Benji in Control
by: E Walk
(© 2009-2011 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 59 

Pieces of Paper

R. B. handed me the money, “Dad, are these real thousand dollar bills?”

Rax, Judge Lauck and I examined the bills.  I nodded, “R. B., they look real to me.   What else is in the box?”

“There’s a key and a letter that’s addressed to me.”

Judge Lauck looked at the key.  “There’s no identifying mark on this key except 3407.  I hope the note tells us what the key is for.  I’m guessing it’s a key to a safe deposit box, but where?  Ray, take the contents out of the box and put the box and base board back how you found it, so I can hide things from my wife and she won’t be able to steal my money.”

R. B. giggled, “Judge Lauck, you really wouldn’t hide anything from your wife, would you?”

Wayne shook his head no, “No, R. B., she’d probably find it anyway.  We need to get going if we were going to be on time to meet the others at exit 51 for the game.  I’ll call the ranch and tell them we’re leaving now so they’ll know when to leave.  Ray, you can read the letter to us as we’re riding.”

Judge Lauck pulled out his cell phone and pushed a button.  “Hi Roger, we’re getting ready to leave the R. B.’s house.  We should be at exit 51 in about an hour and fifteen minutes. … Okay, see you then.”

When we were in the car, R. B. and I were sitting in the back.  He looked at me, “Dad, how much money was in the box?”

“R. B., I didn’t count it.   Why don’t you count it before you read the letter that’s addressed to you?”

“Dad, I don’t know how to count thousand dollar bills.”

Judge Lauck laughed, “Ray, it’s easy.  Pretend that the bills are one dollar bills.  When you finish counting, just add the word thousand to what you counted in dollars.”

R. B. started to count and wound up counting to thirty five thousand dollars.  When he finished, “Why would my mother keep this much money just sitting in the house?  What if the house had burned down?”

I shrugged my shoulders, “Good questions, R. B.  Read the letter to us.  Maybe we’ll get some answers.”

Dear Ray, Jr.,

I hope it was you that found this box.  I know you saw me putting things in it on at least two occasions.  I deliberately was in the closet so you would  see me.

First, the key is to a safe deposit box in the Wells Fargo bank at 12^th and Vine. Your important papers are in the deposit box.  There is some additional evidence against the syndicate in the box. 

I’m sorry to be so mysterious, but I’ve just found out that Mr. Burris isn’t as trustworthy as I thought.  I hope that you will be good for Mr. Christiansen.

                                               Love,

                                               Mother

Judge Lauck turned around, “Ray, I didn’t know your Mother, but she sounds like a very confused person?  If she knew that Mr. Burris was doing something wrong, why didn’t she do something about it?”

“Judge, you have to understand that being a big movie star was the most important thing in the world to my mother.  She didn’t want anything to stop her from being a big movie star.”

“Dad, put the letter and the key in your pockets.  I’m afraid I’ll lose them.”

Judge Lauck turned around, “R. B., I think that you and Mr. Fox need to spend the night at the ranch with us, and I’ll accompany you to the bank in the morning, since I’m not scheduled for a hearing until ten.  We probably should have a person from the FBI accompany us, but we can make arrangements for that in the morning.”

I was concerned, “Judge, how are we going to get R. B. back to Georgia.  He shouldn’t be flying by himself, in case Rax needs to stay and wrap up the loose pieces.”

“Dad, be serious.  I’ve been flying back and forth between Los Angeles and Atlanta by myself ever since my Dad moved to Atlanta.  There are several nonstop flights each day.  Someone needs to take me to the airport and someone needs to meet me in Atlanta.  It’s that simple.”

Judge Lauck looked at the mile marker, “I need to call the van and let them know that we’ll be at exit 51 in about seven minutes.”

He pulled out his cell phone,  “Hi honey, we’re approaching exit 51 and should be there in less than five minutes. … Great.  We’ll be there shortly.”

He closed his cell phone, “The van just arrived at the exit.  There’s a small parking area where we can make plans for the rest of the trip.”

