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

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

Chapter 49

The End Around

When Cole and I got back into bed, Cole had tears in his eyes, “Doug, I never meant to convey to the boys that I didn’t love them.  It’s just that what happened tonight made me realize that I could cause you and the boys a lot of grief.”

I hugged Cole, “Cole, if you would have heard some of the words coming from Mr. Stark’s mouth, today, you would probably be in jail for assault and battery.  We had nothing to do with his death.  I have the feeling that Mr. Lumbaugh, is trying to hang on by the edge of his teeth.  I cannot even imagine what is going on in that man’s mind.  It’s as if he wants to be the king or president, and realizes that he is actually a nobody.”

“Let’s get some sleep.  Today has been an extremely exhausting day for me.  I don’t think tomorrow is going to be much better, either.”

We were awakened by a siren. I quickly put on some clothes and went to see what was happening.  When I got downstairs, Patty was talking to two sheriff’s deputies.  I heard her say, “Officers, I’m sure that you’re mistaken.  There is nothing illegal going on here.  We do have four young boys living here, but they are the sons of the owner.”

The officer was adamant, “We have a search warrant.  We were advised that there are pornographic pictures of children being sexually misused, in this house.”

I stepped forward, “Patty, I’ll take care of this.  Please make sure the boys don’t hear what’s going on.  Officers, might I ask why you’re here?”

 

“We had a call from a deputy of the Fulton County Sheriff’s office, telling us that you had a kiddie porn show here last night?”

I sighed, “Gentlemen, won’t you come in.  We didn’t have a kiddie porn show here last night.  I don’t understand why anyone would think otherwise.  What did the report say?”

The lead officer answered, “The report said that you had something in a computer that you projected onto a big screen television.”

I looked at the gentlemen, “I assume that the person who filed the complaint was named Lumbaugh.”

The man didn’t know what he was getting himself into when he answered, “Yep, ain’t he great.”

My Dad had been standing there, “Yep, he’s so great that he was caught in a kiddie porn episode. This search warrant isn’t even signed.  Doug, call the county sheriff’s office and tell them what these two officers are doing.”

Dad had been joined by Cole and Mr. Summers and the two supposed sheriff’s deputies were incapacitated while I called the sheriff’s office.  The two were struggling to get free when two sheriff’s cruisers arrived.  They cuffed the two imposter deputies.   It turned out that they were not deputy sheriffs at all.  They had stolen a sheriff’s car and uniforms.

Fortunately, Patty had gotten the three eldest sons off to school and the Moms had kept Mikey occupied, since he didn’t have school.  After the two imposters were arrested, I went to get ready to go to work, even though I hadn’t eaten breakfast.

Cole came into the room as I was getting dressed, “Doug, I thought you said things would quiet down.  I’ll probably have a heart attack before I ever play my first pro-football game.  I don’t think I’ll go to Atlanta today.”

When Cole and I arrived downstairs, my Dad informed us, “I called Howie and told him what happened.  He said he was going to take the CDs and DVDs straight to the Fulton County district attorney, since he knew he was an honest person.  He recommended that none of us say anything.  That won’t be too hard for your Mother and me, since we need to leave shortly for our flight home.  The Summers are still planning to leave this morning, as well.  Do you think you guys will be able to survive?”

I hugged my Dad, “Dad, we’ll survive this problem.  The problems will come when the three older boys are out of school for the summer.  Poor Patty and Cole will have their hands full.”

Dad laughed, “You’d think that with all the grandparents the boys have, that some of us would live close enough to help.  I guess you guys will just have to rough it.”

After I hugged everyone, I made my way to the campus.  When I walked in, Clark must have been waiting for me.  “Dr. C., I had a fantastic date last night.”

“You what?”

Clark chuckled, “After work, I called Hank and drove to Atlanta to spend the evening with him and his four sons.”

“So did you spend the night with them?”

Clark leered, “I would have if I thought it might have produced any results, but I think I’m going to take it slow.  Hank’s boys remind me so much of your sons.  They want to know when they can come back and go skinny dipping again.”

“Clark, you can invite them back, anytime.”

