The Fremont Saga
by: E Walk
(© 2009 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 11 

One At  A Time

When we arrived at the high school on Tuesday morning, I was so embarrassed.  The football team was waiting at the entrance and started to bow down as I arrived.  A voice spoke, “His majesty, Brian the king of the school board, approaches.  Be careful what you say or we’ll be walking the streets looking for jobs.”

I stopped, “Okay, you clowns.  We have classes to attend.  I’ll make you all pay at practice this afternoon.”

When we arrived at practice after a really good day in classes, Coach Henderson had us sit down before we went onto the practice field.  “Guys, I want to thank you for sticking up for me last night.  I never really wanted to be a coach, but I’m finding that I’m enjoying it.  As you know, we don’t have a game this weekend before the district’s next week.  I have just received word that we will be playing Lincoln Southeast next Thursday.  We need to make sure we’re ready for them this time.”

We had a good practice and everyone was up.  When Tanner and I walked into the house, Timmy came to greet us, “Brian, you need to watch TV;  the people are talking about you.”

Tanner and I stood at the breakfast bar and watched the rest of the news.  Mr. Petersen came on, “Ladies and gentlemen, I saw something last night that I never thought I would witness.  A fifteen year old young man stood up to the School Board and let them have it.  This is the second time this school year that Brian Benson has stood the school board on its ear.  He put it very succinctly when he said that they needed to get about doing the job they were elected to do, and that is providing the students in the district with a quality education.”

I will personally be following the proceedings of the school board with close attention.  I have three children in the district schools and I don’t need them being bombarded by self righteous conservatives since we already have a church that we attend.  I agree that athletics is an integral part of the schools, but they should not be the primary focus.  Providing a quality education is what the education system should be about.”

We were eating dinner when the doorbell rang.  Morgan went to answer it and Mr. Butcher and a young man, whom I assumed to be Justin, charged into the dining room where were eating and Mr. Butcher was yelling, Tanner, we can’t get into the house.”

Dad stood, “Mr. Butcher, you will never get into the house again. We’ve had all of your personal things removed.  The house was sold today.  I signed the paperwork this afternoon.”

“You had no fucking right to sell the house.  Where are Justin and me going to sleep?”

Dad put his finger in Mr. Butcher’s face, “You will refrain from using language like that in front of my wife, daughters and young son.  Where you and Justin sleep is your problem.  You relinquished any rights to Tanner’s possessions when you put him into the welfare system when it should have been your son who was put away.  Please leave and never try to have contact with Tanner again.  If you do, I’ll have you arrested.”

“If you will provide me an address, I will see that your personal things are delivered.  It won’t do you any good to try to get into the house, since everything was placed in storage in Tanner’s name.  I can’t say it was nice knowing you.”

Dad escorted the two males to the door and slammed it so hard that I was surprised that the glass didn’t shatter.  When he returned, he looked at Tanner, “Son, you need to be very careful.  That man is desperate and there’s no telling what he will do.”

Timmy grinned, “Don’t worry, Daddy, me and Brian won’t let anything bad happen to Tanner.”

Dad  laughed, “Timmy, I’m sure that you and Brian will take care of Tanner.”

Dad looked at Tanner, “Son, under no circumstances should you talk to Mr. Butcher by yourself.  I totally dislike and distrust that man, after what he did to you.”

As we were clearing the table, Timmy asked, “Mommy, are we going to put ninety three candles on Grandmother Gleason’s cake?”

Mother grinned, “Timmy, I’m afraid that if we put ninety three candles on the cake the first ones would be burned out before we could get the last ones lit.  There would be so much smoke that the smoke detectors would go off and the fire company would be here thinking there was a fire.  Why don’t you guys go to the store and get big candles that look like a nine and a three.  I need you guys to get me some things so I can make the ice cream, and you can get the ice and we’ll put it into the freezer for when Tanner and Brian get home tomorrow night.”

As the three of us were getting into Dad’s car, Timmy asked, “Brian, can we buy a present for Grandmother while we’re out?”

“Sure, what do you think we should get her.?”

