The Doctor Gets a Visitor
by: E Walk

(Copyright 2007 by the Author)
Editor: Radio Rancher
 

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

 

Chapter 38
Reshaping Mr. Baldwin

We arrived at the high school and made our way to the pool area. Mr. Baldwin was standing there checking the students off, as they arrived. Sammy came in and Jeff went to Mr. Baldwin and said, “Mr. Baldwin, this is S. S.’s first day here at this school. He is thinking of joining the swim team. Could he join practice to see if he wants to join the team?”

“We can use him.” Mr. Baldwin answered.

“Sammy, everything you need is in the bag. Go change.” Jeff said.

Sammy looked at Jeff with a bewildered look. He took the bag and asked, “Where is the locker room?”

Kenny came up and said, “Come on Super Stud, I’ll show you.”

They came back and Mr. Baldwin said, “Okay everyone, ten laps each of free, back, butterfly, and breast.”

The team lined up in six lines. The guys in three and the girls in three. They started to swim. While they were swimming, Drew came with a load of books. He sat down and started to work. Jeff went over to talk to him and Drew nodded yes. Jeff came back to watch the practice.

When the last person finished, Jeff said, “Coach Baldwin, may I try something?”

The Coach sighed and said, “Be my guest. I think I have lost control anyway.”

Jeff went to him and quietly said, “Mr. Baldwin, I’m not trying to make you look bad. I just want to help the guys and gals get better.” He turned and walked back to the pool. He dropped his slacks and pulled off his shirt.

“Okay, I would like everyone to line up along the side of the pool and watch while Kenny, S. S. and I do two laps of free style. I want to see if you can spot any problems. Coach, would you blow your whistle when the three of us are ready?”

The race started and they were fairly even until they got to the turn. Jeff came out of the lead with an insurmountable lead. Kenny tried desperately to catch him but Sammy fell back. When they got out, Jeff turned to the swimmers and asked, “Does anyone have observations?”

Bobby Talltrees, the Campbell’s son, spoke up, “You pulled away from both of the guys in the turn. You seemed to glide into the wall and flipped so smoothly that there wasn’t any break. As far as S. S., if I were to guess, this is not his best stroke. I’m guessing he would be more competitive in the butterfly or breast stroke.”

“Very astute, Bobby. I watched as everyone was swimming, and noticed that almost everyone was fighting your turns. You are also correct in that S. S.’s best strokes are definitely butterfly and breast because of his arm and leg strength.”

“Now, I would like to see what the divers can do.” Jeff announced.

“Are you a diver?” asked Bobby.

Before Jeff could say anything, Sammy answered. “He was second in the states in diving last year and came in second overall in the swimming and broke the Minnesota high school record in free style, as a junior last year.”

“Well, if he was a junior last year why isn’t he a senior this year?” asked a young lady.

“Because he wanted to finish high school and move here with his father and go to college this spring.” answered Kenny.

Drew yelled, “Yeah, he is only worried about helping everyone to be better. He worries more about others than he does himself.”

Jeff turned to Drew and said, “I thought you were supposed to be studying.”

“It was more fun watching a swan move through the water and besides, I need some help.” Drew answered.

I moved to Drew and he showed me what his problem was and we started to work through it. In the meantime, Jeff had taken the diver’s to the diving pool and had them do a front layout. When everyone had finished, Jeff said, “Good job, but you all seemed a little tight.”

The swimmers had been watching. “Jeff, show them how it should look.” yelled Sammy.

Jeff scowled, but climbed to the platform and did a beautiful dive. When he entered the water there was hardly any wake. When he got out everyone applauded. Sammy yelled, “Show them the handstand into a tuck somersault dive that should have given you first place last year.”

“Twit, be quiet!” Jeff snapped.

Everyone started to chant, “Do it. Do it. Do it.”

Jeff reluctantly climbed the high board and approached the end. He went into a handstand and then pushed up grabbing his legs and started doing somersaults. It looked like he was going into the water in a bent position but he went into the water without a splash.”

