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 63

The Double Whammy 

This is Beau.

Reverend Waite realized that he had been busted, and the words coming out of his mouth were unimaginable.  “You little slut, I’m a man of God.  How dare you challenge me?  My name is not Ernest McCoy but George T. Waite.”

Brian stood up and faced the man, “Sir, we have proof that you were born in the area of Asheville, North Carolina and that you aren’t even literate.  Here I just happen to have a Bible with me.  Why don’t you read from the first page of the old testament?”

The man whoever he was started, ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’

Brian interrupted, “Okay Mr. McCoy, that's enough of the Old Testament, let’s see if you can read the first book of the New Testament.”  He flipped to a marker in the bible he was holding, “Mr. please read the first chapter of the New Testament.”

The ex-Reverend started. ‘A record of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham.’

Brian walked over to Mrs. Conroy, “Ma’am, would you read what is on the first page of this Bible, please.”

She looked at Brian funny but started to read, “Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, and all of king’s men couldn’t help him after his fall.”

Brian appeared so calm, “Thank you Mrs. Conroy.  Mr. Hogan would you read what it written on the first page of the New Testament, please?”

Mr. Hogan started to read, “Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.”

The proceedings were interrupted by two waving figures in the back wearing Halloween costumes and masks.  They yelled in falsetto voices, “Mr. Benson, we have this pail of garbage that we want to throw on the rapist, Mr. McCoy.”

Brian looked at them, “Jack and Jill, won’t you please join us here in the front?”

Mrs. Conroy spoke up, “Mr. Benson, what does this have to do the proceedings of this board?”

Brian had pulled on his sweat clothes.  “Madame President, I have every right to discredit the people who have caused this action to unjustly expel me, to be brought to the board.”

Mr. Phipps spoke, “Madam President, I move that we listen to what these young people have to say.  From what I have heard, Mr. Benson is correct; the actions to expel him are totally unjust.”

Mrs. Rose nodded, “I second Mr. Phipps’ motion.  Mr. Benson has every right to present his case.”

Poor Becca.  She was holding together rather well considering.  “Is there more discussion?”  Becca looked around the table and no one wanted to speak.  “Seeing none; Rita, please take the vote on whether Mr. Benson should be permitted to proceed. ”

Mrs. Conroy and Mr. Hogan voted ‘no’ but the other four members voted ‘yes’ and Becca abstained.  I can hardly wait to see what Brian says about that.

Becca looked at Brian, “Go ahead Mr. Benson, but try to not take all night; I need to get home and visit with my children.”

That caused a ripple of laughter in the room, but Brian ignored it.  “Madam President, I will be as brief as I can.  First, Chief Davis, would you and your officers please come and make sure that Mr. Ernest McCoy doesn’t try to leave?  I believe that you have received a packet similar to this and a warrant for the arrest of one Ernest McCoy and some information from the examining physician with the results of samples taken from the two rape victims, have you not?”

Chief Davis nodded, “Yes, Mr. Benson, everything has been turned over to the proper offices and agencies.”

Brian was very proper, “Thank you, Chief Davis.”

Brian turned to the Board members, “Just so you know how evil this man is, I am going to give you a synopsis of Mr. McCoy’s life.  He was born in the area of Asheville, North Carolina.  He was expelled from school in the sixth grade for raping a young female classmate.  He somehow managed to enlist in the U. S. Army even though he couldn’t read.”

“He was dishonorably discharged when he was court marshaled for raping two fellow soldiers.  He has subsequently been arrested and has served two terms in prison.  It was during his last term in prison in Missouri that he became a born again Christian, but that didn’t stop him from taking sexual advantage of young people once he was released.  In fact there are outstanding warrants for his arrest, in four states.”

“When he arrived here in Fremont five years ago at the age of 42, he must have charmed some people because we know he can’t read.  What he did while he was in prison was listen to tapes of the Bible and sermons by Spurgeon who lived in the 1800’s so that he has completely fooled his parishioners on his biblical knowledge and background.”

“I am just amazed that no one in his church challenged him.”

