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

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Chapter 37  

Vandalism and the First Game

When Cole and I arrived at the house, everyone appeared to be in bed or so we thought.  When we walked into our bedroom, Burnsey was lying there crying.  “Dr. Christiansen and Cole, what am I going to do.  I feel so worthless.  I feel like a piece trash that no one wants around and they won’t let me be around anyone I like.  What can I do to change that?”

I hugged Burnsey, “Cole and I are concerned about what’s happening, too.  We have to be very careful.  Your parents could make it very uncomfortable for all of us if we tried to do too much.  As of right now, you’re going to be staying here.  I think your Mother has gotten the word that you won’t be going back to military school.”

Burnsey frowned, “When Mother gets a bean up her ass, she can be a real monster.   I think that she’s scared that the money she is getting from Dad in alimony and child support would disappear if she isn’t controlling the strings.  I heard her talking to her lawyer.  Even though she has made some good money, she has been living well above here means.  Her roles in movies are going to become scarcer and probably will, unless she changes here image.”

The conversation was interrupted by the phone and Burnsey jumped.  “This is Doug Christiansen.” 

“Dr, Christiansen, this is Chief Skinner.  Just to let you know that we have found your night security person.  He was bound and gagged so he was immobile.  He was finally able to move around in the utility room where the vandals had locked him to a utility cabinet, and tap the door with his feet.” 

“He was hit from behind, but he did hear voices and swears that the vandals weren’t from around here, because of the way they were talking.  He's going to have a lump on his head where they hit him.  He’ll probably have a headache for several days, too.  We sent him to the emergency room to be checked.” 

“We’ll have patrol cars going around the college area for the remainder of the night.   We were also able to collect two clean sets of fingerprints. I’ll call you in the morning with any new information we might be able find out.  Talk to you then.”

I looked at Cole and let him know that we would not be able to play any big boy games, since I didn’t think it wise to make Burnsey leave with the state of mind he was in.

We were awakened by Benji and Rocky.  Benji asked, “Dads, which church service are we going to, today?  Do you want me to call Grandmother McBride?”

I looked at the clock, “Benji, it’s only seven o’clock.  We can’t call the Grandmothers this early.  We’ll go to the late service, and we’ll take them to lunch wherever they want to go.”

Benji followed me into the bathroom, “Daddy, is Burnsey going to be okay.  He was scaring me with the way he was talking while you and Dad Cole were at the college.”

“Benji, Dad Cole and I are worried about Burnsey, too.  We will all have to keep an eye on him, to make sure he doesn’t try to do anything dangerous.”

Benji frowned, “You mean like kill himself, don’t you?”

“Benji, we shouldn’t even be talking like that.  We just need to make sure that we make him feel as good about himself as we can.”

At nine o’clock, I had Benji and Rocky call the Grandmothers.  When the guys returned, Rocky announced, “Dads, the Grandmothers want to go to the Texas Road House for lunch.  Grandma Bertie says she’s never been there and wants to try it, for a change.”

Mikey asked, “Dads, will it be good for us kids?”

I shrugged my shoulders, “Mikey, I’ve never been there.  We need to try it; we might like it.”

As we were getting ready to leave to pick up the Grandmothers, the phone rang.

“This is Doug Christiansen.”

“Dr. Christiansen, it’s Chief Skinner.  I just wanted to inform you that we have apprehended the two gentlemen who ransacked the college.  They are indeed from out of town and have a rap sheet longer than a new roll of toilet tissue.  It seems they were in a cell with a Mr. Ogleby, who threatened to shoot you, on Friday, and they decided that they were going to take the goodies for themselves.  It seems they were desperate to get some money to be able to get back to Arkansas.”

“Thanks for the information and your assistance, Chief Skinner.  We’ll be talking to you.”

After church we went to The Texas Road House.  When we walked in, Cole whispered, “This place is loud and noisy.  The Grandmothers won’t like it.”

Fortunately, Cole was wrong.  They had some nice luncheon specials and a good choice of meals for the boys.  Someone was having a birthday and the waiters brought a saddle for the young man to sit on and sang to him.  The boys thought that was great.  I must say, everyone did a credible job on their meal, and the guys had a great time.”

When we arrived at Summerhill, Alex and Alexis were already there, as were some of the other basketball players.  The twins had gone to early church with Greg and Lamar.  Alexis informed us, “The basketball team wanted to practice before it got to hot, and we’re invited to a picnic dinner at the Schumacher’s house.” 

