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

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Chapter 7
The Party

I got up to clear the table and Ken interrupted, “Dad, don’t you dare take care of Anita’s dishes.  They can sit there until she does them.  She has this thing that she thinks she’s above work, now that I got promoted.  She thinks we should hire a full time maid and she wants to buy a new house that is bigger than Mark and Linda’s”

Linda laughed, “We’ll trade you houses and you can make the payments and pay for the upkeep.  I’ve had to go back to work so that we can keep it.  Having a good job today doesn’t necessarily mean that you will still have it tomorrow.  Ask Mark.  He can tell you what it’s like to even keep a job, right now.”

Jordy yelled down to the family room, “Girls, do you want to go to lunch with us?”

The four girls came up the stairs,  Lauren asked, “Can we go with Uncle Jordy and the others for lunch?”

Mark answered, “Yes, but remember your manners.”

Ken asked, “Do the girls need any money?”

Jordy shook his head, no.  “Nope, I’ve got it covered.  Dad, I’m going to take your car, since it’s bigger than mine and we can’t get everyone into Mr. Evans’ car.  We may do something after lunch.  Mr. Evans said to tell you to wear your best western clothes for dinner.   We’ll be back by four o’clock at the latest.”

That told me where we were going for dinner, and I thought to myself, ‘Anita isn’t going to be to pleased eating with the commoners, tonight.’

The phone rang, “This is Ed Parker.”

“Mr. Parker, this is Bart Richards.  I understand that you have all four sons with you.”

“Actually, they spent the night with your boss, Mr. Evans.  He took them for lunch.  How are you feeling?”

“They told me that I would probably be getting out of the hospital tomorrow.  I’m not sure how good I’m going to feel.  If at all possible, would you have the boys stop in to see me.  I need to talk to them.”

“Mr. Richards, if I can catch up to them, I’ll make sure they come to see you.”

I dialed Jordy’s cell phone number, “This is is Jordan Parker.”

“Jordy, Mr. Richards just called, and he wants to talk to his sons.  He’s in the Belleview Medical Center.”

“I’ll tell Mr. Evans.  We’re real close to the hospital.  We’re having lunch at the China Buffet.  You should see what the young people are eating.  I swear that they won’t be hungry for dinner, tonight..”

It was almost five o’clock when the two cars pulled into the driveway.  Jodi came in bubbling, “We had lunch at this Chinese place where we could pick what we wanted to eat.  Uncle Jordy took us to a neat roller skating rink while Mr. Parker took the boys to see their Dad in the hospital.  When the guys got to the roller skating rink, we had a blast.  Uncle Jordy and Trey are really good skaters.”

Jack and the boys came in carrying changes of clothes.  Trey announced, “We stopped by the house to get the boys some clean clothes, and that was a mistake.  It’s a good thing that we had stopped to talk to Dad before we went to the house, or we would have been totally grossed out.  The entire first floor is in shambles.  Dad said that he will be getting a divorce from his new wife.  We’ll put the clothes in your bedroom.”

Jack introduced himself, “It seems as if everyone thinks I have been introduced to everyone.  I’m Jack Evans.  I’m the chauffeur.  I’ll be back as soon as I get suitably dressed.  Ed, I had a wonderful time with your granddaughters and the Richards boys.  They were perfect ladies and gentlemen.  I did have some problems with your son, though.  He kept telling me, no.” 

I looked at the guys, “Let’s go get dressed for dinner.  It’s going to be a little crowded with six of us changing clothes in my bedroom.”

When we arrived in the living room, everyone was dressed in casual clothes, except for Anita.  She had on a chiffon dress and heels.  She looked at the rest of us, “You people all look like hillbillies.”

I had had it, “Anita, Jordy told us to dress in our best western clothes.  It’s too late to change, now.  You either go as you’re dressed, or you can stay here and fend for yourself.”

Anita glared at me, “Ken, are you going to let your father talk to me like that?”

“Anita, be quiet.  You’re making a spectacle of yourself.  Jordy told us that the place we were going to for dinner was casual.  It’s too late now.  You can look out of place, since you want to flaunt what little money we have.”

We took three cars with Jack leading the way to The Golden Nugget.  When we pulled in, the cars were surrounded by valets waiting to park the cars.  Maggie took Jack’s Town Car and the other two cars disappeared as we walked into the restaurant.  When we walked into the restaurant, there was a line of people waiting to be seated, but Larry took us to a semi private room just off the dance floor that was set up for just our party.”

