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 25 

Save the Last Dance For Me

When Brahim and I went down the stairs, we were met by Randolph, “Gentlemen, you might want to put your ear plugs in.  There’s a whole lot of complaining taking place.  Gentlemen, if I may say so, I can fully understand why Madam Carr is so taken by you three gentlemen.”

Dieter was complaining, “Allie, I look and feel like a dork.”

“Oh be quiet, you’ll be the best looking dork at the shindig tonight.  Now stop complaining.”

Mrs. Carr took that opportunity to enter, She stopped in her tracks, “Randolph, I think you’d better bring me a glass of water and some smelling salts.  I never realized how handsome these four hicks from the sticks could be.  Allie, where’s Dieter?  I thought he was going with us.”

Dieter slipped, “Look, Grandma Carr, I already feel dorky enough.”

Allie picked up on the Grandma Carr, “Okay, Dork Dieter, you have a whole lot of explaining to do.  Is Mrs. Carr really your Grandmother?”

Dieter shook his head no, “She's not my real Grandmother, but she’s the closest thing that I have to a Grandmother.  Pieter and I used to call Mr. and Mr. Carr Grandpa and Grandma, because they spoiled us and we’ve always lived here with them.”

Allie went and stood in front of Mrs. Carr, “If Dork Dieter gets to call you Grandma, when no one is around, then so do I.  Shouldn’t we be going if we’re going to be in time to pick up Doctor Cochran?”

When we were in the limousine, Mrs. Carr leaned over to Bra and me, “That was the first time since Pieter’s death that I can remember Dieter actually talking about Pieter and calling him by name.”

Dieter was explaining the sites to Allie as we were driving by.  When we stopped in front of the Ritz Carlton, Allie and Dieter exited the limo and Allie announced, “We’ll go get Doctor Cochran.”

The guys had no more than entered the hotel than they were exiting with a very stunning lady.  Randolph assisted her into the limo.  When Allie crawled in, he commented, “We’ll probably need to act as bodyguards all night for you two beautiful ladies.”

When we pulled up at the Waldorf Astoria, Mrs. Carr warned, “Guys, let Randolph open the door and help us out.”

When we entered the hotel, which was opulent, Allie just stopped and looked around, “People, this hotel has got to be old.”

We went to a private room on the second floor and were greeted by an older couple.  The lady laughed,   “Good evening, Madam President, I see you’ve been robbing the cradle again.  Where do you find all of these handsome men?”

“Three of them are from Texas and the hot young man with dirty blonde hair was bred and born in Greenwich.”

Talk about turning bright red, that was what happened to poor Dieter.  Mrs. Carr commented, “We should almost have a capacity crowd tonight.”

The gentleman answered, “We’re waiting for the last four people to arrive.  I’m Mark Shelton and this is my wife Marge.”

Allie went and introduced himself to the couple, “I’m Allie Safi and that’s my brother, Brahim.  The man next to him is my Dad, Ed Waller.  The handsome young man with us is my bodyguard, Dieter Randolph.  You know our hostess, Mrs. Carr and the other beautiful lady is Doctor Cochran.  She’s from Houston, too.”

After the introductions were completed, we made our way to the head table and a bar waiter appeared and to take our drink orders.  Mrs. Carr whispered, “We’re having chicken for dinner if that will help you.”

Brahim and I ordered two glasses of chardonnay wine.  Dieter and Allie ordered orange juice.  Mrs. Carr slipped Allie some money, “You pay the young man for our drinks when he brings them.  I see some people I need to talk to.”

When the young man brought the drinks, Allie went to talk to him and handed him the money that Mrs. Carr had given him.  Allie whispered, “Dad, we need to not have anymore drinks.  They’re very expensive.”

I grinned, “That’s how the hotels and restaurants make money.”

Mrs. Carr returned to the table and sounded a gong, “Ladies and gentlemen, we want to thank you for coming tonight.  We have arranged for some very talented people to entertain you after our meal.  Please find your seats.  They are ready to begin serving our meals.  We have arranged for an ensemble to entertain us while we eat.”

Allie and Dieter were in their own world and Mrs. Carr assured me that was for the best.  As soon as the wait staff had cleared away the last of the eating utensils, Mrs. Carr went to the small stage that had a piano, “Ladies and gentlemen, as I told you when I contacted you, I found some fantastic talented young people.  They’re here tonight to entertain you.  Allie and Brahim, please come up on stage.”

Mrs. Carr grinned, “The two guys had no idea what I was going to do to them tonight so be patient with them.”

Doctor Cochran looked at me, “Ed, did you know what was going to happen?”

“Believe me, ma’am, I had no idea.  I’ll probably be bleeding so bad when I get back to the house that I’ll require a blood transfusion.”

Dieter slid over next to me, “Mr. Waller, Allie is rather special, isn’t he?  Is there anything that he doesn’t do well?”

“Dieter, I continue to be amazed by Allie.”

