Love Refound
by: E Walk
(© 2008 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 20
Whatever You Say Mr. C.

On Sunday morning, I woke up, packed my things and was about to leave for Summerhill, thinking I wouldn’t be back to Fairacres except to pick up Jeff and Trevor for the trip to Atlanta.  When I got to the kitchen, Leonora and Louisa Mitchell were there drinking coffee.

I set my sports bag and the hanging bag down and went to talk to them.  “I’m going to go help Autumn with the horses and then we’re going to late church.  Leonora, would you have a problem if Trev accompanied us to Atlanta, so he could keep Cole company on the way back?”

Leonora looked confused, “Who is Cole and why does he need someone to keep him company on the way back?”

I started to laugh, “I guess I need to start from the beginning.  Autumn and I have hired Cole Weaver to help us at Summerhill this summer.”

Leonora was perplexed, “What and where is Summerhill?”

I almost couldn’t speak because I was chuckling so hard, “Cole, decided that Autumn’s and my spread needed a name so it would sound as if he was working at someplace fancy.  He suggested Summerhill and it seemed to fit.”

The ladies were both laughing, but I continued, “I own an old truck, but it’s in Atlanta.  I can’t very well drive two vehicles at the same time.  I thought that Cole could use the truck to get back and forth to Summerhill from The Shack.”

Leonora was shaking her head, “Now, that I know who all the players are.  I'm still confused as to how you and the guys became involved with Cole.”

I explained how I met Cole and everything that subsequently happened.  Our discussion was interrupted by the arrival of Trevor and Jeff.

Trevor started, “Jeff and I are going to check the horses.  What church service are we going to?”

The two ladies looked at me, so I answered.  “Miss Autumn and I are going to the 11:00 service.  Trent and Cyndi are planning to do likewise.  We’ll have a light lunch since we know that the Harders are having food catered from The Shack at their party this afternoon.”

Trevor put his hands on his hips, “How come this Johnny come lately college student knows more than us locals?”

Leonora decided to join my team, “Perhaps you can find out what makes him tick when you ride to Atlanta with him this afternoon and make sure that Cole Weaver gets the truck back safely.”

Trev looked at his Mother, “Are you saying that you would permit me to go riding around the countryside with the likes of  this Johnny come lately?”

Leonora was ready for him, “Look, young’un, you already went with him to Chattanooga to meet your friend Jeff.  So why not?  I suggest you two teenagers get your you know whats to the stables and make sure the horses are okay.”

I departed after I suggested, “I guess I’ll see some of you at church.”

When I got to Summerhill, there was a strange van sitting next to the stable.  I was concerned and I went to see who was there.  I walked into the stable and Cole was mucking the stalls.  He obviously hadn’t heard me, because he had some ear buds in his ears and was moving his head to the music as he was cleaning the stalls.

I went to where he was working and I tried to talk to him but he didn’t respond.  I tapped him on the shoulder and he jumped.  He pulled his ear buds out and looked at me, “Mr. Christiansen, please don’t do that again.  Wave a handkerchief or your briefs in front on me to get my attention, please.”

I was totally confused by that response, “Cole, I’m sorry if I upset you.  But why are you here?”

“Mr. Christiansen, I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep and I needed to do something.  I still can’t believe that you’re going to trust me with your truck.  That blows my mind.”

“Look, Cole, I think it would be more comfortable if you called me something other Mr. Christiansen.  How about Doug?”

Cole shook his head no, “Mr. C., I can’t call you by your first name for two reasons.  First, you’re a generation older than me, and second, you’re going to be my boss.  Would you settle for Mr. C. and do you think Miss Autumn would be okay with me calling her Mrs. C?”

We heard a voice, “Well Mr. W., that is certainly better than Mr. and Mrs. Christiansen.”

Cole looked up, “Mrs. C., I would much prefer that you called me Cole.  That way I’ll know to whom you are speaking.”

We walked to the paddock area where Cole had put the horses.  He surprised us.  He was dangling a carrot over the fence, “Ho Jo get your butt over here now.  I need to go home so I can go to church.”

The king of the horses that Cole had identified the day before started to leisurely walk toward Cole.  After the horse ate the carrot, Cole patted the horse,  “Ho Jo, go get the horses.  I need to get home.”

Both Autumn and I were amazed at what happened.  The horses came toward the stable and went into their assigned stalls,  even Cracker Jack and General Beauregard.  We were to find out that Cole had hidden a treat in their food. 

Cole excused himself and I turned to Autumn, “I thought I was coming to take care of the horses.  Maybe I’ll go back to Fairacres and go back to bed.”

Autumn shook her head no, “Look, Doug, we can have a nice leisurely breakfast and then knock a couple of things off our list before we go to church.

We ate a leisurely breakfast and had taken care of  the dishes and sat down at the table to see if we could take care of some more things on the list that we could take off when the phone sounded.  Autumn put the phone on speaker.

“This is Autumn Summers.”

“Hey, Sis, this is Austin.  Tell the galloping professor that we’re heading back to Atlanta so we can study for the final exam that he probably still hasn’t written.”