Mark leaned over to me and whispered, “What’s going on?  So far, no one has said a word and we’re being seated ahead of all those people who are waiting to eat.”

“Mark, I’m sure Mr. Evans called and made reservations ahead of time, and people seem to take care of him wherever he goes. 

Anita pouted, “I’m definitely overdressed for a dive like this.”

“Anita, Jordy specifically said that we were to wear western clothes.  You were in your room resting, but I think it was apparent that everyone else got the word.”

Anita glared at me, “Whoever heard of going to a western restaurant for a seventieth birthday dinner.  What are the girls going to think?”

Jack interrupted the conversation, “Mrs. Parker, I’m sorry this restaurant isn’t to your liking.  I’ll have one of the valets drive you to Ed’s house if you would like.  We plan to have a good time, with or without you.”

Anita knew she had been had, “That’s all right.  I’ll endure this plebian restaurant.”

As soon as we were seated, Larry asked, “What can I get you from the bar?”

Jack answered, “The young people will have torpedo cocktails and you’ll have to ask the older people what they would like?”

Jack and I had a bourbon on the rocks.  Mark and Linda had a whiskey sour.  Ken declined a drink but Anita ordered a double martini on the rocks with a twist of lemon and two onions.

After Larry handed the drink orders to an assistant, he announced the specials for the day.  Jack looked at me, “Birthday boy, why don’t you start.?

I started, “I'll have the cook’s soup of the day, a green salad with the house dressing, the ribs with oven fried potatoes and the fresh green beans.”

Larry moved to Linda and she ordered the same things as I did.  When Larry moved to Anita, it was a different story.

“I’ll have a shrimp cocktail, the cheese/asparagus soup, a medium sized filet mignon done medium, a baked potato, fresh asparagus and  I’d like a Caesar salad with lots of croutons.”

It turned comical when everyone else had  ordered except Trey and ordered the ribs except for Anita.  Before Trey could order, Jack intervened, “Trey would like the rack of lamb with mint jelly, French fries and the vegetable medley.”

Larry nodded, “Very well, sir.  It may take us a while to find a sheep and a steer.  I hope you aren’t in a hurry.”

We were eating our soup when the band started to play some good old country and western tunes.  Anita started to complain, “That music isn’t very good for the digestive system.  Mr. Evans, can’t you tell the manager to stop it, because it’s interfering with our eating?”

“Anita, I could stop the music, but I’m the majority owner of this restaurant, and I like what they’re doing.  If you can’t handle it, then you are welcome to leave.  I’ll have your food brought to you in the kitchen.”

Anita took a deep breath, but didn’t say anything more about the music, but she sure had something to say about each course as it was served.  Finally, Jack stood, “Ken, perhaps you should take Anita back to the house.  She’s ruining Ed’s birthday party by her constant complaining.”

Anita stood, “Never mind, I’ll move to where I don’t need to be around you people who have no taste.”

Ken surprised me, “Fine, I hope you have enough money to get home when you’re finished, because we sure aren’t going to come begging for you to go home.”

After we had finished our dinner, the waiters cleared the table and brought a big birthday cake to our table.  Not only did we receive a cake, but all of the tables in the restaurant received a cake.  The waiters started to light the candles as the band director announced, “On the count of three, let’s all sing happy birthday to Ed.”

The band director turned to the band and started, “One, two, three.”

The restaurant was vibrating with everyone singing Happy Birthday, Ed.

After the singing of Happy Birthday, the band started to play line dances as the leader sang and provided clues as to what moves to make.  Not only were the granddaughters and Trey’s brothers having a blast, Mark, Linda and Ken joined in.  When they started the polka, Lauren came and took me and we were whirling around the floor.

It was almost ten o’clock when we decided to leave, because we had some young people who were starting to fold.  Ken left me off at the house.  We made arrangements to meet at church in the morning.

When I got inside the house I could hear Ken and Anita yelling at each other.  I couldn’t hear what was being said, but Jodi informed me, “Granddad, this is what we hear almost every night at our house.  Our mother is never satisfied with anything.  You saw how she deliberately ordered different things than anyone else.  She’ll probably wait for Dad to go to sleep before she starts drinking.  She thinks we don’t know that she has a drinking problem, but we find empty bottles in strange places.”

“Jodie, doesn’t your Dad realize what’s happening?”

“Dad works all the time.  There are some days that we never see him because he trying to make enough money to satisfy our mother.”

