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

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Chapter 44  

The Spectacle

When we arrived at our seats, the Lancers were already in their seats.  They stood as we excused ourselves and I was seated beside Mrs. Lancer.  She grinned, “We were beginning to wonder if your were going to be here, today.”

I shook my head, “No, it took us longer to eat than I had anticipated.”

Our conversation was interrupted by the public address system, “Ladies and gentlemen, we direct your attention to the center of the field.  Here is Mr. Art Block, owner of the Atlanta Falcons.”

We watched as Mr. Block, R. B., the referees and the team captains of the opposing teams walked to the center of the field.  Mr. Block had a microphone, “Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman.  The Atlanta Falcons thank you for being here, today.  I gives me a great pleasure to welcome you.  We have with us the son of Coach Ray Lewis, who will be doing the toss of the coin, today.  But first, would you please stand for a moment of silence in memory of Coach Raymond Lewis, who died last Sunday?”

There was a hush in the stadium as spectators and teams stood.  The silence was broken by a voice screaming, “You can’t do this without me.  I should be there on the field.”

The big screens were showing the image of a woman running down the steps screaming.  Everyone was transfixed on the screen, as Mrs. Lewis went bulldozing her way down the aisle next to where we were seated.  Not only was she shoving people out of her way, she obviously didn’t have any regard for whom she was shoving aside.  There was an older couple who were making their way to their seats.  The lady had a cane and Mrs. Lewis knocked the lady so hard that she fell against the seats.

People rushed to help the lady, but she seemed fine.  Mikey, who was seated beside me looked at me, “Daddy, why do we gotta wear clothes when that lady isn’t wearing any?”

I looked at the big screen and Mrs. Lewis had on a pair of the skimpiest cut off jean shorts that I had ever seen.  Not only that, she had a halter top that looked like it was made of two transparent handkerchiefs that left absolutely nothing to the imagination.”

She was intercepted at the bottom of the stairs by two security guards who were forcibly carrying her up the stairs.  When the security guard arrived at where the older couple was standing, the lady whacked Mrs. Lewis with her cane on the behind, “Young lady, you deserve a caning for the way you’re dressed and the way you act.”

The spectators started to applaud.   A chant started, “Hit her again, harder, harder.”

It took almost two minutes before Mr. Block could get the crowd settled, “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re sorry for the unplanned free entertainment.  As I was saying, the Atlanta Falcons are dedicating this game to the memory of Coach Lewis.  “Ray Jr., would you please flip the coin?””

R. B. did as he was asked and as a result, the Colts won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff.  The Falcon team captain handed R. B. a football and escorted him to gate, so he could join us. 

He grinned at the Lancers, “Hi, don’t get up.  Dad Doug, I need to go the bathroom.  I was so scared down there that I almost wet my pants.  Do you know how scary it is to look up in the stands and see all these people?  You all looked like little ants.  I’m so embarrassed by the way my stepmother was acting.”

Mikey decided he needed to go to the bathroom as well.  As Mikey and I were going to the aisle, R. B. realized who was sitting in front of the Lancers, “Hey, Judge Willard, I’ll talk to you when we get back.  I see you have the terrors with you, today.”

R. B. threw the football to Benji, “Keep this for me, and don’t try to sell it!”

As we were going to the bathroom, I started to reprimand R. B., “R. B. that was no way to talk to someone you don’t know.  What are people going to think?”

“Dad Doug, Judge Willard lives next door to my Dad’s house.  He was always complaining that Tim and Tad were holy terrors.  When they were at the Judge's house, they were always getting into trouble.  Judge Willard was the only person whom I felt I could trust when I was here for the summers.  The twins were always threatening to beat me up, but I knew they were just teasing me.”

When we were in the bathroom, we heard a loud rumble.  When we exited the bathroom; the public address system was saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, did you see that?  No one would have ever expected a call like that on the kickoff.  Atlanta attempted an onside kick on the opening kickoff.  Not only did it work, they scored on the first play from scrimmage on a pass from the quarterback, Weaver, to the running back, Fulton.”

We were ready to go through the tunnel, when we heard another loud roar from the stands.  We went to see what was happening Cole was under center.  He took the ball from the center and there was an opening in front of him that was so big that even I could have walked into the end zone.  The score was fourteen to nothing in Atlanta’s favor.

As we got to our seats, R. B. was laughing, “I guess I’ll need to go to the bathroom more often.”

R. B. stopped to hug the gentleman who was sitting in front of Doctor Lancer.  Hi Judge, I miss not having you next door.  There aren’t any neighbors where we live, except the horses.  Of course Dad Doug isn’t always kicking me out of the house; either. I’ll talk to you later.”

