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 19 

What’s the Big Deal?

I picked up the phone, “This is Hank Adler, how may I help you?”

“Listen, you upstart neophyte.  You had no right to talk to me like you did today in front of the bosses.  I’ve been in this business since you were in diapers.  I will not be told who I should hire and not hire?”

“Mr. Spiller, you sound like you’re drunk, I suggest we discuss your problem tomorrow, when you’re sober.  I will not have you telling what  I can or can’t do since I don’t work for you.”

I slammed down the receiver and the other four occupants of the trailer were silent.  Bobby came and put his arm around me, “Dad, relax.  I don’t know what this is about, but it can’t be worth making you upset.  Please relax.”

I sat on the sofa and pulled Bobby onto my lap, “Bobby, you need to kiss the ouey and make it better.  That was someone from the school system, trying to tell what I could and couldn’t do.  I’ll show him.”

Billy sat down beside me, “Dad, forget what happened.  You’re getting red in the face.”

I took three deep breaths, hoping that would bring my blood pressure down.  I fell against the back of the sofa, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t let something like this bother me.  I guess I will need to grow thicker skin.”

I looked at the clock, “Billy and Bobby, why don’t you go take your shower first and then come watch television while the rest of us take ours.  I, for one, am getting tired.”

When Billy and Bobby had finished, they appeared in their briefs.  Billy ordered, “Witt shed your clothes, and we’ll wash them so they're ready for tomorrow when you get up.”

I was surprised when Witt stood and shed all of his clothes, “There, now everyone has seen all of me, so there won’t be any surprises.”

Randy sat down beside me as Billy and Robby were starting the washing machine.  I like that young man.  He’s a feisty one.  Do you realize how hard Ritchie worked today, I’m surprised he could still walk tonight.  He worked his butt off.  I need to go to town in the morning to get some supplies.  Do you think it would be okay for me to visit with the pastor, or would you like to be with me when I talk to him?”

 

“Randall Lee, he didn’t ask for me to come talk to him, he asked you, and you alone, to talk to him.  I’ll be waiting with bated breath to see if I’m going to be excommunicated for bringing the likes of you to church.”

I reached over and kissed Randy just as Witt was returning with a towel wrapped around his waist, “Would you two get a room?  We three young boys don’t need to see things like that.”

Bobby put his hand over Witt’s mouth, “Me and Billy are glad to see things like that.  Let them kiss, if they want to.  Come help us fix some dessert.”

I decided to get even with Witt, “I hope you didn’t clog the shower drain.”

Witt looked at me with a funny look, “I refuse to respond to that statement for fear I might incriminate myself.  Only I’ll know what went on in the shower.”

Randy chuckled, “Don’t be too sure, young man.  In addition to being a plumber, I’m a whiz with electronic devices.  I’ll have to go check the tape to make sure you weren’t doing anything illegal.”

Witt giggled, “Never mind, I was saving the fireworks for a rainy day.”

When I returned from taking a shower, Witt had Billy and Bobby on either side of him on the sofa along side of Randy.  The boys were giving Witt the third degree about his brothers and sisters.  Witt was saying, “I’m the oldest, and I have brothers who are fourteen and thirteen, three little brothers who are four, five and six.  There were four sisters in-between the two sets brothers.”

Billy looked at Witt, “You must live in a big house if you have five brothers and four sisters and now there are going to be five more sisters.”

“That’s why they kicked me out.  They didn’t have room for fifteen kids, and they couldn’t afford to feed more than fourteen kids.”

Bobby looked at me, “Dad, maybe we should give Witt’s family the trailer, after we move into the house when Daddy gets it finished.”

Witt pouted, “But where am I going to stay if you do that?”

Bobby put his arm around Witt, “You can live in the house with us.  There are four bedrooms and three bathrooms.  We’ll even let you have your own bathroom, if you want.”

“Bobby, don’t you think you should check with your Dads before you promise something like that?”

 

Billy answered, “We can always kick you out if you don’t do your work.  Right Dads?”

Randy stood, “I’ll let your other Dad answer that question.  You guys need to put Witt’s clothes in the dryer and it’s almost nine o’clock.  I suggest that you be thinking about getting to bed, since tomorrow is your morning to get up early.”

I sat down beside Witt and he asked, “What did Mr. Taylor mean by the boys getting up early?”

 “Witt, the boys have taking care of the animals down pat.  They are extremely serious about their jobs.  This morning I did the milking by myself, and they just about had a stroke.  I promised them that I would make sure they were awake early at least every other day.”

Witt looked at me, “Then why would you hire me?”

“Witt, trust me.  You may wish you never came to work here.  There will be plenty to keep you busy, especially if you have all the boys here to  watch, which I suspect you will.  I promise you that you will not be here by yourself though, when the eight boys are here.”

