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 31 

You Broke It So Fix It

The three teenagers hugged Randy and me before we departed.  I reminded them, “There are some frozen things in the freezer if you get hungry.  I bought two bottles of  hair conditioner and moisturizer.”

Walt giggled, “I already confiscated one of the bottles of conditioner for the bathroom, here in the house.  If we eat too much more, we’ll have to buy some new clothes.”

When Randy and I got to the trailer, Bobby and Billy had moved some clothes to the sofa,  Billy announced, “We’re going to let the three young guys sleep in our bedroom, so we don’t wake them when we go to do the chores in the morning.  I’ll take a shower with Willy and Wylie, and Bobby and Wally can take one.  Dad, can you show us how to use the new stuff you bought for our hair?”

“Of course.”

I stripped to my briefs before I shampooed the first three heads and put on the conditioner and moisturizer cream, “Leave this cream on until after you wash your bodies and then make sure that you get all of the cream out of your hair.”

After the first three boys had finished, the second shift arrived and the process was repeated.  Billy looked at me, “Dad, I thought it was going to be complicated.  We can handle that ourselves, from now on.  Should we do it every time we shampoo?”

“Probably for now it would be a good idea to do it every night.”

When Randy and I said goodnight to three littlest Latham boys, Wylie hugged my neck for all he was worth.  “Daddy Hank, do we get to stay here with you and Daddy Randy, forever?”

“Wylie, we don’t know the answer to that question, yet.  It depends on what your real Dad decides.”

Willie sat up, “If he tries to make us live with him, we’ll runned away again.”

Randy hugged Willie, “Son, we’ll worry about that when the time comes.  Let’s just have a good time while we can.”

As I hugged Billy and Bobby, I thanked them, “Guys, thanks for being so considerate of the three youngest boys.”

Billy grinned, “Dads, they’re our brothers, now, so we need to take care of them.”

When Randy and I were finally in bed, I whispered, “I need to make you pay for spoiling our sons rotten.  No loud noises are allowed or do I need to stuff something in your mouth to keep you quiet.”

“I guess it might be a good idea if we both had our mouths full so we wouldn’t bother the boys.”

 We didn’t bother the boys but Randy and I transferred weight from one part of our bodies to another part.”

I was awakened by the sound of people moving about the trailer,  I went to see who was up and all five of our guys were up.  Wally grinned, “We gotta go help the big boys with the work.”

I watched as the five guys from the trailer hooked up with the three teenagers and saw Witt giving instructions.  He, Wade and Wally crawled into the truck and took off, presumably for the Latham farm.  After I was dressed, I walked to the barn and watched as Walt and Billy worked as a team to do the milking.  Billy looked up at me,  “Bobby took the other two guys to do the other chores.”

I saw the guys talking to the horses.  I waved to them, “See you this afternoon.”

They waved back and I went to say goodbye to Randy.  When I pulled into the parking lot at the school, there were cars and television vans everywhere.  I stepped out of the car and was immediately confronted by the same young reported who had been at the ranch, “Mr. Adler, is it true that you are organizing a taxpayer revolt against the state government?”

I looked at the young man, “I haven’t the foggiest idea what you are talking about.  I am organizing nothing except getting our school ready to provide our students with the best education possible for our students, when they return in August.”

Another reporter asked, “Mr. Adler, I’m Mike Knight.  Have you been watching the news to follow what’s been happening in Lincoln as a result of the grenade you detonated yesterday.”

“Mr. Knight, I’m a farmer.  We are presently taking care of two farms and I don’t have time to sit around and listen to news.  Now if you people will excuse me, I have a job to do, and that job is not to talk to you reporters.”

When I went to my office, Ted and the two Corn guys were waiting for me.  Ted said, “Those reporters were here already before we arrived.  They started to ask us all sorts of questions.  Aaron and Eric refused to answer any question, saying they were temporary help.  I pleaded ignorance because I was a custodian.  I suggest that we keep the doors locked, as long as the media is camped outside.”

“Ted, that’s a good idea.  Perhaps, one of you should go to watch for Gloria’s arrival to make sure she isn’t harassed.   If we keep the doors locked, how will people who actually have business that needs to be taken care of get in?”

Aaron suggested, “Call the police and tell them that the media is interfering with the school being able to conduct business, and that you want the media off school property.”