Actually, the game was quite boring and Atlanta was ahead by a score of 35 to 0 at half time.  Mark came to where I was seated and stood in front of me, “Daddy, I think Benji and Mikey are hungry.  Their tummies are growling.”

The Lancers started to laugh.  Doctor Lancer asked, “Mark, what do you think would make their tummies stop growling?”

Mark didn’t realize why he was being asked the question and answered, “Maybe they’d like some nachos, since we had hotdogs for lunch.”

Mark was saved by a vendor, “Nachos.  Get your fresh nachos with a mild or hot sauce.”

Doctor Lancer looked at the vendor, “We’ll have four orders of nachos with mild sauce.”

The young woman handed them to Doctor Lancer who handed three of the containers to me.  He passed the fourth container to Tim and Tad, Judge Willard’s grandsons.  Before halftime was over, the guys also each had a soda, courtesy of Judge Willard.

Everyone was settled and the second half began with Atlanta receiving the kick off.  On the first offensive series, Cole was noticeably missing.  Benji got concerned, “Daddy, where’s Dad Cole?  Did he get hurt?”

Saved by the public address announcer, “Ladies and gentlemen, we have been advised that Quarterback Weaver is fine.  They are giving his replacement a chance to gain some game experience.”

The game ended with a score of 42 - 0 in favor of Atlanta.  We watched as the teams met at the center of the field and shook hands.  Instead of heading to the locker room Cole came to where we were seated, “Guys, from now on, you need to be in your seats at least a half hour before game time.  My nerves can’t take not knowing where you are.  Meet me at the apartment, so we can get something to eat before we head back to Summerhill.”

Mrs. Lancer grinned, “Cole, I have a better idea.  Why don’t you stop by our house and we’ll fix you something to eat before you guys head home?”

“Ma’am, we accept your invitation, but I must warn you that I’m so hungry I could eat a rhinoceros.”

Tim laughed, “Hey, don’t you know?  The Colts ate all of the rhinoceros that was in town last night for dinner.  A lot of good it did them.”

Cole feigned being upset.  “Okay, a squirrel or two will do.”

Tad handed Cole his program, “Mr. Weaver, would you autograph this, please.”

Cole signed it and did likewise for Tim.  He looked at our guys “Guys, I’ve got you guys each a football autographed by the team, like R. B.’s.”

 

“But Dad Cole, I thought I was special.”

Cole laughed, “R. B., you are special.  I decided that the guys needed their own ball, so they wouldn’t steal yours.  See you in about an hour.”

After I had the directions to the Lancer’s house, the boys and I started toward the exit.  We were just leaving the stadium when we were met by Mario and Tony.  Mario was dead serious, “I was hoping we would meet you.  Why didn’t you tell me you were Coach Lewis’ son and how do you know Quarterback Weaver?”

Benji looked confused, “Why wouldn’t we know our other Dad?  He’s the person who found me.”

Tony looked at me but asked, “Young man, what do you mean, your other Dad?”

Benji answered, “Mister, we have two Dads instead of a mother and Dad, like some people.  Dad Cole found me after a tornado and my Mother and Daddy adopted me.  Mommy died, so now we have two Dads.”

Fortunately we arrived at our van, so Benji was spared from having to answer any more questions.  The guys were watching television and I was talking to Miss Millie, Cole’s next door neighbor, when Cole arrived.  Miss Millie hugged Cole, “Great game, boy.  You need to be wary; them Colts are going to be out for revenge the next time you play them.”

Cole nodded in agreement, “The Falcon’s were sky-high for this game.  We hit the Colts so fast with the fast start that they were never able to get organized.  Of course, when the coaches put Daniels in as the quarterback, that thoroughly threw them for a loop as well.  He plays from the shotgun formation where I’m a drop back quarterback.”

“Miss Millie, I’m going home.  I won’t be back until tomorrow night.  Is there anything I can get you before then?”

“No, hon, I have everything I need.  Enjoy the time with your sons.”

We took both vehicles to the Lancer’s house, so we could leave directly for Summerhill, since I gathered from the address that it was on the way out of town toward Harwood.

When we pulled in front of a large house, we were joined by a third vehicle.  We watched to see who would get out.

Mario and Tony crawled out and Mario asked, “What are you doing at my Grandparents’ house?”

Benji laughed, “What’s it look like?  We’re waiting for you.  I thought you said your grandparents lived in Harwood?”

