Tip & Ty
by: E Walk

(Copyright 2007 by the Author)
 

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

 

Chapter 21

A Steal of a Deal

 

This is Mark,

 

Tip and Ty left for the Quinn house and the children and I started to clear the table.  Shawn came into the kitchen, “I’m not an invalid.  I can help.”

 

I looked at him, “Okay, Mr. Non Invalid, you rinse while Bobby loads the dishwasher.  The rest of us will finish folding and putting away the laundry.”

 

I was taking a basket of clean clothes toward the stairs when Bobby looked at me, “Nano Mark, Mr. Harrison gave me another note for you.  I’ll get it after Mr. Ferguson and I finish the dishes.”

 

We were in the family room watching a show on the Disney channel when Bobby handed me the note and sat down beside me to see what it said.  I opened it

 

Dear Nano Mark,

 

Thank you for your informative and frank note.  I would very much enjoy getting together and visiting with you and Zack.  You can call me on my cell phone almost anytime except when I am in school.  The number is 717-6161.

 

I almost never leave town because my family lives in Bismarck, North Dakota. 

 

I look forward to visiting with you and Zack.

 

                                                                      Sincerely

                                                                      Tim Harrison

 

Bobby looked up at me, “Gee, Mr. Harrison must get lonely.”

 

I hadn’t noticed, but Billy had crawled onto Shawn’s lap.

 

Barbie came over to me, “Nano, I’m tired.”

 

“Okay ladies and gentlemen, time to get ready for bed.  Mr. Ferguson will help you two young men with your bath and don’t ask him to get into the tub or shower with you.  You’re old enough to make sure that you get your bodies clean.”

 

“Come on ladies, let’s beat the guys.  Story time will be in the girls’ room tonight.”

 

When everyone was ready for bed, I started to read the next chapter of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  I read a chapter with Barbie and Billy on my lap and Bobby and Becky were on either side of me.  Shawn was leaning against the bed listening and watching. 

 

I got the girls settled and carried Billy to the guys’ room and kissed both boys good night.  Shawn had been watching the entire time.  After the children were settled, we went down stairs and were sitting in the family room.

 

I went and got two beers.  We were visiting and finally he told me about his former partner and how he was harassing him.  I looked at Shawn, “Are you looking to meet someone?”

 

“Yes, but I won’t go cruising.  I want my next relationship to develop naturally.  I don’t like being alone.  Now that Colleen has a partner, she is almost never at the apartment.  She is always with Leanne.”

 

I was formulating a plan while Shawn was speaking, “Shawn, if you are available on Saturday, would you like to join Zack, the children and me for dinner?”

 

I would really like to meet Zack.  He must be a very special person.  Bobby was talking about him while the guys were taking their bath and shower.”

 

I got the portable phone and the note from Tim.  I dialed the number that Tim had in the put in the note.  Tim answered on the first ring.

 

“Hi Tim, this is Nano Mark. … Are you available for dinner Saturday evening? … Great, why don’t you come to the condo about five? … Okay, I’ll send the directions with Bobby in the morning.  I have someone I’d like for you to meet.  See you Saturday.”

 

Shawn looked at me with a silly grin, “I think you got me a blind date.  Right?”

 

“Tim ain’t blind.  I think both of you will like what you see.  Now how about you calling Colleen and this Leanne person and see if they would like to join us so the neighbors won’t talk since there will be four children and six males here.”

 

Shawn looked concerned, “Who are the other two males?”

 

“Oh, they are two 15 year olds who I am going to be mentoring.  They both think they might be gay.  I’m sure that you will like them.  Now call your sister and her friend.”

 

Shawn dialed, “Hey Coli, Nano Mark wants to know if you and Leanne would like come to the boss’s house for dinner on Saturday about 5:30.  It will be just a small dinner. … Great, I’ll ask Nano Mark.”

 

He turned to me, “They want to know if they can bring something?”

 

I shook my head, “No, we have everything covered.”

 

“Mark says that they have everything covered. … I will tell you tomorrow why I am with Mark.  It’s all very innocent, so don’t get in an uproar. .. Good night Coli, give Lea a kiss from me.”

 

Shawn stood, “I need to go.  If tomorrow is anything like today was at the office, I need to be well rested.”

 

Shawn hugged me as he was leaving, “Thanks for everything, Mark.”

 

Shawn had just left when the phone started ringing.  I picked it thinking it was Zack, “This is the Washington, Jefferson and Jackson household.  How may I help you?”

A young voice was laughing, “Is this a clearing house like Price, Waterhouse and Samuels or whatever?  Is there a Nano Mark available?”

 

I recognized the voice, “What’s up Kevin?”

 

“I just called to tell you that Mr. Jefferson and Dr. Washington just left Grandma’s house.  You gotta’ convince them that they need to buy the house even if it costs $1,500.000.00.  Grandma is giving them a steal of a deal.  I’m really excited about Saturday.  Gotta’ go.”

 

I held the receiver and looked at it.  I think I was just hit by a tornado.  I had just hung up when the phone started to ring again.  I decided to play it safe, “This is Mark Leavitt speaking, how may I help you?”

 

A falsetto voice started, “Oh Mr. Markie, I have this thang here between my legs that is at attention begging for some attention.  Please, Mr. Nano, take care of it; it is achin’ so bad.”

 

I couldn’t help myself and I burst out laughing, I finally regained my composure, “The doctor prescribes that you take that lil’ ole thang and give it some hand jivin’ to see if you can git it ready for our guests this weekend.”

