What Do I Do Now, Mom?
by: E Walk
(© 2009-2010 by the Author)
 

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

Chapter 32 

Another Problem Solved

After the Corn guys and Ted had departed, I went into my office.  Gloria followed me into the office, “Hank, with everything that has been happening, how much longer do you plan to work?”

“Gloria, I don’t know.  I still haven’t filled the vacated positions.  I can promise you that I am not going to be here at eight and staying until five, everyday.  There will be no reason for you to be here as long as the necessary paperwork is done.”

Gloria glared, “I’ll come in tomorrow to make sure you live up to your word.  If you come in, you’d better be dressed in your jeans and work shirt so people won’t bug you.”

After Gloria left, I called Mr. Alexander's office, “This is Hank Adler, I’d like to speak to Mr. Alexander.”

“This is Alexander.”

“Mr. Alexander, this is Hank Adler.  As you are probably aware, now, Mr. Wilber Latham died today.  Can you give me the address of the home where his daughters are being kept, so I can make arrangements to have them come see their brothers?”

Mr. Alexander’s response shook me, “What’s with you, Adler?  You weren’t satisfied being rude to our governor.  Are you going to take the CPS and smear them through the mud as well?”

“Mr. Alexander, the only reason I called was that Mr. Latham asked me on his deathbed to make sure his daughters are being well cared for.  If the rest of CPS personnel have an attitude like yours, perhaps you aren’t in the proper position.  Now where are the Latham girls, or do I need to call your supervisors in Lincoln to get the information.  I’m sick of messing around with you bureaucrats who have lost sight of what your jobs entail.  I’ve decided that you people think you have the right to dictate what’s going to happen.  You people are in for a rude awakening when the public is informed of how poorly you are doing your overpaid jobs.”

There was definite chill coming through the phone.  I heard Mr. Alexander take a couple of deep breaths, “Mr. Adler, you have no right to speak to me like that.”

“Mr. Alexander, after the way you barged onto my farm, I have every right to talk to you like that.  If you will remember, even Judge Corn said that you had no right to be concerned with the Latham boys. Now, are you going to tell me how to get in touch with Mr. Latham’s daughters, or do I need to go over your head?”

“Adler, I don’t have to tell you a thing.  For all I know you have some ulterior motive to find out where the four Latham girls are.  I’m a government employee and you have no right to talk to me like you’ve been talking.  I’ll make sure that the Latham boys are taken out of your custody as well.”

I had all I could take and slammed down the phone.  I called Uncle Mark’s office and fortunately he was available and I explained my conversation with Mr. Alexander and he sounded noncommittal, “Hank, Alexander has always been an asshole.  Let me take care of this problem,  What is it that you want to happen?”

“Uncle Mark, I would like for the boys to see that their sisters are okay.  But more importantly, I think the girls might be an answer to another problem that I was just made aware of.  Please try to have the Latham girls at the farm in time for dinner tonight.  I will invite some other guests as well, so Alexander can’t accuse us of doing anything illegal.”

I called the Snowden Moving Company.  The phone was answered, “This is Liz Snowden, how can I help you?”

“Mrs. Snowden, this is Hank Adler.  You probably don’t remember me.”

“Mr. Adler, how I could I not know who you are?  I’m guessing that you are the most hated person in Nebraska by the state’s politicians.  Rob said that you finally had your warehouse goods delivered yesterday.  How can I help you?   Did you decide that you needed to put some things back in storage?”

“Nope, nothing like that.  I just called to see if you and Rob would be available to come to dinner at the farm, tonight.  It won’t be anything fancy, since only males live there.  Of course, my Mother will have already decided what we should eat.”

“Hank, Rob had a great time last night when he was there, and I’m curious as to what you people did to him.  We’ll be there. What time?”

After I hung up I called the farm.  “This is the Henry Adler residence.  How may I help you?”

“Mom, it’s Hank.  Tell the guys to plan on at least six extra people for dinner.”

“Henry, are they male or female?”

If things work out there will be five extra females and one male.  That is of course unless you decide to stay and play traffic cop.”

