Pinochle
by: E Walk

(© 2007 by the Author)
Editor: Will B
 

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

 

Chapter 60
He Did it Again

 

 

This is Brian. 

 

We walked to the running path and we started to run.  We started to run at a good pace since Derek and I had run when he visited before.  I looked at John and he was struggling, trying to keep up with us because he was still hurting.  I poked Derek and indicated that we should slow down.  It was more like we were trotting rather than running and John seemed to be handling that okay. 

 

We rounded a copse of trees and I heard someone crying.  I motioned for the other two guys to stop.  They heard the crying sounds and we went to see what was happening.  We saw a young woman who I knew by sight because Ben had dated her a couple times.  John obviously knew her fairly well, “Robin, what happened?  This is your 18th birthday.  You should be celebrating.”

 

John sat down beside her and put his arms around her, “Robbi, why are you crying.”

 

The young lady looked at John, “John, he used my body.  He called my parents and told them he wanted to take me for my 18th Birthday Breakfast to celebrate and my parents agreed.  He brought me here and he raped me.”

 

I was so upset that I went and threw up whatever was in my stomach, which wasn’t very much.  When I came back, I looked at Robin.  “Robin, I know who you are because you dated my brother, Ben, several times.  Did the person who hurt you just happen to be named Reverend Waite?”

 

Robin looked at me funny but answered, “Brian, I know who you are.  You look like your brother and I heard that you posed naked in art class yesterday and yes, it was the magnificent fat slob, Reverend Waite, who raped me and he didn’t even use any protection.  How did you know?”

 

Poor Derek had no idea what was going on.  I wish I had a cell phone with me.  I guess I’ll need to start carrying one when I run.  I helped Robin up, “Come on guys, we need to take Robin to my house so I can get Doctor Tommy to check her.  Robin, I think you should stay at our house if what John’s father did to him is any indication of what your parents might do to you if you told them what happened.”

 

As we were going into the house, I stopped, “Everyone, please let me do the talking.  Lauren doesn’t need to know the gory details.  The fewer people who know what happened to the two of you, the better it will be for you two.”

 

John challenged me, “Brian, do you realize that you just told Derek and Robin what happened to me?”

 

Derek shook his head, “Brian, did not say anything that told us what happened to you.  Remember, I met your Mother and brothers last night and I never suspected what happened to you.  Brian indicated that you had a fight with a skate board and then today he said that your father hurt you.  He did not say you had been raped.”

 

I stopped any more banter, “Come on guys, we need to get Robin back to our house.  Robin, did the Reverend hit you?”

 

Robin shook her head no and we walked slowly back to the house.  Fortunately Mother and Lauren were downstairs.  I didn’t give them much of a chance to talk.  “Lauren, please take Robin and help her and see if you have some clothes that might fit her.  She probably shouldn’t take a shower until Doctor Tommy has a chance to check her.”

 

Lauren and Robin knew each other because they were both cheerleaders.  Lauren didn’t ask any questions.  I turned to Derek and John.  “Guys, go take your showers and then I’ll take mine.  I need to talk to Dad and Mother while Lauren and Robin are gone.”

 

The two guys didn’t give me any static.  “Dad and Mother, Reverend Waite did the same thing to Robin as he did to John, and Robin said the prick didn’t even use protection.  Today is her 18th Birthday.  Dad, please ask Mr. Everett and Uncle Philip Burns to get as much information on that man as they can and as soon as possible.  I want him to fry in hell.”

 

I realized that I used a word that wasn’t acceptable in our house, “Dad and Mother, I’m sorry but there is no way that a man of the cloth can do what he has done to John and Robin and ruin their lives.  Who knows how many more people he has misused?”

 

We were finally sitting down to breakfast when the phone rang and it was for Mother.  We watched as she was talking and I could tell that she was livid, “Mrs. Conroy, this is all based on hearsay.  We can’t have a special board meeting to fire Ms. Kinloch and expel a student for indecent exposure without a fair hearing. … You already have five board members who have agreed to have the special meeting on Monday night. … Reverend Waite has organized some pastors of some churches and they’re going to be there to plead their case.”

 

After Mother sat down, I looked at everyone, “Mother and Dad, we need to be proactive rather than reactive.  We have three days to plan the counter attack.  In the meantime, Mother, why don’t you call Robin’s parents and ask if Robin can spend the weekend here.”

 

Mother, Robin and Lauren left and I turned to Dad, “Dad, please call Doctor Tommy and tell him what’s happened.  I think he needs to come and check both Robin and John since John is still bleeding.  Dad, I think we should have Robin and John talk to Father Wanamaker.”