I called the police as Aaron suggested and the person who took the call informed me, “Mr. Adler, we have received calls from people in the neighborhood complaining that the media is making it impossible to go about their daily routines.  The Chief of Police and three cruisers have been dispatched to the school.”

When Gloria arrived, she looked a little disheveled, “Those people are vicious.  They certainly don’t take 'no comment' for an answer.  There are four police cars in the lot, telling the reporters that they have had complaints from the neighbors and they would be arrested if they didn’t leave immediately.”

I was working at my desk when Gloria came in, “Hank, it’s Superintendent Brown.”

I picked up the phone, “Good morning, Superintendent Brown.  Are you calling to fire me?”

“Hank, be serious.  Come to my office as soon as possible.”

I went into the office, “I’m being summoned to the Central Office, so I can face the firing squad.   Make sure that there are no flowers at my funeral.”

When I arrived at the Central Office, there wasn’t a parking space to be found, so I had to park on the street behind the facility.  When I walked in, the receptionist pointed to a big room, “Mr. Adler, you’re to go on in.  They are awaiting your arrival.”

I walked into the room and there were television cameras everywhere.  I looked at who was seated at the head table and realized I was in trouble.”

When I was seated at the head table away from Governor Tieman, the Governor’s aide stood, “Ladies and gentlemen, our honorable Governor Tieman has some comments and suggestions to make.”

The Governor stood, “This news conference is to clarify any misconceptions that a Henry Adler has circulated.  First I would like for Mr. Adler as a state employee to call off his goons who are protesting in Lincoln.  They are responding to his vicious personal attacks on me and respected members of the political establishment.”

I had all I could take, “Mr. Tieman, first of all, I am not an employee of the state.  I’m employed by the Belleview School District.  Therefore you have no right to tell me what to do, or not to do.  I lost what little respect I had for you when you sent one of your minions, Senator Nelson, to tell the Education Department that the funds for education were going to be cut by ten per cent.”

“Why you started there to announce the cuts when it concerns our young people and our future, is beyond me.  It would have been far better if you had announced that you were cutting your personal staff and that all state employees would be receiving a ten percent pay decrease and that would include the Chancellor of the Nebraska University System and the Athletic Director and all the coaches.”

“The people of this state are tired of paying through their noses for the fancy things.  I have had nothing to do with the petition drives that are being circulated, but I can assure you that when it comes election time, I will be actively supporting your opponent, whoever he or she may be.”

“If you will excuse me, I need to go back to work.”

As I was leaving the conference room, two men approached me and the older of the two said, “Mr. Adler, you need to apologize to the Governor.”

“Look, you goons, I have done nothing wrong.  If there are any repercussions from today, the Governor will find himself in court for defamation of character.”

I didn’t look back as I was leaving the building.  I slipped out a back door so I could avoid the media.  When I arrived at the school parking, lot, there were only three cars present and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Gloria handed me some notes, “Hank, you’re to meet your Dad and Uncle Mark at the Medical Center, immediately.  They called ten minutes ago.”

“Who’s ill?”

“They didn’t say.  Just go find out what’s happening.”

When I was walking into the new Medical Center, I was met by Witt who asked, “What am I doing here?”

“Witt, I’m guessing that this has to do with your Dad, since the two of us are here.  Other than that, I have no idea.”

I walked to the information desk, “Hi, I’m Hank Adler and this is Witt Latham.  We were told that we needed to be here.”

The lady looked at the computer, “Mr. Wilber Latham is in the Intensive Care Unit.  There are some visitors already with him and you may need to wait until they leave.”

The lady directed us as to how to get to ICU and we went to the desk after we were admitted and identified ourselves.  The lady pointed “The others are waiting for you in Mr. Latham’s room,102, which is straight ahead of you.”

We walked into the room and Mr. Latham was lying there with tubes going everywhere.  He could hardly talk, “That bitch shot me after she found out that our wedding had been annulled and she wasn’t going to be receiving a red cent.  There isn’t time to talk.  Mark, sign the deed to the farm over to Witt.”

After that legal action was taken care of, Mr. Latham motioned for me to approach the bed.  He was barely audible when he was trying to talk, “Hank, please make sure the boys have every opportunity to succeed.  If there is anything you can do to help the four daughters have a chance to be successful, please do so.”

