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 22

That’s What I’m Afraid Of

This is Mark.

I woke up early and went for a quick run.  I was in the shower when there was a knock on the bathroom door.  I stopped the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist.  I was expecting to see one of the children.

I opened the door and Ty was standing there in his robe, “Mark, are you and the children going to be okay this weekend?”

I shook my head, “Ty, don't worry, we’ll be just fine.  Remember, Zack will be here, as will Kevin and Ryan, tomorrow night.  You can be assured that the children will never have time to miss you.”

“Mark, that’s what I’m afraid of.  It’s like you are stealing the children’s affections.  I’m afraid that they are going to start thinking of you as their father figure, and I will be someone in the background.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, “Ty, after you and Tip get back from your weekend fling, I suggest that the two of you spend some quality time with the children.  They dearly love you, but they also need to know that you and Tip love them.”

We were interrupted by Bobby, “Hi Daddy and Nano Mark.  I gotta go to the bathroom and the girls are in our bathroom and the door is locked.”

Bobby was followed by Billy; I started to laugh, “I guess this is reason 102 why you should buy the Quinn house.”

Ty put his arms around me, “Don’t push too hard.  I’m sure the guys will find a reason to be in your apartment over the garage if, and I repeat if, we decide to purchase the Quinn house.”

Bobby came out of my bathroom and Bobby hugged his Dad, “Nano, aren’t you going to fix breakfast?  Does this mean that we are going to have cereal?”

I looked at Bobby, “Only the shadow knows.  You get ready for school and help your brother while I get dressed.  Otherwise you will be walking to school.”

Ty was laughing as he left.  Billy was coming out of the bathroom as I was putting my briefs on.  “Nano Mark, will I ever get that big?  He pointed to my penis.  After I had my briefs adjusted, I leaned down and held him, “Billy, I am sure that you will be even bigger when you are as old as I am.”

Billy kissed me on the lips, “Gotta get ready for school Nano Mark.”

I quickly put on a warm-up suit, since I didn’t need to go anywhere and went to check on the things for breakfast.

Everything was ready when Tip and Ty came in with the children.  I served the casserole I had fixed before leaving for my run.

As we were leaving for school, I handed Bobby a note for Mr. Harrison.

This is Ty.

Mark had just left with the children when the phone started to ring.  I picked up the receiver, “This is Tyler Jefferson.  How may I help you?”

“Hi Mr. Jefferson, I was just wondering if Mark had been able to convince you that you need to buy Grandma’s house?  Gotta go.”  Kevin was laughing as he hung up.

I looked at Tip, “That’s twice today already that someone has told me I should buy Mrs. Quinn’s house.  Now, how are we going to get to the airport tonight?”

Tip started to laugh, “Ty, relax.  Everything will work fine.  Why don’t you drive me to work and we’ll put the luggage in your trunk.  That way we can go directly to the airport after you pick me up.  We can always eat in Denver when we get there.  I’ll call and leave a message for Zack and Mark that we’ll see them late Sunday evening.”

I dropped Tip off at his clinic and went to my office.  Shawn stood as I entered, “Good morning Mr. Jefferson.  I have some messages for you.”

I looked at Shawn, “Shawn, why don’t you say, here you go boss, this is all the messages you have received.”

I went into my office and Clarisse plopped down two folders, “Boss, these cost you big time.  They better help you with the Jenkins case.”

I was reading the folders when Colleen knocked.  She entered and handed me all of the notes and letters that I had dictated yesterday.  I quickly looked at her, “Colleen, please get your steno pad.  I have some more things that I would like for you to type.”

Colleen left and I was working on the case when a messenger arrived with the psychologist’s evaluation of the Jenkins.  I open and started to read.

To Whom It May Concern:

I have performed a psychological evaluation of Mr. Richard and Mrs. Margaret Jenkins and as far as I can determine they are both very capable of making their own decisions.  They are both very intelligent and are much more cognizant of what is happening around them than most people who are much younger than they are.

                                                  Dr. Richard L. Ott

                                                  Doctor of Psychology

A note was attached, “I will be in court at 2:00 this afternoon.  Mr. Jenkins has already paid my fee.  I will be more than happy to testify if needed.”