Timmy was quiet for longer than usual, “Do we have enough money to buy her a little pin that looks like an angel?”

“Timmy, I have my debit card with me so we have enough money to get whatever you would like.”

I turned to Tanner, “To the mall, James.”

Tanner pouted, “So now my name is James, is it?  Very well, King Brian.”

We started in the department store at the jewelry counter but Timmy couldn’t find what he wanted.  We stopped in J.C. Penney’s and looked at the jewelry.  We were passing a jewelry store and Timmy pointed to a display case.  “Brian, can we get that?”

We walked up to the counter and an older gentleman came to help us.  Timmy looked up at him, “Sir, could we look at that angel with the clear stone for it’s heart?”

The gentleman pulled the angel out of the show case, “Young man, you have a very discerning eye.  That pin was made for a special request.  When it was finished, the person who ordered it decided it was too expensive.  It is a very delicate piece and is light enough that it could be worn by a lady on her good dress.”

Tanner asked, “Sir, how much is it?”

The gentleman answered, “The stone is a real ½ karat diamond and with tax it is going to be almost $800.”

Timmy started get tears in his eyes, “Thank you for showing it to us, sir, but I don’t think we have that much money.”

I stopped the man from putting the pin back in the display case, “We’ll take it, sir.”

I handed the man my debit card, “Could you please have it gift wrapped for us?”

After the man made sure my card cleared, he handed it to me,  “I’ll include a card saying this was one of a kind piece.  I should know. I made it myself.  It will be ready in approximately five minutes.”

As we were walking to the car, Timmy took my hand, “Daddy Brian, could we really afford the pin?”

“Yes, Timmy, we’re not going to starve.  Let’s go to the grocery store.”

We went to get the candles and the other things that Mother had on the list.  Timmy was still concerned that we had spent so much money.  “Timmy, when we get home, why don’t you ask Dad if we could afford to spend that much money?”

When we were unloading the car, Dad came out of the house, “Guys, I need to borrow Tanner for a minute.  He has some paperwork that he needs to sign?”

Timmy and I put the things away and were going to go to the bedroom, when Tanner came out of Dad and Mother’s office, “Thanks Mr. Dana.”

I had no idea who Mr. Dana was so I asked, “What did Mr. Dana want?  I don’t think I know anyone by that name.”

Tanner showed me a check, “He’s the real estate agent who sold my house.  Timmy, we can afford a couple more angels if you want.  I need to go do some homework.”

Timmy was sitting at the computer studying his spelling words and Tanner sitting at the desk working on something for physics class.  I could tell he was getting frustrated but there wasn’t much I could do to help him since I hadn’t had any physics.  Fortunately, we were saved any more frustration by the arrival of Ron.

I chuckled, “Ron, you arrived just in time.  Tanner was getting ready to throw his physics book out the closed window.  Timmy and I were getting ready to crawl under the bed so we wouldn‘t be hit by flying glass.”

Timmy was already asleep and the guys were still working, and I felt the need to put something on canvas so I thought of how I could depict Mr. Butcher and Justin and make it interesting and still project a total dislike for the two of them.”

I was working and Dad entered and whispered, “Ron, it’s probably time that you thought about going home.”

Tanner answered, “Ron was helping with this physics stuff that Mr. Cable didn’t explain very well.  We just finished.”

Dad laughed, “You mean to say that Old Man Cable is still teaching.  I thought he was the oldest man alive when I had him.  I used to get so frustrated with the man that I wanted to set fire to his classroom.”

Dad looked at what I was doing, “Let me guess, that’s a picture of the Butchers.  I can tell by the eyes.  Has Tanner seen what you’re doing to his step dad and stepbrother?”

“Nope, I just started it tonight while Tanner was agonizing over his physics.”

Wednesday morning after our run, Timmy was checking with Mother and Dad, “Is there anything you want me to do for Grandmother’s party tonight before we go to school?”

Mother shook her head no, “Nope, I’ll make the cake this afternoon and you can help me make the ice cream mix before Tanner and Brian get home.  We’ll just have something simple for dinner so we can be sure to have everything ready for the party.”

