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 53
Going Underground

This is Mark.

We took the purchases to the VW and stuffed them into the small trunk.  We went back into the mall and made our way to the food court.  I handed each of the guys ten dollars, “Here, go get what you want.  I’m not sure what I want yet.” 

Bart got a pathetic look on his face, “Nano Mark, I can’t read what the signs say.  Please just order me a Philly steak sandwich with fries and a large cola.  I don’t want to eat another greasy hamburger anytime soon.”

I was beginning to realize that Bart’s vision problem might be worse than he had indicated.  I ordered his food and paid for it and then tried to decide what I wanted and nothing sounded really good.  Chris came up to me and asked, “Daddy, where do you want to sit?”

I leaned down and whispered, “You pick a spot and Bart and I will be there shortly.  I’m still trying to decide what I want to eat.  Maybe I’ll see if I can find a Shaggy Dog.  That sounds good.”

Chris smiled, “Dad, you are cruel.  I’ll have to report you to Dad Zack.”

Chris walked away from me and I went to Hot Dog Heaven and ordered a bratwurst with sauerkraut and glass of water.  I had just gotten my food when Bart came up and asked where we were sitting.  We walked to the seating area and Chris waved to us.  I pushed my plate in front of Chris, “See, I found a Shaggy Dog just like you.”

All Chris said was, “Yuck, you will probably die from food poisoning eating stuff like that.”

We were eating and I heard two young ladies behind us talking.  The first voice said, “Did you get a look at that cute guy at the next table, He almost looks like the Jerk, Bart Winters, from school.  It can’t be him because he is so cute and wearing nice clothes rather that skate boarding clothes that Bart always wears.”

The second voice said, “Yeah, Bart’s hair always looks like it’s greased down and it’s so long that you can’t see his eyes.  I always get the feeling that he’s boring holes in me.  That guy looks like he might be fun to have a date with.  I heard that  Bart likes guys better than girls.”

Bart pushed his food away from him, “Dad Mark, can we please leave?  I don’t feel very good.”

Chris wasn’t finished, “Nano Mark, I’m not finished yet.  Please can we finish our food?”

I patted Bart on the knee.  “Son, just eat a little.  I think the two young ladies have gone.”

Bart turned around to look at the two departing females, “Dad, I can’t eat anymore.  They are two of the biggest gossips in the school.  If I show up looking like this, they will make a big issue out of it and I’ll be ousted to the entire student body.  Dad Mark, you don’t realize how brutal teenagers can be.”

Chris broke the tension, “Daddy Mark, I’m ready to go.  Bart, you’re wasting a lot of food and you’re going to be hungry before dinner.”

We walked to the car because I was sure that Bart wasn’t up for any more shopping today nor was I.  I wanted to talk to Bart in private.   As I was driving home, I saw a sign for a Dairy Queen and pulled in.  “Guys, I feel like a banana split or a hot fudge sundae.”

We climbed out of the car and went into the restaurant.  Chris immediately said, “Dad, a banana split sounds good to me.”

Bart echoed, “Me too.”

I placed an order for three banana splits and we took them to a table in the corner and were eating when the same two girls came into the restaurant.  Fortunately Bart didn’t see them because his back was to them.  I urged the guys to hurry so we could get home and start dinner.

As we were leaving, Bart saw the two girls. And I thought he was going to pass out.  He looked at me and I put a finger to my lips indicating that he shouldn’t say anything.

When we got home, no one else was there but the phone was blinking.  I picked up the phone and the first message started, “This is Geneva Williams.  If Chris and Bart are there, get them out of there now.  Their father has been released and has gotten to some people from the state and the federal government and is going to try to charge you with kidnapping.  He has gone totally berserk.  As soon as the boys are away from the property, call me.”

Mark motioned for the boys to follow him out of the back door and they walked around the house to a gate in the backyard that led to Kevin and Kelley’s house.  He knocked on the back door of the Quinn house and Grandma Quinn answered.  Mark asked, “Ma’am, will you please keep the two guys here until things settle down?  We had a call from Mrs. Williams saying that the boys’ father has been released from jail and is out of control.”

“I need to get home to be there when the troops arrive back from Worlds of Fun. Guys, please don’t go outside until you hear from me or someone you know and can trust.”

I went back to the house and called Mrs. Williams.  “Ms. Williams, this is Mark, the two Winters boys are in seclusion next door with Mrs. Quinn.  I am the only person here right now.”

Mrs. Williams answered, “Good, I’ll be there in two minutes.  Hopefully, we will have time to talk before the jackass and whoever arrive.  Danny said Mr. Winters has been calling everyone he knows and telling them that you people have kidnapped his two sons.   I don’t know who is going to believe what he is spouting from his vulgar mouth.”