When he crawled out of the pool, everyone was applauding even Drew. Coach Baldwin looked at him and said, “Mr. Wilson, if you are available tomorrow, could you come back tomorrow afternoon?”

Jeff looked at him and said, “Mr. Wilson is over there. I’m Jeff. I would be glad to come back tomorrow and see if I can help these young people be better than they already are.”

I watched the faces of the team. They all seemed to swell up at Jeff’s statement. Mr. Baldwin said, “That’s it for today. I hope to see you all tomorrow. I think Jeff will be able to help you more tomorrow than I could all season without his help, but I will try to learn. S. S., I hope to see you here tomorrow, we can really use you.” He turned to the team and said, “Good job guys and gals.”

Jeff went to the locker room with Kenny and Sammy. They quickly showered and dressed. When they came out Jeff handed Sammy his keys, and said, “You go home and if Mother or Pop haven’t picked up the guys, you get them. Mick is at the Thompson’s and Teddy and Spencer are at the Baxter’s.”

We went to the cars, Drew drove to the Tillison house and when Mr. Baldwin arrived, he announced, “I have the first test here.”

Jeff interrupted and said, “May I have a copy please. I would like to make some additional copies. Then we can take the test.” He took the test and made the copies and when he returned he asked, “Mr. Baldwin, I assume you have watched the video. Am I correct?”

Mr. Baldwin’s shoulders drooped and said, “I have to admit I have never really watched it.”

Jeff stepped in and said, “Okay, everyone, get ready to watch this award winning film.” Jeff put the video in and when it started, I was watching Mr. Baldwin. The longer the video played, the paler Mr. Baldwin got.

When the video ended, Jeff announced, “Test time.” He handed a copy to Mr. Baldwin, Drew, Kenny, Mrs. T., Tyler and me. He then handed us a sheet to record the answers on. “Scatter.” he directed.

Everyone moved apart. Kenny finished first followed by the rest of us. Jeff took the papers as we finished. When the last one was graded, he announced, “Four perfect scores, one person missed one and the other person passed.” He handed the tests back.

Drew looked at his and said, “Aunt Cora, Jeff called me a punk again.”

“Well if the shoe fits, wear it.” she laughed.

“No one loves me; I’m going back to Omaha.” Drew sighed.

“Bundle up warm. It’s going to be a long cold walk.” Jeff smirked.

Drew looked at Kenny and said, “He probably wrote something nice on yours.”

“Yeah, he said Knockout Job Kid.” Kenny answered.

“He probably forgot the question mark and what he meant was Knockout Job Goat?” Drew laughed.

“I’ll go get your coat and help you bundle up and then get the geese after you to help your out the door.” Kenny was laughing.

“Boys, boys, be nice. Now Drew, I want you to hug Kenny and tell him you are sorry.” ordered Aunt Cora.

“I’ll hug him but I ain’t kissing him.” Drew said. He hugged Kenny and they both laughed.

“Well, if you won’t kiss him, I will.” Jeff gave Kenny a kiss on the mouth. I thought Mr. Baldwin was going to fall out of his chair and everyone else was having a ball.

“Tyler, what did he write on yours?” asked Kenny.

“Super job Stud.” Tyler answered.

“Too bad he couldn’t write Super job Super Stud since that would refer to Sammy. When Jeff introduced Sammy to Coach Baldwin as S. S. Smith, all I could think of was Super Stud Smith.” Kenny laughed.

Everyone including Mr. Baldwin started laughing. Drew said, “Okay Doctor Dad, I can hardly wait to hear what he wrote on yours.”

“Not too bad for a fat old man.” I pouted.

Mrs. Tillison said, “Jack, I think that you had better get Jeff’s eyes checked. He seems to have a vision problem.”

“What did he say on your test Mrs. T.?” Tyler asked.

“Not bad for a beautiful 39 year old woman.” she laughed.

