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 31

Another Party  

This is Tip.

When we sat down to eat, Ty had all of the children tell about their day.  Everything was going smoothly until he got to Becky.

As Becky spoke, she had a funny look on her face, “When I told my friends that Nano Mark was my Nano, they looked at me like I was crazy.”

Mark got a concerned look, “Becky, would you rather I not come to your classroom?”

“Nano Mark, I just wish you could come to the class everyday.  Everyone is jealous and wants to have you work with them.  I told everyone that you would be helping Bobby’s class tomorrow, so don’t be surprised if a lot of people talk to you.”

I watched as Mark visibly relaxed.

As we were finishing dinner, Mark announced,  “Tip and Ty, I rather planned a dinner party for Friday without asking.  My grandparents are coming, and they are staying with the Jenkins and they also know Grandma Quinn.  Since they lived right next door to Beau, I figured it would be fun to get everyone together and that way Zack could be here also.  I apologize for not clearing it with you first, but things have been happening so fast.”

“I thought I would fix something with fish since it will be Friday and I have no idea what religion the Jenkins might be.  My grandparents are Jewish and Mrs. Quinn goes to the Episcopal church as do Beau and Becca and I was raised Catholic, I figured that would be a safe way to go.  I just want to make sure that no one is allergic to fish.”

Ty looked at Mark, “You are still upset about the strawberry incident, aren’t you?

Mark shook his head, “I’m not upset, but I just don’t want another incident like that to happen where I would inflict something like that on anyone again.”

Fortunately the conversation was interrupted by the phone.

Mark went to answer, “This is Washington, Jefferson and Jackson residence.  This is Mark, how may I help you?”

“Just a minute Mr. Lansing, Ty is sittings right here, let me put him on.”

“This is Ty. … Oh hi, Tom. … “Yes, we are going to be in town this weekend. … Where will you be staying? … Oh, so you are going to be staying with Neil and Randy. … Yes, I am planning on meeting with Randy and Neil tomorrow afternoon, to discuss legal matters. … We are having a small dinner party on Friday night.  Why don’t the six of you plan to come?

We’ll make sure that we have some other teenagers here to keep Lance and Lane occupied and you will get to meet my associates who will be assisting on your case. … I’ll make the arrangements with Neil and Randy tomorrow when I see them.”

This is Mark. 

I had been listening to Ty's conversation as had everyone else.  When he hung up, I threw up my hands, “Tip and Ty, could you give me a week’s notice before we plan one of these shindigs?”

Ty came right back, “Mark, if I recall correctly, you were the person who initiated the plans for this party.”

Ty looked around, “Mark, the condo won’t be able to handle all of these people.  Why don’t we call Mrs. Quinn to see if she would mind if we had the Friday night dinner or party at her/our house?  We could even have the children start to stay over.  If you think you would like to have the meal catered then do so.  Perhaps we could get Shawn and Colleen to help you if you think you need help.  My tomorrow is filled. I am so sorry to dump this on you, but you are going to love Lance and Lane.  Now, let’s call Mrs. Quinn and check with her.”

Ty went and got the portable phone and put it on speaker, “Mark, I don’t know Mrs. Quinn’s number, do you?”

I punched in the number and Mrs. Quinn must have been right next to the phone.  “This is Anne Quinn, how may I help you?”

“Grandma Quinn, this is Mark.  We were wondering if we could have the dinner on Friday night at your house?  We will be having so many people that they won’t all fit in the condo.

Mrs. Quinn started to laugh, “Well, exactly how many people are you planning on having?”

I did a quick calculation, “Probably in the vicinity of 30,  I thought we could have two separate eating areas; the young people could eat in the kitchen and the adults could eat in the dining room.”

Mrs. Quinn was almost giggling, “Sounds like you have everything under control.  Its your party, so go ahead and do whatever you want.  If you need any help, I’ll be here and I'll be glad to help.”

Ty was motioning that he wanted to talk to Mrs. Quinn.  Ty started, “Grandma Quinn, this is Ty.  Would you be available to close on the house and property on Monday morning at 9:00?”

“Ty, that sounds fine to me.  We can finalize the details Friday night when we are at your party here at my/your house.  Mark, Kevin wants to talk to you.”

This was working out great, “Hey Kev, I was going to call you and invite you and Kelley to the party, because there will be two 16 year old guys at the party.  I’ll call Ryan and invite him too.  Do you think you and Kelley could find three other young ladies to invite?”