When I got to my office, I expected to get some flack.  Karen handed me my messages.  She looked at me, “Dr. C. that was rather scary this morning.  It was a good thing that the boys didn’t realize what was happening.”

“Karen, I was really scared for a while this morning.  I was fortunate that we had so many people around taking care of us.  Is President Harder in?”

Karen, shook her head no, “She called in this morning and said she wasn’t feeling well.  She called back and said she would be in after her doctor’s appointment at 10:30.”

I went and returned all the calls that I had to make and decided to go across the street to the construction site.  When I got there, someone was taking to Logan.  I heard him say, you will have to stop work, since you don’t have the plans approved by me,”

I walked up to the man, “I’m the college vice president, Doug Christiansen.  What seems to be the problem?”

“I’m David Young, the city building inspector.   You people haven’t obtained the necessary clearances to begin construction on these sites.”

I looked around, “Logan, have you started to build something that I don’t know about?”

Logan shook his head, no, “We’re still clearing away the debris.”

I took a deep breath, “Mr. Young, you and I need to go talk to the mayor and the city council.  It appears to me that you are trying to line your pockets with a little cash.  I have some rather powerful friends around here, and I suggest you do the job that you are paid to do.  I happen to know that Mr. Kennedy cleared all the paperwork before he left.”

The man was squirming, “Logan, let’s go file an official complaint against this sleaze ball.”

The man was practically begging us not to go.  I turned to the man, “Mr. Young, if Logan reports that you are here one more time, your ass is going to be pounding the street, looking for a job or standing in the unemployment line.”

It was as if the man disappeared into space.  Logan looked at me, “Man, you sure are brutal.  Remind me not to cross you.”

“I can be.  I’ve had a lot of experience, lately.  How are things going here at the sites, otherwise?”

Logan grinned, “We’ll be able to start the construction of the facilities next week, assuming Jack gets us the detailed plans by then,  We need to order the construction materials that we’ll need.”

We were walking back to the trailer, when Jack approached us.  I looked at him. “I thought you weren’t going to be back until later in the week?”

“I got bored and decided to come do something constructive instead of sitting around talking about the past.  I’ll go back on Friday for the funeral service.  I spent most of the hours that I’ve been gone on this project.  Logan, here are the specifications for the library.  I’ve decided that we should make the exterior of the buildings in brick, because of the termite problem.” 

“Doug, can you arrange a meeting with Mrs. McBride this evening, so I can show her what I have proposed for the library building.   The other buildings in this block are relatively simple other than the library.  It’s the buildings in the next block that I’m worried about.  I’ve never designed a student center or a field house before.  I can’t quite envision what you have in mind for the residence facility.”

I looked at the guys, “I can probably have some of  the important players at the house this evening at seven o’clock, if that is amenable.  The parents and in-laws were planning to leave this morning.  I’m not sure that I can get Mr. Block to come from Atlanta.  Let me go see what I can do.”

When I arrived in the office, Karen looked at me and it was not her usual smile, “Dr. Christiansen, President Harder would like to talk to you, immediately.”

I figured Lumbaugh had struck again.  I knocked on President Harder’s door and she invited me in.  “Doug, I’m resigning effective immediately.  You are now the Interim President of Harwood Community College, until the Board of Trustees can appoint you as the President, which should be next Tuesday at the regularly scheduled Board meeting.”

I was at loss for words.  I regained my thoughts, “Doris, this is rather sudden, isn’t it?  Why are you leaving?” 

“Doug, I have been diagnosed with cancer.  The doctors are going to start radiation tomorrow.  It is going to take a long time to be cured, if at all.  If I am fortunate enough to be cured, I want to be free, so we can enjoy the rest of our lives.”

Talk about a downer.  I walked to my office and Karen came into the office, “Dr. C. would you like me to get you something for lunch, since you didn’t eat any breakfast?”

“Karen, I need something.  The last twenty-four hours have been some of the worst of my life.”

I took time to call Mrs. McBride and arrange for her and the Millers to be at Summerhill at seven.  I called Mr. Block’s office, but he was out of town.