I handed the paper work to Clarisse, “Please make at least five copies of these folders.”

I looked at Shawn, “Shawn, please go get us some lunch.  I’m going to need some nourishment to get through the rest of this day.”

I arrived at the courthouse at 1:45.  The Jenkins were waiting and Mr. Jenkins approached me, “I was beginning to think that you had forgotten what time you were to meet us.”

I shook his hand and hugged Mrs. Jenkins.  “I hadn’t forgotten.  I was just trying to make sure that we would be out of here in less than an hour.  Are those two men your physician and psychologist?”

Mr. Jenkins looked at the two men, “Yes, let me introduce you.”

We were interrupted.  The courtroom chamber doors opened and the bailiff appeared and announced, “Will the parties involved in the Jenkins/Lewis case versus the Jenkins please take your seats.  Judge Curtis is ready to hear the case.”

The judge entered and looked at the prosecuting attorney, “Nice to see you again Mr. Lowry.”

He looked at me, “Mr. Jefferson, is this case going to be as quick as the last one I had that you were defending?”

Everyone was seated and the judge asked Mr. Lowry to present his opening argument.

Mr. Lowery went into a long harangue about Mr. and Mrs. Richard Jenkins not being able to make intelligent decision regarding handling their personal and financial affairs.  “We will prove that they have lost the capacity to think in their own best interest.”

Mr. Lowry sat down and Judge Curtis looked at me, “Mr. Jefferson, do you have anything to say?”

“Yes, your honor.  We have a physician and a psychologist here to testify otherwise.  We also have documents that would indicate that it is Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins and Mr. and Mrs. Lewis that should be seeking help.  Your honor, I have taken the liberty to prepare five folders so that you could review the evidence and save a large amount of time.”

I handed a copy of the folders to the bailiff, one to the judge, one to prosecuting attorney and another to the claimants so they could share.  I gave the fifth copy to Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins. 

The judge shook his head, “This is highly irregular, but I am going to declare a five minute recess while I review the folders that Mr. Jefferson has submitted.  I request that this courtroom remain silent and sealed.”

Everyone was busy looking at the folders.  The judge finally spoke, “Mr. Lowry, do you have any questions?”

“Yes your honor, are the physician and psychologist who made these evaluations available to support the statements that they have made?”

The two gentlemen stood, “We are present your honor would be more than willing to testify that the Jenkins are two people who are certainly more than capable of taking care of their own affairs.”

Mr. Lowry looked at me, “Mr. Jefferson, you have made some pretty strong statements regarding the younger Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins and Mr. and Mrs. Lewis.”

“Mr. Lowry, I have not made any statements about the two couples.  What I have done is present what some independent investigators were able to find out in a short time.  Mr. Jenkins provided me the basics and I turned it over to a private investigator to gather the rest of the data.”

Mr. Lowry glared at me, “How do we know that you didn’t manufacture this damaging data to suit the case?”

A gentleman seated in the back came forward, “Judge Curtis, I am the person responsible for the damaging report on the Jenkins and Lewises.  I have never met Mr. Jefferson before, but with the information that his personal assistant provided me, it was a piece of cake to determine that Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins, Jr. and Mr. and Mrs. Lewis were real pieces of art.  They are so far in debt that they will never dig their way out.”

Judge Curtis looked at Mr. Lowry, “Does the prosecution have any closing arguments?”

“No, you honor.”

“Mr. Jefferson, would you like to add anything else?”

“No you honor, except that I hope my young children don’t try to make me out to be a feeble minded dolt.”

Judge Curtis banged his gavel, “This court finds on behalf of the defendant.  The claimants will be responsible for paying all court costs.  Court is adjourned.”

The younger Jenkins and the Lewises left.  Mr. Lowry came over to us and announced, “Boy did those people have me duped.  I thought I was going to be dealing with a bunch of nincompoops.”

Judge Curtis was standing there laughing, “Bert, this is the former Judge Jenkins.  Mr. Jefferson, I think that you should hire Mr. Jenkins on a part time basis.  That was one of the most complete defenses that I have encountered since I was appointed to the bench.  When is your next case coming to court Mr. Jefferson?”