I had just hung up when Tip, Ty, Beau, Becca and Zack walked in.  I took a deep breath, “We’ve got trouble here in River City.  Mr. Winters is out of jail and has been contacting the authorities saying we have kidnapped Chris and Bart.  Ms. William told me to get them out of the house.  They are at the Quinn's house.”

“Beau and Becca, when Mr. Winters arrives with whomever, please go take them to Tip’s condo, since he hasn’t done anything about getting rid of it yet.  There won’t be much food, but you can take care of that.  It may be a little dusty since we have been gone for several weeks.  No one would think to look for the boys there.”

Ms. Williams arrived and announced, “Mark, I just stopped briefly and talked to the two guys at the Quinn’s house.  They are both petrified about what is going to happen.  I don’t think there will a problem getting them out of the area because they both look so different.  No one would recognize them.  They are both stunning young men.”

I pointed to Beau and Becca, “Beau and Becca are going to take the two boys to Tip’s old condominium.  I’m sure that no one would look for them there.  Right now, I’m concerned about Ty’s four children.  I don’t want them anywhere near this mess.”

This is Zack.

I have never seen Mark this agitated.  I could feel that he was seething.  I just hope he can maintain his composure.  Everyone had gotten seated and there was a loud pounding on the door and the sound of someone shouting.  Mark stood and went to answer the door.  “Excuse me sirs, but you are annoying the neighbors.  This is a very quiet neighborhood.  I’m Mark Leavitt and I am the nanny for Mr. Tyler Jefferson’s children, how may we help you?”

Mr. Winters countered immediately, “You stupid prick, we came to get my sons whom you kidnapped.  Don’t give me any of your shit.  Agents, I want that man arrested for kidnapping my two sons.  I know that they are in this house.”

Mark stood aside, “Please come in and meet the other people who are in the house at the present time.  There is no one under the age of 24 on the premises at the present time.   If you don’t believe me, you can search the house.”

The five people came into the living room and Mark smacked his head, “Mr. and Mrs. Benson, a Mrs. Quinn called and said that she had a dinner engagement and asked if you could pick up your children as soon as possible.”

Ty stood, “I’m Tyler Jefferson.  My brother and I own this house and am very offended that Mr. Winters has charged us with kidnapping his sons.  There are four people here in the room that were present when Chris arrived on Thursday night of his own free will.  On Friday night, the raving Mr. Winters brought his older son who he has been sexually abusing to demand that we give Chris to him.”

“Some things were said that caused the man to be incarcerated.  His older son has subsequently revealed what his father was doing to him and there is no way I would turn the two boys over to him even if I knew where they were.”

Just then the young people returned from Worlds of Fun.  Billy came skipping into the room.  “Nano Mark, we had a great time.”

Mark hugged the children, “Look, go to the bathroom.  Dr. Robinson wants you to go to his house to keep his grandchildren entertained.  Kelley, your Grandmother called and said that you had company.  Lance and Lane, your Dads want to take you to dinner before Ryan’s party.  They are afraid that you will eat everything in sight otherwise.”

It was like the young people all knew that they should disappear and they did. 

Mark took charge again, “I’m sorry for the interruption, but my primary responsibility is the young people.  Now would you visitors please identify who you are and why you are here?  We have had so many law officers here this week that I feel like we will know the entire police force.”

He turned to the first gentleman dressed in a suit.  The man said “I’m FBI Agent Andrew Hines, and the gentleman beside me is Agent Dick Wells.  The two police officers are Jess Gates and Warren Jeters.”

Mark winked at Ms. Williams, “Ms. Williams, perhaps you would explain why you are here and why these gentlemen’s presence is not required then maybe we can get back to our normal routines.”

Mrs. Williams said, “Look gentlemen, Mr. Winters is out of control.  I have the paperwork that assigns the temporary guardianship of Christopher and Bartholomew Winters to Mr. Mark Leavitt.  For your information, I am the head of the Children’s Protection Agency here in Kansas City.  I have every reason to believe when the Winters case goes to trial, which I am trying to arrange for, as quickly as possible, Mr. Winters will be spending some time in prison.”

She wasn’t finished, “I know for a fact that four of the police department’s finest are aware of what is happening in this case.  It is obvious that you two officers are totally uninformed about what has been happening in this case or are you on a witch hunt?  Well, gentlemen, Mr. Winters is the perpetrator in this.  If you don’t believe me, check with Detective Lawrence and Detective Warner, as well as Officers Dan Nelson and Jacob Lacey.” 