The judge turned to R. B., “Son, I wouldn’t talk about what we found at your house.  There are all kinds of people around the stadium.  If they thought you might have something of value, they might try to rob you and your family.  Thirty five thousand dollars is a lot of money to some people.”

R. B. sighed, “I suppose you’re right.  But how am I going to explain to the guys why I have to stay here and they’re going home?”

I decided to intervene, “R. B., I’ll take care of explaining to Benji and Rocky what’s happening.  Please do as Judge Lauck suggested.  We’ve already had enough excitement this trip.”

When we arrived at the parking area at Exit 51, the four boys were out of the van.  They approached our car and Roger asked, “Did you people find what you were looking for?”

I gritted my teeth waiting to see how R. B. would respond, “Yeah, we found some pieces of boring paper.  The old man thinks that Rax and I should spend the night here and take care of some more things, tomorrow.”

I was appalled, “Ray, you know better than to call Judge Lauck an old man.”

R. B. threw up his hands, “Well, he is older than the rest of us.  I could have said, the old judge here thinks I should spend another night here in the area and take care of some piddling little things in the morning.”

Mrs. Lauck handed Rax a parking permit, “I’ll give you this now, in case we get separated.  We’ll meet you in the parking lot.  Wayne will direct you.”

Benji asked, “When are we going to eat?  I’m getting hungry.”

Mrs. Lauck answered, “I have some snacks if you’re starving.  I thought it would be more fun if we ate at the stadium.”

Everyone climbed into their respective vehicles.  It was a good thing that we agreed to meet in the parking lot because the traffic became horrendous as we approached San Diego.  I commented, “Why is everyone in such a hurry?  These people can’t all be going to the football game?”

Judge Lauck answered, “This is the way people drive in southern California.  I have no idea why the traffic is so heavy today. and this isn’t the only route into San Diego.”

Judge Lauck directed Rax off the main road and we were driving in some of the less desirable areas of San Diego, but we made it to Qualcomm Stadium.  Judge Lauck directed Rax to a parking lot right next to the stadium.  He put a pass on the dash and the security officer on duty waved us right through the restraining area.  R. B. looked around, “Judge Lauck, how did you get a parking space so close to the stadium?”

Judge Lauck laughed, “Easy, Ray,  our daughter, Roger and Kirk’s mother, is married to one of owner’s sons.  Plus we were some of the first season ticket holders, and we have a sky box.”

The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the van with the others. It was parked in the space next to us.  The guys climbed out and Benji started to complain, “Daddy, I need to go to the bathroom, really bad.”

Roger giggled, “Go ahead and hose down the parking lot.  No one is going to pay attention to someone little like you going to the bathroom.”

That was the wrong thing to say to Benji.  He grabbed my hand, “Dad, let’s go to the Will Call Office and get our tickets so I can get into the stadium and go to the bathroom.”

Mrs. Lauck solved the problem, “Benji, we’ll take care of your problem.  You can go into the stadium with us, and Roger can go in with your Dad and the others, after they pick up the tickets.  We’ll meet them at the refreshment stand across from the elevators.”

When we met up with the Laucks, Kirk and Benji, they were by the elevators?  Mrs. Lauck asked, “Doug, where are your seats?”

“They’re in section five, row two.”

Kirk looked up at the diagram of the stadium, “Gee whiz, that’s on the opposite side of the stadium.  Why don’t you go to Granddad and Grandmother’s skybox and sit with us.  They always have good food and drinks up there?”

Benji shook his head no, “Thanks for asking, Kirk, but we need to go get in our seats.  Dad Cole gets upset if we’re not in our seats when he comes out for warm-ups before the game.”

Roger shook his head, “Benji, you’re imagining things.  The players can’t see a certain person in the crowd as big as this.”

“Dad Cole can.  Besides, if you’re going to sit on the roof watching the game, how can you see who the players are?”

“There’s a big screen television in the room.  We can probably see the players better than you can.”

Benji took exception, “If you’re going to watch the game on television, why not stay home and save money?  One of the best parts of going to a football game is watching the people who are at the game and eating hotdogs and things.  They taste different in the stadium than they do at home.”