 

This is Beau.

 

After Brian made the last request, he turned white and dashed from the room.  I was really concerned and went to look for him and found him in the downstairs bathroom heaving out his breakfast.  He finally stopped when he realized I was there.  He rinsed out his mouth and fell into my arms, “Dad, am I so evil that I am causing these things to happen?  I can’t do anything right.  Maybe I should leave before something else bad happens.”

 

I hugged him as tight as I could, “Brian, you, of all people, are not bad, maybe a little overbearing, but definitely not evil.  As you said, we have three days to get this mess straightened out.  In the meantime, we need to figure out what to do with your guests.  I’m going to go broke if you keep bringing people home.”

 

Brian looked at me with a sparkle in his eye, “Daddy, I’ll check to see if you’re still solvent after I bring the next hundred home.  Dad, please see what you can do to help John and Robin. I’m going to go take a shower.  I feel so dirty.”

 

I hobbled back to the kitchen and the two girls were helping John and Derek with the dishes.  Becca motioned for me to follow her.  “Beau, I’ve called Robin’s mother and cleared it for Robin to spend the night with us.  I think we should do everything that Brian has suggested.  He has something in his mind and I don’t even think he knows what it is yet.  He hasn’t been wrong so far.”

 

I called Mr. Everett and told him what Brian wanted and then I called Philip Burns and asked him to do the same thing.  I asked the guys to fax any information they got to us as soon as possible.  I called Tommy and he was going to be arriving in twenty minutes and finally I called Father Wanamaker and he wanted to come to the house to meet with John and Robin because of some event that was happening at the church that day.

 

I went to find Brian and tell him what I had done.  He was sitting on his bed wearing just his briefs writing on a pad.  I sat down beside him and put my arm around him.  “Son, don’t try to do everything by yourself.  You’re still fourteen, let others do some of the work and help you.”

 

Brian looked at me with his big eyes, “Dad, I’m still formulating a plan, and I’m positive that I am going to need a lot of help.  I think that we should not involve Mother too much though, because she is going to have her hands full just running the meeting on Monday evening.”

 

Brian was like a Mother Hen with John and Robin when he finally got downstairs.  When Tommy arrived, he and Becca took Robin to Ben’s room and Tommy examined her.  They returned and Brian went with John to his room with Dr. Tommy.

 

This is Brian.

 

As Uncle Tommy was leaving, he hugged me, “Brian, you need to stop this.  You are beginning to act more and more like your Uncle Jeff and your Dad every day.  You can’t take care of everyone’s problems.”

 

I hugged him, “Doctor Tommy, I’m trying, and I have enough problems of my own right now.”

 

Father Wanamaker visited with the two guests and I could sense that both John and Robin were feeling better about things after their visits.  I walked Father Wanamaker to the door and hugged him.  He whispered, “Brian, you are a beautiful young man in every way.  Please slow down and smell the roses.”

 

I went to start lunch and had a brainstorm, ‘I know what we’re going to do this afternoon.  Now I just need to see how I can make it work.’  Before I had lunch ready, there were more people in the kitchen trying to help than there were things to do, so I climbed on the counter and directed the traffic.

 

After lunch, I had Mother call Mrs. Waters and ask if we could pick up Jason and Jeremy.  Mrs. Waters asked to speak to me, “Brian, what am I going to tell my husband?”

 

“Ma’am, if he’s there. Let me talk to him.  I think I can soothe a way for Jason and Jeremy to have a fun afternoon with their brother. … Good afternoon, Mr. Waters, my parents are making me do a service project because I was disrespectful yesterday.  I met your sons yesterday after school and thought maybe I could help them be better Christians. … Yeah, I’m a young teenager and I believe that God loves us. … Okay sir, I’ll have my sister drive me to your house so I can get Jason and Jeremy and we’ll feed them dinner and then bring them home.”

 

I turned to the assembled people, “Come on, Lauren, take me to get Jeremy and Jason while the rest of these people take care of the cleanup.”

 

This is John.

 

Lauren and Brian left and the rest of us were trying to figure out what Brian had on his mind.  I don’t even think Mr. and Mrs. Benson knew what Brian was thinking.

 

When he came in with Jason and Jeremy, he practically ordered everyone to sit down and listen.  He picked up a Bible and started to read, “In the beginning.  That’s enough of the Bible, now everyone fold their hands and we need to pray.  Dear Lord, help Jason and Jeremy enjoy this day with their brother. Amen.  Now let’s take Jason and Jeremy and have a good time.  Mother and Dad, we won’t be home for dinner. So why don’t you go out to dinner or sit here and enjoy each other. I told Mr. Waters that I would have the boys home before dark.”