Kevin floored me with his answer, “Your wish will be taken care of, Sir.  Thanks for including us.  I guess we won’t need to travel too far to get home if we get drunk.  Talk to you later.  Make sure you call Ryan.”

I turned to Tip and Ty.  “Gentlemen, why don’t you get the children ready for bed, and I’ll get them some dessert and then read to them.  I have couple of more phone calls to make.”

This is Tip.

We did as we were told and Mark had indeed fixed everyone a hot fudge sundae while he was making the rest of his phone calls.

He had the children in bed and was just about to sit down when the phone rang.  Mark didn’t return, so it had to be Zack on the phone.  It was about fifteen minutes later when Mark returned, “Gentlemen, I am exhausted.  I am going to bed.

Ty and I soon joined the sleeping masses.

I woke early and went to check and see if Mark wanted to go work out.  His bedroom door was open so I went downstairs.  I could see that he was trying make a schedule for something.  I looked at him, “Mark, Ty is still asleep; would you like to join me in an early workout at the fitness center?”

Mark looked at me, “Yes, Tip, I think I really need that.  For some reason, I can’t seem to get my mind focused on everything that needs to be done.  It keeps flitting all over the place.  Let me just go get some workout clothes, but please, tell Ty we are leaving, so he doesn’t leave the children alone.”

I did as I was told and Mark and I went to the fitness center. 

As we were working out, Mark was talking about what we needed to do.  “Tip, what are we going to do with everything that you have in the condominium that we don’t need.  Are you planning to sell it and what are you going to do with facility itself.  If Mrs. Quinn is leaving everything, we won’t need to take all that much.  You could rent the condo furnished and take only the things that you and Zack are attached to.  Ty and his children haven’t lived there long enough to become too attached to anything.”

Mark didn’t even switch gears, “Tip, would it be okay if I invited the Burnses tomorrow night, also?  That way Beau and Becca could meet the players in Ty’s practice; and knowing Beau, he probably will swing some business Philip’s way.  He relies quite heavily on private investigators.”

Mark and I had been running and I just stopped, “Mark, you don’t even need to ask.  Your mind is working miles ahead of mine.  You are talking to me about things that I hadn’t even considered, but should have.  Mark, let’s just get through this weekend and then we need to sit down and finalize everything.  My mind is on overload.  Now, let’s go back to the condo.”

When we got back to the condo, Ty was sitting with his coffee, reading the paper, “I thought I would make sure that there weren’t going to be any surprises today.  Mark, do have Beau’s number, I would like to talk to him about what kind of space he was thinking of for his business, before I call a realtor to arrange for some sites for us to visit this weekend?”

Mark grabbed a piece of paper and a pen.  “This is probably the best way to get to him.  If he is driving or in a meeting, he will not answer, but he will respond at the first opportunity he gets.   Beau despises people who find it necessary to talk on a cell phone while they are driving, just to visit .  He says that it is like the minute that some people get in the car, they have to be talking and how can you think about shopping wisely if you are talking on a cell phone, especially if you are in a grocery store?”

Ty started to laugh, “So Mark, are you saying that I should refrain from discussing cell phones with Beau this weekend?”

Mark all of sudden realized what he said, but calmly answered, “I think it would be prudent to not discuss cell phone usage when Beau is around unless you want an hour’s dissertation.  Why don't you two go wake the children and get ready for the day, while I get things started for breakfast.”

At breakfast, Mark asked Ty to invite the Burnses for dinner tomorrow night.  Bobby spoke up, “How come everyone is always coming to dinner and we never get to have fun.  Please, can we do something just for us little people?”

Mark took the reigns, “Bobby Jefferson,  if you would be patient, I was going to tell you that I was thinking of taking you to World’s of Fun on Saturday while everyone else is looking for office space.  Of course, if you would rather not do that, then we could go roller skating or maybe we could just go to the Children’s Museum where you could do all kinds of neat activities.  We’ll decide later, let’s wait and see what the weather is before you children decide what you want to do.”

I wanted to laugh, but I controlled myself.  Mark was a master at making everyone feel like they were important.  Ty looked at me and winked.  He realized that everyone was being manipulated.

Bobby wasn’t too sure about how to respond, but he finally looked at Mark with a questioning look, “You mean, we get to decide what we want to do?”

