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

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

Chapter 26 

The Kid Nobody Wants

Over lunch, Mrs. Cooper and Mr. Lawrence were charmed, by Jack, Jimmy and Jay.  When they found out that Louisa Mitchell was already working with the boys on their academic skills, they were even more impressed.   As a result of the luncheon, Derek was going to be awarded guardian of the boys pending further investigation.

When we were leaving the deli, it was as if the three Smith boys were walking on clouds.  When we arrived at the vehicles, Jack hugged me, “Sir, I’m sorry for questioning you.  Can we go skinny dipping tonight if the Dads will bring us?”

“Jack, I’m sure that they will bring you if you ask nicely.  Mrs. Mitchell will probably need some time to rest.  She not used to having three young boys around.”

The afternoon staff meeting went fine and we were on a course to have record breaking attendance when school started in the fall.  Thank goodness for Lisa and Mackenzie.  They were very organized.  I had the feeling that Derek and Austin were going to be rather busy with the three Smith boys.  Clark indicated that he and Larry and the boys were doing well now that they were all settled in Harwood.”

Bill Oliver assured us that we had adequate funds to cover expenses.  That pretty much tells you how the summer was going until Cole had to report for training camp,  We were lucky to see him three nights a week.  Thank goodness David and Dan Coburn were around to watch out for the guys in addition to Patty and Denny

Summerhill had so many parties scheduled that the boys were busy helping get ready for the next party.

The news was filled with stories about the great expectations that the public had for this home grown quarterback that was going to be leading the Atlanta Falcons.  The first exhibition game was on Friday, August 13.  I took off from work early and went to collect the boys so we could eat at the stadium.  We had a reserved parking space, which was a far cry from what I was used to.  We stopped at the concessions to get what the boys wanted to eat and drink and made our way to our seats which were directly on the fifty yard line.  When we arrived in our seats, they were already filled. 

Benji looked at the tickets and proclaimed, “People, I believe you’re sitting in our seats.  Please show our Dad your tickets.”

The gentleman stood and challenged me, “Why should you have better seats than my family?”

Rocky stood in front of the man, “Because our Dad is the starting quarterback for the Falcons.  If you don’t vacate our seats, we’ll call security.”

The Falcons came onto the field and Cole came over to where our seats were, “Hi guys, is there a problem?”

Benji went down to the railing where Cole was talking, “Dad, those people are sitting in our seats.  They’re saying we shouldn’t have better seats than them.”

Cole looked around and called a ticket agent and a security person, “I believe those people are sitting in my family’s seats.  Could you please take care of the problem?”

The gentleman started to resist until the security person suggested, “Either you move to your proper seats or I’ll have you ejected from the stadium forcefully and I don’t think you and your family would like that.  It would seem to me that it would be to your advantage to move back to your seats which your tickets were for, if you want to see the game.”

The game was just about to begin when Mr. Block appeared, “Hi, guys, I came to ask you to join me in my skybox.”

Benji looked around, “You mean, you’re going to watch the game from way up there.  How can you see anything?”

Mr. Block grinned, “We do have air conditioning and you won’t melt away.  We also have big screen televisions and lots of food and drinks.”

Rocky shook his head no, “No thank you, sir, we’ll stay down here among the poor people and eat just plain food.  If we wanted to watch the game on television, we could have stayed home.  Besides, our Dad couldn’t hear us yelling at him from the sky boxes.”

Mr. Block sat down beside me, “This is my reserved seat.  I hope you don’t mind if I sit down here at least for a little while.  It will be fun to see the boys’ reaction to the game.”

“The boys have grown up watching football.  Rocky’s father was a professional football player.  I’m sure that you must recognize the name Rocky Cunningham.”

Mr. Block looked at me with a funny look, “How is it that he is living with you?”

I laughed, “I found him sleeping in my office.  Ever since he arrived, our lives have been turned upside down.  I am now his legal guardian, even though his Grandmother Cunningham is still alive and she is a frequent visitor to Summerhill.”

About half way through the first quarter of the game, Benji came and stood in front of, “Daddy, why does it look as if the team isn’t really trying?  They keep dropping balls and aren’t tackling or blocking very well.  Why isn’t Dad playing?”

Mr. Block looked surprised, “Benji, I agree with you.  The team does look sluggish.  Let’s wait and see what happens when your Dad Cole goes in.  He’s scheduled to play the second quarter.”

