Tip & Ty
by: E Walk

(Copyright 2007 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 46
People From the Past

This is Ty. 

What a strange morning.  Zack takes the kids to school and goes and gets the floor plans for our new quarters then stops by the office and asks me what I want the new offices to look like.  He looked at me, “The existing carpet is okay and will last for several more years.  It is like an indoor/outdoor carpeting with a brown background with blue, gold and tan specks in it.  How much money do you want to spend on the decorating?”

Zack was moving faster than I thought would ever happen.  He was asking me questions that I hadn’t even thought about, “Zack, talk to Shawn and Clarisse and see what they think and then check with Pam and Mr. Jenkins.  Whatever you decide will be fine I’m sure.  You need to check with Philip and Beau to get their input.  Perhaps we can get a deal on everything if we make all of the purchases at the same time.”

Zack had no more than left the office when Clarisse informed me that I had a call on line two.  I picked up the phone, “This is Ty Jefferson. … Oh hi Tom, what’s up? … So your ex withdrew her suit?  I’m surprised that I haven’t already heard about it. …I think I had better visit with Philip.  This is almost beginning to smell a little like a case of blackmail. … Oh, so you're telling me that there were no demands or anything?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, “Tom, did you just say that the package they received not only implicated your ex-wife in illicit affairs but also showed that her new husband has been involved in a number of questionable dealings? … Oh I see. … Wait a minute, I am not going to make dates for Lane and Lance, tell them to call Cori and Kelley and ask them for a date themselves.  They are more than welcome to stay at our house. … Okay stud, I’ll tell Mark that you are coming in on Friday.  See you then.”

I picked up the phone and dialed, “I’d like to speak to Doctor Washington, please.”

The voice on the other end asked, “May I ask who is calling?”

I tried to remain calm, “Please tell Dr. Washington, that it’s his brother calling and that it is rather urgent that I speak with him.”

Tip came on, “What’s the problem Ty?  Is something wrong with one of the children?”

I started to giggle, “It ain’t the children I'd be worried about.  It’s their Daddy.  He wants to take his favorite Doctor to lunch.  I’ll meet you at The Market Basket at 12:15.  I’ll make sure that we get a table in the darkest corner and maybe we can have some fun.”

Tip answered, “I’ll take my extra strength blood pressure medicine now and two Viagra just in case.  See at 12:15.”

I walked into the outer office and everyone was hovered around Zack, and they were looking at what he was proposing for the layout of the new office spaces. I heard him say, “Shawn, why don’t you and Mrs. Burns go with me this afternoon to pick out the furnishings.  My boss says he will pay for the initial outlay and charge the rest of you an exorbitant rate for the loans.  He wants us to go first class so we won’t have to spend all of our time upgrading.”

“Clarisse, please call around and see who can provide the best communication services.  Make sure that all calls come through Shawn and his assistant’s desks.  That way they can direct the calls to the correct mailboxes.  While we are at it we need to upgrade the fax services.  We can use one central inbound point.  Think of the money we will save.  We can still have three separate numbers for the three businesses, but they would all come into one central point.  It would be like the old switchboards.”

Zack stood, “Shawn and Pam, I’ll be back for you after lunch.  I need to go check with Mark on some things.”

Shawn muttered, “Likely story.”

I interrupted, “I have a luncheon commitment.  I'll be back as soon as possible.”

Shawn looked at me, “Are you sure you don’t need me to go with you to make sure that you don’t get into trouble?”

I pouted, “I’m meeting a little old lady who is 96.  How could I possibly get into trouble?”

Shawn handed me a note, ‘Don’t you mean that you are going to go do a 69 job with Tip?”

I wrote a note back, “We’ve already done that today.  I thought we would do something different.  Now I suggest you get your mind out of the gutter and make sure Zack doesn’t drive me into bankruptcy.”

I went to the restaurant and pointed to a table in a corner, “My business associate and I have some business we need to discuss, might we have that table in the corner?”

The hostess led me to the table and I had just gotten seated when Tip arrived and I motioned for him to join me.  As soon Tip was seated, a young waiter came and handed us a menu. “Good afternoon gentlemen, what can I bring you to drink.  Both of us ordered the spiced ice tea and looked at the menu.

The young guy came back with our drinks and asked, “Mr. Jefferson, what would you like?”

