Benji in Control
by: E Walk
(© 2009-2010 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 17 

Taking Care of Business

After we celebrated, Cole and I had a short night because we were awakened at about five o’clock by Benji, “Dads, you gotta come make Rocky stop shaking and crying.  He's lying there all curled up like a ball.”

Cole and I pulled on some shorts and went to see what was going on.  Pete was indeed curled up with arms wrapped around his lower legs just below the knees rocking back and forth and crying.  Cole and I sat on either side of him and put our arms around him.  I whispered, “Peter Throckmorton Cunningham the Fourth, this is no way to act.  You're scaring our little Benji.”

Benji yelled, “Dad, I heard that.”

Cole talked in a very soft voice, “Pete, we can’t help you, if you don’t tell us what’s wrong and why you're so scared.”

“Mr. Cole, I dreamed they were going to come and arrest me and put me into jail and I would have to live there the rest of my life.  Please tell them that I didn’t do anything bad.”

I looked at Cole and he looked as perplexed as I felt.  “Pete, nobody is going to arrest you.   Cole and I are not going to let anyone take you away.  Now that we found your Great Grandmother, you’ll be fine.  We know that your Mother is dead and since you were never adopted by Mr. Jackson, there is no way his relatives can touch you.”

Pete looked up at me, “But what about all those people who said they were related to my Mother when they came to try to borrow money from her.  They’re going to think I have money, and they’ll come looking for me.”

Benji interrupted, “We’ll get Daddy to adopt you and change your name so those bad people can’t find you.”

“Dr. C., would you really adopt me, if you could?”

“Of course, if that was what you and Grandmother Bertie would want.”

Pete had stopped crying, but he still had tears running down his cheeks, “Mr. Cole, would you adopt me?”

“Peter, I would be very happy to adopt you, but that probably can’t happen.  First because I’m only twelve years older than you are, and I’ve never been married.  Besides, once football season starts, I will be away a lot.”

Pete frowned, “Yeah, like my Dad was always gone.  Dr. C., you aren't going to get shot, are you?  I don’t think I can stand to have another Dad die.”

Benji put his hand over Pete’s mouth, “Rocky, don’t even talk like that.”

By the time we had Pete and Benji settled, it was after six, so I went to get ready to go to work.  Cole wasn’t much help; he kept molesting me so it took me longer than usual to get dressed.  I grabbed an English muffin and departed for the office.  When I arrived, Greg was already there, “Good morning, President Christiansen.  I trust you had as restful night.  Me thinks it’s going to be a very long stressful day, if what I read in the tea leaves this morning, is correct.”

I started to laugh, “Greg, I’m surprised that you haven't consulted the stars as well.”

Our levity was interrupted by the arrival of Clark, “Good morning, boss.”  

“Good morning, Dr. Lewis.  Why don’t we get together as soon as Austin and Derek arrive and have a meeting to talk about everything that’s happening?  Greg, please call Mr. Oliver and ask him to join us.”

Everyone was assembled by eight fifteen and I had Karen come and take notes.  “Everyone, this is not a formal staff meeting, since I do not have an agenda prepared.  I just want to make sure that we are all playing in the same ballpark.   For starters, Bill, here’s another sizeable check from Larry Morgan.  You probably need to deposit it as soon as possible.”

Bill looked at the check, “I’ll have Logan go with me to act as my body guard when I deposit this.”

I looked at Bill, “Bill, I think I know the answer to this question, but I want to hear what you have to say.  Austin and Derek, are of the opinion that we need to add some more full time professional staff.  My question to you is, can we afford to hire two more persons who have their doctorate degrees?”

Bill shrugged his shoulders, “Dr. Christiansen, we certainly can hire at least two more people.  Where are you going to find office space for many more staff without taking away some of the classrooms until the new facilities are built?”

“Good question.”

Karen spoke, “Dr. Christiansen, might I say something?”

“Of course, Karen.”

“What says that the classes have to be held here at the campus?  Why not have some of the night classes meet at the high school?  I’m almost sure that the school district would welcome the extra income.”

Clark threw up his hands, “Leave it to a woman to come up a simple solution.  That makes sense to me.”

I pointed to Clark, “Since facilities are under your umbrella, we’ll expect a report no later than tomorrow at noon.”

Clark put his head on the table, “Me and my big mouth.”

Greg knocked, “Excuse me, sir, Mr. Hodges and Mr. Washington are here to discuss enrolling in the college.”

“Karen, call Mr. Nixon, Mayor Langdon and as many of the other board members as you can get in touch with, and ask them to be here for a meeting at one thirty this afternoon.”

