The Mark and the Mole
by: E Walk

(© 2007 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 28
The Baseball Player

It was 11:30 when we got to the Old Chicago Restaurant.  Officer Ben Taylor and Dr. Jimmy John Yeager were waiting for us.  They had alerted the hostess that we would require tables for 17 plus space for two infants.

They had prepared a space in a corner so we would not be bothered by other patrons.  As soon as we were seated, our server approached the tables, “Good afternoon, Gentlemen, my name is Jeff, I’ll be your waiter today.”

Jeff stated to spiel off the luncheon specials as he passed out the menus.  He stopped beside Chad, “Dude, I haven’t seen you all year at school.  It’s good to see you again.  Are you going to be joining the baseball team again this year?  We really need you.  Without you on the mound, we will be nothing.  Tim, are you going to be playing short stop again?”

Chad looked up at the Jeff person, “Tim and I don’t live here any longer.  We are back visiting; we live in Urbandale where we go to school.”

Jeff hit his head, “Please don’t play baseball for them.  They have a terrific team and if you and Tim play for them, they would be a cinch to win the state championship.”

Jeff took the drink orders and he and a young lady brought the drinks and then the fun began.  Jeff started with the four younger boys and they ordered the Children’s Variety Plate.  Jeff moved to Tim and Kevin and they each ordered a Calzone with five kinds of meat and three kinds of cheese.  Chad and Dirk were the last to order and they each had a cup of Minestrone Soup, a small salad with the house dressing, and a slice of Pepperoni Pizza.

Jeff looked at the two little guys, “Who do these two young people belong to?”

Chad stood, “Jeff, these are my two sons Mark and Jon.  They are the reason that we moved and why I won’t be playing baseball anymore.”

Jeff looked like he didn’t know what to say but recovered nicely, “Excuse me gentlemen, while I place the order.  I’ll be back, and then Chad you and I can visit some more.”

The restaurant was getting busy.  Jeff and three other people brought our food.  They refilled our drinks and as we were finishing our meals, Jeff returned, “I’m sorry I haven’t been able to get back sooner, but we’re short handed today.  May I bring anyone dessert?”

Chad didn’t give anyone a chance to respond, “No thanks, Jeff.  We need to leave before the boys get fussy.”

Jeff nodded, “I’ll be right back with your checks.  How would you like checks divided?”

Dr. Jimmy John answered, “Jeff, I’ll pay for everyone.  I’ll meet you at the reception desk so we can get the young people out of here.”

When we were leaving, there was a line of people waiting to be seated, so the manager was probably glad to see us vacate the area.  Before we got into our separate cars, I was pleased to see that all of the young people thanked Dr. Yeager and hugged the four Yeager guys.

When we got back to the old Harmon house, Chad took charge.  He looked at everyone and challenged, “We are not going out for dinner, we’ll eat here. Dads, why don’t you call the Yeagers and ask them to join us for tacos and whatever at six; surely the ladies will be back by then.  Tim and Kevin, you need to stay with the boys while I go to the store.  Come on Dirk; let’s go get the things we need to fix for dinner.”

Dad spoke up, “I’ll go with you so we can also get the things we need for breakfast and lunch tomorrow,”

Dad Long interrupted, “Guys, we’re planning to leave right after dinner tonight.  We have an important church meeting in the morning that I need to be present for.  Frank and Elaine will be going with us.”

Chad, Dirk and Dad left and returned about forty five minutes later.  While they were gone, Tim and Kevin were talking.  Kevin started the conversations, “I didn’t realize that you and Chad played baseball.”

Tim shrugged his shoulders, “Yep, we both made the varsity squad last year.  Chad was the second best pitcher and played second base when he wasn’t pitching and I played short stop.  Chad won ten games and had the third highest batting average on the team.  It’s too bad that he probably won’t be playing this year.”

Kevin casually said, “We’ll have to see about that.  It would be rather funny if we all four played, then we could control the center of the field.”

Tim looked at Kevin like he was daft, “What are you saying?”

“Dirk was our starting catcher last year and had the team’s highest batting average.  I’m scheduled to be the starting center fielder.”

Their conversation was interrupted when one of the twins started to fuss.  Tim and Kevin left to take care of the twins.  They were feeding them when Dad and the guys returned with the food. 

Dad Long was helping to unload the groceries, “Chad, Frank and I are going back to Mrs. Walker’s house.  I have some paperwork that I need to do.  We’ll be back about 5:00.”

Kevin and Tim returned and Tim reported, “Boss Chad, the boys have been changed and fed and have settled down for their naps.  Dads, is it permissible for Kevin and me to go to the mall and look around.  Don’t worry, Chad, we’ll be back in time to help with dinner.”

I answered, “You may go if it’s okay with Kevin’s father. Do you need any money?”