I’m not going to describe the performances but both Allie and Brahim received standing ovations.  Doctor Cochran looked at me, “I’m involved in the Houston Opera and I had no idea that Brahim was the young man that everyone has been talking about.  I had him pictured as someone much older.  All I can say is, it is easy to understand why Melanie would hook up with the three of you young men.  There must be something about you I don’t know, as well.”

After the guys performed, the ensemble started to play dance music and Mrs. Carr stood in front of me and I knew that I was being told that I was to dance with her.  Bra took that as a signal to dance with Doctor Cochran.  Mrs. Carr whispered, “The two guys will be joining us shortly.  I arranged for the Sheltons to bring their granddaughters who are about the same age as Allie and Dieter.”

The Shelton’s two granddaughters kept Allie and Dieter entertained.  As the Sheltons were leaving, Allie and Dieter walked them to the door.

We were some of the last people to leave, since everyone was coming up to talk to Allie and Brahim.  When we arrived at the entrance to the hotel, Randolph was waiting for us.  Allie announced, “I’m riding in front with Mr. Randolph, since I’m not talking to Mrs. Carr.”

Mrs. Carr looked at me, “Ed, what’s that all about?”

I threw up my hands, “Beats me.  It sounds as if Allie is plotting something.”

When we arrived at the Ritz Carlton, Allie jumped out and escorted Doctor Cochran into the hotel.  When we were pulling away from the Ritz Carlton, Dieter moved to the sliding glass panel between the driver’s and passenger's compartment and was talking to his Dad and Allie.

“Grandma Carr, Allie wants to know if it would be permissible to raid the kitchen and get some real food when we get to the house?”

Mrs. Carr frowned, “What was wrong with the food tonight at the hotel?”

Dieter was talking to Allie and answered, “Allie says everything that we had was like something you would eat in fast food restaurant.  Everything tasted the same.”

Fortunately we pulled up in front of Mrs. Carr’s home; Allie hopped out and opened the limousine door.  Mrs. Carr looked at Allie, “Young man, we need to talk.”

Allie responded, “Ma’am, I’m fully booked for the next week, I’ll talk to you in the kitchen, as soon as we get the old men accompanying you out of the car, so Uncle Randy can hide the car from the aliens.”

Dieter started to laugh, “I never thought I’d live long enough to hear my Dad referred to as Uncle Randy.”

When we entered the house, Mrs. Carr glared, “I’ll meet you in the kitchen as soon as I can get out of these clothes, especially the heels.  They’re killing my feet.”

Allie looked at Dieter, “Ask your Grandma why she wears the stupid shoes if they hurt her feet?  Come on let’s get out of these zoot suits before we get them dirty.  Then we’ll leave the kitchen in a mess.”

We heard the two guys bounding up the stairs.  Mrs. Carr asked, “Is Allie always this hyperactive?”

Brahim answered, “Ma’am, Allie isn’t even a teenager and you totally blindsided him tonight the same as you did me.  Not only that, he’s become very protective of Dieter in the last twenty four hours.  He’s probably still experiencing a high from an adrenalin rush.”

We went to our bedrooms to change into more comfortable clothes than the tuxedoes.  When we returned to the kitchen, Allie and Dieter were cleaning a cantaloupe and some berries.  We were seated around a kitchen table eating our fresh fruit, and Allie started, “Dieter, Uncle Randy said you could go back to Houston with us, so you could make sure that Grandma Carr didn’t get into trouble.”

Both Randolph and Mrs. Carr started to choke.  Allie wasn’t done, “Dad, you need to call the airline and get Dieter booked on the same flight we’re on.”

I frowned, “Allie, where’s Dieter going to stay?   We only have three bedrooms and your Grandparents are coming on Monday and Tuesday and you’ve invited Grandpa Darryl and Uncle Tom on Wednesday night, and we don‘t know how long they might stay”

“Dad, Dieter can sleep with me or he can sleep in the den.  I have no problem with sleeping in the den if I have to.  I’ve done it before.”

The two young guys chased us out of the kitchen so they could clean up after we had our fruit.”

Mrs. Carr looked at me, “I’m amazed at how mature Allie can be and yet, sometimes, he acts his age.”

Brahim looked at her, “Ma’am, we didn’t exactly have an easy life in Algeria, after our parents died.  Allie has been required to put up with many hardships in his young life and probably still would be doing so if it weren’t for Ed.”

Randolph went into the kitchen to inspect and came back laughing, “You people need to see the state of the kitchen.  This is unbelievable,”

We walked into the kitchen and everything was immaculate.  There was a note on the refrigerator that read, To whom it may concern:  We would appreciate it if you could fix omelets for breakfast without any pork in them.  My brother and I never eat pork especially on Sunday.  Thanks for your patience, A. Safi

P.S. we would also appreciate if you could serve fresh fruit that hasn’t been frozen or canned.

