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

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Chapter 28

He Doesn’t Trust Adults

When I got up at seven o’clock, I took care of Benji and went to the stable to take care of the horses.  Cole was already there.  He looked up at me, Mr. Doug, I’ll take care of the horses, and you worry about Benji and Miss Autumn.  Mister Doug, what do I wear to a christening?”

“Wear a pair of slacks similar to what you wore last night and white shirt with a tie and perhaps a blazer but that‘s not a requirement.  You and Trent probably need to be at the church to meet with us and Pastor Taylor at ten o’clock to find out what we are to do.”

“We kinda figured that would be the case.  I’ll check with Trent to see what he’s wearing.  We’ll take care of the remainder of the things from last night this afternoon.”

I went to check on Benji and he seemed to be resting peacefully.  I looked at Autumn and she was stirring, “Mrs. C., it’s already eight o’clock and we do need to be at the church ten.  Benji is fine and I’ll go start the coffee and breakfast while you get ready and then I’ll take my shower.”

Autumn looked at me, “Have you already taken care of the horses?”

“Cole’s taking care of them as we speak.  I just talked to him and he kicked me out of the stable.”

 Autumn laughed, “I hope he didn’t kick you too hard.”

When we arrived at the church, Trent and Cole were waiting.  Autumn started on them, “Guys, why did you get Benji a red bow tie?”

Cole shrugged his shoulders, “Because that’s what he asks for.”

Autumn looked puzzled, “Do you mean that Benji talks to you?”

Trent decided to get in on the fun, “Yeah, doesn’t he talk to you?  I guess he still doesn’t trust adults.”

The church was full with our friends and families in addition to the regular congregation.  Pastor Taylor looked around, “I guess we’ll have to christen Benjamin quite frequently.  It’s nice to see so many people in attendance.  Would Benjamin Willingham Christensen please bring his parents and godfathers forward?”

After the formal baptism service, Pastor Taylor surprised everyone, “Cole, please take young Benji into the congregation so they can see the treasure that you found abandoned in the field last Tuesday.”

Cole looked at Autumn and me, and we nodded yes.

It was a  touching sight to see Cole walking down the center aisle holding the sleeping infant dressed in a white outfit with a red bow tie.  When Cole arrived back at the altar area, Pastor Taylor said a final prayer asking that God guide the four of us to enable Benji to be the best person he could be.”

Cole handed Benji to me and we returned to the pew.  When the service ended, I heard Cole say, “Trent, do you know how out of place I felt when I was carrying Benji so the congregation could see him.  I looked at the people and there wasn’t another black person there.”

I grabbed Cole, “Did you hear any negative talk about you being the only African American at the service?   Or perhaps you’re prejudiced against us white people?”
 

“Mr. Doug, you know that’s not true.”

“Then stop talking about race, my parents are taking us to the country club for brunch.  No more talk like that.  You’re going, and that’s final.  Trent make sure he gets there.”

We got to the club, they seated us in a alcove area so that the rest of the diners could see us.  The four teenagers were sitting with Derek and Austin.  We watched a constant stream of young people stopping by the guys’ table.  They certainly weren’t stopping to talk to Jeff, Derek or Austin since they weren’t from the local area.

The six guys came to the table where we were sitting with Autumn’s and my parents, Cole spoke for them, “Mr. and Mrs. Christiansen, thanks for brunch.  We need to get back to Summerhill and finish dismantling the tent and lights.  They are due back at four o’clock.”

When we got back to Summerhill, the guys were loading the last of the things into Cole’s and Trent’s trucks.  The guys returned with Jeff, and the Longworths took off, since Tom and Penny had a flight to catch back to D. C.

After the parents and we, thought all of the guests had left, Autumn and I sat down and started to talk.  Autumn asked, “Whose going to take care of Benji?  I just can’t quit my job.”

“I don’t officially start my new job at the college until the first of June.  I can take care of him for the next two weeks.  We have time to figure out what to do after that.”

Our conversation was interrupted by Cole, “Excuse me for interrupting, but Jeff and I can take care of him while you’re at school Miss Autumn.  You’re going to be home during the month of July, so there will be three of us to take care of him.  Surely Jeff will be able to take care of him while I have football practice.  We should have the problem covered until school starts and Jeff has to go back to Chattanooga.  That will give you time to find a Nanny.”

