Taking Texas By Storm
by: E Walk
(© 2009 by the Author)
 

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

Chapter 24 

The Big Apple

We were walking to the baggage claim area with Dr. Cochran when we heard, “Guys, we’re over here.  Where did you find Joanne?  That’s a silly question.  She’s probably trying to lay claim to you.  Too bad I found you first.  Joanne, are you in town on business or a social visit?”

Dr. Cochran hugged Mrs. Carr, “How come you find all the handsome men first and lay claim to them?  Actually, I’m presenting at a seminar in the morning at the Ritz Carlton where I’ll be staying.  In the afternoon we have tickets to a Broadway show, but I haven’t made plans for tomorrow night.”

Mrs. Carr winked at Allie, “Joanne, we’re going to be attending a benefit tomorrow night to support the New York Arts Council.  Why don’t you plan to go with me to help keep my three guys under control?  Of course you’ll probably need to buy some suitable clothes since it's a black tie event.”

Dr. Cochran asked, “Allie, are you going to be wearing a tuxedo, as well?”

“Yes, ma’am, assuming that they didn’t lose our luggage.  I made sure I packed our tuxedoes and all the things that we need.  There wasn’t much room for anything else, so we’ll probably be running around in our underwear.”

That caused the two ladies to laugh. The luggage carousel started to move,  and wouldn’t you know, Doctor Cochran’s and our luggage was the first to appear.  Randolph, as we were to find out, was standing there with a cart with another gentleman who was there to pick up Doctor Cochran.

When we started to try to take the luggage off the carousel, Randolph stopped us, “Sirs, I’ll get the luggage if you tell me which bags are yours.”

Allie frowned, “Sir, ours are the four with the red stripes, but we can help you.”

Mrs. Carr whispered, “Randolph would be offended if you were to try to help.  Let him do it.”

Randolph took us to the passenger loading zone, “If you gentlemen will wait with Madam, I’ll return shortly with the limousine.”

I swear the limousine was there in less than five minutes.  Randolph held the door open and motioned for us to get in. We watched as Randolph and a porter loaded the luggage in the luggage compartment.  Allie was watching as Randolph obviously tipped the porter and the porter returned to the terminal with the luggage carrier.

Allie asked, “Mrs. Carr, did Randolph just tip that man for helping him with the luggage?”

Mrs. Carr chuckled, “It’s surprising what a couple of dollars can do for you.   Randolph is known at all three major airports and is always warmly greeted, because he spreads a few bucks around.  Of course, I have to compensate him for his expenses, but it’s well worth it because of the service we receive.  I took the liberty of making reservations at a small restaurant near the house.  I hope that’s okay?”

As we were driving through New York, Allie was amazed, I thought traffic in Houston was bad, but this is much worse.”

Mrs. Carr nodded, “It’s because of the bridges that we have to go across.  Friday nights are always especially busy.  It will be much quieter on Sunday when we fly to Houston.”

I watched as Randolph maneuvered through the traffic and we pulled up in front of what looked to be an old farm house.  Randolph opened the door and helped us out of the limo.  He asked, “Madam, what time would you like me to return to take you home?”

 

“Randolph, I would guess that we will be sufficiently full in an hour and a half.  You know how slow these people are?”

“Very well, Madam.”

When we went to the door, there was a big sign that read, ‘If you don’t have reservations, don’t even bother to knock or the ghosts will be out to drive you away.’

Allie giggled. “Mrs. Carr, I hope we don’t have reservations.  I’ve never seen a ghost.”

Allie reached and lifted the knocker three times,  The door screeched open and a young man was standing there in costume from the time of Rip Van Winkle and Ichabod Crane.  He looked at Allie, “Look kid, you’re giving me a headache and scaring the other guests by pounding on the door.  I hope you have reservations.  The ghosts are complaining because they’re having to work too hard tonight.  They’re demanding that we put a talking sign, since so many people can’t seem to read.  Now, do you have reservations or not?”

Allie didn’t quite know what to make of this young man, “Yes, Mrs. Carr indicated that we had reservations.”

“Oh no, not Mrs. Carr!  Why didn’t you tap your finger three times on the door and everyone would have been here to bow down?  Follow me.  I’ll find the darkest corner I can find.

Allie looked at Mrs. Carr, “Ma’am why would you come here to eat if the people act like this?”

Mrs. Carr laughed, “Allie, that’s why people come here.  They can have a few laughs and unwind after a hard day and the food is good.”