Tyler walked over to her and said, “Grams, don’t worry about it. Jeff has to be totally blind not to see that that you don’t look like you are thirty yet and Aunt Cora can’t be a day over 32.”

“Drew honey, I hope you are listening to this slick tongued Stud talking. He knows the way to an old lady’s heart.” Aunt Cora laughed and then she turned to Mr. Baldwin and asked, “Sir, did he write anything on your test.”

“It said nice try teach.” he answered.

“How come everyone had to take the test but you and Aunt Cora, Jeff?” asked Tyler.

“I did take the test and Aunt Cora asked to be excused since she doesn’t drive anymore.” Jeff answered.

“Well, what did you write on your paper?” asked Drew.

“I just put the score on it.” Jeff answered.

“Yeah, you probably got all the answers right because you had the key.” taunted Kenny.

“I didn’t have the key. I watched what Tyler put down and did the same thing.” Jeff answered.

“I was sitting clean across the room from you. There is no way you could see my paper.” Tyler said.

“I used my x-ray vision to look at your paper.” Jeff laughed.

Tyler got a very serious look and said, “Doctor Dad, the problem is even worse than we thought. Jeff not only needs an ophthalmologist, but also a psychiatrist.”

Everyone was laughing and Kenny and Drew were almost bent over. Jeff quietly asked, “Mr. Baldwin, did you give me the answer key.”

The Coach reached for his briefcase and pulled out the key and said, “I never gave the key to Jeff.”

“Okay, read the answers so we can check to see if Jeff scored the tests correctly.” said Mrs. Tillison.

Mr. Baldwin read the answers and everyone checked their own papers. Mrs. Tillison said, “Everyone look at question 15. It reads, 'you are going to make a left turn on a street that has no stop signs.' What should you do first?”

“The correct answer is, stick out your hand and point to the left. How ridiculous! Why would anyone want to open their window on a 90 degree day and let all of the cool air out of the car? Besides, if there are no stop signs, you are probably on a very lightly traveled street or road. The most important thing would be to stop to check and make sure there are no cars coming from either direction since you are crossing traffic. This video and test are out dated.”

“That's precisely why we aren’t going to watch anymore of them. Instead, tomorrow we are all going to read the morning paper and see how many items we can find that have to do with driving cars and safety. Then after swim team practice, Mr. Baldwin is going to lead us through the articles. Right Mr. Baldwin? Jeff asked.

“Okay, we have spent enough time here today. Drew, get the tapes for Mr. Baldwin and we’ll get out of here so you can eat and Mr. Baldwin probably needs to get home to his wife and family.” Jeff announced.

Mr. Baldwin turned white and said, “Jeff, I’m not married and I’m going home to my lonely apartment and have another T.V. dinner.”

Mrs. Tillison said, “But last night you said that you need to meet her so you could go to church.”

“I was meeting an acquaintance from school. She wanted me to attend a new member’s class to see if I would be interested in joining her church. I was there only ten minutes before I determined that it was not my type of church. It was all fire and brimstone.” Mr. Baldwin answered.

“We’ve got the church for you. You can go with us on Sunday to check it out.” said Jeff. “Now coach, you’re going home with us for dinner and that’s not negotiable. Kenny, do you need a ride home?”

“No, I am staying here to help Drew with his homework. I told my parents I would be home about nine. If someone could give me a lift I would appreciate it. We fixed dinner last night and all we have to do is heat it and eat.”

“Yep, they banned us from the kitchen. It smelled so good.” said Aunt Cora.

We got up to leave and Jeff said, Coach, follow us to the zoo. Guys, we are not exercising in the morning since everyone will be busy reading the paper.”

We arrived back at the house and the Smiths were eating. Linda looked up and said, “I’m sorry we started without you, but we made arrangements to take the guys to see the house we want to buy. Spencer decided to wait for you all.”