I looked at the young man, “Excuse me, how did you know who I was?”

They young guy looked at me, “You don’t recognize me, do you sir?”

I was at a loss, “You look familiar, but I can’t put you with a time or place.  I think maybe you need to help me.”

The young guy went on to explain, “Ty, I’m the little guy who was at every game you played in college.  I used to bring you your Gatorade and get you whatever you needed.”

It suddenly dawned on me, “You’re coach Nelson’s son, Tony, who used to be everywhere.  You even came into the locker room and handed us towels as we came out of the shower.”

“Guilty as charged, Sir, I’ll be back shortly, I have three other tables that I need to service.  Why don’t you decide what you would like to eat, but I personally think the Custer sandwich is the best.”

Tip looked at  me, “Ty, I’m sure you didn’t want to meet me here so I could meet Tony.”

I surrendered, “Tip, I just felt like I wanted some time alone with you to talk about where we’re going.  We can’t have Mark micromanaging our lives or he will suffer burnout.  We need to give him some space and what do I do but invite Lance and Lane to stay with us this weekend.”

Tip put his hand on my thigh, “Ty, Mark will let us know when he is on overload.  I am more concerned about David than I am Lance and Lane.  I wish you could have seen the scars on his body.”

Tony returned, “Have you gentlemen decided on what you would like to eat?”

I spoke for both of us, “Tony, you order for the two of us professional people, we’re out of decisions for today.”

Tony reappeared with a potato chowder soup, which was excellent.  We almost didn’t have a chance to finish the soup and he had placed an open faced sandwich in front of us with turkey and ham and some veggies and it was topped with cheese, Thousand Island dressing and two slices of bacon.  On the side were some hot homemade French fries and a melon slice.

Tony’s other tables had been served and he came to visit,  I looked at him, “Tony you must be 23 or 24 by now.  Why are you working here?”

He was very polite, “Ty, I work here to keep my sons and me in food and clothes.  I have a job when I complete my masters’ degree in May with the Kansas City Chiefs.  I was hoping that you would still be there when I went to work for them, but no, you had to retire.”

This is Tip.

Tony’s last comment caught my attention and I had to ask, “Tony, why would you even want Ty to still be with the Chiefs.  What about your children and wife?”

Tony was very direct, “Doctor Washington, I have had a crush on Ty ever since he was in college.  Hey, I even made sure I watched him in the shower every chance I got.  I’d go home at night and jack off thinking about his magnificent body.” 

“My children were a mistake, but I love them dearly.  My wife left shortly after Adriane my four year old daughter was born.  She couldn’t stand the thought that she had given birth to a deformed child.  I have no idea where my wife is, but she is not going to get here hands on the children ever again.”

Ty and I looked at each other.  I stood, “Tony, it was nice talking to you, but I have an appointment to see a patient shortly.  Ty, why don’t you invite Tony to the house to meet your children.  I’ll see you later.  Thanks for lunch, but I think I am going to need to put a siren on you to make sure that you are behaving properly.”

 

This is Ty.

After Tip left, Tony asked, “Did I do or say something to upset Doctor Washington?”

I wanted to laugh but kept my composure, “Tony, Tip and I are foster brothers, but more importantly we are in a nice loving relationship.  I have four children and Tip is very supportive.  We also have a third foster brother who lives with us as well as a Nano.  Why don’t you stop over at the house and meet the rest of my family?”

Tony was standing wide eyed, “Ty, did you just tell me that you and Tip were lovers?”

I shrugged my shoulders, “I guess you could call it that, or at least we are working on it.”

Tony started to really laugh, “Ty, would it be okay if I brought me partner and his children with us when we stopped by tonight.  You already know him and I won’t tell you who he is before you meet him.  Just think of it as your surprise package for the day.”

When I got back to the office, it seemed almost empty.  The only people there were Colleen and Clarisse.   I looked around, “Where is everyone else?  Where’s Shawn?”

 

Clarisse looked at me like I had lost it, “They’re with Zack looking to decorate the new facility.  Judge Jenkins had a golf date.  Now calm down, Colleen and I can handle the office for this afternoon.  You have an appointment in ten minutes with a Mr. John Smith.  He wouldn’t tell me what he wanted to speak with you about.”

Clarisse was about to leave when she stopped, “Oh, I almost forgot; Lance called and said to tell you thank you and that they would very much like to stay at your house this weekend since Uncle Neil’s house would be overloaded.”