 

We got to the movie complex and Brian suggested, “You people go see whatever movie you want and the guys and I’ll go see this re-release of Pinocchio.”

 

I looked at Robin and she knew what I was asking, “Brian, we’ll go with you and the guys.  It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that movie.”

 

I was surprised when Derek answered, “People, I’ve never seen that movie.  We’ll go with you, too.”

 

Brian paid for all seven tickets and then he ordered three barrels of popcorn and got everyone a small drink.  I kept thinking to myself, ‘Where did he get the money to pay for all of this stuff?’

 

We went into the theatre and Jason and Jeremy were sitting on either side of Brian.  I noticed about half way through the movie Jeremy crawled onto Brian’s lap and I was just a little jealous.  As we were leaving the theatre, Brian made sure that we all went to the bathroom and then he directed Derek to this restaurant that specialized in build your own burgers.

 

He, Jason and Jeremy went first.  “We’ll have two deluxe cheeseburgers, three salads and three chocolate shakes.  I’ll pay for everything and even include the four people behind us.”  He handed the young woman a card.

 

He handed the shakes to Jason and sent him to find a table while he helped Jeremy get his salad.  He took Jeremy to the table and helped Jason as he got his salad.  Brian made sure that both guys had enough salad and then fixed his own salad.  When everyone was seated, Brian looked at Jason and Jeremy.  “Okay guys, I want you to take a bite of this onion and spit it in this napkin and yell ‘Yuck.’”

 

The guys did as they were told and Brian went to throw the napkins away and came back to eat his salad as the server brought our burgers to the table.  Brian, Jeremy and Jason decided that all they wanted was a little ketchup and mustard which was already on the table.  The other four of us went to see who could build the fanciest burger.  When we got back to the table, Brian was cajoling Jason and Jeremy.  “You guys, need to eat half your burger.  I won’t be able to eat anymore.”

 

When we left the restaurant, Brian even left a tip.

 

As we were driving the boys home, Brian was giving the boys last minute instructions, “Make sure you tell your Dad that I read the Bible to you and we said a prayer.  Tell him I made you watch a stupid movie and then I made you eat this yucky food.”

 

When we pulled up to my parents’ house, Brian instructed Robin and me to put our heads down so no one could see us.  We could hear Jason and Jeremy from the van.  “Dad and Mom, please don’t make us go with Brian again.  He read from the Bible and then we had to pray.  We went to see this dumb movie about a piece of wood and then he made us eat this yucky green stuff.”

 

Brian threw up his hands, “Mr. and Mrs. Waters, I tried.”

 

As we pulled away from my parents’ house, Brian proclaimed. “John, your brothers deserve Academy Awards for their performances.  Why don’t you drop me off at home and you people can go do whatever older teenagers do?”

 

Derek surprised me, “Brian, how about we go to your house and just chill.  I for one don’t need any more excitement today.”

 

This is Brian.

 

I was surprised when the junior and seniors wanted to sit at the house and just chill.  When we walked in, Dad and Mother were sitting next to each other on the sofa reading.  I couldn’t help myself, “Lookee, Mickey and Minnie Mouse are reading their favorite comic books.”

 

Mother looked up, “At least we can read.  Brian, do you suppose you could stay home and take your own phone calls?  I’m tired of jumping up and down.  You have had six calls in the last half hour.  The messages are on the table.”

 

I went to look to see who they were from.  I decided to call the numbers in the order they had come in, The first one was an overseas number so it is a good thing my parents had joined up with Skype when it first started.  I called the number and heard a gruff voice, “This is the Johnson gallery, what do you want?”

 

I was a little bit shaken until I realized it was Kelly talking.  I wasn’t going to let him get the best of me.  “Look Kelly, I’m a busy person.  I don’t have time to play games.  What’s the problem?”

 

Mr. Kelly came back, “Benson, what are you trying to do?  Drive me to an early grave with all of the crappy photographs and charcoals you sent.  The oil of you on the rock is absolutely obscene.  I’ll give you five thousand pounds for it.  No one should ever see anything that ugly.  You aren’t going to be sending anything else are you?”

 

“Brian, this is Shelby.  Kelly has been like a slave driver ever since this shipment arrived.  He is so waiting to meet the three new artists and he was serious when he was talking about the painting of you on the rock.  He still hasn’t decided how best to display it.  Mr. Johnson wants to talk to you.”

 

Mr. Johnson came on.  “Hey Brian, I’m so looking forward to your visit.  Your opening is going to set the art community on fire. I love the painting that you did of Ben and Grant playing checkers.  I almost feel like I am watching the game.  I don’t know if we can have everything ready for next weekend but Kelly is so in love with what the four of you have done that he is going to drive me bankrupt.”