We were seated, and it was anywhere but a dark corner.  It was at  the window in the center of the room that looked out into the courtyard.   The young man sighed, “Unfortunately all the other servers are busy taking care of people, so you’re stuck with me.  Mrs. Carr, I assume you will be having your usual Henry Hudson cocktail with two cocktail onions.  What would you recommend for the little monster.  Perhaps a Rip Van Winkle that will cause him to sleep for a hundred years.”

Allie answered, “That’s fine, sir.  Just make sure you leave out the hair tonic.  I’m too young to start shaving.  In fact, I’d like a glass of water, since I have my tester here in my pocket to make sure you didn’t doctor it up.”

The young man started to laugh as did Mrs. Carr, “Dieter, I’m thinking that you’ve met your match.  Bring Master Alex a Rip Van Winkle with two orange slices and two cherries.  Brahim and Ed, what would you like to drink?”

Brahim answered, “I’d just like some iced tea, please.

I nodded, “I’ll have the same.”

We never had a chance to order dinner, the food kept coming and it was all wonderful.  Allie looked at Mrs. Carr, “Why are these people taking such good care of us?  Do you own this restaurant?”

Dieter answered, “She owns the restaurant, and if we serve something not to her liking, we don’t get paid.  Now what else can we poor starving people serve you?”

 

Mrs. Carr glared, “Dieter, you may find yourself out walking the bread line.  Dinner was great.  What time will you be home?”

“I’ll be there after we have everything ready for tomorrow night.”

As we were leaving the restaurant, Allie asked, “Mrs. Carr, who is Dieter?  He isn’t just a waiter or server, is he?”

“That’s very astute of you, Allie.  Dieter is Randolph’s son.  He has been living with me, and my husband, before my husband death, since he was born.  His mother also worked for us until her death.  In fact, I think you will probably be sharing a bathroom with him tonight.”

The limo was waiting and nothing more was said in the presence of Randolph.  When we arrived at the Mrs. Carr’s house, if you could call it that, since it was a very old huge home that was gated, Randolph announced, “Gentlemen, I took the liberty of unpacking your bags.  It appears that you brought everything that you need.”

Allie asked, “Mr. Randolph, would you be kind enough to show me where I will be sleeping?  I'm getting rather tired.  It’s been a long day.”

Randolph nodded, “If you gentlemen will follow me, I’ll show you to your rooms.”

Mrs. Carr called after us, “We’ll meet for breakfast at eight, and decide what to do for the short time that isn’t already planned for tomorrow.”

We stopped at the room at the top of the stairs and Randolph opened the door, “Master Allie, I hope you don’t mind sharing bathroom facilities with Dieter.”

Allie laughed, “Mr. Randolph, why would I mind?  At home, I have to share a bathroom with Dad and Bra, and it’s across the hall.  I won’t have to worry about anyone laughing at my bare body.  I’ll be fine.”

Randolph blushed, “Gentlemen, I didn’t know if you would require two bedrooms or one so I decided to put you in this suite with two bedrooms with a connecting bath.  Mr. Brahim’s clothes are in this room, and Mr. Waller, your clothes are in the adjoining room.  I figured that this arrangement would cause less talk among the help.  You might want to make sure you leave both rooms a mess, so the staff doesn’t have time to gossip.”

Brahim and I did our best to follow Randolph’s instructions, but we had some unexpected intervention the next morning.  After breakfast, Dieter and Allie decided that they were going to go boating.  Brahim asked to be excused so he could do some school work.  I decided to go with the two guys.  I didn’t even go to the bedroom after breakfast, as Allie and Dieter did.  They came down appropriately dressed to go sailing.

Dieter drove us to a bay and we boarded a rather large motor boat, or perhaps I should say, small yacht.  Dieter was an expert sailor and maneuvered the boat into the open water.  While Dieter was maneuvering the boat, Allie whispered, “Dad, Dieter has some problems.  I heard him crying in the middle of the night and went to try to make him stop crying.  The story he told me is pretty scary.”

Dieter stopped the conversation, “Mr. Waller, why don’t you steer the boat while Allie and I catch some fish for breakfast, tomorrow?”

I started to laugh, “Dieter, I'm not a sailor.  I’m from Texas.  I’m a cowboy.”

Dieter pouted, “Sir, if you can ride a horse then you should be able to steer this beast.  I won’t be very far away, in case something strange were to occur.”

