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 67

 The Wild One

This is Beau.

After the guys did the dishes, Timmy came into the living room to where Becca and I were seated,  “Grandpa and Grandma, Uncle John’s going to take me to play with his brothers.  Daddy Angel said it was okay with him if it was okay with you.  Is it okay?” 

I could see John and Brian standing there laughing as they watched.

I looked up from the paper I was reading,  “I suppose it will be okay if you promise not to get into any trouble and not make a mess for the Waters to clean up.”

Timmy hugged both Becca and me, “Thank you Grandpa and Grandma.  I’ll be good.”

After John and Timmy had departed, Brian came and sat down on the floor in front of us.  “Dad and Mother, what’s going to happen to Timmy.  He’s becoming attached to us, as I am to him.  He is so innocent and trusting.  I don’t want him to be hurt again.”

I looked at Brian, “Son, we are still working on the problem.  It’s not going to be resolved until after we return from England.”

Becca added, “Brian, I agree.  It is almost impossible to not fall in love with him.  There must have been a reason why you found him.  Maybe that was an omen that he should live with us.”

Our discussion was interrupted by the phone.  Morgan answered and brought the phone to Brian.  “This is Brian Benson. … Just a minute, Sir.  Let me put the phone on speaker.”

“Doctor Little, we’re back.  Dad and Mother are here with me.”

“Hi Beau and Becca.  We are taking Friday off, since it is going to be a long weekend.  Would it be possible for us to bring Angie and Chase to Fremont about five o’clock tomorrow afternoon.  We’re going to take advantage of the children being gone and fly to New York City to catch a couple of shows and concerts.  We’re going to be leaving from the Omaha airport at 9:00 o’clock tomorrow night.”

Becca spoke up, “Why don’t we plan to have an early dinner and I’ll invite Chris’ parents so you can meet them.  We’ll take Chase and Angie to see Brian’s and Chris’ football game.  We aren’t leaving until after the game.  The Omaha airport is less than an hour away from our house.”

Mrs. Little came on, “Brian, we have a jacket and tie for Chase.  Is there anything else special that he might need?”

Brian laughed, “Ma’am, if he needs anything, we can get it for him there.  I mean London is a rather large city.  By the way, tell Chase that he will be meeting another seven year old who is going with us.  They will have a good time.  See you tomorrow night.”

Brian had just hung up when it rang again.  Brian picked it up, “This is the Benson residence. … Oh hi Super Stud, let me see if Lauren is available.”

Brian yelled out as loud as he could, “Hey Lauren, there’s some turkey named Derek on the line.  He wants to know if you are available to speak with him?”

Brian walked into the living room with the phone, “You’re playing Omaha Central tomorrow night I see.  Do you think you can whip their behinds? … Good luck man, I’ll talk to you later.  Lauren is trying to cut out my tongue.  I guess she wants to talk to you.”

John had come in while Brian was giving Lauren a hard time.  “Mr. and Mrs. Benson and Brian, I’m going to be moving back home tomorrow night, since you are going to be leaving.  I don’t think it would be prudent for me to stay here with Lauren and Morgan while you’re gone.”

John was interrupted by Lauren, “Dad and Mother, Derek’s parents have asked me to spend the weekend with them.  They are going to leave for their cabin in Iowa on Saturday morning.  Please, may I go?”

Becca looked at Lauren, “Lauren, I would like to speak with Derek’s mother.”

Lauren handed the phone to Becca.  “Lisa, this is Becca.  What is it that you are proposing?  … Oh, so you have a cabin with three bedrooms.  That must be some cabin. … Oh, you rent it out to families in the summer. … Lauren will be arriving rather late since she is a cheerleader and our game doesn’t start until seven. … Okay, she’ll be there.  … Lauren wants to talk to Derek again.”

John had a funny look on his face, “Mr. and Mrs. Benson, if everyone is gone, who is going to take care of Morgan?  She’s too young to stay here by herself.”

Morgan being her sweet self had surfaced to hear John’s question and comment.  “Never fear, Johnny dear, I have been invited to spend the weekend with Amy at her ranch.  We’re going to be participating in a junior rodeo competition.  We’re leaving right after school tomorrow.  Guess that means you are in charge of the house until someone gets home.  Dad and Mother, may I have my allowance for the past two weeks so I have a little money?”

I looked at Morgan, “Cat, I’ll give you some money in the morning.”

John waited until Morgan had gone up the steps, “Mr. and Mrs. Benson, my parents want to know what they owe you for everything that you have done for me?  You bought me new clothes and fed me plus you gave me money for gas and other things.”

I stood and hugged John, “Son, you owe us nothing.  All we want in return is for you to be a good friend and ally for Brian.  We are going to need your help to keep him out of trouble.”

This is Brian.

