The Doctor Gets a Visitor III
by: E Walk

(Copyright 2007 by the Author)
 

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


 

Chapter 5
Tommy Arrives

Adam brought a frazzled young man into the meeting room.  He began by saying, “I am sorry I’m late.  My name is Neal Crosby.  I just arrived in town last Wednesday and am having a difficult time finding anything in the office.”

Mrs. Tillison introduced everyone and asked, “Where is Max Webster?”

“I wish I knew.  I was sent here by the district office to find out what was going on.  Mr. Webster has just rather disappeared.  He left the office in complete disarray, with files randomly thrown into boxes.  There isn’t even a computer in the office.” Mr. Crosby sighed.

Mr. Crosby continued, “I hope I was able to locate the two policies in question.  Do you have any records and death certificates?”

Mrs. Tillison handed him a copy of some papers and he looked at them.  He got a funny look on his face and said, “This death certificate says that Mrs. Custer has been dead for over three years, and Mr. Custer died four months ago.”

Mr. Crosby looked at the policies and said, “I think that I will have to bring some additional money later, after I talk to the district office.  I’m so embarrassed, but here are two checks made out to Clayton Custer the third.

I’ll contact my district office tomorrow, to see what else is due Clayton,” 

Mr. Crosby handed the checks to Beau, and Beau handed them to me and he was starting to shake as he leaned against me.

Mrs. Tillison said, “Mr. Crosby, I think we should schedule a review of my policies that I have with your company.  I’ll pull them together and then maybe we can meet next Tuesday.”

Mr. Crosby checked his appointment book and asked, “How about 2:00 Mrs. Tillison?”

“Just call me Mrs. T., Neal.”  she said.

Mr. Crosby looked at Beau and asked, “Where can I reach you Clay after I get the rest of the money due you?”

“Sir, I live with Doctor Wilson and Jeff, but could you please call me Beau?” Beau asked, as he wrote down our name, address and phone number.

“I’ll call and make an appointment when I get this mess figured out.” Mr. Crosby stood and said, “I need to get back to my wife and our son.”  Beau escorted him to the door.

When Beau came back, Mrs. Tillison said, “Josh, fix us a stiff drink and then we have some business to discuss with Beau and Jack.”

Josh took the drink orders and I said, “Beau, go terrorize Drew, Kenny and the guys, for a bit.”

Mrs. Tillison and Jeff looked at me funny. I stood and announced, “As of now, I want everyone to back off of Beau.  He told me some things on the way home, before I went to work this afternoon.  He is on overload and I am afraid if we continue to push him too hard, he may bolt or even do something worse.  Jeff and Mrs. Tillison, please just take it easy.”

“Now don’t even ask me what Beau told me.  He made me promise not to tell anyone because he is afraid of what you might do.  He feels like you are out of control, trying to solve everyone’s problems and that you are forgetting about yourselves.”

“One last thing, if there is something that needs taken off, bring it to me and I’ll do whatever has to be done.  Does anyone have any questions about what I said?” I asked.

It was absolutely quiet and I turned to Josh and said, “Josh, I am surprised that you, of all people, have not picked up on how fragile Beau is.”

Fortunately the tension was broken by a knock on the door.  It was Adam announcing that the evening meal would be served in the dining room.  We walked into the dining room and Aunt Cora was sitting there laughing and Beau was giving the guys a really hard time.  Everyone sat down.  Mitch and Grant served everyone’s food while Adam and Beau served the wine and drinks.

When everyone was seated, Beau looked at his food and asked, “Why is this called chicken fried steak when there isn’t any chicken in it, and you took it from the oven and why is this gravy white with mud balls in it?”

Aunt Cora said, “It’s because it breaded and fried like chicken to start and baked to make it tender”

Everyone started to laugh and dig in to the food, which was very delicious. Beau said, “So Jeff, tell us what happened to you today.”

Jeff told about the test, and then he had Mitch and Grant help him tell about the rest of the morning.  Before he could tell about his afternoon, the doorbell rang.  Drew went to answer it and came back with Chief O’Brien and a young man.

“To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit Chief O’Brien?” Mrs. T. asked.

“I was hoping that you would be able to give Tommy here, a place to live, temporarily.  I don’t want him to spend another night in the jail.  I called Mr. Workman, the head of the Social Services Department, and he told me his office was too busy to handle any more cases.  I tried the Home for Homeless Teenagers.  They were very helpful, but the acting director was out of town until tomorrow.  I’m just afraid what might happen to Tommy if he had to stay another night in the jail.”  the Chief answered.

Beau spoke up and said, “Yeah Uncle Josh. where were you today?  Chief O’Brien, I tell you what.  Since Grams is full up now, we’ll take Tommy, if he can answer these questions correctly.”