“Oh, one last thing: he has left behind three wives and who knows how many children and he hasn’t been providing a cent to support them.  He just keeps changing his name and moving on.”

“Now back to the matter of Jack and Jill.  Jack, would you please tell us what happened to you?”

John was still speaking in his falsetto voice, “I was taking two of my friends home on Thursday after school when I received a call from Mr. McCoy telling me that he needed to see me in his office at the church.  I dropped my friends at their houses and went to the church office and no one else was around.  When I walked in, he stood and said he had a birthday present for me and locked his office door.”

“He slammed me against the wall and after he was finished using my body, he practically threw me out of his office while I was in a state of being semi-undress.  He yelled, “Anytime I call, you will come and don’t you dare make me bleed again.”

Mr. McCoy screamed out, “John Waters, you know you came to me and asked me to do what I did.  I did not call you.  You came into my office and locked the door and started to undress me.”

Brian interrupted, “Ernie, a friend and I were with Jack when he received your phone call.  So we know that you are lying.  Jack, where did you make this man bleed?”

John answered, “The only part of him that I could reach was his arms, so I bit him so hard several times that he started to bleed on his left arm.  It appears to me that some also caused scars to his face.”

Brian was relentless, “Jack, what happened after you had your experience with Mr. McCoy?”

John nodded, “I went home and told my parents what had happened and my father took exception to what I was saying about his beloved Reverend Waite and he hurt me and practically threw me out.  You know the rest.  I went to your parents’ house and they took me to the Emergency Room at the hospital where I was examined by Doctor Tommy Wilson.”

Brian turned to Jill, “Thank you Jack.  Jill, would you care to share what happened to you.”

Robin spoke in a falsetto voice, “Mr. Benson, on Friday evening my parents received a call from Mr. McCoy suggesting that he take me for breakfast on my eighteenth birthday because we had plans the rest of the day.  My parents agreed and Mr. McCoy picked me up at 7:30 on Saturday morning and drove to the park and suggested we go for a walk.  When we got to this clump of trees, he led me in and there was a blanket spread on the ground.  He started to undress me and put me on the ground.  I tried to fight him and scratched his face leaving the marks that are on his face. When he finished with me he stood and said, ‘Anytime I want you, you will come to me.’”

“I went home and told my parents and they are prepared to charge the man with rape.  They wanted to see what was going to happen tonight.  Doctor Wilson took samples of the deposits in my vaginal tract as well as the scrapings under my fingernails.  Mrs. Benson made sure that Doctor Tommy got all of the samples he needed.”

Mr. McCoy shouted, “You’re going to hell, Robin Edwards.”

Mrs. Conroy interrupted, “Mrs. Benson, if you knew about what was happening, then why are we having this meeting tonight to publicly disgrace Reverend Waite?”

Becca was livid.  She stood, “Rosalind, if you will recall, you are the person who arranged this meeting, at the instigation of Mr. McCoy, I’m sure.  The board voted to grant Mr. Benson the privilege to speak and I did not vote on the issue.  Yes, I have been involved with Jack and Jill since they arrived at our house.  We have tried very hard to make them feel secure.  They have had medical care and they have even visited with a legitimate person of the cloth.  I have met Jack’s Mother and his brothers and they are lovely people.  I have also met Jill’s parents and they are genuinely concerned about their daughter’s welfare.”

“But you, on the other hand, appear to be unable to accept that you and the other member’s of your church have been duped by McCoy.  I call for the question.  The motion before us is that one Brian Benson should be expelled for indecent exposure  in the presence of other students.”

Brian stood, “Madam President, I request the right to speak to the board and members of the administration after the vote, regardless of how the board votes, since I feel like my personal rights and integrity  have been violated.”

Becca took it on her own, “So granted, Mr. Benson.  Rita, please conduct a role call vote.”

The  vote was 6 votes to not expel and Mrs. Conroy voted to expel Bryan.  Becca looked at the board members.  “Mr. Benson, you are not going to be expelled.  I believe you asked for the floor.”

