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

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 17 

Please, Mr. Adler

When we crawled into bed after my shower, Randy hugged me, “Hank, I’m physically exhausted.  I didn’t realize how badly out of shape I was.  Between the two of us, we are physical and mental wrecks.”

I kissed Randy, “That’s okay, I’ll take you anyway, even if you are getting old and decrepit.”

It was still twilight when I looked at Randy and he was breathing so that I knew he was already asleep.  I said a quiet prayer thanking the heavens for dropping this man and his two sons into my lap.

I awoke before the alarm and it was just beginning to get light.  I looked at Randy’s sleeping form, lying beside me, looking so delectable.  I decided that I needed to taste the merchandise that he was advertising.  I maneuvered so I could be able to maximize my enjoyment.  It didn’t take long for Randy to deliver the goods, but I had to put my hand over his mouth so he wouldn’t wake Billy and Bobby.”

When he finally relaxed, he pulled me up, “Hank, do you realize that you just negated an entire days worth of work by wearing me out this morning.  I should punish you, but I probably don’t have the strength to do so.  Let’s get those lazy sons of mine out of bed.”

“Let’s not wake them,  I do know how to milk the cows, and they can take care of the rest of the chores when they wake up.  While I’m milking, why don’t you find us something to eat that will hold me through the day.  The appetizer I had won’t last all morning.  I should come home at lunchtime and get a fresh supply.”

When I was in the shower after doing the milking, Billy came into the bathroom, “Dad, why didn’t you wake us?”

I stepped out of the shower, “Billy, all I did was the milking.  You guys have all day to take care of the other chores.  There is no need for you to get up every morning at the crack of dawn.”

Billy hugged me, “But Dad, it’s about the only time we ever get to talk to you, because you’re always working.”

“I’ll cut you a deal.  I’ll wake you every other morning.”

Billy frowned, “I guess a half is better than nothing.”

After Billy left the bathroom, I realized, I had been naked all the time he and I were talking.  I thought to myself, ‘People would have a field day if they found out I was talking to an almost eleven year old while I was naked.  I could only imagine what my mother would have to say.’

Bobby, who was helping Randy fix breakfast, asked, “Dad, is there anything that you want us to do special today while you’re at work?”

I hugged Bobby, “Bobby, perhaps I can get home at a decent hour tonight and we can make some plans.  There are a lot of things that need to be done, but I haven’t had time to think about what they are.  I never planned to be still working.  Just make sure your Daddy, doesn’t work too hard.  He says he's pretty tired this morning.”

Randy pinched me on the butt, “How dare you call me lazy?”

“Billy and Bobby, did I use the word the word lazy?”

The boys were giggling, and Billy answered, “I think Daddy is feeling a little guilty for sleeping all morning.”

After breakfast, I kissed my three guys and headed toward town, even though I didn’t want to go to work.  As I was exiting the farm road that went by our house, I met the three Brown boys.  Ritchie honked and the three guys waved.  I looked at the clock on the dashboard and it was only seven forty five.  ‘Why are they headed to the farm so early?’

When I went into my office, there was a note.  “I came back last night to work since I had a dentist appointment the first thing this morning.  I may not be in until about ten.  See you then. G.”

I looked over the purchase orders, signed them and put them on Gloria’s desk.

I decided to open the doors to the school, but Ted had beaten me to it. “Good morning, Mr. Adler.  It seems as if you’re going to be the secretary this morning.  Are you sure you don’t want to be the janitor, too?”

“Great, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do as the principal and now your trying to make me the secretary and the custodian?  I can’t handle one job, so how can I handle three.”

Ted laughed, “Sir, if you can’t handle it, then no one can.”

I was sitting at the desk when Mrs. Hamilton arrived with a young man.  I looked at him, “Let me guess, you must be Brad Pitts or some other movie star.  Can I see your tattoos?”

The young boy looked at his mother, “Mom, why am I here?  This man is as bad as Dad was.  Does he ever say anything nice?”

I stood and put out my hand, “Good morning, Mrs. Hamilton; I see  that you brought your handsome son to show off to Miss Bottom.  Where is your other son anyway and is he as good looking as this young man?”

