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 47

World War III

When we arrived at the Oleander house, it was nearly as big as where we lived.  Tio directed us to the side of the house, “We have to go in through the mud room.”

We went to the door and he looked at us, “Don’t watch me as I push the numbers.”

He punched some numbers and the door clicked.  We went in and Tio turned on a light.  “We have to take our shoes off so my parents won’t yell at us.  The cleaning lady comes on Mondays.  My parents will probably be having a big party on Saturday like they do almost  every Saturday night.”

Tio turned the light out as we went into the kitchen, “If I don’t turn the light out they’ll yell at me and tell me I’m wasting electricity.”

The kitchen was state of the art.  There was just enough light to see that the appliances looked as if they were commercial grade and the room looked like a picture in a magazine like House Beautiful.  Wilt leaned over to me and whispered, “The Oleanders must be filthy rich.”

Horatio, or rather Tio, led us into a huge great room, “Mother and Father, I’m home.  I have Mr. Franklin and Nano Mark with me.”

Mrs. Oleander was sitting in a robe doing her nails, “Thanks for bringing the brat home.”

Mr. Oleander was sitting in a recliner watching a huge television screen in his briefs scratching his pelvis area, “Yeh, thanks.”

He glanced at us and jumped up, “Mr. Thomas, what are you doing here.  If you’re going to try to blackmail me, then you have another think coming.  Now get out of my house.”

“Mr. White, I came here to bring Tio home.  How was I to know that you would be here?”

Horatio looked at Wilt, “That’s my Father.  He lives here.  Father, this is Mr. Franklin.  He works at the school.  Why did you call him Mr. Thomas?”

I took Tio’s arm, “Come on, Tio, you need to get ready for bed.  I think Mr. Franklin and your parents need to talk.  I’ll go with you.”

Mrs. Oleander objected, “He’s old enough to get himself ready for bed, and why are you calling him Tio?  His name is Horatio.”

I ignored her and went up the steps with Horatio to his bedroom.  Talk about Spartan.  There was one single bed and small stand with a light.  He took off his clothes and put them in a hamper in his closet.  I looked and at least he had some decent clothes.

The next surprise came when he took me to the bathroom.  He pointed, “Nano Mark, when I start the water set the timer for three minutes.  That’s all the time I have to take a shower.  My parents say that any longer is a waste of water and money.”

I watched as he put on his briefs and started to crawl into bed, “Tio didn’t you forget to do something.”

He looked confused, “Nano Mark, what did I forget?”

“I didn’t see you brush your teeth.”

He climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom and I watched as he put a tiny dab of tooth paste on the toothbrush and started to brush his teeth with a well worn toothbrush.  He didn’t even spit out what little foam he had made.  He looked at me, “My Mother would yell at me if I got the sink dirty.  That’s why I don’t like to brush my teeth very often.”

I had the audacity to ask, “Aren’t you going to go to the bathroom?”

“I went just before we left your house.  I’m only allowed to flush the toilet one time a day.”

After Tio was in bed, I reached down and kissed him, “Goodnight Tio, sweet dreams.”

He bolted up and hugged me around the neck so tight that I thought I wasn’t going to be able breath.  He started to cry, “Nano Mark, that’s the first time that anyone has kissed me in a very long time.  Chris is so lucky to have someone who loves him like you and Dad Zack.”

I hugged him but felt that I needed to go see what was happening downstairs.  “Listen little one, it’s time for you to go to sleep.  I’ll see you at school in the morning.”  I kissed him again as I was leaving.

When I opened the door I heard loud voices coming from the Great Room.  When I arrived at the scene of the voices, Wilt was standing there.  He whispered, “I think we started World War III.  I’m afraid to leave Tio here.  There is no telling what might happen to him.”

I went and stood between the two shouting figures and yelled, “Knock it off.  If you are professional people, as you claim to be, then you should realize that yelling achieves nothing.  The two of you need to sit down and work through your problems.  In fact, I’m guessing that you are going to need some counseling to get you through your marital problems, and especially, on developing good parenting skills.  I have seen enough to realize that there are some big issues that you need to resolve.”

“One other thing, if Tio isn’t at school on time in the morning, then I’m going to report you to the authorities for child abuse.  I get the feeling that the young man has been being used as show case for the two of you so you can impress others.  After tonight, I can truthfully say that I have no respect for either of you.”

I turned to Wilt, “Come on, Mr. Franklin, we need to be going.  We’ll let ourselves out.”

Mr. Oleander took a parting shot, “Sure, go home and enjoy each other’s bodies.  I can’t understand why Aaron would toss his clients aside for the likes of you.”

“Look Mr. Filthy Mind, my relationship with Mr. Franklin is strictly professional.  I am in a committed relationship, but it is not with him.  I also have two sons, so worry about your own problems instead of me.”

As I was driving Wilt to his apartment, I told him what had happened upstairs.  He was incensed, “Mark, we need to go get Tio out of there, now.”

“Wilt, we did what we can for now;  I have some other ideas.  If Tio doesn’t show for school on time in the morning, I am calling the authorities.”