Clarisse left and I tried to call the house, but there was no answer.  I looked at the clock and thought that was funny since Barbie should be resting.  Fortunately, Colleen came to the door, “Mr. Jefferson, there is a Mr. John Smith to see you.”

I stood to greet my guest.  Lo and behold, it was another of the people I knew from the Chiefs.  He was a young linebacker just waiting to make his mark.  I hugged John, “It’s good to see you man, what can I do for you?”

I had John sit down and I grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil, “Okay, John, let me have it.”

John took a deep breath, “Ty, my wife is driving me into bankruptcy and I don’t know how to stop it.  We haven’t lived together for over the last three years and she won’t give me a divorce.  I had to sell the house to keep from losing my equity.  She was using the credit cards like they were water.  She had so many clothes that I don’t think she ever wore some of them.  I keep getting bills for things that she has purchased even though I didn’t know that we had such a credit card.  I guess she keeps getting new cards and using my name and address.  How do I stop it?  If I didn’t have a part time job, there would be no way that I could feed the two children and pay our share of the rent.”

I tried to compose my thoughts.  “John, I don’t know how much you make from your contract with the Chiefs, but the first thing we need to do is make it so your wife can not get her hands on those funds.  I am not a financial whiz, so let me make a call.”

I made the call, “Good afternoon, I would like to speak with Mr. Wright; please tell him that Ty Jefferson would like to speak with him.”

I was surprised when I heard, “This is Wright, what’s the problem Ty.”

I put the phone on speaker, “Mr. Wright, I put the phone on speaker.  I have one of the up and coming stars of the team here in my office and he needs some financial assistance.  That is not my area of expertise so I thought I would send him to the head finance guru for the Chiefs.”

Mr. Wright laughed, “Does this young upcoming star have a name?”

I answered, “Yes, his name is John Smith.”

Mr. Wright was slow to respond, “Oh, he is one of the people we were discussing  in a meeting earlier today.  His contract is due to be renegotiated and he is being considered to take over some of your defensive responsibilities.  John, how fast can you be here at my office?  My afternoon is free.”

John was gasping for air, “Sir, I’ll be there is 45 minutes.  I need to make a phone call and wind things up with Mr. Jefferson.”  The phone went dead.

John looked at me, “May I make a call?”

I nodded yes.  He made the call, “Hi this is John Smith.  Would you please pass a note to Kenny in Mr. Harrison’s class that he is to get Karla and Aaron and walk home.  Please tell him to make sure they stay inside until I can get there.  I have an important meeting.”

After John hung up, I suggested, “John, I think I need to contact an associate of mine and set up a meeting for tomorrow morning. Would you be available?”

John shrugged, “I can be here if I might bring my roommate's young daughter with me.  I left her with a babysitter this afternoon but that gets rather expensive.”

“No problem, Colleen will take care of her while we take care of business.  This will give me some time to develop some strategies on how to make your situation better.  Give me your number and I'll call and tell you what time we can get together.  By the way, when do you work at the part time job?”

John stood, “Thanks for listening, Ty.  I feel better already knowing that you will be trying to help me.  I have felt so helpless.  I work at the part time job as a security guard four nights a week at the Trout Office Building.”

I started to laugh.  He looked at me as if I was a lunatic, “What’s so funny about that?”

I nodded my head, “That is where we are going to be moving our office in the very near future.  You need to leave now if you are going to be on time for your appointment with Mr. Wright.  I’ll talk to you later.”

After John left, I went to talk to Clarisse, “Would you see if you can get in touch with Philip and see if he could meet with us at ten in the morning.  Also leave a note for Mr. Jenkins and Mrs. Burns and tell them that I would like to meet with them at 9:30.”

I went back to my office and tried to call the house again and there was still no answer.  I was getting concerned that something had happened to one of the children.  I got my raincoat and went into the reception area, “Clarisse, I'm going to leave for the day.  I have a feeling that something is not right, at home.”

To be continued... 
 

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Editor's Notes:

My goodness, this chapter has been just chock full of coincidences.  I do wonder what is happening at home to cause there to be no one there. I don't suppose you could consider this to be a cliffhanger, but you never know. Hand me that box of dew worms I am going to be waiting with baited breath.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 06/27/08