“Number one, what is your name and how old are you?” Beau asked.

“My name is Thomas Simmons, and I’m 16 and attend high school with Kenny and Drew.  By the way, that was really two questions.” Tommy answered.

“Be careful, Tommy.  Now, number 2, do you smoke or use drugs?” Beau asked.

“No, I have never smoked, drank or used drugs.”  Tommy answered.

“Drew, check to see if he is real.  He sounds almost too good to be true.  Now, question number three, did you cause any person any bodily harm to get arrested.” Beau asked,

“No, I would like to have, but I just couldn’t hit my father.” Tommy answered.

“Number three and a half, have you had anything to eat?” Beau asked.

“I had a cold grilled cheese sandwich and some watery soup at lunch time in the cell.”  Tommy answered.

Beau got up and asked, “What about you, Chief?”

“I’ll just stop and get some fast food and take it home when I am finished here.” Chief O’Brien said.

“What’s the matter?  Is your wife out of town?” Beau asked.

“My wife died three years ago, and I just haven’t been able to take the ring off yet.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t know.  Now you two please sit down and get ready to eat some of this dog meat with white gravy filled with mud balls.” Beau said, as he helped Mitch to fix two warm dinners, while Grant served the two visitors drinks.

The two started to eat and Beau said, “Okay, Mr. Thomas Simmons, we want the entire story, and we want it straight.” 

“But there are ladies present.” Tommy said.

“These ladies have probably heard things a lot worse than you could possibly have done, even in your dreams. Don’t worry about Kenny and Drew. If they say anything, we’ll remove one of their external appendages. As for the college studs, they need to get going if they are going to be working with Tyler.” Beau laughed and added, “Oh by the way, guys, anytime you want to cook for us, you are welcomed to do so.”

The guys looked at the clock and Mitch said, “But we have to do the dishes.  We made a mess.”

“Don’t worry about it, Drew, Kenny and I can take care of the mess, while we listen to Tommy’s story.  We may or may not tell you what happened.” Beau laughed.

The four college guys left, and the three other guys started the dishes while Tommy began his story. “Last night, I had just finished my homework and had nothing to do, so I looked on the web for some gay sites, and decided to read a story on the Tickiestories site.

“I guess I should tell you up front that I think I am gay, but have never had any gay experiences.  Anyway, I was engrossed in the story and I didn’t realize that my father was standing there reading over my shoulder.  All of a sudden he started to yell at me, telling me that I was the scum of the earth.  ‘Go get ready for bed while I decide what to do.  I have a good mind to kick you out.’”

“I left to take a shower, and when I came back, he was watching a hard core gay site I had never seen before, and playing with his penis.  When he realized I was there, he turned off the computer and unplugged the keyboard and took it with him as he left.”

“I crawled into bed, not knowing what to expect.  I was just about asleep when my father came in and dropped his boxers and said, ‘I’ll show you what a real man can do with his penis.  Now get those briefs off.’”

“I jumped out of bed and grabbed my clothes and started to leave.  He yelled at me as I was leaving and said, ‘Go and never come back.  You are no longer part of this family.’”

“As you can see, I didn’t even put on any socks, as I hurriedly dressed and grabbed my coat and my backpack and left.  I realized that I didn’t have any clean clothes, so I huddled against the house to keep warm.  When I thought it would be safe, I climbed a tree from which I could get into my bedroom through an open window I always kept cracked because my room was so warm.”

“Obviously, my father had been watching me and just as I was about to enter the room the police arrived and I was charged with breaking and entering.  Therefore, I spent the rest of the night in the slammer.” Tommy sighed, as he finished.

“Fortunately, Sgt. Patrick decided to keep Tommy away from the other inmates or who knows what might have happened.” added Chief O’Brien.

Drew, Kenny and Beau had finished the dishes and were standing there listening.  Beau out of the clear blue, asked, “Tommy, do you have any money in the bank?”

“Yes, I have a savings account for college.  It has about $3,000.00 I saved from my summer jobs and baby sitting.” Tommy answered.

Beau asked, “Is the account in the 1^st National Bank and do you have the account number with you?” 

Tommy answered, “Yes and yes.”

“Good, give the number to Grams, so she can call Uncle Hank and have the account frozen, until you can go in and take care it.  Tommy, where does your ex-father work?”  Beau asked.

“He works for Valmont in the accounting department.” Tommy answered.

“Perfect.  Jeff, please tell Uncle Eric to make sure that Mr. Simmons stays at work tomorrow, until at least 5:30.” Beau said.  “Now, here is what we are going to do.”