“Also, call Mrs. Cooper at CPA and see if she is available to talk to me.”

I walked into the reception office and looked around and two young men dressed in their best clothes with white shirts and ties looking all spit polished were sitting there.  “Grant, I thought you said that Mr. Hodges and Mr. Washington were here?”

PeeWee stood, “We’s be here, suh.  We comes as you tole us to.  We dun brot an our high school grades which cost us twenty five dollars.”

“Guys, get your butts in that conference room, Drs. Summers, Mitchell and Clark are going to rip you new body parts if you keep acting like this.”

We went into the conference room and I made sure everyone knew who everyone was.  Okay, PeeWee and LeRoy, let’s see those fake transcripts.”

Not only were they the real thing, but they had been certified.  They were quite impressive.  Clark frowned, “Okay, so it appears that you’re good students, but can you play basketball?”

LeRoy frowned, “Check with your administrative assistant.  I think he’s sabotaging our attempts to get an education.  He’s probably been badmouthing us.”

I stood and went to the door, “Mr. Patterson, your presence is requested in the conference room.”

“What do you need, Dr. Christiansen?”

“Greg, Dr. Lewis is concerned about Mr. Washington and Mr. Hodges’ basketball abilities since he has not had an opportunity to observe them in action, nor have I.  What is your evaluation of the two gentlemen’s skills?”

Greg’s eyes had a glint, “Sir, my response will be based on the answer to the next question.  Is my scholarship at jeopardy?   If so, they are lousy basketball players.  If my scholarship is guaranteed, then they are both excellent basketball talents.  Jordan and I were talking last night and we decided that PeeWee and I could play inside as the salt and pepper towers and keep the opposing teams so busy trying to keep us from scoring that the rest of the guys, who are all great perimeter shooters, would be able to score at will.”

Everyone was laughing, Clark asked, “Okay, that takes care of offense what about defense.”

Greg threw down the gauntlet,  “Dr. Lewis, perhaps if you would attend some of our informal practices, you would realize that the guys move faster going backwards than you do running forward.”

Clark stood, “That does it.  I’m resigning as head basketball coach and Athletic Director.  I’ll quit and be a stay at home Dad.  I don’t need this kind of verbal abuse.  Dr. Summers and Dr. Mitchell take these two hicks from the sticks and give them the hardest entrance test that we have.”

I was sitting in my office taking care of things when Greg knocked, “Sir, Mrs. Terri Cooper is here to see you.”

I stood and went to meet Mrs. Cooper at the door. After we were seated, I questioned, “Mrs. Cooper, I didn’t mean to have you come here.  I’m sure you have better things to do.”

She nodded, “I came here because I wanted to.  I don’t know what you people did to Tim, but he’s a different person since you threatened him about keeping up his grades.  He actually stays home most nights and reads and goes back over the things that he did poorly in high school.  I wanted to thank you in person.”

She changed subjects, “I know that’s not why you got in touch with me.  I’m guessing that you want to discuss the young intruder that you found in your office last Friday.”

“As a matter of fact, Mrs. Cooper, that’s precisely why I wanted to talk to you.  By a strange set of extenuating circumstances, we met Pete’s paternal Great Grandmother, Mrs. Bertie Cunningham, over the weekend.”

Mrs. Cooper had the funniest look on her face, “I’ve known Mrs. Cunningham since I was a child.  I thought she was living in an assisted living facility?”

“She is, and that’s how we met her.  We were picking up Mrs. Emily McBride, who is my oldest son’s Great Grandmother, to take her to church on Sunday.  She was talking to Mrs. Cunningham and Rocky recognized her.  In addition, the Sheriff had Rocky and Mrs. Cunningham identify the remains of Rocky’s Mother last evening.”

“Dr. Christiansen, I also know Mrs. McBride and I didn’t know she had any great grandchildren.”

“Don’t tell my four sons that.  They spent a great week at Disney World last week with her and Doctor and Mrs. Miller.”

Mrs. Cooper frowned, “Dr. Christiansen, what are you proposing that we do with Peter?”

“I would be very willing to adopt him, since he has no living relatives except for Mrs. Cunningham.  That’s what my four sons want.”

Mrs. Cooper looked confused, “Why would you take on another son?  I thought you were a widower.”

“I am, but I have a wonderful group of people around me that supports me and my sons.  Mrs. Cooper, why don’t you go visit with Mrs. Cunningham and talk to her.  Here’s her card.  You might want to take the opportunity to visit Summerhill and make sure that Rocky wouldn’t be residing in poverty.”