 

I quickly flipped through the rest of the messages and decided they could wait until tomorrow.  I stood and announced, “I’m going to bed.”

 

This is Beau.

 

The other four teenagers took a game to the dining room and were playing.  I guess the events of the day had finally gotten to Robin because she and Lauren came and said goodnight to Becca and me.  I watched as Lauren and Robin ascended the stairs and was surprised when Derek and John came to talk to Becca and me.

 

John started, “Mr. and Mrs. Benson, are you sure that Brian is only fourteen years old?  He seems to know exactly what to do.  I wish you could have seen how he manipulated my brothers today.  My brothers probably have my natural father thinking that Brian is a saint.  What in the world was that conversation with Kelly about?”

 

Derek took over, “I know I’m an outsider, but I can tell that Brian is a very unique person.  He seems so self assured, but does he have any good friends his own age?  I know he proclaims to have a girlfriend in England, but he can’t let himself become wrapped in small children like John’s wonderful brothers.  I know he is an artist, but he still is going to need some friends.  How many fourteen year old guys would be satisfied to spend the day two young boys and two older teenage couples?”

 

Becca answered, “John and Derek, Brian is a unique young man as Derek suggested.  He has many friends, but he has been rather busy lately.  He spent a week in England and we left the day after they returned for the nude dude ranch as he calls it and then his father had surgery and school started and he was suspended on the first day.  John and Derek, Brian is fiercely loyal to people he respects and trusts and will do almost anything for them.  But I can assure he is probably in his room doing something as we speak.”

 

I took over, “He may be painting, writing or reading.  Brian will never tell you this, but he was made a knight by the Queen of England, which even his sisters don’t know; and when he came home from England, he was traveling with The President of the United States, President Smith.  Please do not say anything to him.  You two are very lucky, especially you John, that he likes you and must respect and care for you.  Now I suggest we go to bed.”

 

This is John.

 

My mind has been blown away by what Mr. and Mrs. Benson just told us.  I really just want to sit and talk to Derek but that’s not possible.  This entire family is so mysterious.

 

Derek and I went to the bedroom and Brian was lying on the bed drawing with his pastels.  He looked at us as we entered, “It’s about time.  Get out of those clothes and strip to your briefs.” 

 

Oh no, what’s Brian going to do now?

 

To be continued... 

 Feedback always welcome:     

Will’s Comment:  I’m sure Brian has an excellent idea.  He usually does.

 

Darryl's observations:  I certainly think that Brian is a genius.  He had John's father eating right out of his hand, and the two youngsters didn't tell him anything but the truth. I know how much fun it can be to mess with someone's mind when they are so rooted in their narrow mindedness that they take things you say and twist them into something completely different than what you actually said.  I have always been amazed that some people can take the message that The Bible teaches and turn it into something so vial and hateful that it is down right infectious.  When you read the words that supposedly quote Jesus, his message is clear. We are to love one another and we are to believe in him. He also points out that none of us are even close to perfect and that none of us could possibly deserve to attain Heaven. We can only get there because of Grace.  I have no idea how anyone can read that book and get out of it, that there are some people whom we should hate and despise.  There have been a lot of different translations over the years, and many of them have translated the translations. If anyone has ever used one of the on line translators, that change from English to Spanish, and then translated the Spanish back into English, you will see just how strange and foolish sounding the result will be.

 

Here is a seemingly unrelated example. In the Eskimo or Inuit language there are several different words for snow. If you were to translate a sentence from that language to English, all the words that were used to describe different kinds of snow would simply say “snow” and all the subtleties would be lost.  I think you can see where I might be going with this.

 

There are a lot of so called sins mentioned in the old testament that are freely translated to the word abomination.  Many of those things that were then thought of as terribly wrong, no longer are regarded as such, yet certain people have singled out others of those things and hold them up for ridicule, and hate.    

 

I suppose that I am preaching to the choir here, but hey if the choir wants to listen, then I will be glad to tell you my beliefs. We should love one another and help those less fortunate than ourselves. Do that because it is the right thing to do, not because it will get you to heaven, or because God won't love you if you don't. That would be like a Boy Scout only doing something good because he wanted a merit badge.  That is not a very good reason for doing something that should be done anyway.  Okay, just let me climb down off my soapbox here. I think I spilled a little soap on the ground here. I'll try to be more careful next time.

 

This was a very good chapter and I am sure that something good will come of it. I can hardly wait to see what that will be.

 

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

 

Posted: 10/24/08