I couldn’t help myself, “Austin, I already told you that Derek and you were going to fail the course for getting me involved with these people here in this redneck country.  I’ll see you tomorrow at ten.”

After Autumn hung up, she looked at me, “Doug, you’re not going to fail the two guys are you?”

“Autumn, the final in the course is a piece of cake.  They should be able to ace it with their eyes close.  All I am asking them to do is list the five most important things that they have learned from the course and the reasons why they think so.  Both guys have A+ averages going into the final.”

Autumn started to laugh, “Maybe I should rethink this marriage thing. I don’t know if I can be married to someone as devious as you.”

The conversation was interrupted by the stupid phone again. “This is Autumn Summers.”

“Autumn, this is Maria.  Did you and Doug decide on a date for the wedding yet?

“Mrs. Christiansen, I talked to my parents and they agreed that July 18^th would work for them.”

“Great, would it be okay if Tom and I came down to spend Saturday night, after we have finally gotten rid of our son.  Now that he is getting his doctorate and has a job, we’re washing our hands of him until he produces us some grandchildren.  Are your parents going to be coming for the graduation, since I understand that Austin will also be getting his master’s degree?”

“Mrs. Christiansen, I hadn’t spoken to my parents about that.”

“Autumn, my name is Maria or Mom.  We could probably knock out a lot of the plans for the wedding if we're to get together.   Call your parents and see what their plans are and tell Doug to call us and let us know.  Talk to you later.  We gotta go to church.”

I decided to make my presence known, “Whatever you say, Mommy Dearest.”

“Watch it, Sonny.  We’ll see you next Friday night.  We’ll stay at the Peachtree Inn.  Tell Howie, we’ll be staying with him and Rob again on Saturday.  Talk to the two of you later, your Dad is ready to roll.”

I looked at Autumn, “Maybe we should move the planning session to the stable.  Everyone is against us.”

Autumn looked at the clock, “Maybe we'd better get dressed if we’re going to church.”

We were joined in the pew by the guys.  Trevor looked at us.  “Mother and Aunt Louisa went to the early service.  They are making sandwiches and would like to invite you to a light lunch before we go to the Harders for Granddad’s retirement party.”

I looked at Autumn.  She shrugged her shoulders, “Sure, why not?”

Trevor laughed, “Good, you can take Jeff and me home since Trent and Cyndi are going to have lunch with Cyndi’s parents at the club.  They’ll be joining us later at the Harders.”

After the service, when we got to Fairacres, it was a make your own sandwich deal which was fine with us.  I had Jeff get his gear and put it in the trunk, since I didn’t know how much time we would have in between the party and when we had to leave to meet his parents.”

Trevor and Jeff went to the Harders with us and it’s a good thing they did.  Cole was frantically trying to get the buffet set up by himself.  He looked at Trev and Jeff, “Guys, please help me!  I don’t know where my two helpers are.  They were supposed to meet me here at 1:30.”

I nodded to the guys, “Cole, what do you need us to do?”

 

“Please bring the things from the van, so I can get them on the tables before the other people start to arrive.  I guess I should have started earlier.”

Trevor and Jeff started to bring the things from the van and Autumn and I were doing as Cole directed.  He certainly was an expert and wanted everything to  be just right.  He had everything ready precisely at 2:00.  The other guests didn’t start to arrive until a little after two.  It was as if no one wanted to be the first to arrive.

Cole had Trevor and Jeff put on plastic gloves and found some hats for them to wear that had The Shack’s logo on them.  He had them helping him behind the buffet tables.  I think the guys were getting a kick out of helping Cole, since there were no other teenagers there.

It was three o’clock when President Harder started the formal presentation.  Of course, she made a big to do about Dr.  Robert Nixon the Second retiring and presented him with a gift from the Board of Regents for a twenty-one day cruise for two from Vancouver to Hong Kong, leaving on July 25^th.

Several other people were honored and she finally introduced me.  “Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to introduce our newest staff member.  He was hired so he can be our poster person to lure  unsuspecting young men and women to attend our campus.  It gives me great pleasure to introduce…”  She looked at me, “What did you say your name was?  Oh yeh, Dr. Doug Christiansen.  I’m sure that you will be seeing and hearing a lot about him in the future.”

She wasn’t finished, “He is marrying one of our young fillies in July, Miss Autumn Summers.”

She concluded her presentation by pronouncing, “Make sure your bellies are full because the help has an engagement and will be closing down the buffet line promptly at four.”

The buffet had one last flurry before the people started to leave.  By four o’clock, everyone had departed.  Cole approached the Harders, “Coach and President Harder, what would you like us to put the leftovers in?  They’re yours since you’ve already paid for them.”

President Harder nodded, “Cole, take the leftovers to the homeless shelter that is near The Shack.  I’m sure the people who use the facility would enjoy them.  Here’s the check for the food and a small thank you gift for the fine job that you and your helpers did today.”