Randy returned in his briefs, “Hank, the boys want you to go say good night to them and I think you need to get Witt some bedclothes so he can get some sleep on the sofa.”

I went to say goodnight to Billy and Bobby and Billy announced, “Dad, I really like Witt.  I’m glad he’s going to work for us.”

The boys weren’t satisfied until I kissed and hugged them and I thought, ‘Ron would have like this so much.’

I stopped at the linen closet and got the one extra pillow that I had and two sheets and a light blanket.  I handed the things to Witt, “Hope you won’t be too uncomfortable on the sofa.”

Witt laughed, “After sleeping in the same bed as my two teenage brothers who are trying to wear out their pricks, this will be like heaven.”

When Randy and I crawled into bed, he whispered, “Hank, I really want you to show me what it’s like to make love.”

“Randy, let’s wait until the weekend, It’s going to hurt and you were injured rather badly in your encounter.  It’s not that I don’t want to, but I want to make sure that it will be enjoyable for you and that you will want to do it again and again.  Randy, having sex doesn’t mean loving someone.  I think you already realize that I love you and your sons.  Let’s kiss and cuddle.  Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.”

When I woke the next morning, Randy was paying me back for what I had done to him the day before.  He blew my mind with the way he consumed everything I had to offer and hugged me and whispered, “That was good even to the very last drop.”

I walked into the living area to start the coffee and I realized that Witt was on the sofa.  He had left the television on so there was no problem discerning that his most precious possession was aroused,  I gently touched his arm, and he looked at me.  “Witt, you might want to cover the monster of yours.  Billy and Bobby are awake.  They might be shocked if they saw it.  If Ritchie has the biggest penis on the planet for a sixteen year old, then you have to be a close second.”

Witt looked up at me with a sheepish grin, “Mr. Adler, please get me my clothes, especially my briefs,  I wouldn’t want to make you grown men cry.”

Witt was almost dressed when Billy and Bobby appeared, “Guys, I’ll be there as soon as I get my shoes and socks on and brush my teeth.”

Bobby patted Witt on the head, “We’ll have everything ready when you get there.  Dad, you won’t even need to come to the barn this morning.  We’ll train Witt and show him how to do things.  Do you need to take some eggs for your people?  We have some we need to get rid of.  The refrigerator is full of eggs.”

“Guys, I’ll get some and take them with me,  You will need to remember to send some home with the guys tonight for helping around the farm.”

Witt looked at me, “This would never be happening at my Dad’s place.”

Randy came into the kitchen dressed in our, since he was wearing some of my clothes,  casual clothes, “I  decided that I’d go to town early so Ritchie and I could get some work done when I get back, and I’ll be all sweaty by the time you get here, so you will think I’ve been working hard and feel sorry for me.”

“Bet me, mister.”

When I arrived at the school, Ted was already there and there were some other vehicles I didn’t recognize.  I went to investigate, When Ted saw me, he looked up, “We’re going to be cleaning the K-l pod  first and then start on second and third grade rooms before we move to the new addition.  We hope to be out of this school by the fourth of July so we can get to the other buildings on our list done while the principals and secretaries are doing whatever it is they do in their month off.  There’s coffee and donuts in the lounge.”

“I brought some fresh eggs by order of the boys if any of your crew would like some.  They’ll be in the lounge.”

I opened the main entrance at nine o’clock and was greeted by the sight of Devin and Derek walking up the sidewalk with their mother.  I noticed that the boys had their backpacks on and were talking animatedly to their Mother. 

When they entered the building, Devin announced, “We brought a change of clothes in case we got dirty.  I’ll go answer the phone.  Mother has some questions to ask you.  Derek, come help me until Ms Bottom gets here.”

Mrs. Hamilton shook her head, “I’ve no idea what you’ve done to the boys, but they were ready to come here at seven o’clock this morning.  We have our court hearing tomorrow at nine so the boys won’t be at the farm until after the divorce hearing.  Tell Ryan Peacock that I’ll take them to the farm when the hearing is over.  I went over my finances last night and I really don’t think I can afford to pay Witt more than a hundred dollars a week for taking care of the boys.  Until I get my feet on the ground again, that’s the most I can pay.”

I shook my head, “Lorena, I’m sure that Witt will be more than satisfied with that amount.  We haven’t talked about finances with him.  He is a very level headed young man and I’m sure that he’ll do a good job.  We talked to him at some length last evening and I think he’s happy to be away from what’s happening at his family’s residence.”