Derek answered, “Devin, is sitting in the car, pouting, because he has to go to work with Mom.  Mom, I’ll go with you and you can leave Devin here to be checked.  Mom, this man is even meaner than our Dad was.  I don’t want to go to this school if everyone is so mean.”

Jodi Bottom opened the door, “I’m sorry I’m late.  My cat decided to have kittens this morning.  Would anyone like to have one?  Mr. Adler, has the young man I'm supposed to talk to this morning arrived yet?  I’m really concerned about my cat having six kittens.  I really need to go home and check them.”

Derek spoke up, “Why don’t you go home and check on your kittens, I don’t really need to be tested.  I already know I’m stupid, I don’t need someone to tell me how dumb I am.”

Mrs. Hamilton cringed when Derek said that, “Derek, no one ever said you were dumb.”

“Mom, Dad told me how dumb I was every chance he got.  He told me I was the laziest kid on the planet.”

I decided to stop the conversation, “Derek, go get your brother and I’ll put him to work scrubbing toilets while you’re visiting with Ms Bottom.  She’s not really as mean as she seems.”

When Derek closed the office door, I looked at the ladies, “I’m not an expert in this area, but I’m guessing young Derek has a problem with low self esteem.  Jodi, this is going to create a challenge.”

Jodi nodded, “Hank, it’s young people like Derek, who make our job worthwhile when they turn the corner.  I shouldn’t say this, but I’m relieved that Mrs. Shire isn’t going to be back next year.  She has so many personal problems that she has forgotten what her job is.”

Derek came in with a good looking young man, “Mister, I ain’t cleaning any toilets.  I’ll just sit here and wait for Derek to get done with finding out how dumb he is.”

I took a deep breath, “Look kid, you have no right to talk about your brother like that.   You sit you butt at this desk, and be my secretary until Ms Bottom has time to find out which of you two Hamilton boys needs the most help.”

Both boys looked at me with funny looks, I sighed, “Mrs. Hamilton, we’ll dump your two sons off wherever you would like.  Leave your number and address with what’s his name over there, so we can get in touch with you if we need to.”

Jodi looked questioningly as I walked Mrs. Hamilton to the door, “Don’t worry, Mrs. Hamilton, I will not permit anything bad to happen to either of the boys.  We’ll call you if we need you.”

When I walked into the office, Devin looked at me, “Whatever your name is, what is it that you want me to do?”

“Look, Devin, you said that you weren’t dumb like your brother so you should know what to do, since you think you’re so smart.”

“Please mister, I didn’t mean what I said.  Derek is probably smarter than me.  He had a couple of bad teachers and he hates school.  I’m an okay student, but no one ever tells either of us if we’ve done something good.  Our Dad kept telling us how stupid we were.  Me and Derek both hate that man.”

I decided to diffuse the tension, “Devin, I have some things that I need to take care of.  All you have to do is answer the phone and take messages and come talk to me if I’m not on the phone.  Here let me show you what to do.”

Fortunately the phone rang and I answered, “This is Birchcrest Elementary School.  This is Hank Adler speaking; how may I help you?”

“Oh hi, Superintendent Brown, what can I do to help you?”

“Hank, we would like for you to come to the office this afternoon about three.  First, you need to sign your new contract, and second we have some dossiers for you to review to see if you would like to have these new people on the staff.  We know of four vacancies on your staff at this time.”

“Sir, I’ll be there.  I know three of the four vacancies. That’s probably Mr. Dailey, Mrs. Shire and me.  I’m guessing that the fourth is Mrs. Sumter.  There may well be more before this week is over.  I’ll see you at three o’clock.”

It was extremely quiet and Devin came into the office, “Mr. Adler, could you get something for me to read.  It’s boring sitting at the secretary’s desk with nothing to do.”

“Well, why didn’t you say so?”  I picked up the intercom, “Mrs. Kelly, we have a young man here who says he’s bored and want’s to know if you have any books that he could read while he’s being bored with being my secretary.”

I heard Judy laughing, “How old is the young man?”

“He claims to be eleven years old and is going to be in the sixth grade here at our school next year.”

“Tell him, I’ll be there with some award winning books in a few minutes.”