Dad’s comment caused John to totally lose it.  John began to shed tears.  He sobbed, “Mr. and Mrs. Benson, I have never felt as much warmth and compassion as I have felt in this house.  You aren’t always badgering your children and making sure they are doing the correct thing.  I guess you must have instilled a good set of ethics in them when they were younger.  Timmy just loves all of you.  He will be heartbroken if he can’t stay here with you.  Speaking of Timmy, I need to go pick him up.  Brian, are you going to come with me?”

I shook my head no, “I need to make a couple phone calls and send some emails.  I’ll be in our room.”

As John was leaving, I hugged Mother and Dad and went to our room.  I called Ben and Grant and they both got on.  Ben started before I could ask,  “Brian, it will just be J.R., Grant and me going to London from here.  I have already advised Uncle Hank and Uncle Rod.  The three ladies are going to stay and manage the bed and breakfast.  The Uncles have already told us what time to be ready.  They said they hadn’t heard from you for a couple of days.  You might want to send them an email and tell them what’s happening there.”

“Guys it’s been very hectic here.  I’ll explain when I see you.  See you tomorrow night.”

I opened up my email inbox and I had all sorts of messages.  I quickly read through them and sent a note to Vicky and then sent one to Uncle Hank and Uncle Rod explaining that we would be bringing Timmy with us and that he was going to need some sort of identification.  I quickly explained why he was with us and hoped  that his presence wouldn’t create any hardship. 

I had hardly sent it before I had a ding on the computer, “Brian, we already know all about Timmy.  We’ve been following his progress ever since you found him.  We thought John would be coming with you, too.”

“Uncle Rod and Uncle Hank, John announced tonight that he was going to be returning to his parents' house tomorrow.  I just hope he is making the right decision.  I know he loves his brothers and mother and misses them.  I just hope his Father can get his head sorted out.  I’ll explain more tomorrow when I see you.”

Timmy came skipping into the room, “Hi, Daddy Angel, are you going to take a shower with me tonight?”

I hugged Timmy, “Little One, I need to write a couple of more notes and then I can help you.  Why don’t you ask Uncle John to help since this is going to be the last night that he’s going to sleep with us.”

Timmy hugged me tight, “I know.  Jason and Jeremy are really excited that he’s going to be coming home again.”

Timmy turned to John, “Uncle John, Daddy Angel says you are to give me my shower and make sure I’m clean.”

John picked Timmy up, “Master Timothy, that wasn’t what I heard Mr. Brian say.  I thought  he said you should ask if me if I would give you a shower.”

Timmy was wiggling, “Whatever, Uncle John, I gotta go to the bathroom.  Please, put me down.”

While John and Timmy were in the bathroom I was trying to pack Timmy’s and my clothes so we could get everything in one suitcase and it wasn’t working, so I decided on two small cases, and it still wasn’t working. 

I sat down at the computer and started to write, “Grandpa Nappy, me and Timmy aren’t bringing any clothes.  Do you suppose you could find something for us to wear?”

The computer went ding almost immediately, “Great, just remember to wear your jock straps and your medals.  We can get everything else you need here.  Have a good game with the pig skin tomorrow night.  I still can’t understand why you would want to play a dumb game like that.  And stop spoiling Timmy.  That’s my job.”

I was sitting laughing at the computer when Timmy and John came out of the bathroom.  I looked at the two guys.  They were both naked.  I looked at Timmy, “I thought Uncle John was supposed to help you take a shower.  Why is he all wet and why isn’t he wearing any clothes.”

Timmy was unabashed, “He couldn’t really get me clean so I made him get into the shower with me.  After he made sure I was clean, I scrubbed his back for him.  Daddy Angel, Uncle John has a bigger pee pee than you do.  Why?  Will I ever get as big as you are down there?”

John was blushing.  I decided to play it cool and leaned down and held the naked Timmy.  “Timmy, Uncle John is older than both of us and his penis is much bigger than ours.  When you get older, your penis will probably be as big as Uncle John’s and certainly mine.”

Timmy wasn’t done, “But that man I ran away from was older than Uncle John and his penis, or whatever, wasn’t even as big as yours when it was soft.”

I hugged Timmy again, “Get your briefs on and get into bed so Uncle John can read you a story while I take a quick shower and brush my teeth.”

I was standing under the shower reviewing the events of the past two weeks and what was going to happen in the next four or five days.  I guess I lost track of time because John came into the bathroom, “Brian, are you okay?  Timmy is already asleep and there have been three dings on your computer.”

I shook my head, “I’m sorry John, I guess I was recharging and lost track of time.  You know I’m going to miss you when you go home, don’t you?” 

John took a deep breath, “Brian, we can still be the best of friends.  I look at you and your family as my second family.  I’ll still stop by and pick you up for school each day, and we can make sure that we have the best quarterback tandem in the state.  Besides we have three classes together and can always eat lunch together each day.”

I pulled on my shorts and went to the computer and opened the email inbox.

