“P” Is For the Peeping Pat
by: E Walk
(© 2009-2011 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 14  

Dad’s Idiosyncrasies

We left Travis out at the Catering Service.  Nathan met him, “It’s about time you got your butt over here.  We need all the help we can get, and Shane refuses to leave Tommy home by himself.  You, Shawn and Teddy will have to be in charge, tomorrow, since Don, Mike, Ethan and I need to be available for Don and Mike’s parents’ memorial service.  Mrs. Janowski wants to talk to you and Dad.”

I took Martin and Seth into the catering service building, Mrs. Janowski came to meet us.  “Mr. Sloane, are you sure that there’s no way that the four boys can work tomorrow?”

“Mrs. Janowski, we’re having a memorial service for Don and Mike's parents.  Their parents were my sons’ aunt and uncle, so it would be rather tacky if they weren’t present for the duration of the service and visitation with whatever relatives might come.  I know that my sister and I only have a very few relatives, and I have no idea how many relatives their father had who might be coming.  I could probably con Shane and Tommy into helping, you but it would have to be a one time deal, given their ages.”

Mrs. Janowski was wringing her hands, “The party we have scheduled for tomorrow night is a very important group.  If things go well, we might able to get their annual contract which would represent a sizeable amount of money for the company.”

Marty surprised me, “If you wouldn’t mind having a limp pastor and an unemployed lawyer helping you, we can do the menial work to help out.  That would give us a chance to get to know our nephew and his friends.”

Mrs. Janowski laughed, “I’ll take you up on your offer.  You can dish up the food, while the young people serve it.  Steve, please make sure that Shane and Tommy are here as well.  I’ll make sure they work only four hours.”

As we were going home, Seth asked, “What are we going to do about getting Travis’ house cleaned up so it is livable?”

I answered as best I could, “As soon as the police give us the go ahead, we’ll have the boys help and we can have the problem taken care of in no time.  Are you thinking of moving here to live with Travis?”

Marty shrugged his shoulders. “We need to sit down and talk to Travis.  A lot depends on what he wants to do.  It is apparent that he has a lot of friends here. Life in Los Angeles would be entirely different.  I’m ready for a change.  I don’t want to work in the penal system any longer.  I’m getting too old for that.”

Seth added, “If I moved here, I could get a fresh start.  I had a good client base in California, but my DUI caused some of my better clients to decide to find another lawyer.  I think that we’re both rather tired of living in the big city.  Of course, everything will depend on what Travis wants to do.  He’s the person with the money.  Both Marty and I have been very frugal, so we have enough to retire on very comfortably.  The only problem is that we’re too young to fully retire.”

We arrived at the house as Pat was arriving.  He looked very tired.  He hugged me, “It’s as if the inspection team is trying to find everything that has been wrong with the sheriff’s department for years.  I feel as if I’ve been whirling around inside of a washing machine all day.”

Shane giggled, “You must not have used the right kind of detergent because you smell rather ripe.  Why don’t you go take a shower and relax?  Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes.  Someone needs to go to the store or we’re going to run out of food.  Tommy and I aren’t hoofing it there and back.”

I decided to get revenge, “You may not be hoofing it to the store, but you’re both working tomorrow night with Mr. Skelley and Mr. Hughes, since some of us will be tied up with Don and Mike’s parent’s memorial service.”

Shane fell on the floor, “Tommy, I don’t feel too good.  I think it’s the grilled cheese sandwich we had for lunch.  The cheese must have been rancid.”

“Get up, you faker.  We need to feed these people so they can go help Don and Mike make sure their house is clean for tomorrow.”

Martin laughed, “Guys, just be thankful that you don’t have to clean Travis’ house.  It was ransacked by people looking for things of value.”

Shane asked, “Did they find anything?”

I answered, “We don’t honestly know, yet.  The police kicked us out so they could take fingerprints.”

We had finished dinner and everyone was relaxing when the phone rang.  Tommy answered, “Dad, it’s for you.”

“This is Steve.”

“Dad, it’s Nathan.  We’re going to spend the night at Don and Mike’s house and make sure it’s clean for any unexpected visitors, tomorrow.  Teddy will be bringing the others home.  We understand that Shane, Tommy, Reverend Skelley and Mr. Hughes are going to fill in for us tomorrow.”

