classroom and tell you what you should or shouldn’t be doing.”

Another upper grade teacher whom I hadn’t met raised his hand.  “I’m Tom Lansdale, are you saying that you’re going to control the boys and girls as if they are in a Nazi state.  After the way they came back to the classroom after lunch, it sure would appear so.”

Wilt stood, “Mr. Lansdale, I walked your class back to your classroom and was telling them about something that happened to me when I was in fourth grade.  I didn’t have to remind them that they needed to be quiet or anything.  I informed them that if they ever just wanted to come and talk to one of us, they needed to get their teacher’s permission and one of us would be more than happy to talk to them if we were available.”

I stood, “We’re not here to usurp the classroom teachers, the counseling staff or the special education staff.  Each of you have  very well defined functions.  We are here to serve the children and to augment Mr. Berger with children with special needs, other than learning disabilities.”

Sandy Howard, Chris’ teacher stood, “These people have been a godsend to me, already.  Mark, took an underachiever and made him into an overachiever.  Wilt took another student of mine who has been totally disruptive all year and today, he was fine.  We need to work with Mr. Leavitt, Dr. Del Rio and Mr. Franklin.  I truly think we are fortunate to be the school to pilot this program.”

Dr. Plummer stood, “Sandy, thank you.  You said what I was going to say.  I’m excited to think about what changes might happen around here in the next school year.  There may be some ups and downs, but I’m thinking there will a lot less behavioral problems so you can get on with the business of educating the young people.  Mark, DoDo, and Wilt, you’re free to leave.  The rest of the meeting has to do with end of the school year items.  Since you are going to be working all summer, they won’t apply to you.”

As we were walking to the office area,  DoDo looked at Wilt and me, “We have some doubters on the staff., but Mrs. Howard is an ace in the hole.  Mark, I’ll have Roddy call you,”

I looked at Wilt, “Do you want me to take you to the apartment?”

Wilt shook his head no, “I’ll wait for Jason.  We’re going to stop and buy groceries.  I’ll be at your house a little before seven since his tryout is scheduled for 7:30.”

When I walked into the kitchen, Horatio was complaining, “Chris, I’ll never remember how to spell these words tomorrow.”

Chris was admanant, “Yes you will, now write them one more time and we can go play.”

Bart hugged me, “Dad, I need a break.”

I grinned at him and whispered, “So does that mean you’re to go masturbate.”

He looked me, “Yes, that means I going to go get rid of some spermy things.  Dinner is started and I’m off duty.   I’ve worked my eight hours today.”

I heard Chris say, “I knew you could do it. Now let’s go play.”

After dinner was another fun experience when the children started to take the dishes to the kitchen.  Chris turned to Horatio, “Come on, bring your dishes.  We used them so we need to clean them.”

Horatio looked lost, “But that’s what the servants do at our house when we eat at home.”

Bobby heard the comment, “We don’t have servants.  Why would we need servants when we can do everything for ourselves.”

Horatio was flustered, “If you don’t have servants, who does the cooking?  I don’t think my Mother knows how to cook.”

Ty  looked at the little guy, “We take turns cooking, but mostly Nano Mark and Bart do the evening meal.”

I watched as Horatio carried his utensils to the kitchen.  Chris was giving him instructions as to how to rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher.  Chris looked at Horatio, “Since those are the last dishes that will fit in the dishwasher, you need to start the dishwasher.”

Horatio started to complain, “But Chris, I don’t know how to start the dishwasher.”

Chris grabbed the bottle of dishwasher detergent, “Here, I’ll show you what to do this time.  But next time, you have to do it.”

Wilt arrived a little after seven and we were visiting, when the phone rang,  Bart answered, “Dad, it’s a Mrs. Oleander.”

“This is Mark Leavitt.”

“This is Tiffany Oleander.  You can bring the monster home now.  I’m sure that he has been driving you crazy as he does us.”

I wanted to punch that woman in the face.   “Mrs. Oleander, Horatio has been no problem at all.  He’s playing a game with the children right now.  We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

I collected Horatio and he started to complain, “Nano Mark, I don’t want to go home.  Can’t I stay here?”

I was concerned, “Not this time, Horatio, maybe the next time you come to visit  you can spend the night with Chris.”

Horatio looked at me, “Please don’t call me Horatio.  Call me Tio.  I hate Horatio because everyone makes fun of my name.”

Wilt and Tio were riding in the second seat of the van and Tio was complaining, “I really don’t want to go home.  My Mother and Dad do nothing but yell at me.”

Wilt and I were not prepared for what we were about to encounter.

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  It looks as if the project at school is going to do very well.  I'm a bit worried about what Tio is having to put up with at home.  I have a feeling that the fur is going to fly when Mark and Wilt get to Tio's place. I guess we will just have to wait for the next chapter to find out.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 08/21/09