What Do I Do Now, Mom?
by: E Walk
(© 2009 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 9 

What Do You Think?

Randy and I were awakened by Billy, because I had deliberately left the door open so the boys could see that nothing was happening.  “Dads, it’s time to get up.”

I looked at the clock, and it was six fifteen. I sighed, “I guess I forgot to set the alarm.  It's good that you two boys aren’t forgetful.”

Billy giggled, “I guess that’s what happens when you get old.  Bobby and I’ll go get the cows ready to be milked while you old men get dressed.”

As Randy and I were walking to the barn, he grinned, “I’ll take care of the milking while you help the boys with the other animals.  I’ll yell if I need help.”

I thought to myself as I was walking to the chicken house, ‘It sure is nice having someone to help me with the chores.’

I was joined by Billy as I was collecting the eggs.  “Billy, I’ve already put out food and new water.  All we need to do is to collect the rest of the eggs.  Your Daddy is taking care of the milking.”

After Billy and I had collected the eggs, he took them to the house while I went to start breakfast.  I was joined by Randy and Bobby.  Bobby looked at me, “Dad, we need to show Daddy how to purge the milk storage tank.  The man was here to collect the milk as we were cleaning the milking machines.  He wanted to know if Daddy was the new hired man.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him that Daddy was going to fix the house so you could live there.”

Randy laughed, “The man wanted to know if we were going to be living in the trailer after you moved into house.  The man made me feel very uncomfortable with the way he was looking me over.  What’s his story?”

“I’ll explain later.  Breakfast is ready.”

After breakfast, Randy took care of the dishes while the boys and I got ready for school.  I had the boys go get twelve dozen eggs, so we could fill the orders with a couple dozen to spare.  We stopped so we could purchase the pop corn that Billy had been directed to provide.

We were the first car in the parking lot, except for the janitor’s.  I took Billy and Bobby to my room and was working on the end of the year report.  I was watching the clock so I could be on duty when the first students started to arrive.  I was at the door when the district superintendent, Mr. Brown, arrived.  “Good morning, Hank.  Where is everyone?”

“Sir, I haven’t any idea.  There’s no one in the gym to watch the children.  It’s a good thing it’s a nice morning and I can line them up out here this morning.”

I could tell the superintendent was not a very happy person, but I honestly had no idea what was happening.  The children started to arrive and I could tell that the parents were a little upset by the lack of cars in the parking lot.  Several parents approached me and asked if there was a problem.

I shrugged my shoulders, “I’m not sure what’s happening.  I’ll make sure that the children are safe until the rest of the staff arrives.”

It was almost five minutes to eight when the first of the teachers started to arrive.  When they saw that the superintendent was helping me with the children, they quickly disappeared.  The paraprofessionals arrived and the tardy bell had rung.  I was dismissing the children to go their classrooms when Mr. Dailey and the principal, Mr. Hamilton, finally arrived.  They were laughing as they approached  the entrance.

Superintendent Brown looked at Mr. Hamilton, “I want to talk to you in your office, immediately.  Mr. Dailey, I’ll talk to you as soon as I finish talking to Mr. Hamilton.”

The children and I had a really good morning and, for some reason, I decided to go back to my room and eat, so I could work on my end of the year report.  One of the first grade teachers came in, “Why didn’t you go to the breakfast this morning?”

I looked up, “What breakfast?”

“The appreciation breakfast that the Principal Hamilton provided at the Village Inn.”

“I guess I wasn’t invited, so I could be here to make sure that the rest of staff could enjoy the breakfast.  Who would have been here to watch the students when they arrived if I hadn’t been here?  I don’t think that’s the janitor’s responsibility.”

The afternoon went fine and I had my children around me for story time when Superintendent Brown entered the room.  He wrote a note and left it on my desk.

As I was getting the children ready to go home, the intercom came on and the secretary announced, “All teachers are to report to the media center as soon as the children have been dismissed.”

