Trey Comes Calling
by: E Walk
(© 2010-2011 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 6

What Would Mom Say?

On Friday morning, as Jordy and Trey were leaving for school, Jordan reminded me, “Don’t forget the guys and their families will be arriving tonight.  Trey moved his things into my room and we cleaned the bathroom for the guys and their wives.  You shouldn’t need to do much except touch up the downstairs and get some food the nieces might like.”

I was eating lunch when the phone rang, “This is Ed Parker.”

“Ed, it’s Jack Evans.  Just called to see how you’re doing.”

“I’m fine.  How about you?”

“I’m lonely.  I just blistered Trey’s father’s ass.  I think he got the word that Chris Walton isn’t to be allowed within a hundred feet of his house.  I talked to Ward and told him what was happening and he’s going to lay it on the line with Howie Walton.  Chris’ activities may cause two men to lose good jobs.”

“Jack, should we be so involved with what’s going on between the Waltons and the Richards?”

“Richards works for me, so I have every right to get involved if the situation is interfering with the quality of his work.  He called in sick this morning.  When will your sons be arriving?”

“Jordy said they would be here about eight o’clock tonight.  Why did you ask?”

“I was just wondering if we would have time to go to dinner before they arrived.”

“Probably not tonight.  Jordy usually gets home late on Friday night and Trey doesn’t know my other sons and their families.  I should be here when they arrive.”

Jack groaned, “I was just hoping.  I’ll see you sometime tomorrow.”

I finished cleaning the little bit that needed to be done and went to the grocery store to lay in things that I thought my granddaughters might like to eat.  I had just finished putting the groceries away when the phone rang.  I looked at the clock and it was about 3:45.

“This is Ed Parker.”

A young male voice who sounded like he might be crying asked, “Is Trey there?”

“Trey isn’t here, yet.  Who is this?”

“This is Tommy Richards.  Daddy’s drunk and he and his wife are yelling at each other.”

“Tommy, where are your other brothers?”

“They’re outside, hiding under the porch.  They’re afraid that Daddy and his wife are going to hurt someone.”

“Tommy, I’m going to come get you, I’ll be driving a white car.  I want you, Timmy and Teddy to get in the car when I get there.  I don’t want to talk to your Daddy, right now, I’ll call him and tell him where you are once I know you’re safe.”

I drove to where the Richards lived and the three boys came running.  As soon as they had their seat belts connected, I sped away from the house.  The only problem was that a neighbor lady was out in her yard and witnessed what had happened.  This was to cause me all kinds of grief, later.

When we arrived at the house, thankfully, Trey was there.  I turned his three brothers over to him and went to make some phone calls.  I called Peter Hewitt.  A voice answered, “This is Peter Hewitt headquarters, how can I help you.”

“This is Ed Parker, I’d like to speak to Mr. Evans.  Tell him it’s rather important.”

“Just a moment, please.”

“Ed, is there a problem?”

“Jack, Trey’s next oldest brother called me and told me that Mr. and Mrs. Richards were fighting and the boys were scared and were hiding.  I probably did something I shouldn’t have done, but I went and picked them up and they are now here in my house with Trey.”

I could hear Jack taking a deep breath, “Ed, call the police and tell them what you did, and why you did it.  The Richards could charge you with kidnapping.”

I called the police and was talking to a Sgt. Larkin explaining what had transpired when the doorbell rang.  Trey brought a police officer into the room while I was still telling Sgt. Larkin what had transpired.  I looked at the police officer, “I’ll be with you in a minute.  I’m talking to Sgt. Larkin and telling him why I have some young boys here.”

The newly arrived officer, Officer Paulsen or so his badge said, nodded, “Let me talk to Larkin.”

I handed the officer the phone. “Jim, we’ve traced the kidnapper to this address.  The car with the license number that was reported taking the three boys is in the driveway.  A teenager says that the three reported kidnapped children are his brothers. … Okay, I’ll talk to the boys and Mr. Parker. … I’ll tell Mr. Parker that you are sending a team to check the happenings at the Richards’ house.”

Officer Paulsen looked at me, “Please tell me your name and where you live.”

“My name is Ed Parker and I own this house.  If you would listen, I’ll gladly explain why I brought the three younger boys here.”

When I finished explaining, Officer Paulsen asked, “Why didn’t you call the police and let them take care of the matter?”