He motioned to Witt, “Son, I know that you’ll find this difficult to believe, but I do love all of you children.  I wish I could have been a better father.”

The monitors started to sound and the nurse asked us to leave.  We went to the waiting room and it wasn’t long before the doctor came to the waiting room.  “I’m afraid that Mr. Latham has gone to find his final resting place.  Who will be handling his funeral arrangements.”

We looked at Witt.  He shrugged his shoulders, “Dad had our Mother’s body cremated and her ashes are buried on the farm.”

Uncle Mark nodded, “I’ll make arrangements for the body to be picked up.   Witt needs some time to put his thoughts together.  Witt, are you going to be able to drive to the farm?”

“Yes sir, I’ll be fine.  The drive will clear my head and I need to make sure all the boys are okay. Why did this have to happen now, when things were looking up?”

I walked Witt to his car and hugged him, “Son, we’ll be fine.  We need to find a home for your sisters.”

As I was driving back to school, I stopped at a fast food place and grabbed a sandwich and a glass of iced tea.  I should have known better because they were terrible and I threw the leftovers in the trash as I was walking into the school.”

The office was dark when I walked in.  I unlocked the door and there was a note on my desk, “Hank, I needed to get away for awhile.  The place has been a zoo.”

Ted came into the office, “Hank, are you okay?”

“Ted, where are Aaron and Eric?”

“They’re getting ready to leave so they can go to the farm and help out.”

“Ted, what do you know about Rob Thornton.  He said something last night that makes me think that there is something missing in the Thorntons’ lives.”

Ted shook his head, “I only know the Thorntons because they go to the same church we do.  They lost there two young daughters about six months ago from some rare genetic disease.  There have been rumors that they may be getting divorced because his wife can’t accept the fact that she was the carrier of the defective gene.”

Aaron and Eric stopped in the office, “Bosses, we’re leaving now.  Is there anything special that you want us to do at the farm?”

I nodded to the two guys, “Guys, be as supportive as need be for the Latham boys,  Their father passed away about an hour ago.  Witt was there, but I don’t know if he’s told his brothers yet.”

Gloria returned, “Hank, I had to get away.  People were calling faster than I could answer the phones.  Have you been watching the news?”

I shook my head no, “Why would I want to watch the news to see the media tear me apart?  I’m not their favorite person, right now.”

Gloria turned on the television to the news.

“This is Mike Knight, our illustrious Governor Tieman was put in his place by one of our local educators from the Belleview district.  The Governor and his staff underestimated the power that a person can yield unknowingly.  There are three petitions being circulated around the state as we speak.  The first is demanding that the state government work force be reduced by ten percent and that all employees of the state and it’s supported facilities be forced to take a ten percent pay cut.”

“The second petition which has been gaining momentum is that the state not touch the funds that the school districts around the state will be receiving.  Both these two petitions appear headed to be on the ballot in November.”

“The third petition is calling for the immediate replacement of the Governor.  The fate of this petition is up in the air.  However, we have learned that the state Republican Party as well as the National Republican Party have withdrawn any financial assistance or support to Governor Tieman.  It looks as if the Governor's political ambitions have been torpedoed by Mr. Henry Adler.”

“In an aside, when Mr. Adler abruptly walked out of a meeting requested by the Governor this morning.  The Governor appeared to have suffered a stroke, because he passed out.  We have found out that he was suffering from a lack of oxygen because of all the tension.  This is Mike Knight.  Stay tuned for the next news at five o’clock.”

To be continued...

 Editor's Notes: Well It certainly doesn't look very promising for the Governor, does it? 

Here in Illinois, we recently had our Governor, removed from office, and he has been indicted and tried on several counts of serious misconduct.  The jury is still out as to what will happen to him. That is not a figure of speech; it is the literal truth,  As of this writing, the jury is still deliberating the case, and has been for more than a week.   

Personally, after hearing some of the tapes that were made of his phone calls, I believe that he should be convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery, and possibly several other charges.  Of course, I am not on the jury, thank God.

I know this is going to be difficult for you to believe, but there are actually some dishonest politicians who have been elected to office.

I believe that those people shouldn't be re-elected.

I am ready for the next exciting chapter of this wonderful story.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher 

Posted: 08/20/10