“Everyone, this is Coach Baldwin from school.” Jeff introduced him to everyone. “Now, we are going to wash our hands and you all leave the dishes and we’ll take care of them this time, but the guys owe me one.”

As we were coming back, the Smiths were stacking there dishes and Eric said, “Sorry to eat and run, but our appointment is for 7:00.”

We sat down and Jeff started to serve us and the doorbell rang. Spencer got up to answer the door and Jeff followed. When Spencer opened the door he shouted, “Doctor Dad, Mr. Bressler is here. Come on in sir, give me your coat.” Spencer looked and said, “Jeff, take Mr. B. to the kitchen and fix him a plate of spaghetti while I hang his coat up.”

“But I just ate.” said Mr. Bressler.

“Well, you are too skinny. Stop arguing.” said Spencer.

Jeff led Mr. Bressler into the kitchen and Mr. Bressler said, “Hi Doctor Wilson, hey Matt how are, you? How do you know these people?”

“Jeff has been showing me how uninformed I am, and has been helping me to become a better teacher and coach.” Mr. Baldwin answered.

I intervened and asked, “Mark, to what do we owe the honor of this visit, but I think you should meet Spencer’s brother, Tyler?”

Mark and Tyler shook hands and Mark said, “I came to ask for Jeff’s help. I don’t know what happened to Toby, but all he could talk about today was Jeff and then he started to tell everyone what to do when. If he keeps it up, he’s not going to have any friends.” Mark answered.

Spencer said, “He was so different from the nice guy he was before the holiday break. It was like he was trying to impress Teddy, and if anyone tried to talk to Teddy, he was always right there interfering.”

Spencer looked at Mark and said, “I thought you weren’t hungry. Would you like more?”

“No thank you, sir. It was wonderful, but I’ll fall asleep during class tomorrow if I have anymore.” Mark answered.

“Doctor Dad, get another big plate of spaghetti with lots of sauce and maybe Monster Dog will sleep all day long and we wont have do any work or listen to more of his monster and dog jokes.” Spencer laughed.

“Spencer Knight, do you want your bottom kicked so hard that you won’t be able to sit down and then you will be locked in your room? Now you apologize to Mr. Bressler.” Tyler said.

Spencer went to Mark and put his arms around him and said, “Mr. Bressler, I was trying to be silly, and wound up making a fool of myself. Please forgive me.”

Jeff stopped the hugging and said, “Tiger, get Toby on the phone for me. I think I need to talk to him now.”

Spencer went to the phone and said, “Toby, Jeff wants to talk to you. Here he is.”

Jeff took the phone and said, “Brother, I understand that you were rather bossy today. Mr. Bressler is concerned that people are not going to like you anymore if you keep acting like that. I want you to think about it tonight, and when I pick you up at 7:30 tomorrow morning, we will discuss it further. Now, may I speak to one of your parents please?”

“Hi Dr. Thompson, I’ll pick Toby up at 7:30 tomorrow morning and take him to school. We aren’t going to exercise in the morning. Do you think you could have someone pick up Mickey again tomorrow? The ten year olds will be going to keep Mrs. Baxter company, Bye.”

“I’m going to change, so we can get to work. If you guys want to give us a hand, you are welcome to join us.” Jeff said.

“I have nothing to do tonight, so I would like that.” answered Matt.

“Well, come with me, Matt, I’ll get you some grungy clothes so you don’t ruin your dress clothes. Dad, you probably need to change too. How about you Mark?” Jeff asked.

“I can always run home and change.” Mark answered.

“Come with us and we’ll save time. Spencer and Tyler could you stack the dishes, please, and I’ll do them when we get home?” Jeff asked.

“Nope.” answered Spencer. “We’re going to have it all cleaned up before you old men get back. And don’t mess the bed again. I’m not putting clean sheets on it every day. Now go.”

