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

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Chapter 20 

Everybody Hates Me

Ted followed Devin and me as we went to the boys’ bathroom nearest the office.  Devin pushed the door open. “I don’t know what the words all mean, but I don’t think they’re very nice.”

When we walked in I and saw what the vandals had done, I started to shake.  Someone had written in black paint and big letters. 

Adler is so queer, he doesn’t have time to do anything but give blowjobs.  Stop in the principal’s office and make an appointment.

I was livid, but I tried to maintain my composure, especially in front of Devin. “Devin, you need to go back to the office.  Ms Bottom will be ready to work with you, shortly.  In the meantime, I have the feeling that Mrs. Hawkins is going to need some help.”

After Devin had departed, I looked at Ted, “Was the message you saw in the other bathroom the same as this one?”

Ted shook his head no.  “Mr. Adler, it implied the same thing, but it was probably written by a difference person, because it is in cursive.”

“Ted, instruct the cleaning crews to stay out of the bathrooms, except for the one you have already seen, until I have an opportunity to call the police and the Central Office, and notify them of what has happened.  I wonder how many bathrooms the vandals defaced?   Have you checked the outside of the building to see if there are any signs that they did anything?”

“No sir, but I will check.”

I went into my office, shut the door then called the police and reported that there had been vandals in the Birchcrest school and they had written graffiti on the walls of at least two bathrooms.  After I talked to the local police, I called the Superintendent’s office and reported what happened. 

I had just hung up from talking to the Central Office when two police cruisers arrived.  The lead officer was Kent Overton, who was the police liaison officer for Birchcrest, asked, “What seems to be the problem, Hank?”

“Kent, there was some vandalism here at the school, last night.  I don’t know the extent of what they did, yet. I can show you two examples of what they did.  I have instructed the people to stay away from the other bathrooms until you had a chance to get here.  I‘ve already called the Central Office and informed them of what happened.”

Kent asked, “Hank, why don’t you accompany us and show us where the bathrooms are.”

We started in the boys’ bathroom, just outside the office, where Devin had found the first message.  By the time we had finished checking out the building, there were police everywhere, as well as people from the central office.  The vandals had left messages in every bathroom except one, and that was in the nurse‘s office.  Mr. Dailey's old room had black paint all over the room, with a message in bright red saying:

"You’re going to pay for ruining my life, you fucker."

The vandals hadn’t stopped inside the building; they had sprayed messages all over the black top on the south side of the building that was out of the line of sight of people passing by.

A contingent from the Central Office arrived as well as reinforcements from the police department. 

As a result, the cleaning force was dispatched to another building until the police had finished their investigation.  The maintenance people were going to change all the locks on the doors that had keys and the numbers were changed on the cipher locks

The Central Office people were getting ready to leave, when Kim Wishman arrived.  “Hank, I don’t know what’s happening with everyone around, but I thought you should know.  My husband and I went out for a walk last evening and there two cars in the parking lot.  There were four men standing around and laughing.  I recognized one of the men as Mr. Hamilton and another as Mr. Dailey.  My husband recognized one of the other men as being Mr. Baxter, whom he said was at the board meeting decrying that you were going to be the new principal.”

“Kim, would you please talk to the police, and tell them what you just told us?  It will give them something to go on.”

“Of course, we need to make sure that everything is shipshape for the start of school.  If you need any volunteers to help clean up the mess, let me know, and we’ll organize a work day.”

I looked at Superintendent Brown, “Sir, are we still planning to meet at 1:30?”

He shook his head, no, “I think you need to stay here and take care of things.  We can talk to Mr. Spiller and Mrs. Bierbaum next week.  They are rather upset by some things you said.  It just so happens that I agree with you.  Greg is acting as if his private pacifier has been taken away from him.  He has felt that he was the supreme authority in Special Education in the district for far too long.”

I went into the office and Gloria was there by herself,  “Gloria, where are Devin and Derek?”

“Mr. Peacock had Mr. Rollins’ two sons with him and enrolled them and he said he was going to take the four boys to your farm, so they could work their little backsides off.  Jodi said she would call Mrs. Hamilton and make an appointment to meet with the two of you next week.”

I was taking the messages that Gloria had handed me into the my office when the office door opened, “I’m here to demand that the cheapest boss in the country take this poor starving plumber to lunch.  He ain’t paid me since I started to work for him.”

I started to laugh, “Don’t believe him, Mrs. Hawkins.  He ain’t done a lick of work since he arrived.  Randy, say hello to Gloria,”

“Hello Gloria.  I hope he isn’t as mean a boss to you as he is to me.”