Rocky sat forward, “Why didn’t he start the game?”

Mr. Block frowned, “Coach Lewis wanted Mr. Weaver to get a feel of the opposing team, since he’s never actually played in a professional football game before.  It will also give the rest of the team a chance to work out of the jitters before Cole starts to play.  There’s nothing worse than a having a rookie have a bad experience in his first game.  It can harm his self confidence.”

Sure enough, Cole did come in as the quarterback on the first Atlanta possession of the second quarter.  The boys stood and cheered as did most of the fans in the stands.   Mr. Block grinned, “It’s apparent who these fans came to see.”

The team looked crisp as they marched down the field to score on the first possession that Cole was at the quarterback.  Mr. Block whispered, “That’s good for team morale, but now people are going to expect results every time Cole is in the game.  Kansas City is not the best team in the league, by a long shot..  Fortunately, we aren’t scheduled to meet any of the expected powerhouses until the third game of the season.”

At half time, the score was 14-7 in favor of Atlanta.  Mr. Block stood, “I guess I’d better get back to the sky box before my wife and friends send out a search party.  I agree it is much more exciting to be down here in the trenches.  See you young men later.”

All five boys waved at Mr. Block as he departed.  The second half was about to begin when a young boy came and sat down next to me, “Is Mr. Block going to be returning?”

I looked at the young man, “I don’t think Mr. Block will be returning.”

The young man had a big smile, “Good, then I can sit here and yell at my Dad.”

Rocky asked, “Who is your Dad, and why are you going to yell at him?”

The young man looked surprised, “My Dad is the Atlanta coach, Ray Lewis.  Who are you, if you were sitting beside Mr. Block.  You must be somebody important.”

Benji leaned forward, “We’re nobodies, but our Dad is Cole
Weaver.”

The young man giggled, “I wouldn’t say you were nobodies.  Everyone knows that Cole is going to make the Falcons winners.  Do you guys live in Atlanta?  I don’t know anyone here.”

Rocky sniffed, “We refuse to answer anymore questions, until you identify yourself properly or Dr. Christiansen will kick your butt.”

The young man had a funny look, “Everyone calls me Junior, because I’m Raymond Burnside Lewis the Second.  I’m ten years old and I'm here living with my Dad, until school starts in September.  My parents are divorced.  Having a football coach for a father sucks because he has no time to do anything fun because he’s busy all the time doing football stuff.”

Benji asked, “Why are you spending time with him, if he’s too busy to take care of you?  Why didn’t you stay where you were?”

“Mom doesn’t really want me around, either.  That’s why they send me to boarding school.”

Rocky frowned, “Where do you go to boarding school?”

Junior shrugged, “My Mom sends me to a boarding school in Arizona.  She's a movie star and she doesn’t want to be bothered by me.  She acts as if I’m not even her son.”

The guys were confused.  Rocky asked, “If your Mother doesn’t want you, then why don’t you live with your Dad?”

“Dad’s new wife doesn’t really want me around, either.  I’m the kid that no one wants.”

Benji looked at me, “Dad, why don’t we take Burnsey to Summerhill, since he doesn’t feel as if anyone loves him.”

“Benji, we just can’t take someone to Summerhill without making the proper arrangement.  We could be arrested for kidnapping.”

Junior asked, “Benji, why did you call me Burnsey?  At the boarding school, the teachers refer to me as Burnside.”

Benji giggled, “If we’re going to be friends, you need a name that we can easily remember and say.”

Junior frowned, “Summerhill sounds like the name of a boarding school.  Why would I want to go there?”

Mark giggled, “We only board horses there and have parties for boys and girls.”

Junior questioned, “If you only have horses, where is this Summerhill?”

I answered, “It’s about ninety miles away, and it will take us about an hour and a half to get home after the game.”

The second half started and the game ended with Atlanta winning 28-14.  Cole had a very respectable first game.  After the formalities on the field, Cole came over to talk to the boys.  That was a mistake because he had a group of people surrounding him, asking him to autograph a program or a hat.  There were even a couple of footballs. 

After everyone else had departed, Benji started on Cole, “Dad, go tell Coach Lewis that you’re bringing Burnsey home to spend the weekend at Summerhill.”