“Look officer, my first thought was for the safety of the three boys.  There has been a lot going in the Richards family that you aren’t aware of and that isn't any of my business.  How would you have reacted if a police cruiser arrived at your door and you were between the ages of six and eleven?  I’m guessing that you would have remained out of sight.”

Officer Paulsen’s mobile system sounded, “Paulsen, have the three reported kidnapped victims stay with Mr. Parker.  There have been bodily injuries sustained at the Richards’ house.  I understand that their older brother is already staying there.  Under no circumstances should the boys go home until the mess is cleaned up.  Mr. Richards is being transported to the hospital.”

Trey had been standing there listening to what was happening.  After Officer Paulsen departed he asked, “Mr. Parker, what are we going to do?  There isn’t going to be any place for my brothers to stay, since your two sons and their families are going to be arriving tonight.”

“Trey, we’ll work something out.  We need to worry about first things first, and that is fixing something to eat.  What do your brothers like to eat?”

“Feed them a hamburger or hot dog and French fries and they’ll be happy.”

I figured what the heck, “We’ll make a bunch of hamburgers, in case my sons and their families are hungry when they arrive.  “Get your brothers to help you make the hamburgers while I start the grill.”

I was just going out the patio door when the phone rang.  Trey answered, “Hi Mom. … Yes, we have the three boys here. …  Tommy called Mr. Parker and told him that the Dad and his wife were fighting.  We heard that Dad was on his way to the hospital. …  Here, I'll put Mr. Parker on.”

He handed me the phone, “Hi Kathie, the boys are fine.  The police have already been here ready to charge me with kidnapping the boys.  How did you find out they were here?”

Kathie laughed, “The busybody who lives next door to the Richards called to tell me that the three boys were kidnapped.  She even gave me a description of the car and your license number.  I took a chance that it might have been your car even though I don’t know the license number.  Do you want me to come and get them?”

“Kathie, given everything that has happened, I think it would be best for them to stay here with Trey until the situation calms down.  We’ll call you if we need your help.”

I hadn’t even had a chance to hang up when the phone rang, “This is Ed Parker.”

“Ed, it’s Jack.  I just heard that Richards was on his way to the hospital.  Could you go check and see that the boys are okay?”

“Jack, Trey and his brothers are making hamburgers for dinner.  Why don’t you join us for hamburgers and French fries?  I’m getting ready to start the fire and Jordy isn’t home yet.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can change into some comfortable clothes.  Where is everyone going to sleep?”

“Jack, we’re taking things in priority order and we haven’t gotten to that problem.  Right now, we’re worried about the stomachs.”

Jack laughed. “I see what you mean.  I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

Jordy came out with a platter of hamburgers, “What’s going on, Dad?  We usually have fish on Friday nights.  Why are Trey’s brothers here, anyway?”

“Jordy, it’s a long not so pretty story...  I was almost arrested for kidnapping today.  I’ll explain later.”

We were finishing eating when Mark and Ken and their families arrived.  Of course, they hadn’t eaten.  Jordy motioned for me to sit down, “I’ll cook the food while you make the introductions.  Trey, you’ll need to make more French fries and garnishes for the hamburgers.”

After the introductions, I could tell that my sons and their wives had some questions about who all these extra people were.  After everyone had finished eating, Mark asked, “Where is everyone going to sleep?”

Jack answered, “I’m going home and I’m taking the Richard boys and Jordy with me?”

Jordy got a funny look on his face, “I am.  I mean we are?”

Jack grinned, “Why not?  There is no reason that everyone should try to stay in this house when I have three unused bedrooms at my house.  It will give the cleaning people something to do when they come next week.  They need to earn their pay, somehow.”

After the four Richards guys and Jordy had departed and the four granddaughters were ensconced in Jordy’s room, the inquisition began.  I tried to explain how it was that I had the four Richards boys in my house.  I explained that Jack was the boys’ father’s boss.

Anita looked skeptical, “I still don’t understand what having the four Richards boys here has to do with Mr. Evans being here.”

I was being pushed into a corner, “Jack and I are both friends of Ward Buffer and he introduced us.”

Mark laughed, “Dad, you’re muddling the waters even more.  I, for one, am tired and am going to bed.  What are the plans for tomorrow?”

I shrugged my shoulders, “Beats me.  No one ever tells me anything.  Let’s see what tomorrow brings.”