Dad handed Tanner the keys to his car, “Tanner, meet us at the bank at noon so we can get your money working for you.  Why don’t you give me the check, I don’t think you should take it to school.”

Tanner handed Dad the check and Morgan reacted, “How come Tanner gets a check and the rest of us get an allowance?  I thought he got an allowance when we did on Monday.”

Dad stood, “Tanner sold his house so he has a check.  It’s none of your business how much money anyone else has.”

When Tanner and I arrived at the house after football practice Timmy was sitting on the front porch obviously waiting for us.  He ran to greet us, “Hi Brian and Tanner, you should see Grandmother’s cake.  It looks great.  Mother has the two cans of ice cream ready to start after we eat.  We already took Grandmother’s dinner to her.”

As we were finishing eating, Dad looked at Lauren, “Please go get Grandmother Gleason while the guys make the ice cream.  Morgan can do the dishes tonight because there aren’t many.”

Morgan jumped up, “Why do I get to do the dirty work?”

I stood, “Morgan, we’ll take care of the dishes and you make the ice cream since you seem to be adverse to doing anything that resembles work.”

She relented, “Brian, you know that I haven’t the foggiest notion how to make ice cream.  I’ll do the dishes, but it’s still not fair.”

I should have realized that was setting the tenor for the evening.

Fortunately, the ice cream machines were electric, but Timmy and Tanner had a ball since they had never made ice cream before.

When we finished the ice cream, we covered it to keep it from melting and went to greet the other visitors.  It was only Uncle David and Aunt Candy and their three children and Uncle Jason and Aunt Phyllis so that meant that Chris was there as well with his younger brother and sister and there were lots of young people to keep everyone occupied.

At eight o’clock, Dad came out onto the porch, “We need to have the party.  Grandmother Gleason is getting tired.”

Timmy disappeared and returned with our gift and handed it to Grandmother, “Grandmother, this is from Brian, Tanner and me.”

“But Timmy, I said I didn’t want any presents.  But thank you.”

When Grandmother opened the box with the pin, she started to cry.  Timmy was really concerned, “Grandmother, don’t you like it?”

“Timmy, it’s absolutely beautiful, but you shouldn’t have spent your money on an old woman.”

“Grandmother, you’re not old.”

Grandmother handed the gift to Mother, “Becca please show this to everyone.  It’s beautiful.”

As the pin was being passed around, Morgan remarked, “Where did you get this pin?  It looks as if it came from a dollar store.”

Mother went to Morgan and whispered, “Young lady, I suggest that you not say one more word the rest of the evening.  You’re so out of line that you may never get yourself ungrounded.”

Timmy started to cry and I hugged him, “Morgan is being her nasty self.  Let’s go get the cake and you can help Grandmother blow out the candles.”

The rest of the party went fine except we should have made more ice cream.  Grandmother was getting very tired and she asked, “Timmy, please get the cards for me.  I’ll take my pin.  Tell your Dad that Lauren and Tanner need to come with us when you take me home so they can drive the two cars back and they can decide who gets which one.  I’ve decided that I won’t be driving anymore, so I don’t need a car.”

Morgan asked in an irritated tone, “How come Tanner is getting one of your cars when he’s not even part of the family?”

Grandmother stood, “Young lady, he acts more like a part of the family than you do.  When he comes to visit, he doesn’t have his hand held out like he’s expecting some money as some people whom I know do.  Besides, I’m many years older than you are, and I can decide for myself what I can do.  As for your comment about the three guys buying my gift at a dollar store, you might read this.  I’m not a gemologist, but I know that it is a real diamond in the pin.”

Mother sent Morgan to her room and I was taking care of the cleanup when everyone returned.  Lauren asked, when she came into the kitchen, “Did I ever behave as badly as Morgan has been lately?  Even Derek commented on how spoiled she acted.”

Mother answered, “Lauren, you had your rebellious moments, but I don’t  ever remember you being as bad as Morgan has been recently.”

