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 41 

The Parents Take Charge

I swear the parents, Uncle Mark and Aunt Peggy must have broken every speed limit to get to the house so quickly.

After they had said hello to the five youngest guys, I suggested, “Guys, we have to talk to the adults and the big guys for a couple of minutes.  I’ll meet you in the kitchen and fix you a sundae before you have to get ready for bed.”

Billy pouted, “Come on, guys, the big people think we’re too little to help them.  We can fix our own sundaes.  We’re going to take our showers in their bathroom to make sure it works, and make a mess.”

My mother was laughing, “Honestly, Henry, even the young people can see through you.  You‘re nothing but a fly on the wall.”

“Grandmother, that’s not what I said at all.”

“It was close enough.  Henry needs to grow up.”

I pointed to the living room, “Witt, take Mother dearest and her entourage to the living room, and I’ll be there as soon as I recover from the mortal wounds which she has inflicted on me.”

When we were in the living room I pointed to the stack of mail that had been in the Latham’s mailbox and the letters that Witt had received at the house.  “Mom and Aunt Peggy, why don’t you, Walt and Wade open those, so we know what we’re up against.  That’s the mail that was in the Latham’s mail box and the mail that has arrived here at the house, for the guys.  We haven’t had time to open it.”

I took Dad, Uncle Mark and Witt to the den.  “These are the things that we found in the safe deposit box today, and in the Mr. Latham’s dresser drawer.  I’m going to take this letter that Mr. Latham left, because I want to read it to everyone as soon as Randy and I get the young guys settled.  Randy and I are the only two who have read it, entirely.  Witt was so upset by its content that he had to stop reading.   I have no idea how the other two guys will react.”

It didn’t take long to get the guys settled.  Wiley clung to both of us as we said goodnight, “Daddy and Dad Randy, please don’t let anything bad happen to any of us.”

When we arrived back downstairs, Mother was loaded for bear.  “Henry and Randall, you need to get an account opened for the children’s college accounts, immediately.  There is almost two thousand dollars that came in the mail, so far. We haven’t run across any bills, as of yet.”

I went to get Dad, Uncle Mark and Witt.  When everyone was seated, I announced, “I need to read this letter to everyone.  Please let me read it in it’s entirety before you interrupt.” 

When I got to the part where Witt had lost it earlier, when the letter announced there was an envelope of money for each child and that each of the children should be authorized base privileges, Wade jumped up and kicked over a chair. “That bastard, he treated us like dogs and now he tells us he loved us.  If he loved us, why did we always have to live like we were living in poverty?  The man couldn’t have loved us.”

Dad got up and held Wade, “Son, relax.  Getting upset isn’t going to make things any better.  Come sit down beside me, and let Hank finish the letter.”  Dad was sitting with his arm around Wade

Mother had moved so she was sitting beside Walt, and Witt had been sitting beside Randy.”

I finished the letter,

Please don’t think to unkindly of me.  I tried to do the best I could.  Please take care of your younger brothers and sisters.

                                                            Dad

Dad broke the silence, “Guys, don’t be too hard on your Dad.  I don’t know this for a fact, but I'm guessing that he had some mental problems, judging from the medications he was taking.  I’ll see if I can talk to the doctor who prescribed the drugs for him, and see what I can find out.  I'm not sure he’ll tell me anything, but I can try.”

Uncle Mark was shaking his head, “Guys, you and Randy are going to be busy critters for a while.  You have a lot of red tape that you’re going to have to handle.  Hank, you need to get in touch with the Snowdens and let them know what’s happening.  They were in the office this afternoon, looking to adopt the boys’ four sisters.  This new information may cause them to rethink what they want to do.”

Aunt Peggy asked, “Did you count the money in the envelopes that were in the safe deposit box?  Did the children all get the same amount?

“Aunt Peggy, we didn’t count the money.  Witt was so upset when he was reading the letter, that he just wanted to come home.  I’ll go get the envelopes and the guys can count the money in their envelope.  We should probably leave the girls’ money for the Snowdens to count.”

I went to the den to get the envelopes and handed the guys the one that had their name.  “Guys, count to see how much is in your envelope.  From the size of them, it appears that they don’t contain the same amount because Wylie’s is much thinner than yours.”

We watched as the three guys sat on the floor to count the money that was in the envelopes.  The envelopes contained $100.00 bills.  Witt was very methodical.  He counted the bills out in piles of ten.  Wade, on the other hand, started to count the bills by hundred.  Two bills stuck together when he was at two thousand.  After he separated them, he started to count again, “Does anyone remember where I was? My mind is racing all over the planet.”

“I’m getting angrier and angrier with the man that gave this money to us.   Ever since I can remember, I thought I wasn’t as good as the other kids because I felt as if they were laughing at me.  I was always happy when we went to school, because at least we got a free lunch.  Now I’m feeling guilty because we could have been paying for our lunch.”