Brian stood, “Thank you, Madam President.  I would like to remind this board why their constituents elected them to this board.  You were elected to make sure that the students of Fremont receive the best education possible, and to make the students better prepared to be the leaders of tomorrow.  You were not elected to jam your religious beliefs down everyone’s throat. I’ll come back to you in a minute.”

Brian wheeled around and faced the members of the superintendent’s office who were present.  “Superintendent Black, I realized that you have been in your position for less than a month, but some of the people in the Central Office have lost sight of the purpose of providing a quality education.  They are so caught up in the state guidelines that they are diluting the education of everyone to make sure that no student is left behind.  What they are in fact doing is making sure that all of the students are going to be left behind.

I cannot believe that your central office people have the audacity to say that on this day, you will teach these pages, especially in mathematics.  Even I know that not everyone learns at the same rate, and you wonder why there are so many behavioral problems in the schools.  I’m personally offended that I am not permitted as a freshman to take any advanced placement courses, especially now that the only art teacher with any real qualifications is leaving.”

He turned back to the board, “I’m going to be attending every board meeting until I’m sure that you are doing what you are elected to do.  In fact, I have already prepared recall petitions to have you all recalled if you don’t do what you were elected to do.  Just to let you know, it took us four days to get the information that we gathered on Mr. McCoy, and I will do the same to the members of this board if you don’t get your acts together instead of running around acting like members of the Gestapo.”

Brian continued “Thank you for listening to me and thank you for not expelling me.  Come on, Jack and Jill, let’s bust out of this place.” 

I don’t think anyone was prepared for what was about to happen.  Ninety percent of the overflow crowd stood and applauded as Brian, Jack (John), and Jill (Robbi) left the meeting room.

Becca announced, “This meeting is adjourned.”

When we arrived at the house, Brian, John and Robin were sitting talking to Lauren, Derek and his parents.  We heard Derek’s father say, “Brian, you need to become a lawyer.  I cannot believe that you are only fifteen.  Derek made us come here tonight to see if we could help you.  Heck, man, you need to come work for me.  I liked you better in your nude state than with that silly warm up suit that you have on.”

As we walked into the room, Mrs. Cannon was saying, “I can not believe how calm you and your mother were.  It was almost like you were both robots.  I was so glad to see your mother stand up and tell that Conroy woman that what was happening was her fault.  I’m glad I’m not on the school board.  Brian, I feel the same way you do; the national government is forcing the state governments to over regulate the education without regard for the individual students.  Some people are assuming that they can cause the education system to fail because of over regulation.”

Brian saw us first, “Hi Mom and Dad,  I believe you know the Cannons.”

After we shook Ted and Lisa’s hands, Becca announced, “I need a stiff drink, just bring me a new bottle of bourbon and I’ll drink the entire thing.”

Brian spoke, “Me too.  Make mine a bottle of tequila.”

Every one was laughing at Brian’s remark.  Ted and Lisa agreed to have one drink since Derek was driving anyway.  Ted and I went to get the drinks for the adults and Brian went to get drinks for the teenagers.  Everyone was visiting when the doorbell rang.  Brian announced, “I’m not here.”

Lauren returned, “Everyone, it’s Robin’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edwards.”

Becca stood, “Wade and Peggy, I’d like to introduce Ted and Lisa Cannon and their son Derek.  I believe you know everyone else.  Won’t you sit down and have a drink?”

Wade answered, “I could use a Scotch on the rocks.”

Peggy nodded, “A stiff gin and tonic would be super.”

As everyone was drinking, Robin’s Mother looked at Brian, “Brian and Becca, I am so pleased at how well you handled the proceedings tonight.  Neither of you ever admitted the true identity Robbi or John.  Becca, I was so glad that you put Mrs. Conroy in her place tonight.”

Morgan came in, “Brian, there is a Mr. Mitchell on the phone wanting to speak to you.”

Brian scowled, “Thanks Cat, I’ll take it in the kitchen.  I wonder what the Coach wants to yell at me about this time.”

While Brian was gone, John explained what had happened at practice that afternoon.  We were laughing about Brian telling the coach that he was still living in the Neanderthal age.  Brian returned, “John, the Coach wants to talk to you.”