“Drew, you and Kenny take the stud upstairs so he can take shower and then give him enough clothes for a couple days.  Uncle Josh, please take the adults into the living room and fix them a drink, while Grams and Jeff get ready for tomorrow.”

Beau worked in the kitchen and when everyone had reassembled, he started again.  “Aunt Rea, since no one here knows you, you need to go visit Tommy’s mother, after you come home from school with Grams.  You and Uncle Norm can discuss what you need to retrieve so Doctor Dad can be his guardian.”

“Uncle Josh, please call Mrs. Rose tomorrow and tell her what is happening.  D. Dad, we need to go tell Chip and his parents that their furniture is on the way, while Jeff takes Tommy home and gets him acquainted with everyone, and talks to Uncle Eric.  Grams, are you going to Chip’s house with us?” Beau asked.

“We’ll follow you.”  she answered.

Everyone was just looking at Beau and shaking their heads and I don’t think Tommy had any idea what to think.  I drove Beau to Chip’s house to be, and Mrs. T. and Rea followed us.  Beau rounded up Reg, Jill and Chip.

We all stood in the living room of their new house.  Beau said, “Chip, I am giving you and your parents all of the furniture in my old house.  There are some nice pieces, and then some not so very nice pieces.  Uncle Reg and Aunt Jill, there will be a sleigh bedroom set that I do not want you to put in your house.  I don’t want it anywhere near Chip.”

Jill and Reg were overwhelmed, and Reg said, “How much do you want for the furniture?  It may take us a while to pay it off.”

“Grams, I guess nurses and college seniors don’t listen very well.  I thought I said giving and not selling.  What in the world would I do with five bedrooms of furniture let alone all the things that are in the attic and the basement?”  Beau said, as he turned away. 

Jill started to cry.  Beau went to her and said, “This is not a wedding so no more tears.”

“Jack honey, could you and Chip get all of the guys and bring them here, so we can get a report on how things are going?” Mrs. T. asked.  Chip and I got all of the guys and they all assembled in Reg and Jill’s living room.

Mrs. T. asked, “Tyler, how are things progressing and are there any problems?”

“Grams, I figure we are a day ahead of schedule already, because of the hard work that Adam, Aaron, Mitch and Grant did today.  This house should be finished by tomorrow night, except for the carpet and appliances Mitch’s family’s house should be completely ready on Friday night after Drew and Kenny make whatever finishing touches that need to be done.”

“Good, because Kevin is going to be in charge of packing all the things in Beau’s house in Oakland, and bringing them back here Friday afternoon.  Then everyone will be going to Nebraska City on Saturday morning and bring all of Adam’s things back for the Edmond’s house.”

Kevin spoke up and said, “I was wondering why I was put in charge of our six man crew for Thursday and Friday when Mr. Rider’s son Dan is going with us.  Now I know why.”

Mrs. T. turned to Reg and said, “Reg, you are keeping track of the hours everyone is working here, aren’t you?  That includes you and Jill.  Jill, why don’t you concentrate on cleaning the kitchen cupboards and lining the shelves?  The cleaning crew can clean the rest of the house after choir practice on Thursday night, and then they can clean Mitch’s house on Saturday morning.  Does anyone have any questions?” Mrs. T. asked.

Grant spoke up and asked, “Would it be okay if I bring Beth Anne along, and she could help Jill in the kitchens.  That way Mitch and I can work together, since we had a pretty good system going.”

“Absolutely.  The more the merrier.”  Mrs. T. answered.  “Okay, we’re going to split.”

Mrs. T. turned and said, “Jack let’s go to your house.  We still have some things we need to take care of.”

We arrived at the house, and Beau asked, “Where are Jason and Tommy?”

“Jason’s in bed waiting for you and D. Dad to say goodnight, and Tommy is talking to Sammy.” Jeff answered.

Beau and I went and said good night to Jason and as we were going down the stairs, Tommy joined us.  Before anyone could speak Beau asked, “Uncle Eric, did Jeff tell you what we would like you to do tomorrow?”

“Yes Beau, and I’ll take care of it.” Eric assured him.

Mrs. Tillison jumped in, “Linda, could you drive some of the guys and the gifts to the Homeless Shelter tomorrow afternoon at 3:45?  I’ve already got Anita lined up.”

“Sure, I’ll meet Anita and whoever at Gigi’s house, and then we can bring the boys to your house and load the toys.” Linda answered.

“Okay Jeff, now tell us what happened this afternoon.” Beau said.

Jeff told his story and Beau started to laugh.

“What’s so funny?’ asked Tommy.

“Jeff here, who is just a freshman in college, is teaching more credit hours that anyone else.  But the best part is that Mitch and Grant have no idea that Jeffrey is going to be their instructor or whatever.  I’ll tell you what Jeff, why don’t you have me come and be your first case study?”  Beau laughed.