Walt stopped counting, “What makes me angry is not only what Wade said, but also the fact that we have never received a birthday present or a Christmas present, like all our friends.  Our friends, what few friends we had, never invited us to their birthday parties because they knew we wouldn’t be allowed to go, and certainly wouldn’t be giving them a present.  I’m guessing that Wally, Willy and Wylie, especially, haven’t any idea what a Christmas decoration or Christmas tree looks like.”

Aunt Peggy looked confused, “Surely you’re kidding.”

Witt had finished counting and was sitting next to me.  “Aunt Peggy, you could count on the fingers of your hand, the number of times that Wylie and Willy have even been to Belleview.  We haven’t had a Christmas tree or any decorations since Wylie was born.  Our mother died shortly after his birth.  After mother’s death, our father went on a rampage and got rid of everything that reminded him of mother.  Any Christmas decorations we had were included.”

Uncle Mark scowled, “Guys, I can’t believe you’re father is the ogre you’ve described.  I hardly knew him, but he seemed as if he cared for you.”

Witt stood, “Uncle Mark, it was almost as if our father had three different personalities.  One for when he was home with us kids, and there were no other adults around.  Quite frankly he was like a bowl of mashed potatoes.  He’d sit for hours and stare into space.  The second Wilber Latham would surface when there were any men around.  It was a complete quirk that I was able to get a driver’s license.”

Dad asked, “Why do say that, Witt?”

Witt giggled, “Mr. Drysdale, who works for the county and had stopped to talk to our father.  Mr. Drysdale commented that he thought Dad should get me a license, so I could be available to drive, in case something should happen to him.  Two days later, I had my license. A lot of good it did me.  I only had the opportunity to drive his car two times since I’ve had my license.”

Witt sat down and was watching Wade and Walt as they finished counting their money as he had.  Mother asked, “Witt, you mentioned that there were three Mr. Lathams.   You described two, who was the third?”

“Grandmother, you don’t want to know.”

“Look, Witten, don’t start acting like Henry.  I definitely do want to know.”

That broke the three boys up.  Witt took a deep breath, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you and Aunt Peggy.  Whenever Mr. Latham was around a female he thought might pleasure his desires, he could be very charming.  You can’t imagine the number of female visitors we had at the house.”

Uncle Mark took control and changed the subject, “Guys, how much money do you have in you envelopes?”

Witt pointed to his pile of money, “I had $20,000.00 in my envelope.  Walt how much did you have.”

Walt frowned, “I only had $18,800.00.  How come you got more than me?”

Wade blurted out, “I really got short changed, I only had $17,600.00.  How come we each got different amounts?  Does that mean that that man liked Witt better than the rest of us?”

I held up Wylie’s envelope, “Guys, unless I miss my guess, there is about $5300.00 in Wylie’s envelope.  Uncle Mark, why don’t you count to see how close I am?”

Uncle Mark counted the money and there was $5400.00 in the envelope.  Mother, being mother, challenged, “Henry, you counted it before.  There is no way you could have been so close.”

“Mother dearest, think about the amounts the guys received.  There is a very logical reason why the amounts are all different. I’m guessing that I could come close as to what is in the other envelopes as well.”

Everyone was sitting with a blank look on their face and Randy finally spoke, “I think this feeble minded plumber has figured out the answer to the riddle.  Mr. Latham has been putting a $100.00 a month into the envelopes, since each of the children was born.”

Dad smacked his head, “Randy, me thinks you’re right.  It’s too bad that Mr. Latham didn’t put it where the young people’s money could be making some money.  Hank, the first thing you need to do is get all this money out of the house and get it working for the guys.”

Wade moaned, “You mean we can't just go out and spend it.”

Randy shook his head, “Son, if you need money, we’ll make sure you have it.  What would you do with the money if we said, ‘Here, Wade, have a good time.’  You’d probably fritter it away, trying to impress people thinking, ‘Hey, look at me I’m rich.’”

“But Dad Randy, you haven’t had to live a life like we did.  You have no idea what it is to be poor.”

“Wade, trust me.  I know how you feel, and so do Billy and Bobby.  We‘ve been there and done that.  We’d probably still be there if weren’t for Dad Hank and his parents and Uncle Mark.  Trust me, things will start looking up.  I‘ll explain after our company has departed.”

Uncle Mark stood, “Hank and guys, I wish I could be of more help, but I’ve got three full days ahead of me.  I have two big court cases.  I’ll come back on Saturday and we can see what it is that we need to do.  Right now, you need to get the money working for the guys and call the Snowdens.  Witt, call Mrs. Rhodes and see if you can do anything to help her.  You owe it to her, after what she did for you today.”