We went up to the bedroom and Jeff pulled out four pair of jeans and four sweat shirts and threw them on the bed. “Okay, help yourselves.” He pulled off his clothes and all he had on was his bikini briefs. He got dressed and I followed his lead. Mark and Matt did likewise but they were a little hesitant at first until they saw there weren’t any other options.

Jeff was finished and left. When the three of us went into the kitchen, Jeff was standing there with a plate in his hand. Spencer and Tyler had already gone. “Dad, you take these two teachers here in your car, and I’ll take my car since one of us needs to take Kenny home.”

When we got to the Baxter house, Tyler was busy laying out his tools and you could see his mind working. Jeff said, “Okay boss, what do you want us to do?”

“If you guys totally clear out the dining room and the bathroom, it would make everything go so much faster. Spencer, ask Mrs. Baxter if we can store the things in the garage for a short period.”

Spencer came back and announced, “Grams B. said we should do whatever we need to do.”

“Okay men, you know what to do. Spencer, I want all of the scraps that I make taken to the truck so I can take them to the dumpster at work. Mr. Hendrix has given me permission to do that.”

Everyone got busy. At 8:15, Jeff said, “Break time. Spencer, you go fix Mrs. Baxter’s and your dessert. It’s on a plate in the refrigerator. Remember to save some for Kevin. The rest of you, let’s start cleaning up so it doesn’t track.”

At 8:30, Jeff said, “Dad, you take the Tiger home and get him in bed. The rest of us will put everything away for tomorrow. Tyler, you and Kevin get Mrs. Baxter back upstairs. We’ll meet you back at the house. Remember, no hanky panky. Come on guys, let’s roll.”

“Wait a minute. Let us say goodnight to Mrs. Baxter.” said Mark.

The guys went to tell Mrs. Baxter good night but she seized the stage and said, “Mark, I guess your babysitting days at this house are over. I don’t think there are ever going to be any grandchildren here. It was nice meeting you Matt. Thanks for all the work you guys did tonight. Matt, you make sure you treat Mark well.”

Jeff was watching Kevin and Tyler to see if they understood what Mrs. Baxter had said. They both remained very stoic. She turned to Kevin and Tyler and said, “I’m ready for bed. I don’t know how much more activity I can take. Jeff, come here. She gave him a kiss and said, “Please help these guys get their thinking straight.”

Jeff looked at her and said, “Good night, lovely lady. You are too much. See you tomorrow when I bring the after school treats for the guys. I assume they were well behaved.”

“Toby started to get a little mouthy, but Spencer took him out and talked to him and he was a perfect angel after that.” she answered.

“Good night Kevin, one of us will be here in the morning. Come on M and M, boys, let’s go.” Jeff said.

The five guys took the Camry to the Tillison house with Drew driving. Jeff handed the keys to Kenny and said, “Drive on McDuff.”

Kenny looked around and said, “Not until the two clowns in the back put their seat belts on.”

Mark and Matt quickly complied. Kenny drove to his house and when he got out he asked, “Jeff, may I call you in a little bit?”

“Yep, if you call David and tell him we aren’t exercising in the morning.” Jeff answered.

My ride home was more interesting. Spencer crawled beside me in Jeff’s car. We had no sooner left the Baxter house than he started, “How long do you think Mr. Bressler and Mr. Baldwin have been special friends? When do you think Tyler and Kevin will realize they should be together? Why does everyone have someone special? You have Jeff and Toby really likes Teddy.”

“Spencer son, you have all of us, so you are especially lucky.” I answered. Fortunately, we pulled into the drive just then.

We walked in and he asked, “Can I take a shower in your room?”

“Of course Tiger.”

After Drew got out, Jeff crawled into the driver’s seat. He started home and asked, “How long have you two been a couple?”

“What do you mean?” asked Mark.

Jeff said, “How hard is it to tell when two people have special feelings. The two of you seemed to instinctively complete everything. Besides when I brought Toby to your classroom, I saw a note that said meet Matt for dinner. It all fell into place, when you showed up at Dad’s door rather than calling like every other teacher.”