I woke up early on Saturday, wondering how Jack was making out with five extra guys at his house.  Why does he need a four bedroom house when there’s just one of him?  I remembered that there were females in the house, so I got dressed before I went downstairs.

The four granddaughters were eating cereal.  I looked at them, “Wouldn’t you like something other than cereal?  I can make you some bacon and eggs or a bagel.”

The oldest granddaughter, Lauren who was Mark and Linda’s oldest daughter, shook her head, “This is all we ever have to eat at home.  The parents leave for work right after they wake us up.”

“I didn’t know that your mother worked.”

Morgan, who was ten, answered, “She had to go to work since Dad lost his job and had to find a new job where he doesn’t make much money.”

Jodi, who was Ken and Anita’s oldest daughter, shrugged her shoulders, “Mother doesn’t get out of bed until after we’ve gone to school, so we have to fix our own breakfast.”

The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Mark.  I decided to lay it on the line, “I understand that you lost your job and Linda had to go to work.”

Mark took a deep breath, “The company downsized and in order to stay with the company, I had to take deep pay cut.  We weren’t able to make a go of it with what I was bringing home, so Linda had to go to work.  It was either that or give up our dream home with the swimming pool.”

I wanted to make a snide comment, but decided better of it.  Anita came in and asked, “What’s for breakfast?”

I thought that was rather crude, but answered, “We have bacon and eggs or English muffins.”

“I’ll have two eggs over easy with two pieces of bacon and hash browns.”

Alicia looked funny, “You don’t eat a breakfast like that at home.  You always say that you don’t know how to fix eggs.  The only thing you know how to fix comes out of the freezer.”

Mark took exception, “Anita, if you want bacon and eggs then you can fix it yourself.  Dad isn’t your slave.”

Morgan asked, “Grandpa, when are Jordy and those other boys coming back?”

“Morgan, I don’t know.  I’m sure that Mr. Evans will get tired of them and bring them back, soon.  I’m surprised that they aren’t here already.”

Anita realized that no one was going to make her bacon and eggs so she took a bagel.

The phone rang, “This is Ed Parker.”

“Ed, it’s Kathie Walton.  Do you want me to come and pick up the boys?”

“Kathy, they’re not here.  They spent the night with Jack Evans and they haven’t surfaced yet.”

“That’s just as well.  We were just notified that Shelly Richards has been booked on attempted homicide.  The boys’ father is still in intensive care.  He is expected to go to a regular room this morning.  I really can’t bring the boys here, given everything that has transpired.”

“Don’t worry, Kathie, between Jack and I, we will make sure that the boys are taken care of.  I agree that it would not be a good idea for them to stay with you and your family.”

The two sons and their wives were sitting around the kitchen table when the front door opened.  Jordy came into the kitchen.  “We‘ll be back shortly.  Is anyone still in my bedroom?"

“Nope, the granddaughters are all in the family room.  What do you need?”

“I just need to get something.  Mr. Evans said to tell you we wouldn’t be back until after lunch and that we have dinner reservations for six o’clock.”

After Jordy had gone up the stairs, Anita asked, “Who is this Mr. Evans person that he is telling us what to do?”

“Anita, if you have problems with Mr. Evans making dinner arrangements for us, I’ll tell him to cancel them.  We can always stay here and eat, if you’d rather.”

Anita wasn’t to stop without a fight, “Suppose we already made reservations for dinner.”

“Fine, I’ll tell him and invite him to go with us.  It’s the least that we can do considering he’s taking care of the boys, so the girls can have a comfortable bed.”

“Dad, ignore Anita.  If she had here way, we would be going to the fanciest restaurant in town, knowing that you’ll pick up the tab.  Under no circumstances are you paying for your birthday dinner.”

Anita left the table not even taking care of her dishes, “Well, we’re not paying for all those extra people.”

I was thinking to myself, ’This is going to be one heck of a birthday.’  

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: Thank you E Walk.  It's nice to see a new chapter of Trey.

It looks as if we have a very selfish woman sticking her nose in places it doesn't belong, and demanding that people wait on her, hand and foot.  Maybe someone should teach her some manners.  She is acting like a selfish bitch.

We have some frightened boys, that certainly need people who love them, and will take care of them and protect them.

I can hardly wait for the next chapter.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 01/28/11