Gloria looked confused, “Okay, what’s with you two?”

“Gloria, this is Randy Taylor.  Billy and Bobby Taylor’s poor broke Daddy.”

Gloria grinned, “Now, I understand why the two boys are so cute.”

I sniffled, “Gloria, you must need new glasses.  Randy, why aren’t you  home working?”

“I called and the guys are fine.  They went to the Latham place and got the few belongings that Witt had.  They were eating lunch when I called.  Pastor Waite talked to me for over an hour and a half.  He and Rhonda want me to teach a church school class, starting in September on the book of Philemon in the New Testament.  I told them I would need to discuss it with you.”

Gloria chuckled, “Randy, if I remember correctly, that book only has about twenty five verses.  That should take a half hour max.  I’ve never heard a pastor give a sermon on anything from that book.”

Randy asked, “Farmer boy, can you take me to lunch or do I have to go home and eat leftovers?”

“Randy, why don’t you go get us something to eat?  I think I need to be here, with everything that has been happening.  Go to Panera and get us some soup and a sandwich.  Gloria, what would you like?”

“A bread bowl of their cheddar cheese and broccoli soup is all I need.”

I nodded, “That sounds good to me.  Randy, I’ll walk you out to the truck to get some fresh air.”

When Randy was in the truck, I handed him the cash I had in my wallet.  “I don’t want you spending your money on food.  I’ve received a substantial raise, so I’ll pay for lunch.  We need to talk tonight when I get home.  I don’t like what’s happening.” 

I leaned in the open truck window, “Randy, what I would really like to do is take you somewhere private and make love to you, but I realize that’s not possible, because we have too many people depending on us.  It’s got to get better.”

I watched as Randy pulled away and was walking into the building when I saw a dummy hanging in one of the trees.  I went to get one of the policemen who was still in the building.  In fact two of them followed me to where the dummy was hanging.  One of the policemen crawled up the tree and released the dummy that was dressed as a farmer.  There was a note attached to the coveralls on the dummy. 

You’re the next to go, Adler.

One of the policemen pulled out his phone. “Tell the Chief there has been a death threat against the principal of Birchcrest School.  We just cut down a dummy that was hanging from a tree and there was a death threat against Mr. Adler attached.”

The policeman turned to me, “Mr. Adler, the chief of police is dispatching a security detail to insure your safety while you’re here.  He’s going to call the sheriff and make sure that your farm is kept under surveillance at all times.”

I looked at the young officer, “How did you know that I had a farm.”

“Easy, Mr. Adler, you had my son in your class, this year.  He was always coming home talking about your cows and other animals.  I’m pissed that you won’t be available to teach our second son next year.”

The officer’s phone buzzed and I heard him say, “Okay sir, I’ll instruct him to stay inside the building until further notice.”

The officer turned to the me, “Mr. Adler, the chief has suggested that you stay inside the building until further notice.  All visitors are to be escorted into the building so you can verify that they are legitimate visitors.  It seems that Mr. Baxter has been placed under arrest because he was overheard bragging about how they were going to get even with you perverted people.  Mr. Wishman has identified him as being on the school premises, last night.”

“There is an all points bulletin out for Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Dailey and a Mr. Corn.”

I went into the office and told Gloria about the dummy and the message.  She commented, “I think it’s odd that one of us hadn’t noticed it before.  I’m guessing that it was put up just recently.”

“We’ll be safe for the time being, because the police are going to be guarding the building and escorting visitors to the office in light of this latest threat.”

The first visitor to arrive was Randy.  He was so funny, “I almost thought the police were going to do a strip search to make sure I wasn’t carrying any concealed weapons.  I thought they were going to taste the soup and sandwiches to make sure they weren’t poisoned.”

Gloria chuckled, “Since the police didn’t do a strip search, maybe I need to check the merchandise to make sure it hasn’t been damaged.”

Randy looked at me and I shook my head no.  Fortunately, we were spared from having to comment by the arrival of the police officer with my Mother.  “Mr. Adler, this lady claims to be your mother.”

I looked at Mom, “I’ve never seen that woman before in my life.”

Mother raised her voice, “Henry, God will make you pay for that comment.”

Randy laughed, “Officer, that’s Hank’s Mother, we’ll make sure she behaves herself.”

Mother already knew Gloria, so we went into the conference room to eat, after we pulled the blinds so we could see if anyone came into the office.  Mother started, “Henry and Randall, I just came from the farm.  Who is this Witt person, and why are there eight young boys there?  Shouldn‘t someone be there to supervise the boys.”