The door opened and Ann Dancer stuck her head in, “Hank, do you have a minute to talk?

“Of course, Ms Dancer.  I’d like for you to meet one of the students who is going to be in your class next year, Mr. Devin Hamilton.”

Devin surprised me when he stood, “Pleased to meet you, Ms Dancer.  My brother and I are looking forward to coming to your school next year.”

I could tell that Ann was overwhelmed, “I’m pleased to meet you, too, young man.  I’ll talk to you later.  I need to talk to Mr. Adler for a couple of minutes.”

I walked into the office and closed the door after Ann was seated, “Ann, what’s the problem?”

 

“Hank, Mary Shires called all the teachers last night and told them they wouldn’t be receiving checks from the P.T.A. this year because you recommended that the funds be placed into a fund that so only you could dole out the funds.  I’ve always used those funds to help defray the scholarships for those sixth grade students from Birchcrest who needed financial assistance in order to be able to attend the outdoor education classes.”

I stood and held up my hands, “Ann, Mary was striking out because she made a fool of herself.  The P.T. A. is going to establish a fund so that teachers can draw on it for special projects like outdoor education.  The P.T. A. wants to have some accountability for the funds.  I alone will not be the person to decide how the funds are to be dispersed.  I would form a committee of teachers and a representative of the P.T. A. so we can’t be accused of duplicity.  In fact, this year I would hope that the staff will be become more willing to participate in the P.T. A. activities.  It’s important that the parents and students see that we are involved and care.”

Ann stood and started to laugh, “Hank, this is the twenty first century.  You don’t really think that the staff is going to be involved in such activities.”

“Ann, believe me, there are going to be some majors attitude changes around here if I’m going to the principal, because school is not about teachers, it’s about students.”

Ann and I walked into the reception area and there was man sitting there whom I didn’t know.  Devin looked at me, “Mr. Adler, Mr. Peacock would like to talk to you.”

“Thank you, Devin.  Mr. Peacock won’t you please come into my office?”

When we were in the office, I extended my hand, “Mr. Peacock, I don’t believe I’ve met you before.  I’m Hank Adler.  How can I help you?”

“Look Adler, we moved into this neighborhood with the expectations that our sons were going to get a good education.  What do we find out, but there is a queer going to be running the school.  What kind of school are you running here, anyway?”

I tried to maintain my composure, “Mr. Peacock, my sexual orientation has nothing to do with what happens here at the school.  I fully intend to run a school that will provide all of the boys and girls with the opportunity to become successful citizens.”

Mr. Peacock stood, “Adler, I don’t suppose that you’d like to visit the men’s bathroom for a break.”

“No, as a matter of fact, I wouldn’t be interested in visiting the men’s bathroom.  I have three men at home, and I don’t mess around, just for kicks.”

Mr. Peacock sat down again and started to laugh, “Heck, you must be a much better man than me.  I can’t even keep one satisfied.”

“Just for the record, Mr. Peacock, the men are one adult male and his two sons, who are eight and ten.  There at the farm, working.”

“So your significant other is a stay at home Dad, like me?”

“Actually he’s a plumber and is fixing the plumbing and fixtures in house, so we can move into the house.  You didn’t come here to talk about plumbers and my personal life.  How can I help you?”

Mr. Peacock smirked, “No, I wanted to meet the man who has my three nephews working their asses off.  I really only came to register our two sons for next year.  The young man at the desk said I needed to talk to you, since he didn’t know how to help me.”

“Mr. Peacock, you have me totally confused.  Would the real Mr. Peacock stand up?  Mr. Peacock, I’m so new that I haven’t the foggiest idea how to enroll students either.  I see that Mrs. Hawkins is back, so she should be able to assist you.”

“Hank, I’m Rick Brown’s brother-in-law, I am in a relationship similar to you and Mr. Taylor.  My partner had two sons from a former marriage.  I understand that they are about the same age as your sons.  Perhaps we could get together sometime.  Our boys are jealous of Alan and Andy, since they’ve never been to a real farm.  I need to get the boys registered so I can pick them up at swimming lessons.”

