That's Okay
by: E Walk
(© 2011 by the Author)
 

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

Chapter 14

The Boys Score Again

After I had crunched the numbers, I handed the results to Mr. and Mrs. Madsen.  “This is an estimate of how much money you would get in both scenarios.  I think that you need to take some time to think about which option you would like to take.  Why don’t we go to lunch after I go to the bathroom?  I’ll check with Mr. Peters and see if he knows of a restaurant that is close by.”

I went to the bathroom and George followed me.  He looked at me and smirked, “Les, I assume that you and the good Father had fun last night by the way you have been shifting in your chair this morning.  It would be interesting to see if Father Bill is that big or if you are so inexperienced.”

I was at a complete loss for words, “George, that is crude for you to say such a thing.  What happens between me and Bill is none of anyone’s business.  Now let’s go check with Mike Peters and see if he would like to go to lunch with us in case Mr. and Mrs. Madsen have any questions.”

We stopped in Mike Peters’ office and invited him to go to lunch with us.  I was surprised when he accepted.  He smiled, “I know a great place which is close by.  Let me tell the people where we’ll be, in case something else comes up.”

Mike took us to a small but quaint restaurant that was close to the office.  When we went into the restaurant, Mr. Madsen asked the host for a quiet table for two.  He turned to us, George, Mike and me, “We would like to discuss our options.”

The Madsen’s were seated in a corner and the three of us were seated in another corner.  It seemed to me as if we were getting a little too much attention from the wait staff.  I looked at Michael, “What’s going on.  Three bachelors don’t usually rate this much attention.”

Mike got this funny look on his face, “Well guys, the owner of this restaurant just happens to be a special friend of mine.  I called ahead and made reservations; otherwise we might not have gotten seated so quickly.  I rather figured that Mr. and Mrs. Madsen might need some private time to discuss their options.  Here comes Henri now.”

Henri was a very handsome man.  Mike stood and hugged Henri, “Thanks for taking care of us on such short notice.”  Mike introduced George and me to Henri.

Henri thanked us for coming after Mike said something to him.  We saw Henri walk over to Mr. and Mrs. Madsen and visit with them.  When we were getting ready to leave, George asked for the check and was told by the waiter that it had already been taken care of.  Mr. and Mrs. Madsen came over to us and Mr. Madsen asked, “Okay, who paid the bill?  We’re the people who won the lottery and should be paying.”

Mike stood, “No one paid the bill.  The meal was on the house.  Henri figures that if he treats you people right, then you might send some more customers his way.”

Mrs. Madsen looked at Mike, “Mr. Peters, don’t try to pull the wool over our eyes.  Monsieur Henri is more than a friend isn’t he?  Otherwise, why would we have been seated in front of the people who were in line?”

As we were leaving the restaurant, Henri came up to us, “Madam and Monsieur's, thank you for coming to my little establishment.  Please hurry back.”

Mrs. Madsen stopped and had a funny look on her face, “Okay Henri, I just realized who you were.  You’re Hank Little.  How are your parents?”

“Well, Aunt Natalie, they’re so busy playing golf and tennis in the Arizona sun that we almost never hear from them.  We’re going to go visit them and spend two weeks with them later this year when Michael can get some time off.”

Mike put his hand on Hank’s mouth, “Hank, you just outed me in front of these people.”

I don’t think any of us was prepared for what happened next.  Mr. Madsen started to laugh, “Hank, your parents were so glad that you finally admitted that you might be gay.  I’m sure they must be pleased that you found a good looking stud like Michael here.  Heck, I’d take him to bed if I were gay.”

Mike blushed a deep color of red. Hank responded for them, “Sorry sir, but he’s taken.  You’ll have to look elsewhere.”

Mrs. Madsen interrupted, “George, you’re acting like a college student.”

George Degan looked at her, “Ma’am, what did I do?”

That broke the tension and those that realized what was happening started to giggle. 

As we were walking back to the Lottery Office, Mr. Madsen asked, “Okay guys, which option would you choose?  Les, what would you advise?”

I wasn’t expecting that question, “To be honest, Mr. and Mrs. Madsen, if I were you, I would take the money over the twenty five years. One or both of you are going to live that long.  I would have a hard time to investing $70,000,000.00 at one time.  I think it would be too easy to start doling it out and then you would have nothing.  This is none of my business, but I don’t think that you are struggling financially if you are in the process of selling your business.”

Mr. Madsen looked at George, “Mr. Degan which option would you choose?”

George looked a little sheepish, “I’m afraid that I would take the opposite path from Mr. Phillips.  I would take all I could get and run, figuring that I would be able to increase the money faster than the lottery fund and still have a blast.”

Mr. Madsen looked at Mike Peters, “Okay Mikey, what would you do?”

Mike smiled, “Sir, I would go with Mr. Phillips recommendation for several reasons.  The income for the initial payment would enable me and Hank to get out of this college town and open a bed and breakfast and still have a good life.  If the bed and breakfast didn’t work out we would have some funds the next year to try some other endeavor.”