After Mrs. Cooper had departed, Greg came into the office, “Boss, I’m going to meet Jordan and we’re going to go get a Subway sandwich.  Would you like anything?”

“Greg, grab me the smallest sandwich that they have and a glass of tea.  I’m running on empty.  Here, that this twenty and make sure that Karen eats something.  Ask Karen to come in, please.”

When Karen entered the office, she handed me a stack of mail and messages.  “What is it that you need, Dr. C.?”

I looked at her, “Was Mrs. Harder’s life this hectic?  I’ll probably be bald before I’m fifty.”

Karen chuckled, “Sir, I really don’t think that her life was ever as complicated as yours is right now.  By the way, she would like you to call her when you get a chance.”

“Karen, how many of the trustees will be attending this afternoon?”

“Seven have indicated that they would be here.”

“Karen, is there anything else that I need to take care of.  I feel as if there are things happening that I should be doing.”

Karen pointed her finger at me, “You need to delegate some authority to your assistants.  There is no way that you can be involved in every aspect of the college’s operation.  So trust them.  You’re the person who got them hired.  Your job is to keep the members of the community happy.”

I was eating my sandwich when Greg opened the door, “Dr. Christiansen, Dr. Armbruster and Dr. Solt are here for their interviews.”

“Thanks, Greg.  Show them into the conference room and notify Drs. Summers, Mitchell and Lewis that our guests are here.  I’ll be there as soon as I visit the little boys’ facility.”

Greg started to laugh, “I’ll tell them you'll be there as soon as visit the big boys’ facility.  Remember, I've seen you up close, and there is no way you could qualify as a little boy.”

The meeting with Dr. Armbruster and Dr. Solt was going quite well and I appreciated their fresh ideas.  The meeting was interrupted by Karen, “Dr. C., all and I repeat, all of the board members are present in the board room.”

When we walked into the board room, all eyes were focused on me.  Rob Nixon looked at me, “Dr. Christiansen, I hope you have a good reason for calling us together.  Some of us are very busy people.  We don’t sit around and do nothing all day like some of you people around here.  What is the purpose of this meeting?”

I stood, “I'd like to recommend that Dr. Lisa Armbruster and Dr. Mackenzie Solt be added to the faculty.  I have checked with Mr. Oliver and he has indicated that we have sufficient funds to hire them.”

Mayor Langdon frowned, “You mean you called us together to approve the hiring of the two broads to the staff.  I thought we made it clear that you could hire anyone you deemed appropriate.  I’m relieved that you finally came to your sense and added some intelligent young women to the staff.  If it will make you feel better, I move that Dr. Armbruster and Dr. Solt be added to the staff, to do your work.”

The motion was seconded and carried.  Mr. Nixon looked at me, “Doug, I don’t think this is the only thing you wanted to talk about; is it?”

“No sir, with the addition of Dr. Armbruster and Dr. Solt, we are going to need to take some existing classrooms for them to have a place to do there job.  I’ve had Dr. Lewis looking into using the high school for some of our classes and also a site for our home basketball games as well as practice.  We’ve not had long to look into this possibility, but Clark would you care to share what you’ve found out so far?”

“Thanks for putting me on the spot, Dr. Christiansen.  I have indeed met with the district’s superintendent in charge of facilities and he is very interested in allowing the college to use the school’s facilities assuming that we can arrange for a suitable financial settlement.”  “Quite frankly, this could be a win-win situation.  The community would feel that they are part of the college and the students of the high school would be exposed to what we here at the Harwood Junior College have to offer.  In these days of rising tuitions at the major colleges, we need to offer the students the opportunity to proceed one or two courses at a time.”

Callie’s Dad stood, “Why are we wasting our time trying to decide what needs to be done.  President Christiansen and his people seem to have thought of everything.  I move they get on with the negotiations to use the high school facilities until such time as the permanent facilities here at the campus are completed.”

After the motion passed, Mr. Nixon looked at me, “Dr. Christiansen, I hope you don’t have anything that we need to hold your hands for.”

“No, sir.  I think my poor overworked staff and I will be able to handle the rest of the problems.  If we can’t, we’ll call Board busters.”

For the board wanting to not be bothered with school business, they sure stood around and talked to my staff for a long time.  Karen came and handed me a note, Patty called and said you were needed at

Summerhill as soon as possible.

I looked around, “Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve just been informed that my presence is needed elsewhere.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: Poor Peter, he thinks he is going to be taken away from the only people who have shown him any affection, besides Grandma Bertie.

The board seems quite happy with Dr, C's work, at least so far.

I would very much enjoy more chapters, and very soon, at that.

I am nearly falling asleep in my chair, here. 

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 04/16/10