The day wasn’t over; when I arrived at Summerhill, I was surprised to see that my parents and Autumn’s parents were still there.

I was exhausted and went to change clothes.  Actually, I wanted to fall onto the bed and take a nap, but like a good father, I went to talk to our sons.  While we were eating dinner, I found out that my parents and Autumn’s parents decided to delay their departure for a day because of everything that had been happening.

I looked at Karen, “Have you said anything about what happened today?”

She shook her head, no, “It’s your news, so I thought you should be the person to tell them.”

Benji looked up, “Tell us what?”

I was glad that the parents had stayed an extra day.  It would save a lot of phone calls.  “I’m now the Interim President of the Harwood Community College.”

Karen added, “Only until next Tuesday.”

My Dad asked, “What’s going to happen next Tuesday?”

Karen obviously knew more about what was going to happen than I did, because she answered, “President Harder, called all of the members of the Board of Trustees and told them what was happening and was lining them up to support the appointment of Doug as the President.”

Mother, being the pragmatic person she was, asked, “Doug, how are you going to be able to handle everything that you’re doing now with the new expansion, the President’s job and still teach classes.”

In jest I suggested, “Maybe I can find two people to help me like Austin and Derek.  I figure that between the two of them they should be able to keep me out of trouble.”

Dad Summers laughed, “Doug, I think that you were probably kidding, but actually that might a perfect solution for all three of you.  I know that Austin and Derek want to get away from Atlanta, now that Derek has his doctorate.  What a perfect fit for Derek, since his Grandfather was so instrumental in what’s happening at the college.”

The discussion was interrupted by the arrival of Uncle Howie and Rob Nixon.  Mr. Nixon grinned, “Doug, I understand that congratulations are in order.  When Doris called me this afternoon, I was surprised that she was resigning.  I was not in the least bit surprised that she recommended you to fill the President’s position.  Something is going to have to give.  You can’t do the President’s job with everything else you’ve been doing.”

The adults were chuckling, Benji spoke before anyone could, “Dad’s  going to hire Uncle Austin and Uncle Derek to help him, Uncle Rob.  That’s what the big people were just talking about.”

Rob laughed, “Sounds fair to me.  Doug, could you have a presentation of the plans for campus expansion to show the Board, next Tuesday.  Ordinarily, we would be meeting on Monday, but I postponed it a day, because of Dad’s memorial service.”

“I’m sure we can arrange that. In fact, Jack is going to be arriving shortly.  He has some questions.  I’ve invited Mrs. McBride and the Millers to the meeting, since some of his questions have to do with the library and the student center.”

I looked at the boys and they were finished eating, “Guys, why don’t you take your dishes to the kitchen and go watch for Grandma McBride and Grandpa and Grandma Miller.”

Benji frowned, “Come on, guys, I know when we’re being told to disappear.”

Patty and Karen went to help the boys.  After I was sure the boys were out of hearing range, I began, “Uncle Howie, we had two very unwelcome visitors this morning.”

Uncle Howie nodded, “So I heard.  When Mrs. Stark and I were talking to the District Attorney, he received a call from the Fulton County Sheriff, telling him what happened here.  The two would be officers have been spilling their guts.  There’s an all points bulletin out for the arrest of Mr. Lumbaugh.  It seems that there is some evidence that Mr. Stark’s death wasn’t suicide after all.”

I sighed, “Uncle Howie, none of us, especially the boys, are going to be called to testify in this case, are we?”

“I assure you that none of you will be called to testify, especially the boys.  For some reason, I decided to have Mrs. Stark accompany me to the District Attorney’s office this morning, and it’s a good thing I did, because it saved everyone a lot of hassle.”

The conversation was interrupted by Mikey, “Dads, the visitors are arriving.  Benji says you need to come.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  Why didn't I see that news about Mr. Stark's death coming.   I should have known that Lumbaugh had something to do with it.  I wonder what will happen now.  It was sad to see what happened to President Harder.  She is a fine person. I hope they can catch the cancer and that she recovers.  I know too many people that have struggled with the big C word. I hope it won't be too long before we get the next chapter of this story.  I am on pins and needles.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 11/20/09