As Mrs. Hamilton was leaving, Jodi Bottom was coming up the sidewalk.  The two ladies stopped to talk, and I saw Mrs. Hamilton nod in agreement about something.  When I walked into the office, Devin handed me some messages, “Mr. Spiller wants you to call him.  Somebody named Bloom called and said he was resigning and he wasn’t going to, I can’t say the word he used, rewrite any end of the year reports. Mrs. Wishman would like for you to call when you have time.”

“Thank you, Devin.  Derek, Ms Bottom is talking to your Mother. She should be here in a couple of minutes.”

I went into the office and dialed the number that Devin had given me for Greg Spiller.  “This is the Special Education office, Cathy Bierbaum speaking.”

“This is Hank Adler returning Mr. Spiller’s call.”

“Greg was just called to Superintendent Brown’s office.  Hank, I heard about what you said to Greg yesterday and you’re not qualified to decide what special education teachers should be hired regardless if you have some training in teaching children with special needs.  You don’t know the federal and state guidelines for dealing with special education programs and funds.”

“Look, Mrs. Bierbaum, as far as I know, neither you nor Mr. Spiller are qualified to be administrators, so you have no right to tell me who will and will not be working for me in my school, since you don’t know the parents of the children in this school.  You people have built your little empire and you’re afraid that you’re losing control.  Tell Mr. Spiller, if wants to talk any more, then he can make an appointment.”

I didn’t even say goodbye before I hung up.  I looked out and I saw two of the teachers talking to Devin, who was holding up his hands.   I opened my office door, Rebecca and Lois, is there a problem?”

Rebecca was holding a copy of the end of the year report.  “Why, all of a sudden, do we have to rewrite these?  This is what we have been required to turn in since I’ve been working here.  If  they were good enough for Mr. Hamilton, why aren’t they good enough for you.”

“Ladies, I found out yesterday that the end of the year reports are forwarded to the State Department of Education.  In fact, when I met with Commissioner of Education, Mr. Plumber, and he indicated that he looked at them and threw the ones that said nothing, in the trash.  I will not have him think that we people who work here are a bunch dimwits.”

I decided to rub salt onto the wound, “If you would have done it properly the first time, rather than regurgitating what you had written in the past and wasted time sitting in the lounge gossiping, this wouldn’t be happening.  We will be having a big change in our staff here at Birchcrest, either you can do it properly, or you can start looking for a new job.”

The two ladies turned to leave the office without saying a word and I wasn’t sure what they might be thinking.”

Devin had answered the phone, “Sir, Superintendent Brown is on the phone.”

I went into the office, “This is Hank Adler.”

“Hank, you’ve stirred up a couple of hornets’ nests.  Can you be here at the Central office, for a meeting at one thirty?”

“Of course, Dr. Brown.  Is there anything I need to bring?”

“Nope, just wear your suit of armor to ward off the incomings.”

As soon as I hung up, Devin was standing at the door, “Mr. Adler, could you watch the office for a minute, I really need to go to the bathroom bad.” 

I was sitting at Gloria’s desk looking at my messages when she came into the office, “I thought Devin was going to fill in for me this morning?”

“He is and he’s been doing a splendid job.  He needed to go to the bathroom.”

The door opened and Devin rushed in, “Hi Mrs. Hawkins.  Mr. Adler, you gotta come see what’s written on the walls in the boys’ bathroom.”

As Devin was practically pulling me out the door, we were met by Ted, “Mr. Adler, you need to come see what’s written in the boys’ bathrooms in the K-1 pod.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  I have a pretty good idea of what might be written in there.  I also have a pretty good idea as to who might have written it.   I believe there are a few people who are not exactly happy at the moment. 

I do hope they didn't use something as hard to remove as paint, to write their nasty notes.  I hope that maybe they used what the protesters in Arizona used, namely refried beans.  At least those can be washed off, unlike paint.   

I find that new law to be totally unfair, and to my way of thinking, unconstitutional as well.

I am referring to the bill that was recently signed into law in AZ, that says that anyone who looks like an illegal alien can be stopped and asked to prove he or she is not undocumented.  So far, at least one person had to get his wife to bring his original birth certificate to prove that he was a citizen of the U.S.  They wouldn't accept his drivers license or the photocopy of his birth certificate that he had with him. I feel that this is only the beginning of the terrible situation that will be occurring there.  

Of course, some of you might say that the situation that is happening with all the illegals entering the country needs to be solved. I agree.

What I do not agree with is that there should be people stopped for no reason other than that they happen to look Hispanic, and hence don't deserve due process.  That is totally screwed up. Who will be the next targets, of the terrible treatment?  Take a guess.  We are a country of laws. Or at least we used to be.  We are supposed to be represented by our law makers, not just the rich land owners, but the people who happen to work for them, as well.  This is all done by a bunch of hot heads with an agenda. Let's hope that cooler heads prevail.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 05/21/10