As Mother was going out the door she dictated, “I’ll be back in the morning after I stop at the store and get some Thank You notes, so you guys can acknowledge the memorial gifts they’ve received.  I’m guessing there will be more coming in the next several days.”

After the parents and Uncle Mark and Aunt Peggy had departed, I looked at the three young guys, “Guys, put your money in your envelopes and we’ll take care of it tomorrow.  It’s getting late and we need to get to bed.  Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.”

Wade sat down, “We’re not moving until you explain what Dad Randy meant by we’ve been there and done that.”

When Randy and I finished telling why it was that Randy, Billy and Bobby were living with me, all three teenagers had tears in their eyes.  Walt started toward the stairs, “We need to go say our prayers thanking God for making someone like Dad Hank.”

Needless to say, Randy and I were content to take a shower and hold each other.  I had had all of the emotional ups and downs I could take for one day.”

We were awakened the next morning by a little body, “Dads, I’m supposed to make you stay in bed.  The big boys said so.  They said they had everything under con something.  Can we go fix something to eat?  I’m kinda hungry.”

I hugged Wylie, “Littlest Son, go put some nice clothes on.  We need to go to town this morning after we eat.  Dad Randy and I will be there as soon as we go to the bathroom and get dressed.”

After Wylie had departed, I looked at Randy, “I think we’re going to need to put a lock on the door if we’re going to ever have any privacy.”

Randy chuckled, “If we locked the door, the guys would probably climb in the window.”

Randy and I were fixing breakfast when the front door bell rang.  I looked at the clock.  ’Who’s coming to visit at seven thirty in the morning?’

Randy went to answer and returned with Uncle Mark, “Guys, I got to thinking about everything that needs to happen to take care of the mess Mr. Latham left.  Here is a list of the things, you should do.  If I have time, I’ll talk to one of my acquaintances on the base, to see what we can do to take care of the guys and gals with regard to getting military dependent I. D’s.  Gotta go; talk to you later.”

When the guys came from the barn area, Witt was missing.  I looked around.  Where is Witt?  Why is his car gone?”

Walt answered, “Tim’s, car wouldn’t start.  It wouldn’t even turn over.  Witt took him to school.  Witt told us to charge Tim’s car battery if you have a battery charger.  He gave us so many instructions before he left, I’ll never remember what it is that we’re supposed to do.”

We were finishing breakfast when the phone rang.  Wade went to answer.  He handed me the phone.  “It’s the coroner’s office.”

“This Hank Adler.”

“Mr. Adler, it’s Melissa Ferguson from the Coroner’s office.  We have some personal things of Mr. Wilber Latham, here.  We understand that you are handling his affairs.”

“Ms Ferguson, Mr. Latham’s oldest son and I will be picking up the items later this afternoon.  Thanks for calling.”

I went back to the table, “Wally and Willy, you have dentist appointments this morning, as does Wylie.  Go get dressed to go to town.  After the dentist’s appointments, we have some important things to take care of.  Walt and Wade, some of you need to be ready to meet us.  We need to make sure that there is someone here to take care of the Hamilton, Brown and Rollins boys.”

Walt grinned, “Don’t worry, Dad.  There are going to be lots of adults watching our every move, now that the Wallaces are here.  Remember, Grandmother is coming to make sure we don’t get into any trouble.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: Grandmother certainly is going to take charge. She's just that kind of person.  No one is going to step out of line while she is in charge. 

Mr. Latham was not an evil person.  True, he was quite misguided, and most likely mentally ill. 

If you remember, he came to Hank and asked him to make sure that Witt got the education that he knew that Witt would need.  That sort of concern would not come from someone who didn't love his kids. 

I don't actually attribute his seeming disregard for the comfort of his children to a lack of love or caring.  I am pretty sure that the man was not capable of figuring out what was really best for them.

He was saving money for them, and making sure that they didn't waste money on what he considered frivolous useless items.  He wanted to teach the kids that they needed to be careful and not just get everything they might want.

He was seeing things strictly in a black and white manner.  To him there was no such thing as gray.  Money was meant for a specific purpose. Namely, keeping just enough food in the house, and the minimum amount of clothing, etc. He was, indeed a miser.  In his mind, if he didn't supervise them closely, they would go wild. I can't imagine what his idea of wild would be, but I am sure it would be different than my idea.

It looks to me as if a lot of people had respect for the man, and that they wanted to see to it that his children would have a better life, now that their father was dead. 

Only time, and more chapters, will tell us how successfully all the plans and the money worked to give the children a better chance at happiness.  

My guess is that the loving families that they found themselves living with, will make all the difference in the world to the kids, and that all the money in the world won't mean a thing compared to the love that they have found.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 11/05/10