After I took the children to the exit and was sure that they had been picked up, I went back to the room and read the note, “Mr. Adler, as of now, you are the acting principal.  It appears as if all of the other regular classroom teachers have already stopped teaching.  I’ll talk to you after the staff meeting.”

The staff meeting was brutal. Mr. Brown lit into the staff, “You people are being paid to teach 180 days, according to your contract.  The only classroom teacher who even came close to meeting that criteria today was Mr. Adler.  The rest of your paychecks will be docked accordingly, since the students informed me that they haven’t been receiving any instruction at all, this week.”

Boy was Dr. Brown brutal, “For your information, Mr. Hamilton has been suspended without pay and Mr. Dailey is on probation.  Mr. Adler is the acting principal and I’m instructing him not to check any of you out before four o’clock Friday.  If you wish to continue your employment with this district, then I suggest that you rethink what your responsibilities are.”

After the rest of the staff departed, Dr. Brown motioned for me to join him at a table.  “Hank, why didn’t you go to the breakfast this morning?”

“Sir, I honestly didn’t know about it.  I'm guessing Mr. Hamilton was letting me know that he didn’t like me, and that he expected me to make sure that the children were taken care of.  The man has absolutely no regard for children, and quite frankly, sir, I get the feeling that he is trying to enhance his status in the community.”

Dr. Brown nodded, “Hank, I agree with your assessment 100%.  I know that you have your endorsement in Education Administration.  Would you consider being the principal next year?”

I took a deep breath, “Not only no, but absolutely not.  I enjoy working with children, and I don’t need the paperwork and the meetings that a principal is required to attend.  I have a farm that needs to be taken care of.  Besides, this community isn’t ready for a gay principal.”

Dr. Brown started to laugh, “I didn’t know that you had found someone to replace Ron.”

“Dr. Brown, I now have three males living with me in my trailer at the farm, and I can assure you that there is nothing sexual happening, since two of them are eight and ten.  Their father was injured, so I am providing them a temporary place to live.”

Dr. Brown grinned, “Hank, I think that you’re wrong about how the community would accept you, even knowing your sexual orientation.  I can understand your reservations in light of owning a farm.  I’m asking that you take the position until we can find a suitable replacement. Mr. Dailey will be reassigned to another building where he can be controlled, and I’m not sure what’s going to happen to Mr. Hamilton.   But I can assure you that he’ll never be a principal in this district again.”

When I got to my room, Billy and Bobby were missing, but there was a note, “Farm boy, I came to collect you and the boys but you were in a meeting so the boys and I are home to take care of your animals.”

I started to laugh and thought, ‘Me thinks that Randall Lee is starting to feel good about himself.  He sounds as if he has something up his sleeve.’

I stopped at the secretary’s desk, “Gloria, you need to keep things under control for the next day and a half.  I still have some teaching to do.”

Gloria looked at me, “Hank, you’re the only person who is still teaching.  Why weren’t you at the breakfast this morning?  The rest of the staff was there.”

“Gloria, I knew nothing about the breakfast which is just as well.  If I had been there, there would have been no one here to watch the children as they arrived.  Mr. Hamilton probably planned it that way.”

Gloria shook her head no, “Hank, I know I put an invitation in your box.  Your box is the first box, since the names are alphabetical order.  I could understand if it was someone in the middle of the mailboxes that had been missed, but not the first box.”

Gloria wasn’t done, “You do realize that the teachers are complaining because they can’t be checked out until four o’clock Friday, don’t you?”

“Gloria, you’d better be prepared to work overtime on Saturday.  You’ll be surprised at how long it will take me to check people out.”

Gloria laughed, “I think I’ll need to be here to make sure that you aren’t lynched.  This sounds like fun.”

I went to the lounge and the money for the eggs was all there and the eggs were all gone.  I checked my mailbox and there was nothing in it.

As I was walking to my car, Mr. Dailey approached me, “You queer bastard, you got me put on probation.”

I looked at the man, “I had nothing to do with you being put on probation.  I don’t like you and I don’t respect you, but I did nothing to get you put on probation.  You just sealed your own fate.  You’ll be the last person I check on Saturday.  You’ll be lucky to be home by midnight.”