I chuckled, “That’s the plan, as of now.  I’ll meet you at the house in the morning to make sure everything is ready before we go to the church.  Do you guys have you dress clothes with you or do I need to bring them?”
 

“We brought everything with us.  We’ll see you in the morning.”

When Teddy arrived with Shane and Travis, Travis laughed, “Uncle Seth and Uncle Martin, it looks like there will be lots of room for you to stay here tonight.”

Seth nodded, “That’s true for tonight, but we can’t intrude on Mr. Sloane forever.  Where would you like to live?”
 

Travis took a deep breath, “You mean you're asking me where I want to live?”

Marty nodded, “We thought we would get your opinion before we made any decisions.”

Travis smiled. “I’d like to continue to live here.  All my friends are here and I don’t know anyone in Los Angeles.  We could live here in the house since it is mortgage free.  The master bedroom is on the first floor, so Uncle Marty wouldn’t have to contend with the stairs.  The biggest problem there would be to living in the house is to cleaning the damage the vandals have done.”

Seth shook his head, “We’ll need to get clearance from the police before we start to do any cleanup.  We don’t want to move before they give us the clearance and we make sure that the alias Professor Farr is put out of the picture for good.”

Teddy changed the direction of the conversation, “My parents want me to come home tonight.  They have some things they want to discuss.  I’ll be back early in the morning so there will be one person who has a car and can drive.  It might be a little tight getting six people in my car.”

When Pat and I were in bed, he snuggled, “Steve, I’ll need to leave for the office early in the morning.  I have the distinct impression that my supervisor is on to the fact that I’ve been spending a lot of time here at your house.  He hasn’t made any comments yet, but it’s as if it’s on the tip of his tongue.”

“Pat, you’re imagining things.  What would he do if he realized what was happening?”

Pat shook his head, “The least he could do would be to recommend that I be fired because of my sexual orientation.”

“Pat, are you having regrets that we’ve gotten together?”

“Steve, I’m not having regrets, but I have no way of knowing what my supervisor might think, since this is the first time I’ve seen him in action.  Believe me, they’re leaving no stones unturned and making sure all the i’s are dotted and that t’s are crossed.”

“Pat, you’re being overly sensitive.  Let’s get a good night's sleep since we all have busy days tomorrow.”

Pat woke at five and I made him an omelet before I sent off to face the dreaded inspectors.  Teddy had his father to check on the status of Travis’ house. Chief Conklin assured Teddy that it was okay to clean the house, but to make sure the clean up was charged to the insurance company.  The company could arrange for it to be cleaned but then you run the risk of sticky fingers, since there are some valuable heirlooms in the house.”

I took Teddy’s car so he could drive my van and he would have enough space for his passengers.

I made my way to the Wilson’s house.  By the time I arrived, the guys had the downstairs looking pretty good.  People had started to bring casseroles.  I decided that there should be someone present to receive guests during the service, since only the immediate family would be going to the cemetery.

We called the Hughes house, and they were having a much more difficult time getting the cleaning done, because of the vandalism.  Travis added, “We’re concentrating on the first floor, so Uncle Milton can move about easier.”

I went to pick up Shane and Bobby so they could be there if people dropped foods for the guys.

That turned out to be smart.  By the time we left for the church, there were already at least twenty casseroles, salads and desserts.

After a very nice service at the church and cemetery, Don invited the guests to join us for light meal at the house.  When we arrived from the cemetery, the food had more than doubled.  Fortunately, someone had thought to bring paper plates and plastic utensils.  Tommy kept watching the clock.  At four o’clock, he came to me, “Mr. Sloane, we need to get to the catering job or Mrs. Janowski will never hire us again." 

I dropped Tommy and Shane at the banquet and made way back to the funeral gathering, since I was needed when the will was read

Finally, there were only those who had a need to know the contents of the will remaining.  Mr. Webster looked around, “As most of you know.  The Browns left their entire financial holdings in Mr. Steve Sloane’s care, until such time as their sons turn 21.”