“Henry, that’s no way to speak to your Mother.  Of course your Father and I will be dining with you, to make sure that nothing out of the ordinary happens.  By the way, Mark called and said that he and Peggy would be joining us for dinner.  Henry, I may be old but I’m not senile. What are you planning?”

I looked at the phone and started to laugh, “Mother, even you senile people need a surprise or two to brighten your life.  I guess I’ll see you at dinner.”

It was almost three o’clock when Dr. Hunter stopped into the office, “Hank, you have everyone jumping through the hoops.  It has been amazing the number of new applicants that have applied for positions just today.  I know that technically your contract says that you’re done for the school year, as of today, but could you find time to come to the Central Office and see if there are any new applicants you would be willing to have on your staff.  All the positions in the other buildings have been filled.”

“Dr. Hunter, I really don’t want to work all summer, because I do have a family now and would like to be able to spend some time with them, rather than saying, good morning, I’ll see you later.  Goodnight, I’ll see you in the morning.”

Dr. Hunter started to laugh, “Hank, you sound like you’ve been talking to my wife.  Rick and I couldn’t agree with you more.  You have turned the education system of this state on it’s ear, and we had word this afternoon that the federal people were paying close attention to what’s happening here.  I hate to tell you this, but you’re going to be in for a lot of publicity and I don’t think that’s what you wanted at all.”

“You got that right.  I would much rather be planning for my kindergarteners in the fall than messing with all of the paperwork.  Sir, I’ll be at the Central Office at ten, to review the new applicants dossiers.”

I walked Dr. Hunter to the door.  “Sir, I guess I’m not handling this position very well, or I wouldn’t be on everyone’s doggy doo list.”

“Hank, the other principals have grown up with the system and are hesitant to create waves.  It’s nice to see someone who isn’t afraid to take on the big boys and gals.  This is what the education system has been lacking.”

As Gloria and I were leaving, I explained, “I need to be at the Central Office at ten.  Let’s plan to be here at nine and I’ll make sure you get paid overtime.  How are Jeff, Gisele and the grandkids doing?”

 

“They’re fine.  Hans turns two next week and Gabby is going to be one soon.  They just found out that a third child is on the way.  I may have to work until I’m ninety to be able to afford to put them through college.”

When I arrived at the farm, there were some strange cars in front of the trailer.  I knew Mother’s and Dad’s and Uncle Mark's, but the other two I didn’t know.  I walked to where the people were assembled.  Uncle Mark made the introductions, “Ladies and gentleman, if I may have you attention.  This is our host, Mr. Hank Adler.”

Uncle Mark continued, “Hank, I think you have met Mr. Rob Snowden before.  Have you met his lovely wife, Liz?”

“Nope, only on the phone.  I went and shook Mrs. Snowden’s hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet you in person, Mrs. Snowden.”

Uncle Mark directed me to another lady, “This is Gwen Mitchell, she is now the CPS person in charge of the Latham children’s case.”

I shook hands with Ms Mitchell, “I have the feeling that I’ve met you before.   Oh, I remember, it was when we were working with the Franciscus family.”

“Hank, that has been a number of years ago.  You'll be glad to know that Amanda came out of the mess okay but her brother fell by the wayside.  Have you met the Latham’s four daughters?”

“I have only met Wanda and that was very briefly.”

“I’ll introduce the girls to everyone.  They’re elated to see their brothers and the guys have overwhelmed them with tours of the farm and the house.”

I finally meet the other three girls, Wendy, Winnie and Wonny when we were getting ready to eat.

Witt made sure the older adults went through the serving line first, and he, Walt and Wade made sure that the younger people had all the roast pork, mashed potatoes and sauerkraut that they wanted and there was warm apple strudel for those who wanted some.”

Witt came and whispered in my ear, “I guess we won’t have to worry about what to do with the leftovers.”

The guys were starting the cleanup when I saw the Snowdens and Ms Mitchell taking with the four Latham girls.  I decided that I had done all that I could do to get them together.

After the guests had departed, Witt and the young guys ushered me into the house, so they could show me what had been accomplished. 