Mrs. Carr asked, “Brahim, why would Allie write such a note?”

 

Brahim took a deep breath, “Ma’am, Allie and I were raised as Muslims.  We had never eaten pork until we met Ed.”

Randolph asked, “Are the two of you still Muslims?”

Brahim started to laugh, “Uncle Randy, I don’t know what we are, anymore.  We have attended services for several denominations.  Allie has even attended Catholic and Jewish services.  I guess I would have to say that we are the same denomination as Ed chooses to be.”

When we arrived downstairs in the morning, we went to the dining room since we heard voices coming from there.  Mrs. Carr, Dieter, and Allie were sitting there eating a vegetarian omelet with cheese with a baked cinnamon apple.  As soon as Brahim and I were seated, we were served the same meal.  We were just about finished eating when an older lady entered from the kitchen, “Mr. A. Safi, Is there anything special that you would like for lunch since you and your brother have dietary restrictions?”

Allie looked up, “Thank you for asking ma’am, but a nice bowl of soup, with a nice tossed salad would be fine.  If it ’s not too much bother, perhaps you could make some warm rolls to keep us full for our trip to Houston.”

The lady threw up her hands, “Mrs. Carr, what does this young punk think we are that he would be asking for warm rolls with lunch, especially on Sunday?” 

She laughed, “I suppose we could make some potato rolls.  He probably wouldn’t know how to eat them.  Maybe we should serve hot rolls with apple butter, that would probably blow his mind.”

“Ma’am, fix whatever your family would like, since we understand that you take the leftovers home and feed them to them.”

The lady frowned, “Look, A. Safi, my family only wants to eat fast food anymore.  They don’t understand this home cooking stuff.  Mrs. Carr, what time will you be wanting to eat lunch?”

Mrs. Carr was laughing, “Eleanor, we should be back from church at about twelve fifteen.  It may be a little later; depending on how many hymnals the congregation throws at our two visitors after they sing at the services.”

Allie stood up and fell to the floor, “Dieter help me, I think I’ve been poisoned.  Tell your Grandma that I’m too feeble to go to church, especially if she’s going to make me sing again.”

Eleanor laughed, “Mrs. Carr, you do have a live wire there.  I guess I need to go to church to make sure he doesn’t mess up.”

Allie pleaded, “Grandma Carr, please don’t make me sing again.  If I have to sing, then so does Dieter.”

Dieter reacted, “Allie, that ain’t about to happen.  I can’t read music, plus I don’t have a musical muscle in my body.”

When we arrived at the church, people were already seated in the sanctuary so there wasn’t any time for the guys to practice.  I was abandoned so I went and sat in an empty pew, since I didn’t know anyone.  I was surprised when Randolph came in and sat down beside me.  He wasn’t wearing his uniform, so I almost didn’t recognize him.  He leaned over and whispered, “I keep a change of clothes in the limo.”

Just as the processional was starting, I was joined on the other side by Eleanor from the house and her husband.”

I watched as Mrs. Carr played the organ and I decided she could give my mother and Mrs. Daniels a run for their money.  She was really good.  I would find out later how good she really was.   It didn’t take long for Allie and Dieter to be showcased and they blended together beautifully.  I leaned over to Randolph, “For not having a musical muscle, Dieter sure sings very well.”

Randolph looked at me and arched his eyebrows.

Something happened that totally mystified me.  When Allie and Dieter finished singing, the congregation and the pastors stood and clasped their two hands as if they were praying.  Eleanor leaned over and whispered.  “This is the congregation's way of showing their appreciation for the talented young men.  Applauding was banned many years ago, because some of church elders felt that it was unchristian like to applaud in church.”

The congregation stood two more times to pay tribute to the guys during the service.  After the first service, Allie and Brahim were giving Dieter a difficult time.  Mrs. Carr stopped the frivolity.  “Come on guys; let’s practice for the next service.”

Allie balked, “But we need to go pack Dieter’s bags.”

Mrs. Carr countered, “Dieter’s Dad can pack Dieter’s bags while we practice.  Let’s get with it.  Ed, you might as well go back to the house with Randolph, since there is nothing for you to do here.  Call Joanne and tell her we’ll pick her up at three-thirty.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  Poor Allie and Bra.  They always seem to be pressed into performing.  I really think adults should at least give them some warning, before telling everyone that they are going to perform.  It would be even nicer if they would ask them if they want to do so, but I really think it's presumptuous to just hit them with the news, when they arrive at a venue, that they are going to be the entertainment.

Having said that, I know that they are very talented and that people really enjoy hearing them sing, but it should be their choice as to when and where they do so. 

When I get to Houston, maybe I should have a talk with Ed and the others, about at least warning the guys that people would like them to sing. 

I am really starting to like Dieter very much.  He has been through a lot of heartache and guilt.  Hopefully, Allie can help him pull himself out of the depression he has been in.  Let's hope so, anyway.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 04/30/10