Frank nodded that it was okay and Kevin answered, “We’re not going to buy anything; we’re just going to look around.  Dirk would you like to go with us?”

Dirk got a gleam in his eye, “I probably should, to make sure you two don’t get into any trouble, but I’ll stay here and keep the new Daddy company.”

Dad was the next person to desert the ship, “Guys, I need to go take care of some business too.  I’ll see you later.”

Chad looked at Mike and me, “Dads, why don’t you take Jason, Jeremy, Bobby and Bill to see that new animated Panda movie?  They’re going to get rather bored if they stay here all day, and it’s not nice enough for them to play outside.  They deserve a reward for being so well behaved.”

Mike went to see if the four young guys would like to go to see the movie and we were practically being pulled into the van.  I guess they must have wanted to go.

They didn’t ask for anything but we bought a large barrel of popcorn and six small lemonades.  Billy looked at me, “Daddy, this is the first time I ever went to a movie.  Is it going to be scary?”

Jeremy leaned over, “Don’t worry Billy; our Dads wouldn’t take us to anything that was scary.”

Mike and I looked at each other and I think we both had the same thought, ‘So much for us having a problem with the children accepting us as their Dads.’

We were to find out that the situation at the Harmon house was a little different.  Chad and Dirk were making the fixings for tacos and enchiladas when Dirk asked, “Chad, are you going to play baseball this year?”

Chad had a funny look on his face, “When would I have time to play baseball?  You know that I am carrying the maximum number of credits possible, and I do have two sons that I am responsible for as well as six brothers and sisters.  There is no way that I can play baseball.  I need to get a job to help pay for some of the expenses.  And besides, I’m not that good anyway.”

Dirk sensed that it would be best to not pursue the conversation any further.

They started talking about what Chad thought needed to be done tomorrow before we left for Des Moines.  Chad made his input.  “I’ll get up early and go to mass and then whoever else wants to go to church can do so whenever Grandmother wants to go.  We need to make sure the houses are spotless before we leave tomorrow and I need to study sometime.”

Dirk put his arm around Chad, “Chad, relax!  Everything will get done. Could we sit down and relax for a while?  I’m not used to all of the excitement that we have had the last two days.”

The two guys were sitting at the kitchen table doing some school work when we returned with the guys from the movie.  Bobby went to Chad and put his arms around him. “Chad, that was so cool.  Thanks for suggesting that the Dads take us.  It was like we were watching all of the creatures on a giant television screen.”

Chad hugged Bobby, “I’m glad that you had a good time.  Do you suppose that you and your brothers could set the table in the dining room like a buffet table?  There will be so many people that we’re going to use paper plates and plastic utensils.  Get the Dads to help you.”

Dad arrived with the ingredients to make Margaritas, beer and some drinks for the young people.  It seemed like everyone else descended on the house at about the same time, including four Yeager men.  We were enjoying our drinks of choice and precisely at six o’clock Chad announced, “Señoras, Señoritas, and Señores, dinner is now being served in the dining room.  Please help yourselves.”

The six younger children were already eating in the kitchen and Chad had the other teenagers serving the food.  Everyone had their food and the teenagers except for Chad were seated on the floor as we started to eat in the living room.  Chad had gone to make sure that the young people in the kitchen had everything they needed.

The doorbell rang and Tim went to answer it.  We heard a loud coarse voice that seemed to be slurring his words say, “We came to get our two grandsons.  There is no way that you can take care of them.  You’ll never amount to anything.  You will probably never be able to do anything but sling hamburgers.”

Tim was irate, “Sir, I don’t know who you are, and I sure don’t know what you’re talking about; would you please leave?”

The man barged past Tim, “You’re even dumber than I thought.  You know damn well that we’re Jodie’s parents.”

Just then Chad walked into the room with his food.  When he saw who was there he turned white and collapsed on the floor with his food flying everywhere.  Mike went to make sure he would be okay.  Dad stood and pointed his finger at the man, “What gives you the right to barge in here and say you were going to take the twins.  For your information, you drunken slob, there are three sets of twins in this house.”

The man didn’t back down, “Chad and the brats killed our daughter so we should be able to take them for compensation.  The people at the church say that they are ours because they were conceived out of wedlock and that kid forced himself on our beloved daughter.”

Grandmother had all she could take, “You two people have got to be the stupidest and most evil people I have ever met.  If your daughter, Jodie, hadn’t cooperated there would have been no offspring.  You are not going to take my great, great grandsons away as compensation for Jodie’s death which you could have prevented if you had truly loved her.”

“You would probably subjugate them like you tried to do to Chad and they would wind up as trash just like you.  As far as your church people are concerned, I wonder what they would say if they knew that the two of you are running around acting like maniacs in your drunken state.  Officer Taylor, why don’t you book these people for being under the influence and forced entry?  You three lawyers need to prepare a case of slander against the couple for the four boys.  Judge Yeager, could you please issue a restraining order that would not allow the Davises to come within 1000 feet of the boys?”