Witt apologized, “We didn’t know how you wanted the rooms to be set up, so we put things where we thought the furniture and accessories looked good.  We’ll change them when you decide where you want the things to be.”

I sat down on the sofa, “Guys, what you’ve done looks great.  We’ll finish the rest of the interior decorating this weekend.”

Gloria and I met at the school and there was nothing that she needed to do, since we had already advised the parents that the office would be closed until the second of August.  I took the few phone calls which were mostly people trying to sell us school supplies or people trying to contact the PTO trying to get them to use their company‘s products for a fund raiser.

I went to the Central Office and met with Dr. Hunter and two other people whom I knew only by sight.  I reviewed the folders of the new applicants and asked that a formal interview be set up and I asked to review the files of others who were qualified for the positions. 

Dr. Hunter asked, “Hank, when would you like the interviews set up?  If we don’t strike now, they may not be available.”

“Why don’t you set the interviews for sixth of July.  Perhaps there will be some additional applicants by then.”

I asked a stupid question, “Dr. Hunter, would it be so bad to start the school year with substitutes so that they can be evaluated on the job, before we offer them a permanent position.  We or I, at least, don’t know anything about the applicants and their abilities and how they relate to the children.  I just want to provide the children with the opportunity to be able to be successful.  What we see on paper is a lot of eyewash.”

When I arrived at the farm, it was like a morgue.  There was no one in sight,  With eight young men in residence, there should be at least one person in sight.

I walked into the trailer and there weren’t any smells of something cooking.  ‘Oh well, I guess everyone has been busy.’
 

I walked into Randy’s and my bedroom and it was devoid of any clothing.  In fact, everything was gone, even my piggy bank and Teddy bear.

I went to what had been Billy and Bobby’s room and their clothes, what few they had, were gone.  I decided, ‘The Martians must have landed and sucked up the boys and Randy.’

The trailer door burst open and Billy and Bobby came into the trailer, “Dad, what’s taking you so long.  We’re hungry.  We’ve had to work hard all day while you played.”

The boys and I walked to the house and something smelled great.  The guys didn’t even give me time to change clothes before they took me to the dining room and it was a pleasure to see ten places around the table.  Randy was already seated, “Won’t you have a seat Master Adler?  Our servants have been waiting all afternoon to serve you.”

After a wonderful meal, Randy and I walked through the house with Witt, Bobby and Billy.   Witt explained, “Mr. Adler, we figured that if we didn’t get the house ready to be our home, it would take all summer.  You and Mr. Taylor have enough to worry about other than interior decorating.” 

“We really need to make some decisions about what to do with the extra pigs and the steers.  We also need to decide what to do with the animals on my farm, and what to do about the condemned house.  Are you ever going to stop working long enough  to help us decide what to do?”

Witt had just pushed me against a brick wall, “Everybody, I apologize for making a mess.  I never meant for you to have to make the decisions without me.  The new job seems to have taken over my life.  I apologize.”

Randy put his arm around me, “Henry, you need to just relax.  We all understand that you have been under a lot of pressure, but you need to tell people to stuff it.”

“Oh great, my mother has gotten to you, too.  Don’t ever call me Henry again or I’ll ignore you like do her.”

Billy started to giggle, “I gotta go call Grandmother Adler, and tell her that Dad ignores everything she says.  Come on, Bobby, you need to tell her what I said was true.”

I grabbed the two boys, “What I meant to say was that I pretended as if I was ignoring her, but I listen to what she has to say, even if she is a little bossy.”

Witt started to laugh, “Mr. Adler, didn’t you mean to say a little dictatorial?”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  A 'little' dictatorial?  That woman is totally in charge. 

I think there is a good chance that the Latham girls will find a family who will love and take care of them. 

I guess Hank was too wound up to really think about what had happened to all of the things from the trailer.  It must have been a bit disturbing to see everything and everyone, simply gone.

I certainly hope that the ass at the CPS office gets his ass in serious trouble, if not simply kicked out of his job.  He needs to learn that he and his cronies' jobs entail actually caring for and about the children he is supposed to look after. 

I am certainly ready for another chapter.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 08/27/10