“My Dad’s parents live Harwood.  My Mother’s parents live here.  They called and said we were to meet my Mother and my sisters here for a picnic dinner.”

Mikey asked, “Does that mean we’re going to have hotdogs?”

Tony shook his head no, “Son, I can assure you that the one thing we aren’t going to have is hotdogs.  We never eat hotdogs away from the restaurant, since I see so many of them each week that I even dream of hotdogs.”

It turned out that Tim and Tad’s family lived next door and they and Judge Willard were there when we arrived.  As we were eating, the young people were eating at a picnic area on Tim and Tad’s parents’ deck and the adults were eating on the Lancer’s deck.  Somehow the subject of the hearing came up and how the subpoena was surreptitiously delivered.

Doctor Lancer asked, “Does R. B. know about the subpoena?  I doubt that he does.  He seems awfully happy.”

I shook my head, no, “I haven’t told him about the subpoena yet for fear of what he might do.  I’m afraid he would run away, if I were to tell him.”

Dr. Lancer frowned, “But how’s he going to respond when you spring it on him in the morning.  He could refuse to talk and that would be playing into Mrs. Lewis’s hands.  I think we need to sit down with him right now and explain what’s happening and get him mentally prepared to face tomorrow.  He needs to be ready to confront that woman, after what I witnessed today.”

Judge Willard nodded, “Doug, I agree with Craig.  It would be far better to have the young man prepared to do combat, than have Ray Jr. be blindsided, tomorrow.  I probably know him better than anyone else.  I have seen the hate intensify in him over the past four summers that he has spent here with his Dad and that woman.  I know that Ray Sr. has been trying to make amends to his son, but so much damage had already been done the first two summers Ray Jr. had spent here, that I don’t know if Ray, Jr. will ever be able to forgive his father for what he did to him.”

Cole shuddered, “This kind of talk is scaring me.  Are you saying that we’re going to have a problem with R. B.?”

Judge Willard shook his head, no, “Cole, that’s not what I said at all.  From what I’ve seen and what Ray, Jr. told me during the short talk I had with him, today. He loves living with the two of you and your sons.  Just don’t give him a reason not to trust you.”

I stood, “Let me go get R. B.  Let me start by explaining what’s going to happen, and see what happens.  I haven’t had time to think much about tomorrow.  I don’t know what to expect.”

When I collected R. B., he reacted far differently than I had anticipated, “Dad Doug, what’s wrong.  Why am I here with you four men?”

I started, “R. B., remember that envelope you signed for at the viewing on Friday night?”

“Yeah, the man said it was valuable.  What was in it?”

I nodded, “It was a subpoena ordering you to appear in court in the morning.  The hearing is to determine if your father was sane when he made the funeral arrangements and made his last will.  Mrs. Lewis is also asking that she be awarded custody of you, because you’re mentally incompetent.”

R. B. plopped down on the sofa between Cole and me.  His face was blank.  He pounded his left hand with his right fist.  “That lying bitch.  She’s even more evil than I thought.  She makes everything she touches evil.  What do we gotta do to make her go away forever?  If I had to live with her, I’d probably wind up killing her before she could make me kill myself, so she could get control of my money.”

Cole asked, “What money?”

R. B. realized what he had said, “Oops, I’m not supposed to know this, but I heard my Mother and my Father talking.  It seems that my Mother’s parents had set up an account with some money for me, before they died.  I’m sure the bitch found out about it and that’s why she wants to be my boss.  Dr. Lancer, I know that you’re one of them doctors who works with people who have problems with their minds, are you going to be at the hearing, tomorrow?”

“Son, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

R. B. looked at Judge Willard. “You’ll be there, won’t you sir?  I’m probably going to need your help.”

Judge Willard nodded, “Ray, Jr., I’ll be there.”

R. B. stood, “Dads, we need to be going.  The little guys are getting tired and so am I.  I’ll get the boys and thank Mrs. Lancer for asking us to dinner.”

When we departed from the Lancer’s house, I had the four youngest guys with me.  We hadn’t even reached the city limits before they were gone.  It was a long, boring trip home.

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  That was quite a chapter.  I think R.B. is getting more and more comfortable living with Doug, Cole and the rest of the crew.

I have a feeling that there are plenty of witnesses who can testify as to the fact that Coach Lewis was of sound mind at the time he wrote his will.  Anyone who has talked to R.B. will certainly know that he is not mentally retarded.

I also suspect that the wicked step mother won't be able to keep from having one of her outbursts, in the courtroom, and will completely blow any credibility she might have had. At least that is what I hope will happen.

We have more to come in the next chapter, I'm sure.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 11/26/10