“Mom, Witt Latham is going to be living with us.  He’s the oldest of ten children, so surely he and Ritchie Brown can take care of the boys until Randy gets back to the farm.”

Mother looked at Randy, “Why are you in town, anyway.  Did you have a doctor’s appointment?”

“Mom, I had to pick up some plumbing supplies before Ritchie and I could continue, and I decided that I would take care of as many things as I could, so I wouldn’t have to keep running to town  I talked to Pastor Waite for approximately an hour and a half before I came here and tried to get your son to take me to lunch.  A lot of good that did me.  I had to go get the lunch.”

Mother shook her head, “Henry and Randall, we’ll be at the ranch after dinner and you’d better be ready to spill your guts.  I need to go.  I have an appointment with my hair dresser.”

As Randy was getting ready to leave, Mr. Latham was escorted in.  “Hank, what’s going on here?  I ain’t seen this many cops since the day you was born. What do you mean by stealing my oldest son away from us?  Who’s going to do the work around the farm, now that he’s gone?”

I didn’t know what to make out of Mr. Latham coming to see me at school.  “Mr. Latham, Witt told us that you kicked him out because your wife-to-be would be bringing her five daughters to live with you and you were going to be running out of places for people to sleep.”

“Heck, it’s not the five broads that I’m worried about, but the next two, when they arrive in about four months.  Why else do you think I would be marrying a widow with five whining daughters.”

I looked at Mr. Latham, “Mr. Latham, I don’t think you came here to talk to about your upcoming family and the new arrivals.”

“Now that you mention it, I’m relieved that Witt is in a good place.  You gotta promise me that you won’t let him quit school.  He’s a very good student, which I never was, and I would really like to see him be able to go to college.  He was elected junior class president.  Heck, I was never known for anything other than being unable to keep my dick in my pants.  I had to quit school when I was sixteen because Witt’s mother was pregnant with him and we had to get married.”

“Hank, are you going to be able to pay Witt anything?”

“Mr. Latham, in addition to helping around the farm, Witt is going to be watching eight young men during the day while Mr. Taylor finishes the plumbing in the house.  We haven‘t had a chance to sit down and discuss finances with Witt, but you can rest assured that he won’t be strapped for money.”

“Yeah, I heard rumors that you had finally found someone to take Ron’s place.  It’s about time.  From what I can observe, he looks like a prime piece of meat.  One other thing, Hank, I would appreciate it if you could arrange for Witt to visit his brothers once in a while.  They are upset that he left home, especially the three youngest boys.   Gotta go pick up my wife-to-be at her doctor’s office.”

Randy and Mr. Latham departed and Gloria grinned at me, “Hank, you sure do have some interesting family and friends.  We should charge admission.  I think you need to sit down and tell me the story of how the Taylors came to be living at your house.”

Kim Wishman came into the office, “Hank, we’re getting some parents to clean the smut that’s on the black top this evening, since it is an area where children come to play basketball and tether ball.  I’ve cleared it with the police and the central office, and they have no problem with it.  There is no reason for you to be here.  You’re probably behind on your farm work.  I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

At four o’clock, Ted arrived, “I came to make sure that the building is completely secure and to make sure that the people who did this damage didn’t leave any windows or doors unlocked.  Mr. Adler, I would suggest that you tell Ms Dancer and Mrs. Kelly that they should leave, so they aren’t accosted by people when they leave..  The maintenance men are all leaving.  I’ll be here at seven to open the building so they can get in, in the morning.  The only people who are to have keys, for now, are the three of us.”

When I returned from talking to Ann and Judy, who understood why they needed to leave, Officer Overton was standing in the office.  “Hank, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Dailey, Mr. Baxter and Mr. Corn are all guests of the county jail.  Mr. Baxter has been singing like a parrot trying to save his ass.  We still don’t know who was responsible for the dummy.  Mr. Baxter denies knowing anything about it.  Hamilton and Dailey refuse to answer any questions.  You need to watch your backside until this mess is completely resolved.”

Officer Overton walked Gloria and me to our cars and watched as we pulled away.  I decided to go to the bank and visit the ATM machine, since I was out of cash.

As I was driving to the farm, I was thinking, ‘Surely, nothing else can happen today, can it?  I really do need to get a gate to control the access to the farm.’

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: Oh no, not that famous phrase again: ‘Surely, nothing else can happen today, can it?

Almost every time someone says that, something else does happen.

I do believe that Mr. Dailey had to be involved, as it was obvious that the message left in his room was a personal one.

I do believe that there are at least a few people who don't really like Hank very much.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 05/28/10