Cole stuck the envelope in his pocket and the guys were taking the left over food and putting it in the van.  After that was completed, and, they made sure that all the paper plates and anything that had to do with the food service was cleaned up, Cole looked at me, “Mr. C., why don’t you take Miss Autumn home and come and pick us up at The Shack so we get to Atlanta on time.  That way we won’t keep Jeff’s parents waiting.”

As I was driving Autumn home, I started to laugh.  “Now, a sixteen year old is telling me what to do.”

I walked Autumn into the house and kissed her and said my goodbyes.  “I’ll call you tomorrow night.  You are planning to come to my graduation on Saturday, aren’t you?”

Autumn sighed, “I suppose so, if I have to.  Of course I’ll be there, you ninny.”

When I pulled up at The Shack, Cole was just closing the doors to the van, “We’ll be right with you Mr. C., we’re going to hit the bathroom first.”

The first to arrive were Jeff and Trevor.  They climbed into the backseat and Trevor started, “Can you believe that we got paid for working today.  I’ve never earned any money in my life.  Maybe I’ll check to see if Cole’s grandparents will hire me for special occasions.  I sure don’t want to wait on tables and have cranky people like Mr. Doug and Miss Autumn to take care of.”

I turned to respond to Trevor’s comment, but was interrupted by the arrival of Cole, “Okay, Mr. C., I’m ready to roll.”

As I pulled away from The Shack, Cole turned to the guys, “Trev and Jeff, the Harders gave us a tip of a hundred bucks.  I split it four ways.  I gave the two people in the kitchen who prepared the food one fourth of it.  So we each get $25.00.  I hope that’s okay with you guys.”

I couldn’t see the expression on the guys' faces but the tone of Jeff’s response told me enough.  “Cole, why would we care?  You should probably have given them half since they did all the work and besides your grandparents paid us for helping you.  If that’s work, then I’m ready for more.”

Trevor even went further, “Cole, I had my eyes opened today when we went to the homeless shelter.  Pardon me for saying this, and I‘m not saying it to denigrate anyone, but I thought only people of color were struggling.  The numbers of the different ethnic backgrounds that we saw when dropped off the food was about equal.  Today has been a very enlightening experience for me.”

There was a lull in the conversation so I asked, “Cole, Coach Harder mentioned that you were threatening to drop out of school.  Why were you even thinking like that?”

It was extremely quiet in the car and I could hear Cole taking deep breaths, “Mr. C., I’ll probably flunk out if I don’t quit.  I can’t read.  I love math and anything that has to do with hands on stuff, but I can’t read for stuff like English and history,  I have been able to fake it so far, but it’s going to catch up to me this year.”

Jeff piped up, “Cole, what do you mean when you say you can't read?”

Cole turned around, “When I look at the print on a page, all I see is a blur.  I’m a person who learns by doing or watching.  I guess you could say I’m not an independent learner.”

The discussion was cut short because we pulled up in front of my apartment building.  We were unloading our luggage from the car when Jeff’s parents arrived.  So after a quick transfer of Jeff’s luggage, the Longworths were on their way to Chattanooga.

Cole and Trevor accompanied me to the apartment, so I could get the keys to the truck.  We drove to the storage compound where I kept the truck, since I rarely used it, and the parking was limited at the apartment complex.

When we arrived at the compound, I suddenly had a panicky feeling. ‘What if Cole had never driven a vehicle with a manual gear shift?’  Cole allayed any fear that I had when he looked inside the cab of the truck, “Good, it has a manual gear shift.  That’s what I learned to drive with.”

I showed Cole where the proof of insurance and the AAA membership cards were kept.  I had him follow me to a gas station that was nearby so I could top of the gas tank.  Trevor and Cole assured me that they could get home just fine.  The last thing I said to them before they left was, “I want you to call me when you get home.  Here is my card with my phone number.”

Both guys laughed, “Yes, Mother Hen.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  This was another wonderful chapter.  I wonder if Cole might need some glasses or contacts. He said that printed words are a blur to him. He might be suffering from dyslexia or maybe some other eye condition. There is, of course the possibility that he simply never learned to read.  Cole is a very intelligent young man, whether he can read or not.  I strongly suspect that somehow, before too long, that he will be encouraged to improve his ability to read, no matter what the cause is.   Cole certainly has a way with horses.  I find it ironic that someone named Cole is so good with horses.

It is amazing to me how many people there are who are unable to read. Some people are better at it than others, and there are many different causes for the failure to be able to read.  There are some tell tale signs that point to the inability to read.  One of them is that the person seldom if ever looks at printed material, books, magazines, newspapers, or any ads that might show up in the mail are some of them.  I went to school with one guy that couldn't read at all, but he was very  quick at picking things up from listening in class and got very good grades. 

He could read simple things, but big words threw him for a loop.  He was either very lucky or he somehow was able to figure out patterns on tests, because he was actually able to pass almost every test.  We were pretty good friends, and I don't remember how I found out for sure that he couldn't read, but once I knew, I helped him learn, and he went on to college, and, from what I remember, he became a teacher and did pretty well for himself.  I haven't heard from him in years.

In any case, I hope the next chapter arrives here soon, I really want to know what happens next.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher 

Posted: 05/01/09