We arrived back at the lottery office and went back to the conference room.  Mrs. Madsen started, “Gentlemen, we have decided to take the money over the twenty five year period.  We agree that the pressure of investing the money as quickly as possible might cause us to make some mistakes.  We figure that the fortune hunters would give up on us when the next several jackpots were won and stop badgering us for money.”

Mr. Madsen took over, “While we were having our great lunch, we talked about some things we wanted to do.  Les, would it be possible to meet your four sons when we get back?”

I had no idea what they wanted to talk to the boys about, but answered, “Mom Archer will be picking them up from school shortly.  They should be home if they aren’t mowing a lawn when we get home.”

George Degan spoke up, “Mike, I have made some minor changes in the paperwork that the Madsens will sign.  Can you get one of your people to type a new document or do you want them to sign this copy?”

Mike looked at the document that George had written on.  “Mr. Degan, why don’t you come with me so you can work with Sherry while she retypes the document?  While she is doing that, I’ll go get the initial payment for the Madsen’s and bring some other forms so that the additional funds and payments can be transferred electronically.”

When everyone was gone, the Madsens started to give me the third degree about my sons and wanted to know why Mrs. Archer was living with us.  I was spared having to give an explanation because George Degan and Mike Peters returned.

Mike quickly looked at the new forms and handed them to the Madsens, “If you will sign these, you will soon have a check for $ 75,000.00 in your pockets and you can go buy the Podunk town where you live.  Like I told you earlier, the rest of what is due you will be forwarded to your bank as the funds become available.  You will also receive written notification.  I suggest that you all make an exit by the side door there.  The press has gotten wind that you are here.  Since you have requested no notoriety, I’ll do my best to keep your names out of the spotlight.  We are already receiving flack from the head office about not releasing the names and pictures.  But I have informed them that they have met their match with you people and your advisors.”

We slipped out the side door after we hugged Michael.  The trip home was animated but couldn’t possibly equal the reception that awaited us at the house when we got back.  The four boys were walking toward the house with their lawn equipment.  As soon as they had their equipment put away they came running out to meet us.

Danny was all excited, “Daddy guess what.”

I kneeled down, “Danny slow down.  Guys, this is Mr. and Mrs. Madsen.  You already know Mr. Degan.”

The guys greeted them very properly.  Denny started, “This is important.  The mayor has asked us to come to the City Hall so we can be awarded Medals for helping people.”

I was thrown for a loop.  I regained my train of thought, “Guys, listen to me.  What you did was wonderful.  But if you were doing it for honors that you might receive, it wouldn’t mean very much would it?”

Darrin put his arm around me, “Daddy, we didn’t know that they gave out such awards before we did what we did.  I think you are being too hard on us.  We didn’t ask to be recognized.”

I felt like crawling into a hole in the ground.  The Madsens and George Degan were looking at me. I tried to recover, “Guys, Mr. and Mrs. Madsen would like to talk to you.”

Mr. Madsen, who was 6’4” knelt down, “Guys, my wife and I understand that you would like to feed the people at the Good Will Mission one night a month.  We’ll pay for the food if you can get some people to help prepare it.”

Darrin responded immediately, “We’ll find the people to cook the food and help serve.  We’ll get the young people at the church involved.  Mrs. Madsen, you need to supervise the menus.  Our Dads are too busy and Grandma Archer is going to be busy looking after the four of us.  There’s Daddy Bill now, we’ll ask him to get the Youth Groups from the church involved.”

Bill got out of his car and was barraged by the boys.  There was no chance for anyone to comment because Mom Archer came out and announced, “Everyone, who is eating here needs to get ready for dinner.  Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Madsen, won’t you join us for dinner we have plenty?  Georgy Porgy, I’m sorry you need to get home and take care of Donny.  Everyone move.  Dinner is ready.”

Darrin started to laugh, “Mr. and Mrs. Madsen, don’t mind Grandma.  She’s not as mean as she sounds.  You can tell that she must have a date tonight with Grandpa Jake.  She won’t tell us if he’s kissed her or not.”

Mrs. Archer picked up a wooden spoon and started toward Darrin.  He looked at her and started to giggle.  He started to back away, “Okay, I’m going, I’m going.”

I looked at Mrs. Archer, “What kind of wine tonight, Mother A.?”

“Les, we’re having chicken, so a nice White Wine would be best.”

Everyone was assembled and after Bill’s prayer, the fun began. 

The boys’ Grandmother announced, “We’re having Chicken-Rice Roger.”

Danny looked at his Grandmother, “So are you saying that we’re eating a rooster whose name was Roger?”

I looked at the Madsens and they had their hands over their mouth to keep from laughing.  I could hardly wait to see how Mrs. Archer responded.

She stopped for a minute but looked at Danny, “The chickens were raised by a farmer whose name was Roger.”

David was laughing, “So are you saying you got Birth Certificates for the chicken when you bought them?”

That sent everyone into hysterics.  We finally started to eat and Darrin took a bite of salad, “Grandma, this salad tastes like it has sugar in it.  There is something else that tastes different.  It’s not like what usually comes out of the bottles.”