I was almost asleep when there was a knock on the door,  I put on a robe and went to see who was there, “Ken, is there a problem?”

“Dad, I’m at my wit’s end.  Anita has had a drinking problem and it’s getting worse.  She has delusions of grandeur.  You saw how she acted, tonight.  I’m thinking of filing for divorce except she’ll probably find a way to get everything I own.  I don’t mind that, but I’m not going to let her get custody of Jodi and Alicia without a fight.  If it weren’t for the next door neighbor, I don’t know what would have happened to the girls.  They’ve come home from school on a number of occasions to find themselves locked out.”

I took a deep breath, “Ken, why is this surfacing now?”

“Dad, I’ve had Anita in an alcohol rehab facility and it didn’t work.  She’s not happy unless she has something bigger and better than the next person.  She’s always been jealous of Mark and Linda.  She’d never lower herself to go to work like Linda has.”

“Ken, let’s talk more about this in the morning.  The biggest concern here is the girls.”

After Ken left, I was lying in my bed thinking, ‘How many more kids am I going to have to worry about.  I have the four Richards boys and now two granddaughters.  Please don’t tell me that Mark and Linda are having problems, too.”

When I awoke in the morning, I remembered that there were females in the house, so I got dressed in my slacks and shirt to go to church.  I figured I’d go, even if I went by myself.  When I got downstairs, Jordy was there with the four granddaughters.  Jordy looked up, “Dad, I don’t think I’ll be going to church, today.  My right side really hurts.”

“Do you want to go to the emergency room?”

Jordy shook his head, no, “I’m sure that I strained something yesterday when we were roller skating.”

“Where are the rest of the guys?”

“Mr. Evans was going to keep the boys at his house until lunch time.  Trey’s afraid that he’ll meet his mother and her new family at the church.  He doesn’t want the boys anywhere near Chris.”

I wound up going to church by myself, which was strange because Jordy always went with me.  I ran into Kathie Walton.  She commented, “I heard that you’re now taking care of my four sons.”

“To put it more precisely, Jack Evans is taking care of them, as we speak, because my two sons and their families have been here for the weekend.  The boys chose not to come to church with me for fear of meeting Chris.”

“Chris will be leaving later today for a school in Kentucky.  He will be living with Howie’s parents.  He’s going to be on a very short leash.  Howie is finally realizing that Chris is anything but a saint.”

When I got home from church, somebody had fixed lunch.  Jack, Mark and Ken were having a discussion in the living room.  Trey met me, “Mr. Parker, I don’t think Jordy feels at all good.  I went to your bedroom to talk to him and he was crying because his side hurt so much.  I told Mr. Evans, but Jordy says it’s not bad enough to go to the emergency room.”

Jack and the two sons took sandwiches and were talking in the dining room.  I was dying to know what they were talking about but I figured someone would tell me when they wanted me to know.

It was almost three when the two sons and there families departed for the airport, since they both had rental cars.  After they departed, Jack put his arms around me.  “Why don’t we have the Richards boys stay here for the night, since they can walk to school from here.  If they stay with me, I’ll have to bring them half way across the city and that would mean getting them up at an ungodly hour, since their father probably won’t be at work until at least later in the week.  We certainly can’t leave them with their stepmother.”

“I have no problem with them staying here, but wouldn’t it be best to get their father’s written consent?”

“I’ll go take care of that.  Have Trey change the linens on the beds and I’ll bring some food for dinner.  Are you sure we shouldn’t take Jordy to the emergency room?”

I put up my hands, “I suggested that, but he pooh, pooh me.  I’m concerned.  I’m going to call our family doctor in the morning and make an appointment if he’s not better.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  Talk about everything happening at once, I think I need a program to figure out what is going on here. So much confusion is happening, I will probably have to read the chapter again to see if I can get everything into perspective.

I hope that Jordy is going to be all right.  If I remember my first aid training, he might be having appendicitis.  I am afraid that I am not all that good at remembering just where the appendix is. 

Anita is a real bitch, and doesn't deserve any respect.  She thinks she is better than everyone else, but she is sadly mistaken.

I really feel sorry for Ken, having to put up with that crap.  I guess he has finally had enough of her attitude, and is going to take the plunge and get his freedom from her.  He certainly deserves some peace and quiet.

I hope it won't be too long before we get the next chapter.

I am worried about Jordy.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher   

Posted: 02/04/11