I was a little stunned, “Judge Curtis, I have a paternity case coming to the courts on Tuesday.  It is a friend of mine and there is no way that he could have ever sired a child.”

The judge was laughing, “I’ll say this for you Tyler, you do get involved in a bunch of different kinds of cases.  Good luck, who knows, maybe I’ll see you then”

Everyone had left but the Jenkins and me.  Mr. Jenkins put his arms around me and thanked me for taking the time to gather additional evidence on such short notice.  He handed me a check, “Perhaps we can get to get together for dinner. “

I hugged the Jenkins, “I’ll call you after my brother and I get be back from Denver this weekend.  Now that we have a Nano, we are going to spend some time getting away and besides, we are meeting the people from the Speedy Shoe Company for dinner on Saturday I think”

Mr. Jenkins was laughing, “Is that as in blood brother or what?”

“Actually Tip is my foster brother and is an obstetrician here in Kansas City.  I have four children by my previous marriage, and we have hired a Nano to take care of them.  We are looking to buy a larger house and have been offered a very good deal on a home that would be perfect.  We plan to talk about it this weekend before we proceed.”

Mrs. Jenkins shook her head, “Mr. Jefferson, I just realized who you are.  You will be buying Mrs. Quinn’s house or she and Kevin will be chasing you down until the end of the Earth.  It would be so much easier to just give in.  She already loves Nano Mark and can hardly wait to meet your bother Zack.”

I held up my hand, “Wait a minute; Kansas City is a rather large town.  Everyone can’t possibly know everyone else.  How did you know about Mrs. Quinn and Kevin?”

“Mrs. Quinn just happens to be my sister.  She and I are planning to crash the dinner party on Saturday night to make sure that there is no hanky panky going on.”

I couldn’t stop laughing, “Mrs. Jenkins, my four young children are going to be there.  Mark would never let anything happen to them.”

She started to smile, “That may be the case while they are awake; but what is going to happen when they are settled in their beds with little dreams dashing in their heads?”

I looked at my watch, “Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins, please excuse me.  I have things to do in the office before we leave for Denver.  I expect a full report of what you and Mrs. Quinn find at the condo when you visit.” I hugged them both and went back to the office.

I was walking through the door to the office, I was accosted by Clarisse.  “Okay, Mr. Big Shot, what happened?”

I pulled the check, which Mr. Jenkins had handed to me, out of my pocket and handed it to her.  Nothing much, we won the case and Mrs. Jenkins is Mrs. Quinn’s sister and they are going to crash the party at the condo on Saturday night to make sure there is no hanky panky going on.”

“Shawn, please get Mark on the phone for me.”

Mark answered the phone.  “Mark, this is Ty; would you please invite Mrs. Quinn and Mr. and Mrs. Richard Jenkins to dinner tomorrow night?  They would lend even more credibility to all of the people being at the condo.  You already know Mrs. Quinn’s number but here is the Jenkins’ number.  You are really going to enjoy visiting with them.”

“Whatever, Boss?  Now would you and Tip just relax?  Zack and I are not about to let anything happen to the children.”

To be continued... 
 

Feedback always welcome:     

Editor's Notes:

I live for wonderful chapters like this. It is always a pleasure seeing people get just what they deserve and the Jenkins' children certainly seem to have got what was coming to them.  The sad thing is that when this happens, there are often circumstances where the people like those children prevail, because the parents don't have someone as thoughtful and resourceful as Ty is.

I beg of you, if anything like what happened in this wonderful story ever happens to someone that you know, please do your best to intervene on behalf of the injured party. Way too often older people are treated as if they are totally unable to take care of themselves, when in fact they are perfectly able to do so. The greed and selfishness of some young people is beyond my understanding, but things like that happen all too often.

If you have parents who are living, then please treat them with respect and love. Don't try to take advantage of them. After all, they gave you life and they gave you the opportunities to grow up and become what you are today.

I will now quietly step down off my soap box and slowly find my rocking chair and my slippers.  I can certainly take comfort in the fact that I don't have any children to try to take all my worldly possessions, not that that would ever happen, of course. 

I'm ready for the next chapter of this wonderful story.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher 

Posted: 12/14/07