She stood, “Now, I suggest that you get this sex maniac out of here.”

Mr. Winters jumped up from where he was sitting, “You meddling bitch, I’m going to get the boys.  They belong to me.  I’m going to strangle you.”

Mr. Winters started toward Mrs. Williams and Mark tripped him.  “Officers, I think perhaps Mr. Winters hasn’t spent enough time in jail.  He just threatened to kill someone.”

As the police officers were escorting a resisting Mr. Winters toward the door, Mark added, “Agents Hines and Wells, if you would like to visit with anymore of the other people who witnessed what has been happening here, we can arrange it.”

Agent Hines nodded, “We’re going to go read the reports that Officers Nelson and Lacey and Detectives Lawrence and Warner submitted, now that we know they have already been involved.  If we have any questions, we’ll call you.  There may be some people we will want to talk to.”

Ty handed the agent a business card, “The phone numbers are on the card.  Someone should be home the rest of the weekend.”

Mark walked the visitors to the door, “Thanks for coming.”

Mark came in plopped down on a chair, “Okay, what do we do now?”

Mrs. Williams laughed, “Mark, you have handled everything nicely so far, I figured you would tell us.”

Everyone but Mark laughed.  He instead answered, “People this is not funny.”

The door opened and Billy came running in, “Nano Mark, you lied to us.  Grandpa Robinson’s grandchildren weren’t even there.  You just wanted to get us out of the house while those people were here.  What did the policemen want anyway?”

This is Mark.

I pulled Billy close, “Everyone, please listen to me.  The policemen had Chris and Bart’s father with him.  They were looking for Chris and Bart.  Chris and Bart were not here.  I want you to not tell anyone that Chris and Bart are staying here.  Their father is not a very nice person and he wants to hurt them.  So you must keep it a secret.”

Bobby looked around, “If Chris and Bart aren’t here, where are they?”

I looked at Bobby, “They are with Mr. and Mrs. Benson.  They’re safe.  I’m not going to tell you where they are right now.   I just think the smaller number of people who know where they are; the less likely that someone will slip and say something.”

Dr. Robinson had been standing there listening with Brian, Todd, Spencer and Tucker.  “Mark, is there anything that we can do?”

“Thanks for asking, Dr. Robinson, but Ms. Williams has things under control for now.”

Dr. Robinson laughed, “I understand, just leave it to Gen.  She’ll take care of it.  Gen, do you remember my son Brian.  The good looking gentleman with him is his friend Todd and the two whipper snappers are their foster sons, Spence and Tuck.”

I looked around, “Where’s David?”

“He’s on the computer visiting with some of his old friends in Oklahoma.”  Dr. Robinson was interrupted by the arrival of Lance, Lane, Kelley, Cori and Mrs. Quinn.

Lane started in on me, “Mark, I called our Dad and he wants to know what you have been drinking.  He said he hadn’t talked to you since last evening.  I guess you wanted us out of here so the police couldn’t arrest us for the marijuana we have hidden in the bedroom for the party tonight.”

Bobby got a funny look on his face, “You aren’t really going to smoke that stuff, are you?”

Lane realized his faux pas, “Bobby, I was just giving Nano Mark a hard time.”

This is Tip.

I was watching and I sensed that Mark was upset about something.  I couldn’t put my finger on what might have caused it. 

He jumped when the phone rang.  He answered, “This is the Jefferson, Washington and Jackson residence. … Oh hi, Officer Nelson. … Just a minute please.  Mark turned to Lane and Lance, would you please take the children downstairs to the game room and keep them entertained for a couple of minutes?”

Bobby put his hands on his hips, “We know when we’re not wanted.  Come on people.”

Mark started talking, “Officer Nelson, I’m going to put the phone on speaker so everyone, including your mother-in-law, can hear what you have to say.”

Officer Nelson started, “I just called to tell you that Mr. Winters is back in jail and Mrs. Winters is in the hospital from falling because she was so inebriated.  It seems that Mr. Winters was booked on two accounts.  First he threatened to strangle Mum, and then on the way to the police station, he tried to take Officer Jeters weapon.  Since he was already out on bail, there is no way that he will be granted bail, at least until some time next week.  Tell Chris we said hi.”

Mark looked at the phone in disbelief. “Thanks Officer Nelson, we’ll probably be talking to you soon.”

Mark made another call, “Beau, the coast is clear.  You can bring the guys back. … You’re kidding me aren’t you? … I can’t believe that the boys' home was in the same development. … See you in a little while.”