Alex apologized, “We should have asked for your permission, but you weren’t here and Patty and Karen said you wouldn’t mind.  Uncle Bill called and he would like for you to call him.”

I laughed, “Alex and Alexis, you don’t have to have our permission to do things.  All we ask is that you keep us advised of where you will be, in case we would need to get in contact with you.  Did Bill say what he wanted to talk about?”

“No, he just said it was important that he talk to you as soon as possible.”

I looked up Bill’s number and dialed.  “This is Bill Oliver.”

“Bill, it’s Doug Christiansen.  Alex said you wanted me to call.”

“Doug, when I couldn’t get in touch with you, I called Clark, since I figured time was of the essence if we were going to be able to go about our business as normal tomorrow.  Clark authorized Logan to hire a crew to go in and straighten out as much of the mess at the school as possible, this afternoon.  I’ve checked with the insurance company and they will grudgingly pay the costs.  I just talked to Logan and he said that the crew would have as much done as they can do by six.  Do you want to go check on what’s happening?”

“Bill, if Clark and you are involved, then I would just muddy the waters.  Thanks for taking action so fast.”

After we changed, the boys decided that we should ride horses to the lake instead of bothering anyone.  Of course it was going to be a nude swim party, since it was the six boys, Cole and me.  I had the feeling that Burnsey really enjoyed the afternoon.  He seemed so happy go lucky which was a far cry from the past week.

Cole and I did get to sleep alone on Sunday night, without any unwanted visitors. 

I hugged Cole and Benji who were the only two people up when I left for the office with Alex and Alexis.  I was anxious to see how the cleanup had gone.  There were almost no telltale signs of what had happened.  A visitor would not have been able to discern that anything out of the ordinary had happened.

Finally, a quiet week went by without any major happenings.  Dr. Baldwin and his family arrived on Tuesday and spent Tuesday and Wednesday getting their house set up.  Walt reported to work on Thursday, and when I had a staff meeting on Friday, at two, the staff assured me that we were ready to meet the students head on.  Lisa and Mackenzie were laughing.  Lisa mentioned, “When we saw what happened last weekend, we never thought we would be ready, but thanks to Logan’s people, we did it.”

I spent most of Saturday paying bills and getting ready for my classes. 

I had decided not to go to Atlanta until Sunday morning for the opening game of the season.  First, because I figured Cole would be nervous, and secondly, I didn’t want to upset Burnsey any more than he already was.  He pleaded that he be allowed to stay at Summerhill, and not go to the game.

I finally convinced him that he should go, but that we wouldn’t be staying after the game.  I explained, “The boys had school starting Monday, and I need to get you enrolled.”

He looked at me, “Am I really going to go to school here?”

“Unless we hear otherwise this weekend, you will be.”

“Good, don’t answer the phone.”

We made our way to our seats and we were seated beside a nice older couple.  The boys were really hyped about the game, because of all the hoopla that goes with the opening game of the season.  When Cole was introduced, of course they stood and yelled and Benji yelled as loud as he could, “Go Dad.”

Cole looked at us and pumped his fist.  The gentleman asked, “Is Mr. Weaver your Dad?”

Benji was sitting beside Rocky next to the man, “He’s our other Dad, except for Burnsey.  Burnsey’s Dad, is Coach Lewis.”

The lady asked, “What do you mean your other Dad?”

“Our Daddy is sitting between Burnsey and our littlest brother, Mikey.  Dad Cole found me in a field, after a tornado.  Daddy and Mommy adopted me, but Mommy died and Dad Cole became our other Dad.”

The look on the couple's faces was priceless.  I’m sure they had a thousand questions they wanted to ask but the game was getting ready to start.  It was an exciting first half.  As Cole had said, the other team was very good.  The score was tied at half time. 

Mikey whispered, “Daddy, I need to go to the bathroom.”

I stood and went to talk to the couple, “I’m Doug Christiansen.  I have a favor to ask of you.  My guys need to go to the bathroom.  I would feel safer if I only had to take three at a time in this crowd.”

The man stood, I’m Doctor Craig Lancer and this is my wife Eleanor.  We’d be glad to talk to the boys, while you take the others to the bathroom.”