Dieter and Allie were standing where I could watch them and they seemed to be talking the entire time they were catching fish.  I looked my watch, “Dieter, it’s almost eleven o’clock.  Shouldn’t we be getting back to Mrs. Carr’s home.  I know we’re supposed to go somewhere this afternoon.”

Dieter looked at his watch, “I guess I'm going to get myself grounded again.  Wouldn’t you think they would stop treating me like a little kid?  After all, I am nineteen.”

When we walked into the house, we were accosted but not for the reason I expected.  Randolph scowled, “I thought I told you to make a mess of your bedrooms so the help wouldn’t gossip.  The beds were made so well, they couldn’t tell who slept where and all the dirty towels and things were in the tubs.”

Allie went and hugged Randolph, “Uncle Randolph, I made the beds just like we do at home.  I didn’t know where the laundry was, so I couldn’t put the dirty towels in the washing machine.”

Dieter threw up his hands, “Dad, I tried to tell Allie that we had people who were paid to do the work, but he told me that was silly.”

As we were eating lunch, Allie insisted that Dieter eat with us much to his father’s chagrin.  As an outcome, it was decided that Dieter would be accompanying us to the Broadway play.  Allie realized that Randolph was having a problem with what was happening, “Don’t worry, Uncle Randolph, we won’t let him get into trouble.”

Allie asked, “Mrs. Carr, what should we wear this afternoon.  I’ve never been to a Broadway play.”

Mrs. Carr put here pointer finger to her chin, “ Since it’s a Saturday afternoon matinee, I suppose you can wear almost anything.  You certainly don’t need to wear a tie.”

Allie looked at Dieter, “Come on, sailor boy, we need to get the salt and grime off, since I’m not permitted to help with the dishes.”

After I heard Allie and Dieter on the stairs, I took a deep breath.  “Randolph, sit down.  Allie told me this morning that he heard Dieter crying during the night and went to talk to him.  He said that Dieter had a big problem.  Would someone care to tell us what the problem is?  Is there a reason for us to worry about him being alone with Allie.?”

Mrs. Carr pointed to Randolph, “You need to explain what’s happening.”

Randolph sat down, “We have been struggling with Dieter’s psychological problems ever since he accidentally hit his brother with a car three years ago.  Pieter would have been about Allie’s age if he were still living.  Dieter was backing out of the driveway to go to work when his brother darted from between cars chasing a dog,  and there was no way Dieter could have avoided hitting Pieter.  Dieter has refused to accept that Pieter’s death was not his fault.”

Mrs. Carr added, “Today is the first time in almost three years that Dieter has done anything but eat, sleep, mope and work.   We have taken him to I don’t know how many specialists and no one has been able to get through to him and make him understand that it was not his fault.”

We heard the guys coming down the steps.  Brahim stood and frowned, “We're probably going to be yelled at, since we aren’t properly dressed.”

Allie looked at Bra and me, “Shouldn’t you be getting dressed?  Uncle Randolph, if I gotta wear a tuxedo tonight then so does Dieter.  He says he doesn’t have one.  Can you take care of that problem while we’re at the play?”

“Dad, I’m supposed to work tonight.  I don’t have time to go around dressed like a penguin.”

Allie pointed, “Either you go to this shindig with me tonight, or I’ll make sure you’re fired for good.  Now stop complaining.”

Randolph dropped us off at the theatre where we were to see the show.  As we were walking to our ringside seats, Mrs. Carr said quietly, “This is the first time in three years that Dieter has done anything like this.  He even quit school after his brother died.”

It was about time for the play to begin when a rather large group arrived and a lady sat down next to Dieter.  Allie looked at the lady, “Oh hi, Doctor Cochran, this is my friend Dieter.  Dieter, what is your last name anyway.”

Dieter laughed, “My name is Dieter Randolph.”

That caused Allie to pause, “So is your Dad’s name Randolph Randolph?”

“No, but that’s close.  His name is Rupert Randolph.  He doesn’t like to be known as Rupert Randolph because people are so lazy that they call him Rup.”

Allie nodded, “I can understand that feeling.  I have so many names that I prefer to be called Allie or Alex.”

The show was very good and everyone was enjoying it.  I watched as Allie was observing everything that was happening on stage.  At intermission, Allie announced, “Dad, I need to go to the bathroom.”

Dieter stood, “I’ll take him Mr. Waller, I won’t let anything happen to him.”

When the two guys returned to their seats, Allie leaned over, “Dad, it wasn’t me who had the problem.  Some guy tried to put the make on Dieter.”