No one made an attempt to move.  Suddenly Mark stood up, “I have to fix something for dinner. Come on, Zack, help me.”

I don’t think anyone was expecting what happened next.  Ms. Williams spoke up, “Mark, just sit and relax.  We need to figure out what we’re going to do with the two boys first.”

The door opened and Chris came in, “Daddy Mark, where is everyone?  Are they home yet?”

Mark held Chris close, “Everyone is in the game room, why don’t you go see them while Bart and I get his things out of the car.”

Bart had come into the room and all eyes were turned to him.  Zack asked, “Chris, where is Bart anyway, and who is that person with you?”

Chris went and put his arms around Zack, “Daddy Zack, do you need glasses.  That ugly guy standing there is Bart.  Mr. Julio said he did the best he could with what he had to work with.”

Mark took charge, “Chris, go talk to the other children and tell everyone the coast is clear.  Zack, let’s go help the Nerd Jock bring in his new things and start washing them.”

This is Zack.

We were getting the things from Mark’s car when Kevin came up to us.  “Here let me help you.”  When he saw Bart, his eyes got really wide, “Don’t tell me you found another stray.  Where is everyone anyway?  Where is Bart? Ryan told me to ask him to the party.”

Bart almost had tears in his eyes, “Look creep, after what you said to and about me last night, I wouldn’t go to the party tonight if it was the last party on Earth.”

Kevin looked confused, “Dude, I don’t think I even know you.  I was asking if Bart Winters might like to go to the party.”

Tears were streaming down Bart’s face, “Look, Kevin, I am Bart and I’m still smarting from what you told everyone about me last night.  No one will probably be able to ever have any respect for me again.  I really don’t choose to go to a party tonight.”

Kevin didn’t relent, “Look man, I’m sorry.  I had no idea that you were going to become part of Nano Mark and Zack’s family.  Now let’s face it, there is no way anybody would associate that you are Bart Winters with the way you look.  From now on, you are going to be known as Bart Leavitt.  I was going to say Bart Jackson, but with your big blue eyes and blond hair that wouldn’t work too well.”

When Ty’s children saw Bart, Billy challenged, “Who’s he?  We don’t have room for any more people.”

Everyone in the living room, was watching as Chris answered, “That’s my brother.  He already is staying here.”

Becky looked at Chris, “But it doesn’t look like the same person.  Your brother wasn’t cute like this one.”

Mark stopped anymore talk, “Everyone, this is the new Bart.  Now we need to decide what to do about dinner.”

Beau volunteered, “We’ll treat everyone to dinner at that restaurant that we passed called The Old World Buffet.  It sounds like they might have some fun things.”

Mrs. Quinn added, “It just recently opened, I haven’t been there, but some friends said they had some different foods.  That might be fun.”

Kelley laughed, “Let’s go.  We haven’t eaten for a whole three hours when we had the candy cotton.  I’m getting hungry.”

Mark commanded, “Anyone who needs to go to the bathroom, do so now.”

When we reassembled and Kevin was assigning people to vehicles.  We had to figure how to get the twenty five people to the restaurant.  When we walked into the restaurant, Beau announced that there were twenty five of us and we would like to be away from the other patrons since we will probably be rather boisterous.  The hostess looked at us, “Perhaps you'd better leave now.  I don’t want to have you ejected.  Hi Kelley and Cori.  Where did you find all of these good looking guys, especially the one with the big blue eyes and the blond hair?”

The hostess led us to secluded area.  “Help yourself to the buffet when you are ready.  Rachel will be taking your drink orders and making sure you have everything that you need.  I’m sure that you will remember this experience.”

Will they or won’t they remember this experience?    

To be continued... 
 

Feedback always welcome:     

Editor's Notes:  I think they will have a lot to remember.  Let's just hope that all the memories from now on will be good ones.  I was amazed that they let that terrible man out on bail in the first place.  He is definitely not very bright as well as being meaner than a dog with rabies.  I hope he gets exactly the treatment he deserves.

With the help of Mark and everyone else, I am sure that Chris and Bart will be all right, 

By the way, I was informed by a very knowledgeable person, recently,  that the word “alright” is a corruption of “all right” and shouldn't really be used, This person is an author and used to be a school teacher, so he knows where of he speaks; although people, including myself, usually do use it. I hereby resolve to stop using this improper contraction,   I wonder if anyone can figure out who gave me that information. I will leave it to you to figure out and we will see how many people pick up on it.  I'll give you a hint; it wasn't E Walk. Here is another hint.  He lives quite a ways east of Fremont and he likes coffee.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher   

Posted: 08/15/08