Don frowned, “That does not seem exactly fair.  It’s like the parents didn’t trust us when it comes to managing money.”

I explained, “When your father was your age, he inherited a large sum of money.  He squandered the money, and it was your mother who was able to get him to be fiscally responsible.  Your parents want you to realize that money doesn‘t regenerate itself.  If you want or need money, we will sit down and discuss the expenditure.  You will be able to live the lifestyle to which you are accustomed, but you won’t be able to run out and buy everything that you see.  We need to sit down, this weekend, and make a plan of action.”

After all the paperwork was signed, we loaded up all the food that people had brought, so we could take it to the house on the lake.  I had the guys collect the sympathy cards that had been left at the church or the house.  The mail was already being forwarded to the house, so that wasn’t a problem. Don and Mike had no idea how much work they had to do to write the thank you notes for the food and the memorials.

Nathan decided we should stop by where the caterers were working, to see if we could be of any assistance.  Mrs. Janowski came to us as we walked in, “Tommy and Shane have these people charmed.  They have booked our services every Thursday for the next year.  We’ll have to figure a way to have Shane and Tommy work every Thursday night.”

Nathan frowned, “Great, I’ve been pushed out of my job by a little kid.  Ethan and I will stay and finish, so Mr. Skelley and Mr. Hughes can leave.  Mr. Skelley probably is getting tired, being on his foot.”

Martin was having so much fun that he was reluctant to leave, but Nathan was right, in that his ankle was starting to bother him.  We played switch the car game, so that everyone had their own car.  When we arrived at the house on the lake, Pat wasn’t there.  I figured that he had gotten bogged down with the inspection team and thought nothing more of it.

Mike, Don and Seth unloaded the goodies from the cars while I put it in the refrigerator or freezer.  When we were finished, there wasn’t room for any more food, so Shane and Tommy wouldn’t have any reason to complain that there wasn‘t any food.  We had just gotten comfortable when the phone rang.

Mike answered, “This is the Sloane residence. … Oh hi, Sheriff.  Dad Steve is right here in all his glory.  I’ll put him on.”

“What’s up, Pat?  I thought you would have been here when we got here.”

“Steve, Mother had a major heart attack and isn’t expected to make it through the night.  Can you bring the boys to the University Medical Center?”

“Pat, I’ll go get them and bring them to the hospital.  Mike and Don are here.  They can finish out the shifts for the guys.  We’ll be there as soon as possible.”

I turned to Don and Mike, “Guys, get dressed so you can relieve Shawn and Shane.  Their Grandmother is in the University Hospital in critical condition.”

Don shook his head, “The guys should be almost done.  Call Nathan and see how much more work is to be done.  They are much closer to the hospital than we are.  Nathan can take them there and then can go back and help the guys finish.”

I dialed Nathan’s cell number, “This is Nathan Sloane.”

“Nate, it’s Dad.  How close are you to being finished?”

“The guys are clearing the tables right now.  We should be finished with the clearing in five minutes.”

“Good, take Shawn and Shane to University Hospital as soon as you can.  Their Grandmother had a massive heart attack and is in critical condition.  The Sheriff wants the two boys to come to the hospital as soon as possible.”

“Dad, the guys can walk to the hospital faster than someone could drive them.  I’ll kick their butts out of here, now.  The rest of us can finish up here.

It was an hour later when the phone rang again, I answered, “This is Steve Sloane.”

“Steve, Mother just died.”

“Oh Pat, I’m so sorry.  Did the boys get there in time to say goodbye to her?”

“Yes, she talked to both Shane and Shawn.  Her last words to me were, ’Take care of Mr. Sloane.’  I think that was her way of blessing us being together.  We’ll be there, shortly.  I don’t think there is much more I can do, tonight.  The mortuary is coming to pick up her body.  See you in about thirty minutes.”

I turned to the visitors and the nephews, “That was Sheriff Kincaid: his Mother just died.  They will be here in about thirty minutes.  The rest of the guys should be here shortly.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  That was sad.  Pat's mom was very nice, and it was very sweet of her to bless the two of them, being together.

Things continue to be going along at a tremendously fast pace.

I can hardly wait to see what happens next.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 01/14/11