The man’s mouth uttered words that no man, woman or child should hear.  “What did you do to make Brown appoint you as the acting principal?  Give him a blowjob or did you let him have his way with you.”

“Dailey, for your information, Dr. Brown is happily married and has five children.  I’m guessing you’re a latent homosexual who tries to disguise the fact by chasing after all the ladies who will listen to your drivel.  If I were to become principal of this school, I can assure you that you will not be working here.”

I walked away from him because I chose not to have any more conversation with the jerk.

When I arrived at the trailer, my guys were coming from the barn area and Bill was carrying a basket with the eggs.  Bobby ran to me, “Dad, why are you so late?”

“Guys, it’s a long story.  I need to change clothes.  What’s for dinner?”

Randy nodded, “I put a pork roast in the oven when we got home from school.  Your Mother said that you’d like a pork roast with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes.  I stopped at the store and bought some more apples, so we could have some stewed apples with raisins and cinnamon for a salad.”

When we were eating, Randy grinned, “I had an auctioneer come to look at the old bathroom fixtures.   He grabbed them and ran with them.  He’s going to auction them off a week from Saturday.  I stopped at Home Depot, Lowe’s and Builders’ Supply and looked at new fixtures.  I’d like for you guys to go with me to make sure we get the things that you like.”

Randy wasn’t finished, “I used the last of the bread today so we need to go to the store and restock the shelves and freezer.  We have plenty of meat but we need almost everything else.”

After we did the dishes, we climbed into the car and went to the local grocery store that was closest to the farm.  It was a super store and it had a great selection, even if the some prices were a little higher than other stores.  I thought to myself, ‘We need to watch the ads for specials at the different stores.’

When we walked in, I had Billy and Bobby each take a cart, “Guys, if you see something that looks good, get it.  Remember that you’re going to be home all the time, starting Saturday.”

We started in the produce section and that went rather smoothly since we didn’t grow citrus fruit on the farm.  The shopping experience went downhill from there.  Billy, Bobby and, for that matter, Randy kept saying we didn’t need something.  I stopped, “Look, if you people don’t cooperate, then I’ll go shopping by myself and you’ll be forced to eat what I buy.”

When we walked to the checkout stand, we were lucky because a young man was standing waiting for a customer.  Billy and Bobby started to unload the first cart and the young man asked, “Will plastic be okay?”

I nodded yes and the groceries from the first cart were back in the first cart and the boys started to unload at the second cart.  Billy was watching the monitor and when he saw the total, he started to complain, “Dad, maybe we should put some of the things back.”

I swiped my card and pushed my pin number and announced, “Sorry, Billy, but they’ve already been paid for. It’s too late.”

 

When we arrived at the trailer, we were taking the things into the trailer when the motorcycle brigade arrived.  Kenny and Blake saw what we were doing and they started to help take the groceries into the trailer so I stayed in the trailer and started to put the groceries away.

When we all the groceries were in the trailer, Kenny pulled an imaginary something out of his pocket, “You have been summoned to appear at the house of Mark and Peggy Adler on Saturday evening to celebrate the fiftieth wedding anniversary of Grandmother and Granddad Adler.  It has been specifically requested that there be no gifts.  Please bring a card and some cold cash to support a poor starving med student.  Everyone is requested to bring at least two people who need dental work so Doctor Young can make some money.”

Billy looked up innocently, “I noticed that we had four cows with cavities.  Is it okay if we bring them?  Bobby, you need to check the pigs in the morning to see how many we can take to the quack doctor.”

I looked at the clock, “Billy and Bobby, you need to get ready for bed. Tomorrow is a school day.”

Kenny and Blake took off while Bobby and Billy were taking a shower.

Randy asked, “Hank, is your life always this hectic?”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  I would have to say that the lives of most of the people that E Walk writes about are pretty hectic.  That is not necessarily a bad thing.  I am certainly ready for more!

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 03/12/10