I looked at Cole, “You seem to have been doing a lot of thinking about this problem.”

“Well, I ain’t going to let anything happen to my favorite family, even if they are white.  I need to go help at The Shack.”

He kissed Benji and Autumn, and hugged me and said, “If only.”

I thought to myself, ‘If only what?’

The first part of the summer went according to Cole’s plan.  I would take Benji with me to the college for any meetings I had during the two weeks before the guys were out of school.  Yes, Clark was hired and what a plus that was to prove to be.  Not only did he have a job, but I got a free lifetime membership to the gym his parents owned.  He proved to be very professional and he brought a number of new students to the campus. 

We made both weddings as scheduled and they presented some unexpected experiences for me.  I was to change into my suit in Tom’s room.  I decided to take a shower and when I returned to the bedroom,  I was naked.

Tom was watching me, “Doug, you’re even better looking all over than I remembered.”

During the dinner, Tom announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to propose a toast to our good friends, Doug and Autumn Christiansen.  It is because of them that Penny and I have been assigned to much better jobs in the government.”

It was late Saturday evening when we returned to Summerhill.  Jeff and Trevor were sitting in the back seat with Benji.  Jeff spoke, “Uncle Doug and Aunt Autumn, compared to your wedding, the wedding today was really boring.  I don’t have to go the wedding next week, do I?”

Trevor spoke before we could say anything, “If I have to go, then you do too.”

Autumn looked around, “Since Trent and Trevor are going to be ushers, I guess you have go, Jeff.”

Since Autumn was going to be the matron of honor and I was the best man, we needed to be at the rehearsal and then attend the rehearsal dinner. Cole suggested that Benji not go.  He volunteered to take off from The Shack and take care of him while we were  gone.

As Adrian and I were getting dressed in formal attire in a room at the side of the church,  I had stripped to my briefs and Adrian looked at me, “Doug, you do realize that you were the first person I ever loved and I wish that we had done more to get to know each better.”

“Adrian, we did just about everything before we went to college.”

‘It’s the about part that I wish we had tried.  Somewhere along the line you had a growth spurt in the pelvic area and I wish I was at liberty to enjoy it.  I guess I‘ll always wonder what might have been.”

I needed to stop this conversation; I was beginning to feel a little uneasy.  “Adrian, we need to get dressed or we’ll be late.”

Autumn and I stayed at the reception only as long as we had to.  We were both tired from having worked all week.  We decided to not spend a second night.

When we arrived at Summerhill, I was surprised to see Trent’s truck there.  When Autumn and I walked in, Cole was sitting on the floor feeding Benji.  He looked at us, “What is this?  Doesn’t anyone trust me?”

Trent answered, “It's not that at all, this was just another boring wedding.  People started to leave as soon as the meal was over.  It wasn’t like Mr. and Mrs. C’s wedding where we practically had to kick people out.”

Autumn was laughing, “Cole, did anything exciting happen while we were gone?”

“Me and Benji went skinny dipping in your lake, but other than that not much exciting happened.”

Everyone asked in unison, “What lake?”

“You mean that you didn’t know that there was a small lake on edge of Summerhill?  It is very clear and is fed by a small stream from the hills and empties into the stream that flows through Fairacres.”

Trent looked at Cole, “You have to have been drinking or something.  We have lived around here all our lives and we’ve never seen a lake.”

“Okay doubting Thomases, I’ll show it to you tomorrow after church.  May I go to church with you people?  I like what happens at your church better than what happens at mine.”

Trent looked puzzled, “Why of course.  Why would you even ask?   We’ll save you a seat.  Come on, Trev, we need to get home before people start to worry about us.  We’ll see you at the eleven o’clock service.”

I looked at Cole, “Cole, Jeff and I can take care of the horses in the morning.  Why don’t you sleep in?”
 

Cole frowned, “Are you trying to fire me or something?”

“No, I was trying to give you a day off.”

“I’ll be here at my normal time.   I have some things about Summerhill that I would like to discuss with you and Miss Autumn.   Here, hold Benji,  he had his bath and is ready for bed.  You need to get some bigger sized diapers. He hates to have diapers on him.  I think he’s a nudist at heart.”