When I got home, Zack was waiting for me, “Mark, go say goodnight to Chris.  Then we need to talk.”

As I was going to the apartment, I was thinking, ‘Is there a problem?’

Bart  was lying on the sofa singing a new song so I didn’t bother him and went to check on Chris.  He was lying there holding Farmer Bear talking, “Farmer Bear, we’re really lucky that our Dads don’t spank us.”

I surprised Chris, “Christopher, would you like us to spank you?”

“DAD, I hope you never have to spank us.”

“Young man, you and Farmer Bear should be asleep.”

“Dad, I can’t really go to sleep until everyone is home.”

I kissed both Chris and Farmer Bear, “I suggest that the two of you get to sleep or you’ll be growling at everyone tomorrow.”

Farmer Bear growled, “Look, Mr. Leavitt, it’s be kind to bears week, don’t you know?”

As I was leaving the apartment, I hugged Bart.  “Love you, son.”

Bart stood, “Dad, we really do love both you and Dad Zack.”

When I got to the kitchen, Zack was having a beer and that sounded just like what I needed.  So I grabbed one and sat down next to him and told him about what had happened at the Oleander house.

Zack nodded, “That rather confirms what Chris told me as I was getting him ready for bed.”

“Zack, why don’t you ask Phillip Burns to see what he and his investigators can find out about the Oleanders.  I really want to punch out their lights.  I have the distinct feeling that they are living on the edge and could very easily lose their home.  I am appalled by what I saw tonight.”

Zack put his arm around me, “Mark, we can’t solve all of the problems of the world.  We are only two peons.  By the way, Beau called and said that Mrs. Tillison died.  The funeral is going to be Saturday.  Do you want to go?”

I shook my head no, “Zack, we can’t go, because Saturday is Bobby’s birthday party.  Besides, I didn’t know Mrs. Tillison that well.  Let’s go to bed, I’m mentally exhausted.”

We remembered to set the alarms, so the next morning I went to terrorize Bart and Chris, “Get your butts out of bed, and I mean now.  We’re going for a run to get the bodies moving for the day.”

Farmer Bear shouted, “Stuff it, Mr. Leavitt, I ain’t goin’ anywhere.  I’ll see you next week.”

When I was standing outside of the school, greeting the boys and girls, Tio almost came skipping up the sidewalk five minutes before the bell.  He hugged me, “Nano Mark, no one yelled at me this morning.”

“Did you have breakfast?”

Tio shrugged, “I had a breakfast bar like always.  That’s about all there is to eat in the house.  It is not like where you live and have all sorts of fun stuff.”

The morning went fine and the three of us were able to get a lot of work done.  DoDo announced, “I need to go pick up Roddy since his car is in the shop.  I’ll be back after lunch.  You two will have to handle the lunch room duty without me today.”

As the younger students started to come in, they started to pull their right arms up and down two times.  They were wonderful.   In fact there were no problems at all.  Wilt took the fourth graders back to there classes and they wanted to hear more about when he was young.

While I was walking the fifth graders back to their classrooms, I was telling them what it was like to go to a Catholic school and how we had to march back to class without saying a word or we had to write five hundred words and their definitions from the dictionary.

One young man asked, “Nano Mark, that’s not really true is it?”

I nodded yes, “I got caught talking one time and it was nearly six o’clock before I finished writing.  My hand was so tired I could hardly move it.  The bad thing was that for every mistake I made I had to do write two more words the next day.  Believe me, from then on, I kept my hand on my mouth so I would never have to do that again.”

We were in the fifth grade hallway and the boys and girls were laughing and Miss Dancer came out of her classroom, “What’s so funny?”

Bobby spoke for the group, “Nano Mark was telling us about how he had to write five hundred words and their definitions when he was caught talking when he was in fifth grade.”

Miss Dancer chuckled, “Yep, those were the good old days.  I had to do that five times before I learned to keep my mouth shut when we were going anywhere.”

Miss Dancer  was laughing, “Thanks for getting them back safely Mr. Leavitt.  They would probably have gotten lost otherwise.”

When I got back to my office, two things happened.  Chris was standing outside my office in tears, “Daddy, I forgot that today was the talent show and forgot to bring Farmer Bear. Can you go get him for me, please?”

“Chris, what time is the talent show?”

“It’s at two o’clock.”

I looked at the clock, “I’ll call Bart and have him bring Farmer Bear in his box.   I pulled out my cell phone and called Bart and told him what we needed.  After I hung up, I hugged Chris, “Why don’t you go on back to class.  I‘ll bring Farmer Bear when he arrives.” 

When I walked into my office, someone was sitting in my chair.  He swiveled around as I entered, “So you’re the famous Nano Mark that my Mother keeps talking about.”

I looked at the young man, “I don’t suppose you would care to tell me who you are?”

“I’m Rodrigo Aurelius Del Rio.”

Being the nice person I am, I responded, “Oh, so you’re Dr. DoDo’s queer son, Roddy.”

The young man stood, “Excuse me, sir, but that was totally uncalled for.  Yes, I think I’m gay, but what business is it of yours?”

I was toying with the young man, “Your Mother has asked that my  partner and I talk to you about being gay?”