When John returned, Derek asked, “Guys, what did the Coach Mitchell want?”

John went first, “He wanted to know if I was going to be able to practice or play this week.  I told him that I was still sore and that my rib area is little purple and tender.”

Beau laughed, “Oh, he threatened to have me expelled if I didn’t come back to practice tomorrow.  I reminded him that that had been tried already and I won.  He laughed, ‘I know I was there.  That’s why we need you to please come back to practice and I promise I won’t yell at you again.’”

Derek continued to push, “And what did you tell him?”

Brian shrugged his shoulders, “I told him I’d think about it.”

The Edwards stood, “Come on Robbi, let’s get you home.  It was nice meeting you, Ted and Lisa.  Derek, Robin had already warned us about you.  I guess we’ll be seeing you around quite a bit.”

Robbi went and hugged Becca and Brian, “I’ll call Lindsay and tell her that you will be picking us up in the morning.”

After everyone had left, Brian came to Becca and me, “Mother and Dad, thanks for everything.  I’ll try to not get in trouble tomorrow.  I’m going to bed, I’m physically and mentally exhausted.” He started for the stairs.

John came to say goodnight, but he was interrupted by Lauren bringing the phone, “Dad and Mom, Ben and Grant are on the line and they want to speak with Brian as well.”

Brian started, “Hey guys, no I didn’t get expelled, and I quit the football team again and yes John is still living with us.  What else do you want to know?  I’ll send the details in an email.”

Ben and Grant were laughing, “We just wanted to tell you that J.R. has already found a girlfriend and she is going to be living in the house with us.”

Brian started to laugh, “Guys, you've only been there about twenty-four hours.  There has got to be a story behind this.”

Ben told us the story, “J.R. and Terry had dated, when they were freshmen and sophomores in high school and Terry even worked at the ranch before her family moved to the Denver area and the two of them lost contact.  J.R. had to attend an orientation event this morning that we did when we were here before and that is where he ran into her.  She’s your kind of person, Brian?”

“Brian, we may have a problem.  The bed and breakfast rooms are booked solid for the entire Labor Day weekend starting on Thursday evening.  The sign went up this morning and by two o’clock the entire weekend was booked.  We even had some requests for future weekends.  We advised the people that the rates for the rooms have not even been set yet.  Dad and Mother, we need your advice on that.”

Brian interrupted, “Guys, I’m going to drop off and get ready for bed.  Let me think about the trip and I’ll talk to the people in England and see what they think about the problem.”

This is Brian.

I finally made it to my bedroom and John was lying on the bed reading one of his text books.  He looked at me, “It’s about time.”

I took a quick shower and pulled a pair of briefs on, “John, please just hold me for a while.”

This is John. 

I just held Brian for a short time and he was gone.  I gently pulled away and turned out the light.  I looked at Brian in the glow of the nightlight in the bathroom and thought to myself, ‘What a beautiful caring and trusting person.  Surely nothing else can happen to him.  He can’t always be solving problems for someone else.  I wonder how Jason and Jeremy are doing?’

To be continued... 

 Feedback always welcome:     

Will’s Comments:  Brian has done it again.  I am so glad that he has allowed our esteemed author to tell his story that I have been allowed to edit this story.

Darryl's thoughts: Well it looks like Brian has managed to win the day again. I really like Brian and I certainly think he will go far and do well as he grows into the wonderful adult that he will eventually become.  I also want to continue reading about him and everyone else in this wonderful story.

I am giving notice, as of now, that I want to see further adventures of the various members of this story, whether it be in this story itself, or in individual spin offs.  I promise to keep bugging you, E Walk, until you agree to make that happen.  Grin. Seriously, there are way too many people we care deeply about for this to just fade into the distance. 

Readers, Please let E Walk know how much you are enjoying this story.

I also thank you, Will B for inspiring E Walk to write this story.  I know the story has evolved way beyond what it started out to be, but that is what happens when great characters are written; they have a life and soul of their own.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 11/14/08