Dieter giggled, “Allie took care of the problem by saying.  ‘Mister, I’ll tell my Daddy that this man is trying to get you to do things that you don’t want to do,  I’ll tell him to call the police.’  It was amazing how fast the bathroom cleared out.”

We enjoyed the show and as we were exiting the theatre, I heard Mrs. Carr say, “Joanne, we’ll pick you up at six fifteen at the Ritz Carlton.”

When we were in the limo, Mrs. Carr asked, “Allie, what did you think of your first Broadway play?”

Allie grinned, “Mrs. Carr, I really enjoyed it.  It seems to me as if some of the actors were a little stiff and looked as if they were bored.”

Mrs. Carr nodded, “Allie, I agree.  There seemed to be a lack of enthusiasm in today’s performance.”

When we arrived at the Mrs. Carr’s house, Allie commented, “I guess it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to go raid the refrigerator to find a snack to hold me until dinner time.”

Mrs. Carr and Dieter answered in unison, “The staff would mutiny if you were to invade their domain.”

Mrs. Carr looked at Randolph, “Randolph, would you see if you could find something to hold us over until dinner, please?”

Randolph returned almost immediately followed by two ladies who were carrying trays.  They sat them on the serving table. Allie started to giggle, “I thought this was going to be snack not dinner.  This is more food than Brahim and I had in a week in Algeria.”

That caught Dieter’s attention, He started to say something but thought better of it.  “Allie, what would you like to drink?”

“A glass of juice would be fine.  I don’t need anything sweet.”

Allie asked, “Mrs. Carr, do you always have snacks like this in the afternoon?”

“No, Allie.  If I’m here by myself, I would probably have a cup of tea and perhaps a piece or two of fruit.  The staff gets carried away when we have company.  Besides, they aren’t going to have to cook tonight, so they probably made enough so that they can feed their families.”

Allie asked, “You mean they live here with their families?”

Dieter started to chuckle, “Allie, Dad and I are the only two people who live here permanently with Mrs. Carr.  Everyone else is a day worker.”

Allie was quiet and asked, “Mrs. Carr, you mean you don’t mind if they take the leftovers home?”

“Allie, please call me something other than Mrs. Carr.  I prefer that they take the leftovers home, instead of throwing them down the garbage disposal.  Most of the help has worked for a great many years and I feel confident that they aren’t going to take advantage of me.  I think it is time that we consider getting dressed for our outing, and Allie, we don’t take the dishes to the kitchen.  The help will come and take care of them.”

Allie frowned, “Come on, Dieter, I know when I’ve been told to mind my own business.”

When the guys were out of earshot, Mrs. Carr looked at Bra, Randolph and me, “Do you realize that it has taken Allie less than twenty four hours to do what we’ve been trying to do for three years.  Randolph, just let it happen.  I know that you aren’t pleased by what is happening, but it’s what needs to happen.”

Randolph took a deep breath, “Ma’am, at first I was not at all pleased with what was happening, but today was the first time that we have heard Dieter genuinely laugh in over three years.”

Our conversation was interrupted by the appearance of Allie wrapped only in a towel, “Mr. Randolph, do you have some barber equipment so I can trim Dieter’s hair?”

“Master Allie….”

“Can the Master bit.”

“Allie, I do have a set of barbers tools.  Do you want me to come and trim Dieter’s hair?”

Allie shook his head no, “I can do it.  I used to trim Brahim’s hair back home all the time because it saved us some money.”

As Allie disappeared up the steps, he yelled back, “You older people need to get moving if we’re going to be on time.”

Randolph was laughing and shaking his head, “Mr. Waller and Mr. Safi, I took the liberty of having your tuxedoes pressed.  All of your clothes are laid out.  Call me if you need anything else.”

As Bra and I were walking up the steps, Bra commented, “Ed, I feel as if I’m back on the cruise ship.   I have no idea what to expect tonight.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  It looks as if Allie is working his magic again, and is helping Dieter.  If anyone can help Dieter, Allie stands to be the closest one to do so.  It looks as if Randolph is one of those old school butlers.  He seems a bit stuffy, but I am thinking that down deep, he has a heart of gold.  He really does love Dieter, and he will do whatever is necessary to help him in any way he can.

Allie is not going to sit back and do nothing, when he sees someone who needs help. 

I will be waiting, not very patiently, for the next chapter, so we can find out what will happen.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 04/23/10