“How many people do you think picked up on it?” asked Matt.

“Well, think about what Mrs. Baxter said.” Jeff answered.

“We’re in trouble.” Mark sighed.

“No, it’s up to you guys to figure out how to handle it. I know it is going to be a little tough since both of you are teachers. There has to be some way to make it work.” Jeff said.

They came into the house and the phone was ringing. Jeff answered. “Let me change phones.” He went to the hall phone and said, “Now, what’s the problem, Drew?”

“You know this afternoon when I hugged Kenny, I really wanted to kiss him. Does that make me queer?” Drew sobbed.

“No, it only means that you are attracted to Kenny. Maybe you should tell him how you feel, but you are only 16 so you need to go slow. Now go to bed and get some sleep.” Jeff answered.

He hung up and the phone rang again. “Hi, Kenny, what’s the problem?”

“Well, this afternoon when Drew hugged me. It felt really good, and I really wish he had kissed me too. Am I a weirdo or something?” Kenny asked.

Jeff answered, “No, my friend. I think it means you two have become extremely close, and need to talk about it. Whatever you do, you need to remember you are only 16. Okay see you tomorrow man.”

Jeff finally came in and sat down just as Tyler arrived. We were eating mini cheese cakes that Jeff had made and I started telling the guys about the conversation on the way home. I thought Mark and Matt were going to choke. They didn’t have a chance to say anything because the phone rang.

Jeff answered, “Hi, Aunt Nancy. Pop and Mother are in their bedroom. Let me get one of them for you.”
Eric came out in his pajamas and said, “Hi Nancy. … They did? … Great. … We'll work out the details tomorrow at ten then.” He hung up and turned to us, “We got the house, but don’t tell the guys yet. We need to finalize the details first.” He left and went back to the bedroom.

Everyone had settled and started to eat and talk again when a teary eyed Spencer came into the kitchen in his briefs. Jeff held out his arms and asked, “Tiger, what is wrong?”

“Everyone has someone who loves them. You have Doctor Dad, Tyler has Kevin, Mr. Mighty Mouse has Mr. Monster Dog, Kenny has Drew and Toby has Teddy. I have no one special.” He sobbed,

Mark looked at him and said, “Young man, you are wrong. Listen to me and listen well. You have all of us. We all love you. Who is that the person that makes these people connect?”

“Jeff.” sighed Spencer.

“Well who is the person among us that is the most perceptive?” asked Mark.

“Jeff.” answered Spencer.

I stepped in, “I think it might be a toss up between you and Jeff. Now young man, you need to be in bed, or you are going to be cranky for Mr. Bressler tomorrow.”

“Doctor Dad, can we sleep with you and Jeff tonight?” Spencer asked.

“Come on pardner. Let’s get you upstairs so the Doctor’s blood pressure doesn’t get to high.” Jeff picked Spencer up and carried him to our bed. Spencer’s head no sooner hit the pillow than he was out.

Jeff came down and announced, “Matt, you take Mark home and we’ll all meet back here tomorrow for dinner at 6:00 and then we will go back to work.”

The two guys got ready to go and they hugged us and Jeff said, “Have a good time.” Jeff turned to Tyler and said, “You have ten minutes to get your shower and get in our bed and Dad, you need to go take a five minute shower and then it’s my turn.”

Tyler and I left and Jeff cleaned the kitchen and started the dishwasher. When he came into the bedroom, I was coming out of the shower. He dropped his clothes and put them into the hamper and took a shower. When he came out, Tyler and I had already crawled into bed. Jeff calmly put on a pair of boxers and crawled into bed. Spencer backed closer and Jeff put his arms around him and said, “I love you three guys.”

The room went silent.

To be continued...

 

Feedback always welcome:     

Editor's Note:

Now that was an absolutely beautiful chapter. This story keeps getting more and more interesting, with every single new chapter.

Darryl
AKA The Radio Rancher


 

Posted: 05/04/07