We were getting settled in our seats when the Falcons came onto the field to do their pregame warm-up.  Sure enough, Cole came right to the section where we were getting settled and held up his two thumbs and moved them to let us know that everything was okay.

The game was exciting and Rax leaned over to me, “Your boys certainly do understand what football is all about.  This is really exciting for me.  I’ve been to pro-football games before, but this is the first time I feel as if I could almost reach out and touch the players.  I’ve always been up in the cheap seats.  I have to agree with Benji that the best part of the game is watching the other spectators.  The boys certainly shouldn’t be hungry after everything they’ve had to eat.”

There was less than a minute to play in the first half; the score was tied when Atlanta recovered a fumble.  As the Atlanta offensive unit took the field, our three boys were standing and cheering, “Go, Dad!”

The people who were seated around us, turned to look at the boys.  One young man asked, “Who is your Dad and which team are you rooting for?”

Benji answered, “We’re rooting for the Falcons and Cole Weaver is our Dad?”

The young man answered, “You’ve got to be kidding.  Weaver can’t be your Dad.  None of you look anything like him.”

Benji folded his arms and sat back in his seat,  “I don’t care what you think; he’s our dad.”

The play started and there were flags all of over the field, but Cole threw the ball and was watching to see what was happening when two San Diego players hit him at approximately the same time.  The problem was that both hits were above the waist with their helmets.  One was from the side and one in the middle of the back.  Cole wilted to the ground.

There were two more flags thrown and the Falcon’s bench emptied. The referees had their hands full, trying to keep the players from both sides under control.

The trainer and medical personnel from both teams were concentrated around Cole.  Benji grabbed my arm, “Daddy, we gotta go see what’s wrong with Dad Cole.”

“Benji, there’s nothing we can do.  Let the doctors take care of the problem.  We’d just be in the way.”

It seemed like forever, but finally an ambulance arrived and two medics appeared with a gurney.  We watched as they carefully put Cole on the gurney.  As he was being transported to the ambulance, Cole raised his right hand to let everyone know that he was conscious.

The big screen showed the play and the hits that took Cole down.  It was obvious that the hits were flagrant violations, since Cole was standing there watching the play and had raised his arms to indicate that it was a touchdown.  After the game resumed, the public address announcer announced.  “The touchdown stands.  The score is 20 -14, in favor of Atlanta.  The penalties against the Chargers will be assessed on the second half kickoff.”

During halftime, Judge Lauck, Roger and Kirk came to where we were seated.  Judge Lauck asked, “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to join us in the box?”

Benji shook his head, no, “We’ll stay here, in case Dad comes out for the second half.”

After the halftime show, the public address announcer came on as the players were arriving on the field, “We’ve just been advised that Mr. Weaver appears to be fine, but was taken to a local hospital for precautionary measures.  The two San Diego players involved in the incident have been ejected from the game.”

A groan and some boos went up from the crowd.  Benji asked loud enough for everyone near us to hear, “Daddy, are these people booing because Dad Cole is going to be okay?”

The young man in front of us who had been talking to Benji, earlier, turned around, “Kid, we’re not booing your Dad;  we’re booing because the zebra shirts have ejected two of our best defensive players.”

Rocky entered the discussion, “What do you want us to do?  Do you want us to cry because the referees were following the rules and ejected two of your players for deliberately and illegally hitting our Dad when he was no longer involved in the play?”

I decided to stop the banter, “Guys, we didn’t come to the game to discuss the referee’s decision; we came to watch a football game.”

The second half was very boring.  Neither team could do anything offensively.  When the fourth quarter started and there was no further word about Cole, I was getting concerned.  Benji tapped me on the leg, “Daddy, when are we going to find out more about Dad Cole?”

“Benji, I don’t know.  I was just wondering the same thing.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:

Well, I certainly hope that Cole is all right.  I'm a bit worried that something bad happened to him, I worry that it might have had something to do with the crooks.

I am glad that R.B. found the lock box and the letter.

What is the other evidence in the safety deposit box in the other bank?

I guess we will have to wait for the next chapter to find out, won't we?

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 04/01/11