Mark didn’t skip a beat, “Yep, and we’ll call Kevin, Kelley and Ryan and see if they would like to go with us, but I think it would really be fun if we went to the Children’s Museum and then went to lunch, while your Daddy, Uncle Tip and Uncle Zack look at boring buildings.  Now, let’s get this mess cleaned up and get you young people to school.”

Mark left with the four children and I turned to Ty, “Tyler, you had better be thanking your lucky stars that Mark read your add for a Nanny.”

Ty looked at me, “I guess, but why is he controlling our lives.  The problem is that he is doing it so well and really hasn’t asked for any help.  I worry that he has over extended himself with this volunteering and playgroup stuff.  I guess as long as Zack is gone, it is okay but what happens when Zack is around all of the time?”

“Ty, you worry too much.  Now let’s go to work.”

I can only imagine what Mark will be doing for the rest of the day.

This is Mark. 

I dropped Barbie at her playgroup and went to volunteer in Bobby’s class.  Tim asked me to take some his poorer reader’s and work with them.  There were two boys and two girls.  They had books with them.  I looked at the books and my mind formulated a plan.  I announced, “I’m going to start to read and then you can read to me.”

I started to read and deliberately misread some words.

One of the young men whose name was Jacob looked at me, “Mr. Mark, you need glasses .  That’s not what that says.”  He started to read , “This is what it says.”

I looked at what I had read and suggested, “Why don’t we all read this together so that I can make sure that I understand what I did wrong.”

I had worked with the children for 45 minutes when Bobby came to where we were sitting in the hall. “Nano Mark, Mr. Harrison says, you need to bring the people back now, since we need to go to music.” 

When we got to the classroom, all four of the children hugged me.  I walked with Tim and his class to music, but Jacob and Bobby took my hands as we walked to the music room.  When we were walking back to the office so I could sign out, we ran into two boys fighting in the hallway.   Tim and I pulled them apart.

I looked at the two young boys and asked, “Why are you fighting in school?”

 

One of the boys had tears in his eyes, “Morgan said my Daddy was queer.”

I looked at Morgan, “Why would you say something like that?”

Morgan was undaunted, “My Dad, who is a minister, says that Chris’ Dad is queer.”

“Mr. Harrison, perhaps you had better go get the principle.  She needs to handle this.”

Tim left and Mark turned to the two boys, “Morgan and Chris, why are you talking about things like this in school when you should be trying to learn all you can.  Now I don’t understand what queer means.  Morgan, can you explain it to me.  I thought queer meant to be a little different, sort of like squirrelly.  Chris, is your Dad different from other people?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Morgan, is your Dad different from other people other than he is a minister?”

“No sir, I don’t think so.”

Mark squatted so he was at eye level with the two young men.  “Chris and Morgan, are you two young men friends?”

Chris had tears in his eyes, “We used to be.”

Mark thought for a minute, “Morgan and Chris, if your parents don’t like each other or say things, you should not let that affect your friendship.  We need all the friends we can get.  Now would you two handsome gentlemen shake hands and get back to your classroom before the principle sends out the Mounties.  Remember, you never throw away a friend just because of what someone else says.  If you can not say anything nice, it would be best to not say anything.”

The two young men left for their classroom with their arms wrapped around each other.  Unbeknownst to Mark, the school counselor and the principle had been standing there watching what had transpired.  The principle, Ms. Plummer, started, “Might I ask who you are, and why you are in the building.”

Mark was a little startled, “Ma’am, I was volunteering in Mr. Harrison's room when we ran across these two young men trying to hurt each other.  Mr. Harrison had to go retrieve his class, so I was trying to diffuse a tense situation.  I am sorry but I really need to go retrieve my youngest charge.”

Mark went into the office to sign out.

To be continued... 
 

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Editor's Notes:

Well, I must say that there was a lot going on in this chapter, and yet we still haven't gotten to the party that was mentioned. It looks like Mark managed to defuse a situation with a couple of children.  I have to wonder if there will be consequences from that. What is going to happen when that boy tells his father what happened?

The sad thing is that things like that happen all the time and, sadly, there aren't always people like Mark who have the interest and ability to dispel the hostility and maybe cause the person that was showing the hateful behavior to think about what he was doing and stop doing it.  I hope that more of us will take the opportunity to step in when the situation calls for it and try to help.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 02/22/08