Cole looked perplexed, “Why would I tell the coach that?  Who is Burnsey?”

Benji put his hands on his hips, “DAD, Burnsey is the coach’s son.  He’s really bored here in Atlanta, and wants to have some fun.”

Cole pointed to Junior, “Are you talking about Junior?”

Matt shook his head no, “Benji said his name was Burnsey.”

Cole shook his head and looked at Burnsey, “Let’s go talk to your Dad, Burnsey, and see what he has to say.  I’ll see the rest of you back at Summerhill after I get showered.  Some of you will be in bed when I get there so I guess I won’t see you until morning.”

The ride home was very quiet and I did indeed need to carry the three youngest to bed, because they were so zonked.  Benji and Rocky went to get ready for bed but came down in their briefs to wait for Dad Cole and to see if he would bring Burnsey with him.

The two boys were sitting on the sofa fighting going to sleep, but not having much success.  It was after midnight when a vehicle pulled into the driveway.  Both guys sprang to life and went to see who was there, even in their skimpy attire.”

Cole came in carrying a sleeping Burnsey and asked, “Where is this sack of potatoes going to sleep, tonight?  Doug would you get Junior’s bag out of the truck while we get him settled for the night.”

After I retrieved the small bag, I secured the house and went to see what was happening upstairs.  What I saw was comical.  Benji and Rocky were trying to undress Burnsey.  They finally had him undressed down to his briefs and Benji commented, “We probably shouldn’t even try to wake him to go to the bathroom and brush his teeth.  Let’s hope he went to the bathroom not too long ago.”

When Cole and I were in bed I commented, “I didn’t really believe that Coach Lewis would permit you to bring his son here.”

Cole hugged me, “Nor did I.  It was almost too easy.  It was as if Coach Lewis was relieved to be rid of Junior.”

I sat up, “Is there a problem that we don’t know about?  Is he going to be a bad influence on the boys?”

Cole shrugged his shoulders, “With both of us here, he can’t do too much damage.  He is only a weekend boarder, for now.”

I was awakened by someone moving about, I went into the hall to see what was happening.  Burnsey was opening doors.  When he saw me he was almost crying, “Sir, where is the bathroom, I really need to go bad.”

I took him into Cole’s and my room and showed him where the bathroom was, since I didn’t want to wake the other boys.  When he came out of the bathroom, he asked, “Do I need to come in here and brush my teeth and take a shower or a bath?  Does Mr. Weaver always sleep like that?”

“Burnsey, there is a bathroom in the room where you were sleeping with Rocky and Benji.  Try to be quiet, so you don’t wake them.  They were up late last night.  Yes, Cole sleeps like that all the time.  He hogs the bed.”

The young lad looked at me, “Do you always sleep together?”

“When we're here together, we do.”

I was sitting on the bed as I was talking.  Burnsey came and sat down beside me, “Mister, I don’t even know your name.  Where are the boys Mothers if they don’t live here?”

“Raymond, do you mind being called Burnsey?”

“No sir, in fact, I like it a lot better than Junior.”

“In answer to your questions, Matt, Mark, Mikey’s mother died as has Rocky’s.  Benji’s Mother is still alive, but she has nothing to do with Benji, since my wife and I adopted him.  You can call me Mr. C. or Doug, whichever you prefer.”

Burnsey looked at me, “Mr. C., can we go get something to eat.  All I had to eat last night was a hot dog, and I’m kinda hungry.”

“Tell you what, Dude, go get some shorts and a shirt on, since there are ladies in the house, and I’ll see what we can find for you to eat.”

As I was going down the stairs, I was thinking, ‘What kind of mess have we gotten ourselves into, now?”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  I would guess that Burnsey is one of those unfortunate youngsters who's parents divorced and that said parents are neither one all that thrilled to have him around, because he reminds them that they didn't have a successful marriage. 

It is a sad fact that people sometimes let their hormones take control of their brains and do something that is less than sensible.

Sometimes people deliberately have a child, to "hold their marriage or relationship together.  That seldom, if ever, works.  All to often the parents stay together, "for the sake of the children."  Of course, neither alternative is very good for the children, because either way, they get the idea that they are not really wanted.

The children always seem to pay the price for the parents' mistakes.

I somehow have the feeling that Doug and Cole are going to end up with Burnsey, permanently. That would be a very good thing.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 07/02/10