I took Mikey, Mark and Burnsey on the first trip.  On the way back to our seats, Burnsey pointed and whispered, “See that woman over there with the big, you know whats.  That's my Dad’s wife.  It looks like she’s making a date with that guy.  I think I’ve seen him at the house before.”

I took the second set of three boys and when we were seated, Doctor Lancer asked, “Mr. Christiansen, what is it that you do?”

“I’m the President of the Harwood Community Junior College.”

The man started to laugh, “No wonder you look so familiar.  I’ll say this for you, sir, you sure do have an interesting family.  The boys are very open.”

After the game, which Atlanta won by the score of 35 to 28 on a last minute touchdown toss by Cole to one of his wide receivers, the boys were standing on their chairs yelling as loudly as they could. 

After Cole shook hands with the opposing team, he came to where we were seated, and high fived the guys, “We did it, guys.  I’ll see you at Summerhill in about two hours.  Save me some food, I’m starved.”

The fans who were seated around us were stunned that Cole would come to talk to the boys.  As we were going up the steps to the exit, Doctor Lancer asked, “Do you have the same seats for all the home games?”

Benji answered, “Yep, Mr. Block said they were ours for the season.  Will you be sitting beside us at the games?”

Mrs. Lancer answered, “Guys, we’ll be here.  We wouldn’t miss the games for anything.  You guys have a great week.”

As we were going through the tunnel, a drunk man grabbed me, “I suppose you people think you are hot shots, now that Weaver kid came and talked to you.  Why would he pick you people out of the all the people in the stands to talk to?”

Benji kicked the man, “He’s our Dad, that’s why.  Let my Daddy go and stop bothering us, or I’ll call that police officer and tell him that you’re drunk and hurting my Daddy.”

Fortunately the police officer intervened and took the swaggering drunk away.

When we arrived at Summerhill, Burnsey reminded us, “We aren’t to answer the phone, so I can go to school with you guys.”

When we walked into the house, Patty handed me a message, “Dr. C., you’re to call Ms Bradford.  She says it’s urgent that she talk to you.”

Burnsey pounded the wall, “The witch is going to try to take me away from here.  If she does, I’ll run away, and she’ll never find me again.”

I hugged Burnsey, “Son, if she were going to take you away, she would have been here.  This looks like a California number.  Unless she can fly on her broomstick, she’s not planning to be here.  Let’s go call her.  I’ll put the phone on speaker and you will be able to hear what she has to say.  Just don’t say anything, if you can help it.”

Benji took the rest of the guys outside, “Let’s go do something so we won’t make a noise and Burnsey’s mother won’t know we’re here.”

I dialed the number, “This is Hope Starr.”

“This is Doug Christiansen.  You said it was urgent that I call you.  How can I help you.”

“Dr. Christiansen, I thought you were someone else.  The reason I called is to ask if you would mind having Ray, Jr. stay with you for a while?  The Military School called yesterday and said they were not going to be opening this fall because of declining enrollment.  The new role that I’ve been offered will cause me to be away from home for an extended period of time.”

“Would it be possible for you to have Ray, Jr. enrolled in school there in Harwood at least for the present time.  I don’t want him living with his father, and the bitch that he’s married to.”

“Ms Starr or Ms Bradford, I’ve already made arrangements to have Burnsey enrolled in the Harwood schools which start tomorrow.  We’d be glad to have him live here with us.  We will need for you to send us a power of attorney, immediately, to give us the authority to look after him, while he‘s here with us.”

“I’ll do that first thing in the morning.  Dr. Christiansen, how much would you be asking for his room and board?”

“Ms Starr, we’re not asking you to pay anything for his room and board.  He’s welcome to stay here, as long as he wants.  Children are not about money.  They are about love and respect.  If you will excuse me, I have some business that I need to take care of.  I’ll have Burnsey call you and give you an update on what’s happening, in the near future.  Don’t worry, we won’t beat him too much.  Have a good night.”

After I hung up, I thought Burnsey was going to strangle me because he was hugging me so tightly.

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: That was a very nice call from the BITCH.  I think there are two things working here. One is that she is not willing to take on the responsibility of taking care of Burnsey herself, and the second thing is that she doesn't want him staying with his father and the new wife.  

Her calling the new wife a bitch is sort of the pot calling the kettle black.  At least she realizes that Burnsey will be better off with Doug and Cole than with the man who donated the sperm to produce him, and the new bitch.

I can hardly wait for the next chapter.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 09/24/10