 

Zack and I got serious and I told him as much as I knew about what had been happening, and the guests we would be having Saturday night for dinner.

 

Zach finally indicated that he needed to go finish some work and we got ready to hang up, “Mark, I love you.  I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

 

“Zack, I hope that you really mean that.”

 

I hung up.

 

I had just finished cleaning the room when Tip and Ty walked in.  Ty looked around, “Where’s Shawn?  Is he okay?”

 

I shook my head, “Lawyer Jefferson, Shawn is fine.  He left here laughing.  He is going to be having dinner with us Saturday, along with Tim Harrison, Colleen and her partner Leanne, and the two fifteen year old guys.  I figured that the two ladies would keep the neighbors from talking anymore than they probably already are.”

 

“That's a very good reason for you two to buy Mrs. Quinn’s house for $1,500.000.00.”

 

Ty put his hands up in disbelief, “Mark, there is no way you could come up with that figure unless you have been talking to someone.”

 

I started to laugh, “Kevin called to tell me that you had just left and that I was to convince you that you had to buy the house.  Gentlemen, I’m going to bed, it has been a very long day.  Goodnight.”

 

This is Tip.

 

Ty had told me about his day on the way to Mrs. Quinn’s house.  All I could think was that he made $30,000.00 by just being there plus whatever else he would be getting in the future.  “Here I am, a board certified doctor and was lucky to make $500.00 after expenses and taxes.”

 

When we got to Mrs. Quinn’s house, she had snacks on the dining room table and Kevin and his parents were already there.  Mr. Hastings arrived and described his findings with the house.  He concluded his presentation, “I would place a value on this property and building at $1,750.000.00 and that is a conservative appraisal.  The only major drawback, that I could find, is that the circular driveway is badly in need of repair or being replaced.”

 

He stood, “Now if you people will excuse me, I need to go.  I have another appointment in 30 minutes.”

 

As soon as Mr. Hastings had departed, Mrs. Quinn started, “Okay gentlemen, I’ll let you have the property, building and contents except my personal things and some special mementos for $1,500.000.00.  My son and his wife don’t need anymore clutter.  You can use what you want and give the rest to some charity.  I do reserve the right to pop in anytime I wish to make sure Nano Mark is behaving properly.”

 

Kevin was sitting there laughing, “Gentlemen, you might want to limit the visitations rights to between 8:00a.m. and 8:00p.m., otherwise Grandma might go into cardiac arrest.”

Ty stood, “Mrs. Quinn, we would like some time to discuss your generous offer.  We will be leaving for Denver early tomorrow evening.  I have a case that is being heard tomorrow afternoon.  May I call you on Monday about noon with our decision?”

 

Mrs. Quinn looked at him with her penetrating eyes, “I’ll be waiting for your yes answer with unabated breath.”

 

Ty and I exited the house and climbed into Ty’s car.  As soon as we started moving Ty asked, “Tip, what do you think we should do?  It is a terrific offer.”

 

“Ty, I know nothing about this kind of stuff, but I think that it would be best if we took a laid back approach and not rush into a decision.  It is evident that Mrs. Quinn wants us to have the house, but I think we should think this over very carefully.  I also think that you should see what the official assessed valuation of the house is, and then we need to talk to Rita about financing the house.”

 

“You should not take your investments to pay for the house.  I have some money set aside, but I need to start thinking about the future also.”

 

“Ty, we need to consider where the children would go to school, we should not uproot them at this point in the year.  We need to see if they can continue at the same school.  Remember how hard it was when we had to change schools?”

 

“Tip, when we get home, we need to sit down and make a list of things that we need to do in the next several days.  Everything is moving like we are moving through time on a space ship.”

 

This is Ty.

 

After Mark went to bed, Tip and I sat down at the table and wrote down everything that we could think of that had to be done.  I finally sent Tip to get ready for bed while I wrote out a plan for the next day.  When I got to the bedroom, he was packing two suitcases.

 

All I could to say was, “I guess I have lost it.  I would look funny running around with no clothes all weekend.” 

Tip looked at me and laughed, “Well, we could have except that you made plans to meet Mr. Trout and Mr. Smithers.  I thought it might be nice if we were wearing something when we went out to dinner.”

 

Tip put the suitcases on the bureau, and shed his clothes, “I’m going to take a shower while you check to see if there is anything else you want to pack.”

 

I watched as he disappeared into the bathroom.  I quickly checked what he had packed and shed my clothes.  I was a little slow because he was standing in front of the sink brushing his teeth.  I touched his buns as I passed him.  He turned to me, “Not tonight, Sweet Pea, we need to save our energy for tomorrow night when we get to Denver.”

 

When I came out of the bathroom he had his briefs on.  I took his signal put my briefs on. I crawled into bed and he kissed me, “Good night my knight.”

 

I held him tight and he just relaxed and was soon gone.  I had a difficult time settling down.  I was thinking of all of the things I needed to do in the morning.

  

To be continued... 
 

Feedback always welcome:     

 

Editor's Notes:

 

It looks to me as if things are moving along pretty darn fast right now. Shawn seems to be quite a cool guy. I think he and Tim might hit it off pretty well. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens.  I must once again point out how much of a strain it is for me to have to wait for the new chapters. I must also admit how wonderful it is to receive the new chapters and sit down and enjoy them.

 

Thank you Uncle Ed. You are a very special person, and I am very happy that you gave me the opportunity to read, enjoy and edit your wonderful stories. I know for an absolute fact that there are a lot of people that thoroughly enjoy each of your stories, and eagerly wait for each new installment.

 

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

 

 

Posted: 12/07/07