Jeff piped up, “I guess he’s been taking lessons from you.”

Cole left and I took Benji to his room.  When Autumn and I were in our bedroom, Autumn announced, “Doug, I’m so glad we had the kind of wedding that we did.  The one last week and the one today were much more traditional but the guys were right; ours’ was not something that people envision as weddings and it seemed like a big party.  What do you suppose Cole wants to talk to about with regard to Summerhill?”

“Autumn, I have no idea.  We’ll just have to wait until he tells us, tomorrow.”

When I got up on Sunday morning, I went to check on Benji, and Jeff was feeding him.  Jeff looked up at me, “Benji sure is getting bigger and his kick packs a punch, especially when it hits you where it hurts.  Why don’t you go see what Cole’s doing?   I heard his truck pull in.  I’ll start breakfast.  I’m curious to know what ideas Cole has for Summerhill, because I have some myself.”

I bowed and started to back out of the room, “Yes master, I’ll do as you say, master.”

“Knock it off, Uncle Doug.”

I went to the stable and Cole was so intent on what he was doing and he was singing.  I spoke to him and he didn’t respond.  I went and started to wave my hands and he turned.  “Mr. Doug, did you hear what I was singing?”

“I heard you singing, but I couldn’t make out the words.  Cole, I'm going to make an appointment for you to have your eyes examined this week.  It took you a long time to recognize that I was here.  We also need to start working with you on your reading, so you can teach Benji how to read.”

Cole stopped what he was doing and came and hugged me, “Mr. Doug, I love you.”

“Cole, I love you too, or you wouldn’t be here.  Now let’s get this job finished so you can explain your ideas about Summerhill.  Jeff is fixing breakfast.”

Cole started to moan, “We’ll all die of food poisoning.”

When we got into the house, Jeff and Autumn were talking, “Never fear, Aunt Autumn, we won’t let anything bad happen to Benji, or Cole would incapacitate us.”

Cole laughed, “You may get incapacitated, whatever that means, anyway.”

Jeff stuck out his tongue, “Get ready for breakfast and sit your butt down and set a good example for Benji.  We want to hear your ideas for Summerhill.”

While we were eating, Cole explained, “The first thing that I think we should do is put up a white fence along the front of the property so that it looks like some of those fancy horse farms you see in the movies.  We should probably paint the exterior of the house and the stable to make it a picturesque setting for Benji to grow up in, along with brothers and sisters.”

Jeff added his two cents I think we should built a riding track that is visible from the road.  Of course it would need to be surrounded by a white fence also.  We could advertise and young people could have their birthday parties here.  We could provide a snack like a hot dog and chips and a drink.  The parents would need to provide the cake and the decorations.  That would give us a way to make some additional money.”

“Guys, Autumn and I will consider your suggestions, but I think we need to check into how much this is going to cost us and find out what the Nixons and Uncle Howie would think of the ideas.  We need to get ready for church.”

Cole started toward the door, “Thanks for breakfast.  I’ll see you at church.”

When we got to the church, we were met by Trent, Trevor and Cole.  Cole took Benji’s carrier and we walked into the sanctuary.  We were shown to our seats.  The service was started by an African American man, who I was to find out was the pastor in charge.  After the opening, he approached the podium, “Members of the congregation and friends, my wife and I want to thank you for providing us the opportunity to make a trip to visit our companion church in Malawi.  I want to thank Pastor Taylor for covering for me.”

“I understand that we missed some excitement while we were gone.  You had a tornado, and Baby Benji was found in a field.  His parents got married in a unique ceremony and he was christened before he was a week old.  I am very much looking forward to meeting the young people who were involved.  I already know some of them, but there are several I don’t know.”

Trent leaned over to Cole, “So much for you being the only black man here.”

Cole had to have the last word, “Didn’t you mean to say the only African American here?”

Trent shook his head no, “There are people who come from Africa who are not black and there are people who come from other parts of the world besides Africa who are also black.  Therefore, African American is a misnomer when referring to black persons such as you.  You are an American period!” 

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: Trent has a point.  My father's heritage would be British and my mother's was German, but I am American, not British American or German American. 

It would be wonderful if we could all just learn to love one another, and not worry about any characteristics that people have.  Treat others the way we  would like to be treated, and things would be better.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 06/26/09