Grandmother nodded, “Darrin, it didn’t come out of a bottle.  I made it myself.  It’s much cheaper than buying those prepared dressings in the bottles and better for you.  It has sugar, oil, wine vinegar and oregano.”

Denny raised his hand, “Grandmother, may I please have some more salad with lots of the dressing, so I can see what it feels like when people get drunk?”

Mr. and Mrs. Madsen almost choked on the food they had in their mouths because they were laughing so hard.  Mrs. Madsen reminded Danny, “Danny, it would probably take 100 pounds of salad with lots of dressing to make you notice the effects.  Maybe you should just have a beer instead.  Otherwise you will be going to bathroom all night.”

Denny looked at me, “Dad, do I need to eat these mushroom thingies?  I don’t like them very much.”

Mr. Madsen looked at Denny, “Denny, I’ll take them.  I really like mushrooms and I think that’s how I got so big.  I used to eat mushrooms all the time.”

Denny looked at Mr. Madsen, “That’s alright sir; I’ll eat them.  I’ll just hold my nose.  If you had anymore, you would probably turn into a giant.”

Anymore conversation was interrupted by the doorbell.  David went to answer the door and returned with Dr. Jacobs.  Mr. and Mrs. Madsen looked up, “Hi Jake, it’s been a while since we’ve seen you.”

Mr. Madsen looked at the boys, “Is this, the man who you think might be kissing your grandmother?”

Darrin looked at everyone, “Yeah, this is the culprit.  Grandpa Jake, you sit down and I’ll get you a helping of the rooster who crowed too loud and was sent to our house.  Just make sure you don’t eat too much salad or you will be staggering home.  Dads, after we do the clean up, may we go ride our bikes.  Before you ask, we don’t have any homework and we all got 100% plus all of the bonus words on the pretest today so we don’t have to take the spelling test tomorrow.”

Why I said what I did, I’ll never know.  I looked at them and shook my finger, “You guys had better not be telling me little white lies.”

The four boys started to get tears in their eyes.  Danny was almost sobbing, “Daddy, Darrin wasn’t telling a lie.  Our test papers are on the counter in the kitchen.  Grandma Archer has already looked at them.  She has signed our folders.  Maybe you and Daddy Bill should take time to look at the papers too.”

David pulled Danny away, “Dad, we know that you are having a difficult time trying to get everything done since Mother died.  But could you maybe learn to trust us and spend time talking to us before accusing us of something falsely.  Come on guys, let’s get the dishes done.”

Bill leaned over to me, “Les, go talk to the boys.  You hurt them rather badly and they retaliated.  I’m sure you feel as if you have been kicked in the stomach, but I happen to agree with the boys.  They have done everything right.  You need to trust them or you are going to seem like Lisa the second to them.”

‘Now that I’ve been kicked and am suffering, why not kick me again?’  I walked into the kitchen and the guys totally shut down.  They worked without talking.  I couldn’t stand the silence any longer, “Guys, listen to me, please.  I’m sorry that you thought I was doubting you.   Guys, you are the most important people in the world to me.  David said it very well.  I am having a difficult time trying to be Dr. Mom and Dr. Dad at the same time.”

Darrin looked at me, “Dad, what hurt the most is that you made us look bad in front of visitors.  Why couldn’t you have talked to us in private?  What are Mr. and Mrs. Madsen and Grandpa Jake going to think of us?”

I pulled Denny and Danny to me, “Guys, it’s not you that they are going to think less of.  It’s me.  Father Bill has already kicked me where it hurts the most.”

David started to laugh, “Dad, Daddy Bill didn’t actually kick you in the nuts did he?”

I was caught off guard again, “What do you mean?”

Danny said, “He asked if Daddy Bill kicked you in the balls.”

“Wait a minute guys, where did you hear those terms?  Please don’t use them around any of the other people in the house.”

Darrin looked at me with a funny glint, “Dad, some of the guys have older brothers and they talk about what their brothers do and say.  We probably know more terms that you would find unacceptable than you do.  Look, I know that David had his first night time emission and all he does is keep checking to see if he is getting hair like you and Daddy Bill have around your penises.”

I didn’t know how to handle this conversation.  I looked at the guys, “Guys, go ride your bike for 15 minutes and then you need to take a shower.  You do have school tomorrow even if you don’t have to take the spelling test.”

The guys left and I walked into the dining room where everyone was still sitting, “People, I guess I didn’t handle that situation very well.  The guys are okay now.  They just gave me a lesson in the terms that could be used to describe the male reproductive parts.  I stopped the instruction before they got to the really good parts.”

Mother Archer looked at me, “So, I guess I need to go look for a chalk board or white board or whatever they are called these days.  Let’s move into the living room where we can be more comfortable, Les can serve us an after dinner drink.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  Les seems to have put his foot in his mouth in terms of how he reacted to his kids.  I hope he can come to terms with the fact that he has some very special children and that they love him and would try their best to please him, especially after the way their mother treated them. Luckily there are other people in the family that are more level headed or at least not under quite so much pressure and can see things a bit more clearly.  Maybe we will find out in the next chapter.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 06/03/11