The first note was from Vicky. “We’ll pick up your parents and Angela at Uncle Hank and Uncle Rod’s house.  Monsieur La Fontaine has everything organized.  He is just like a little child.  The people at the gallery had been working overtime and Kelly has been an absolute grouch.  I think you are going to be pleased with the results.”

The second message was from someone I didn’t know.  “Beware of the hand that feeds you.  After tomorrow night you and your team won’t want to show your face in public again.  So much for your dream of  being the President of the Freshman Class.” 

I called John over, “John look at this message.  It’s really weird,  I don’t like what it’s implying.”

John read the message.  “Brian, let me write a response, please.”

John started to type. 

Dear Whoever You Are,

Thanks for your note.  I need to advise you that I will be leaving for London, England tomorrow evening.  As far as being the Freshman Class President, I could care less.  I never volunteered to run.  I have better things to do than play politics at school.  Thanks for writing and have a good weekend.

The Wild One

I looked at John, “Man, you have had to been practicing to write something like that on the spur of the moment.”

John smiled, “Brian, we need to be alert tomorrow at school to see if anyone refers to you as the ‘The Wild One’.  If they do, then we will know who the enemy is and we can eradicate the problem.”

I opened the last email.  It was from Jaime and Shamus

Good Evening Brian,

Your transportation will be arriving at 10:30P. M. your time to transport you and your family and special guests to our fair country.  We will meet you at the same place we met when you returned from Paris.  Ben and Grant will be staying in their suite.  Mr. J.R. and Chris will be occupying the room where you stayed. 

Your parents and Miss Angela will be staying with Lady Vicky and her family.

You, Master Chase and the mysterious Master Timothy will be staying at the residence of Monsieur Lafontaine.  We will have a passport for Master Timothy when he arrives 

The gallery has everything well planned, so you had better plan to be busy. 

Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Hugs and more hugs,

Jaime and Shamus

I turned off the computer and Timmy and John both seemed to be sleeping, I crawled into bed wondering what tomorrow would bring.  I turned out the light on the night stand.  John whispered, “Goodnight, Brother.”

I raised up on my elbows and looked at him.  “Goodnight Johnny, I love you.  I’ll talk to you in the morning.  I leaned over and kissed the sleeping Timmy.  He stirred, “Good night, Daddy Angel.  I love you.”

I fell back on my pillow, ’Now how am I supposed to go to sleep after that.’

The last thing I remember was thinking what if Chase and Timmy don’t like each other?

I was awakened by someone shaking me, “Daddy Angel, it’s time to get up.  The sun is coming in the window and Uncle John is packing his clothes.”

I bolted up and looked at the clock at it said 6:30.  I needed to go to the bathroom and when I came out, John was looking around, “Brian did I miss anything?”

“John, if you missed anything, no one is going steal it.  We’ll bring it to you or you can come and get it.  I’ll get the parents to give you a key so you can check on things while we’re gone.  John relax, it’s not like you have been away from home for months.  If it doesn’t work out between you and your Father, you can always move back here.”

“Come on men, we need to go fix breakfast before we have to eat toast and water again.” 

When we got to the kitchen, Mother was already fixing pancakes and warm stewed apples in a thick sauce with raisins.  I thought Timmy and John’s eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.

Lauren, Morgan and I couldn’t believe how the two guys could inhale their food so fast.  They both had three pancakes with the topping while the rest of us had two.  John and I took care of the clean up before we went to pick up Lindsey and Robbi.

As we were walking into school from the parking lot we were joined by some of the other football players including the gentleman who had spoken up and told Dr. Black about his experience with Mr. Waite/McCoy and Coach Mitchell.  We were joined by the team captain, Todd Messing, and some of his friends.

We were just about to enter the building when we heard someone say, “Well lookee there guys, it’s The Wild One who thinks he’s such a hot shot.  We need to take him down a few notches.  He has to be a heathen.”

John practically pushed me into the school building and turned to talk to the friends who had joined us.  Robin, Lindsey and I watched what was happening.  The guys who had joined us circled the group where the voice had been coming from, and we saw the group break apart and people started running toward the parking lot.

John and the rest of the guys rejoined Robin, Lindsey and me.  Todd looked at us, “Brian, I don’t think you will have any further trouble from those twerps.  If anything happens to you, we know right where to find them.  Their parents are some of the people who had been the most duped by Mr. McCoy, and they are having a difficult time accepting the fact that that they had been fooled by the man.”

As I was walking to my first period class, I was thinking, ’Surely nothing else can happen today.’

To be continued... 

 Feedback always welcome:     

Well, Ed has given us another, and in the words of many, way too many television political messages, “I am Will Barnes and I approve of this chapter.

Darryl's strange musings:  I don't know for sure, but it does seem that when ever that phrase is mentioned, that in fact, something else can and usually does happen.

I certainly hope that Timmy gets to live with the Bensons.  He needs the kind of loving and giving environment that will always be there.

I wonder what interesting adventures will occur during the trip to England.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 12/12/08