We had not seen Detective Taylor make the phone call, but the doorbell rang and I answered, I was greeted by two of Iowa City’s police offers.  The lead officer said, “We had a report of a domestic disturbance at this address.”

Ben went to the door, “Hi guys, we have a Mr. and Mrs. Davis here and they are drunk and they are demanding that Mr. Walker give them his two young sons who are less than a month old.  Take them to the station and book them for illegal entry and attempted kidnapping.  Maybe when they sober up they will see things differently.”

As soon as the Davises had been removed, Chad realized all the young people except Dirk were gone.  “Where are the boys?  I sure hope the younger children didn’t hear any of this mess.  Where is everyone?”

Dirk held Chad, “Kendra took the girls to your Grandmother’s house.  Tim and Kevin took Mark, Jon and the other four boys to your Granddad’s house.  Everyone is fine, but we decided it would be best to get them out of here so nothing could happen to them.  Now you need to eat something and if you don’t do it voluntarily, I’ll force feed you.”

Dad Long stood, “Chad, I agree with Dirk.  You need to eat or you won’t be worth anything for your sons.  As soon as we help with the cleanup we’re going to leave.  I hope every weekend isn’t this exciting.  I don’t know if my nervous system can take it.”

Chad looked at Dad Long, “Nor mine, Granddad Long.  I’ll probably never live to see my sons’ first birthday.  You all go ahead and go; we can do the cleanup and I promise I’ll eat like a good little boy.  Thanks for everything.  Chad hugged them as they departed.”

The Yeagers stood and Dr. Jim announced, “Chad, we’re going to be leaving also.  Chad, I would like very much to meet with you and discuss what has happened to you and what you expect out of life.  I think you would be a good case study for my graduate students.  I’m having a difficult time trying to figure out what makes you tick, but I will.”

The Yeager connection hugged Chad and Dirk as they left.

Dad stood, “I’ll go have Tim and Kevin bring back your sons. Tim and Kevin can spend the night with spend the night at my house and help  me take care of the four little guys.  Chad, let your Dads take care of the clean up and eat all of your food like a good little boy.”

Dad and Grandmother left and Dirk nuked some food for Chad, “Okay mister, you heard your Grandfather, eat before your sons return home.  If you ain’t finished we’ll send them away again.  Now eat!”

Chad didn’t say a word but he ate everything that Dirk had fixed him.  When he finished, he looked at Dirk, “Man, I’m so going to even with you for being so bossy.”

The conversation was interrupted by Tim and Kevin carrying the two bassinets.  They put the two boys down beside Chad, and Kevin sobbed, “Chad, please take these two rug rats off our hands.  They have screamed the entire time that we had them with us.  I probably have a fifty per cent hearing loss from listening to them scream.”

Chad caught everyone off guard with his answer, “They probably knew that you and Tim were doing some inappropriate things.”

Tim hit his brother on the arm, “Granddad told us to get the basics since we would be sleeping at his house tonight.  So what are you and Dirk going to do when your sons go to sleep?   By the way, I didn’t like Jodie’s parents very much at all.”

Kevin added, “They’re real pieces of humanity that no one, and I do mean no one should meet up with.  I wish I could have met Jodie, and I sure hope that she wasn’t anything like them.  We’ll collect the basics for tonight and then we’ll be back for breakfast in the morning.  Your Grandmother has dictated that we are going to church at 11:00.”

Tim continued, “Jonny and Markey were absolute angels the entire time we were at Granddad’s house.  Chad, I guess it’s you that brings out the worst in everyone.”

Before Chad could respond, Tim and Kevin went to collect the things they  would need to spend the night at Dad’s house.

The two clowns left and Chad and Dirk had changed and fed the boys.  Chad came to where Mike and I were sitting and hugged us, “Dads, remember, I’m going to the early mass, so would you please help Dirk with the boys since this is all so new to him.  I love you.”

Mike and I watched as Chad and Dirk went up the stairs with the two little guys.  I looked at Mike and mouthed, “You don’t suppose, do you?”

Mike looked at me and held me, “Dougie, get your mind out of the gutter.  I’m 99% sure that they are not going to do anything sexual.”

While I knew Mike was right, I had to add, “Yeh, but there is the one percent, so we better go to bed just in case someone cries out during the night.”  

To be continued...

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 Editor's Notes:

I wish we would hear Dirk's story. It seems each new chapter gives us hope that we might, then we still have to wait.  I must admit, however, that each new chapter brings us new things that are important to know, so I am not really complaining.  Let's hope that Dirk can somehow put his demons to rest in some way.  Chad is most likely the person that will be able to help Dirk free himself from the pain he has been feeling for so long.  As has been said before, “Sometimes bad things happen so good things can.”

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 07/25/08