I looked at Jeff and could see the wheels turning.

Beau looked at Mrs. Tillison and said, “Okay Grams, I don’t know what D. Dad told you, but I can handle almost anything, as long as I don’t have to go back to Oakland and especially to that house.  You’ve had that suitcase with you ever since we got to your house this afternoon.  So lay it on me.”

Mrs. Tillison just shook her head and said, “First, I have a deposit on your house and The Grill for $25,000.00.  The remaining $104,000.00 will be paid to you at the closing on Saturday morning, here at the bank.  Both you and D. Dad need to be there at 9:00.”

Beau looked at her unbelieving and asked, “You mean you got $129,000.00 for the two properties?  I would have thought we would have been lucky to get $80,000.00.”

“I was hoping for a little more, but Tex suggested the price and his aunt and uncle decided it was a fair price.  His aunt loved the house, but said that it needed to be updated.  We met their nine and thirteen year old sons.  They also have a son in college and a married son who lives in Omaha.  Tex’s Aunt Ingrid wants to make the old bar area into a tea room, and his Uncle Nils wants to have a small appliance repair shop in the back.” Mrs. T. stopped.

She picked up the packet and said, “This packet has all the legal documents you should ever need to take care of any business, Beau.  I suggest that you get a safe deposit box at the bank and keep them in there.”

She finally handed Beau the suitcase and said, “You met Mr. Everett today when you were leaving.  He and his men went through all of the drawers and cabinets in your house and the Grill.  They even checked under some suspect loose floor boards.  This suitcase contains all of the money they found.  It seems that your parents didn’t have much financial awareness.”

Beau looked at her and said, “I don’t think that either of my parents trusted Mr. Christianson or his brother in law, Mr. Davidson, very much.  After they took over the bank, my parents almost never went to the bank.  I guess my ex-father didn’t have much financial acumen.”

Beau handed the paperwork and the money to me.  All of a sudden I realized how much money there was in the house.  Grams switched topics and diverted my attention.  “So Beau, how was your first day of classes?’

Beau lit up and said, “Dr. Jeanne is such a lady, but she is still cool and hip.  Both Denny and I have fallen in love with her.”

Jeff interrupted and said, “Beau, I think lady and cool and hip are oxymorons.  No one can be a lady and cool and hip.”

Beau was not fazed and said, “Well, she is. Mr. Sanders was very mechanical.  We could tell he was not very comfortable, but by the time he left he promised to be more relaxed next week.”

Rea spoke up and said, “Beau, may I say something?”

“Of course, ma’am.” Beau said.

“I know that you are not very thrilled about what has been happening today, but you need to take the resources that you have received and put them to good use.  Invest some of them in long term investments, set up a college fund and then have another account where you can have access, so you can have some funds if you need them.”  she said.

“Aunt Rea, I already decided that, this afternoon while the guys were having their snack.  I can put the money to use later, so I can help those who are not as fortunate as me.  I’ll do whatever D. Dad recommends.”  Beau said.

I interjected, “Beau, I will pick you and Jason up after lunch tomorrow, and we’ll go to the bank and do what ever it is that we have to do.”

Beau said, “Fine, D. Dad.”

Tommy was looking totally confused as Beau led him upstairs.  Everyone left and Jeff and I locked up and when we got to the bedroom, Beau was coming out of the shower drying his hair.  He went into the study and came out wearing briefs.  “Okay Tommy, shuck the clothes and come on, it’s time to brush our teeth.”

Tommy did as he was told and hung his clothes up and went to brush his teeth.  Jeff and I got undressed and walked into the bathroom nude, to get in the shower.  Tommy seemed like he was frozen and we heard Beau say, “Have you been frozen or what?  Now let’s get to bed.”

When we got out of the shower, everyone was gone.  We got ready for bed.  We decided that we should probably wear briefs.  It was almost 2:00 when Beau came and shook me.  “D. Dad, Tommy is lying there shaking and I can’t get him to stop.  He is scaring Jason?”

I got up and went to the guys.  Beau grabbed Jason and held him and I pulled Tommy to me and held him and said, “Everything will be fine.  Okay men, let’s go back to our bed and see if we can get in without waking Jeff.”’

Jason climbed in next to Jeff then Tommy and then Beau.  Everyone just cuddled, and finally, we all went to sleep.”

To be continued...

Feedback always welcome:     

Editor's Notes:

Well I do believe our esteemed author, has indeed been satisfactorily infected with AAKD.  I was pretty sure this had happened several chapters ago, but now I am certain.  My Job IS Done. Well my assignment from the clan is finished; he has been successfully infected. We don't need to worry about that any more.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 08/03/07