I walked into the reception office with Mr. Peacock, “Mrs. Hawkins, Mr. Peacock would like to enroll his two sons here at our school.  Would you please help him?  You need to show me what to do, so I can help people when you aren’t available.”

Devin handed me some notes, “Mr. Adler, you’re to call some people.  There were two teachers here to fill out the new end of year reports and I didn’t know where to find the forms and you were talking to Mr. Peacock.”

“Devin, I wouldn’t have known where to find the forms either.  I’m glad they yelled at you and not me.”

Gloria giggled, “Honestly, can’t you men do anything without me being here.  I guess the school is going to fall apart when I leave.  Devin, let’s get Mr. Peacock the forms he needs to complete and then I’ll show you where the blank forms are kept  so you know when you fill in for me tomorrow.  I have another dentist appointment tomorrow morning.”

Mr. Peacock whispered, “Hank, who is this Devin person and why is he filling in for your secretary?”

I started to laugh, “As a matter of fact, Devin is the former principal’s son.  He will be starting to attend Birchcrest in the fall.  His brother is here being tested by Special Education people, and I guess you could say I’m boysitting.”

The door to the conference room opened and Derek and Jodi Bottom entered the reception area, “Thanks, Ms Bottom.  I’ll tell my Mom that you want to see me again tomorrow, and that you want to check Devin, too.”

Devin moaned, “Why does she gotta see me?  What did I do?”

Jodi smiled, “Devin, you didn’t do anything wrong.  I just like to meet with all new students, to see if I can help them with anything.”

Devin frowned, “Oh, okay.”

“Devin, where’s you mother’s phone number so I can call her.”

Derek sighed, “Mr. Adler, please tell her we really don’t want to sit in her office all afternoon.  There’s nothing for us to do there.”

I punched the number that Mrs. Hamilton had left.  A voice answered, “This is office of Lorena Hamilton and Milton Ashbury, certified public accounts.  How may I direct your call?”  

“This is Hank Adler, the principal of Birchcrest school, calling, to talk to Mrs. Hamilton.”

“She’s expecting your call.  I’ll let her know you’re on the line.”

“This is Lorena Hamilton.”

“Mrs. Hamilton, this is Hank Adler.  The boys are ready to be picked up.  Ms Bottom would like to see both boys tomorrow morning.  Derek told me to tell you that they didn’t really want to spend the afternoon in your office.”

“Mr. Adler, why does Ms Bottom want to see both boys again, tomorrow?  I have no one to take care of the boys, and they’re too young to stay home by themselves.”

“Ms Bottom will talk to you tomorrow when you bring the guys, because I honestly don’t know the answer to your question.  I have a possible alternative to the boys spending the afternoon cooped up in your office.  I could take them to the farm and the boys could put them to work.  You would need to pick them up when you finish for the afternoon.”

“Let me talk to Devin, please.”

I handed the receiver to Devin, “Your mother wants to talk to you.”

“What do you need, Mom?  … Yes, Mom. … Mom, give us a little credit.  We’re not bad kids. … Okay, Mom.  … Mr. Adler, Mom wants to talk to you again.”

After I had given Mrs. Hamilton the directions to the farm and hung up, Mr. Peacock grinned, “Me and my partner will be by this afternoon to check the boysitting facility that you’re running.  Heck, if we find it acceptable, we might even be willing to contribute to the coffers, and I can get back to doing some work instead of chasing after the boys all day long.”

I picked up the phone and called the farm but there was no answer.  I realized that I needed to get Randy a cell phone so I could call him when he was working.  I left a message, “This is Hank, I’ll be bringing two young men to spend the afternoon.  We’ll stop and grab some lunch on the way to the farm.”

“Gloria, I’ll be back as soon as I get Devin and Derek delivered.  I have a three o’clock appointment at the Central Office.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: Do we need to start a young farm worker's union at the farm? 

I think that the Hamilton boys will do just fine, once they gain a little self confidence.

Mr. Peacock seems to be a pretty nice fellow, as well, and he has kids, too. 

How long is it going to take to get the farm house ready for occupancy?   

I hope everything goes well at the meeting, at 3:00.

I seem to have run out of things to comment on, so let's get this show on the road, and I will get it sent off for posting.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 05/07/10