Roddy looked at me, “Mr. Mark, did you just tell me you’re gay?”

Our conversation was interrupted by the PA system, “Mr. Leavitt, you have some visitors in the office.”

“Come on Roddy, let’s go see who my visitors are.”

We went to the office and Bart was standing there with a box and Barbie and Sarah.  The secretary looked at me, “Mr. Leavitt, I have two messages for you.”

I read the first one, which was from a Xavier Oleander, ‘Mr. Leavitt, please take Horatio home with you.  I’ll call you later tonight.  I don’t want Horatio anywhere near my wife.’

The second message was from Mr. Robinson, ‘Mark, my wife and I are going to pick up our children this afternoon.  We’re going to take a mini vacation this weekend.’

I turned back to Roddy and Bart and they were talking as the two young girls were watching what was happening.  I looked at Bart, “Why don’t you all wait here?   I’ll be back as soon as I let Chris know that Farmer Bear is here.”

I walked into Mrs. Howard’s room and handed the box to Chris.  I stopped to talk to Tio.  “Tio, you’re going to be going home with us.”

The PA system came on, “Mrs. Howard would you please take your class to the gym for the talent show?”

I was walking with Chris and he looked up at me. “Dad, I’m nervous.”

“Chris, you’ll be fine.  Just do as you did the last two times.  Just remember, these people are younger than the last two times.”

When I walked into the multi-purpose room, I saw Wilt sitting beside Tio.  Barbie and Sarah were sitting with Becky and Sarah’s sister.  Bart and Roddy were sitting in the back, so I went to sit with them.  Bart looked at me, “Dad, did you know that Rod can play four different instruments?  I’ve asked him to come and practice with us this afternoon.”

“Why don’t you go get his instruments as soon as the show is over.  The Robinsons are going to be picking up their children so I’ll have plenty of room for everyone in the van.”

DoDo came and sat down beside me, “I see you met my son, Rod.”

I nodded yes, “And this is my eldest son, Bart.  He's going to take Rodrigo Aurelius home to get his instruments so he can practice with the Fab Nine.  If he’s not careful, he may be working tonight and tomorrow night.”

The response was totally different than what I was expecting, “Good, then maybe he can pay for his own car repairs.”

Rod looked at DoDo, “Mom, you’re cruel.  Did you have to blab to Nano Mark about my problem?”

Bart looked at him, “What problem?”

 

Rod blushed but answered, “My Mother told your Dad that I think I’m gay.”

Bart’s response surprised Rod and DoDo, “Cool, some of the other band members are gay, as well.”

The conversation was interrupted by the start of the show.  Dr. Plummer was emceeing the show and was introducing the acts.  During the show, I saw two little kindergarten boys starting to push and shove each other and I went and sat between them without saying anything. 

I noticed that DoDo did the same with two fifth grade girls who where talking and disrupting the students around them.

Finally, Dr. Plummer announced, “Our final act today is Chris Leavitt and his talking bear.”

I was watching to see how Chris looked, since he had been waiting so long.  If he was nervous, I sure couldn’t tell.  He and Farmer Bear had the children laughing from the time they started picking on me, by Farmer Bear complaining about being awakened before it was daylight.  They worked their way through the special teachers that everyone would know and ended with Farmer Bear explaining that he had caught Dr. Plummer looking at comic books.

When Chris and Farmer Bear departed, the children were applauding.  Dr. Plummer took the microphone, “Chris and Farmer Brown, come take a bow.”

When Chris and Farmer Bear reappeared, Dr. Plummer sighed, “Chris and Farmer Bear, I need some new comic books.  I’ve read all the ones I have.”

I’m positive no one was ready for what happened.  Farmer Bear spoke, “Chris, don’t let her fool you; she was just looking at the pictures pretending she was reading.”

As the classes were dismissed,  I walked with the kindergarten classes as they went to their rooms.  As I was walking by the first graders on my return to the exit, I did the double fist action and they returned it. We went to stand at the exit doors as the dismissal bell sounded.  Mr. Robinson was there to take his four children.  All my passengers were assembled except Chris and Tio.

I looked at Becky, “Where’s Chris?”

She shrugged her shoulders, “Nano Mark, I don’t know.”

Chris and Tio came walking down the hall.  “Mrs. Howard, I’ll need to talk to my Dads about this.  It sounds like it would be a good experience.  Why don’t you talk to Nano Dad after we talk about it this weekend?”

I thought to myself, ‘What are we going to talk about now?’

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  Well I was pretty sure that the encounter with Tio's parents wasn't going to be very pleasant. 

I must admit that Tio's dad being one of Wilt's customers came as a bit of a surprise, but now that I think about it, I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised, considering that Wilt had said that a lot of his clients seemed to be at the meeting a few chapters back.

Tio is what a lot of people would call a poor little rich kid. His parents don't show him any affection, let alone any love.  There really needs to be some kind of intervention, I would say.  Some people are just not meant to be parents. 

I wonder what Chris has up his sleeve.  Whatever it is, I am sure it will be interesting.  I can hardly wait for the next chapter to see what happens next.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 08/28/09