I looked at Timmy and decided he didn‘t need to hear anymore talk like this, “Timmy, you need to take Tanner and make sure he gets his homework done.  You have your spelling pretest tomorrow; maybe you should go make sure you get a hundred per cent.  You don’t want to have to study tomorrow night since we need to pack for our trip.”

When it was just Dad, Mother and me, Dad asked, “Brian, this is none of my business, but who picked the pin and how much did it cost?”

“Dad and Mother, Timmy chose the pin and he and Tanner almost had strokes when they found out that it cost almost $800.00, with taxes.”

We hadn’t realized that Morgan was standing there, “How can you guys afford to pay $800.00 for a lousy pin?  Dad and Mother, why does everyone around here have more money than me?  Tanner and Timmy aren’t even members of the our family and you all are treating them better than me.”

Dad stood, “Morgan, for your information, both Tanner and Timmy act  more like they are part of the family than you do.  I’m going to arrange to have you checked to see if there is a medical or chemical reason that has been causing you to behave so badly.  Your Mother and I are going to take Grandmother to talk to David Burns in the morning, and we’re going to take Lauren and Tanner to get their cars registered in their names at noon.  You might want to tell your teachers that you are not going to be in school on Friday.”

Morgan wasn’t listening to anything that Dad had said and yelled, “I need lunch money for tomorrow.”

Dad stood, “You’re not getting any more money this week.  You can pack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and take an apple.  You’ve gotten all the money you’re going to get until next Monday.”

Dad looked at me, “Brian, please go to your room.  Your Mother and I need to talk to Morgan.”

When I arrived in the room, Timmy was lying in the bed, “Daddy Brian, Tanner helped me and I’m going to get a hundred on the spelling test tomorrow.  I already had my shower.  Do you think Grandmother really liked her pin?”

“Timmy, I’m sure she did.  Why else was it the only thing she was carrying when she left?  Get some sleep, if you want to go running in the morning.”

I was so upset with Morgan’s actions that after I was sure that Tanner and Timmy were asleep, I went into Ben’s room with my easel and supplies and started to paint a picture of Morgan in a black witches costume.  She even had horns protruding from her hat.  She was stirring a cauldron of bubbling water that had the faces of Timmy, Tanner and me in it.

I don’t know what time I finished but I didn’t even clean my supplies much to my chagrin but I was exhausted and fell asleep on Ben’s bed.

I was awakened in the morning by Tanner.  “Brian, Timmy and I are going to go running.  You look as if you just got to sleep.  What did Morgan do to make you paint her like that?”

I had fallen back asleep and there was a knock on the bedroom door.  I got up and went to the door.  I opened the door and Dad was standing there.  “Tanner said that I needed to come see the painting that you had done of Morgan.”

I figured that he would yell when he saw it, “Brian, you’re Mother is going to be taking Morgan for testing today.  I agree, she has been acting like a witch lately.  I hope that Timmy hasn’t seen that painting.  I know that he was really hurt by what Morgan said last night.  He asked if you guys could go live at the house in Paris instead of staying here.  He even wanted to know if you could take Grandmother Gleason to live with you.”

I fell against Dad, “Morgan has been really spiteful.  Both Timmy and Tanner feel her dislike for them.  They’ve done nothing to upset her.  As I told Tanner, she’s having a difficult time realizing that she isn’t the baby of the family and in reality, Timmy acts more responsible than Morgan has lately.  I hope something gets squared away, and soon, because I don’t want to live with this kind of tension.  I have enough problems of my own.”

“Like what, Brian?”

“Dad, I have money and don’t even understand how much.  I’m playing football, and I never even wanted to play football.  During my first semester in high school, I’ve been before the Board of Education two times making a spectacle of myself.  Dad, I just want to be a normal teenager.”

Dad hugged me, “Son, you’ll never be a normal teenager, now that you have become the successor Monsieur Lafontaine.  I suggest that you get ready for school, before your two brothers come get you.”

To be continued...

Editor's notes:  It looks as if Morgan has quite a chip on her shoulder, doesn't she?  We most likely will have to wait for the next chapter to find out what will happen next.

I can't wait. Grin.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 02/19/10