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 44 

Working on the Chain Gang

When Wylie and I arrived at the farm, he was pulling my hand, “Daddy, you gotta come see Hector.  He got hurt when they were bringing the peepees.  Uncle Tim fixed his wing because it was broken.  We put him in a special box so he wouldn’t get hurt any badder.  Why do they call little chickens peepees like we do the thing we go to the bathroom with?”

I wanted to laugh but I maintained my composure, “Wylie, it’s good that Tim was here to help take care of Hector.  I don’t know how little chickens and the penis got the same name.  We’ll have to look it up on the computer and see if we can find out why.”

“We need to go make sure that everything is ready for dinner.  Your four sisters and the Snowdens are going to be here for dinner.”

Wylie pulled back, “They aren’t going to eat all of our food, like they used to do, are they?”

“Wylie, I’m sure there will be enough food for everyone to have all they want.  Remember, things are different, now.  We need to share what we have.  I asked the Snowdens and your sisters because we have some business to talk about.  Make sure you and your brothers treat them politely.”

When we walked in the house, after checking on Hector, there was no question as to what we were having for dinner.  It was chicken of some kind, but I hadn’t any idea what kind.  I wasn’t sure who had time to fix it.  It appeared as if we were going to be eating in the picnic area, since the tables were setup in the yard.

Randy was in the shower when I went to change clothes.  I opened the shower door, “Quitting a little early, aren’t you?”

Randy flashed me, “As a matter of fact, we did quit early, today.  The plumbing in the Latham house hasn’t had anything done to it in years.  It’s a wonder that the house hasn’t flooded out and the pipes hadn’t frozen.  We need to sit down and decide what we should do.  Witt is in a stew.  Not only that, it is going to take a lot more work to bring the house up to standard than anyone thought.”

“We’ll need to go check everything carefully.  I’m not sure that Tim is qualified to do the work that needs to be done, and I know that I’m not qualified.  What time are the Snowdens due to arrive?”

“I told them to come about five thirty.”

“I sent Ritchie and the Corn boys home early today, and Witt is delivering the last of the meat to your parents and grandparents.  Walt has been in charge of the dinner detail.”

Witt arrived home just before five thirty and everything was ready.  Sarah was helping the guys finalize dinner.  I was wondering, ’Are the Wallace’s going to be eating with us every night?  It sure would make the evening meal easier when school started.  I guess if we provide the food, it would be a good deal for everyone.’

Dinner was a success.  I noticed that the four Latham girls still took more than they could possibly eat.  Fortunately, Walt had made sure that we had plenty of food.  I was proud that our guys took only as much as they needed and knew they would eat, and there was nothing left but a few pieces of skin and bones on their plates. 

After dinner, the boys started to clear the table without being told. Mrs. Snowden commented, “Girls, see what the guys are doing.  They’re clearing the table without being told.”

The girls started to whine, “But they’re older than us.”

Wally giggled, “That’s no excuse.  Even Wiley helps and he’s only four.  He even helps clean the house, because we have a nice place to live and don’t have to go to bed hungry.  It looks to me as if the Snowdens are being good to you. You look like you have some new clothes.  I guess girls think they’re better than boys and don’t have to do any work.”

Fortunately, I was able to get Wally’s attention and let him know that he shouldn’t say any more.  I diverted everyone’s attention.  “While you young people are taking care of the cleanup, Witt, Randy and I need to talk with Mr. and Mrs. Snowden in the den.  We won’t  take long.  Why don’t you take the girls for a horseback ride when you finish the dishes?”

Sarah started to say something, but both Randy and I shook our heads to let her know that we wanted the boys to do the dishes and show their sisters what they did, without complaining.

When we escorted the Snowdens into the den, I pulled the four remaining envelopes out of the safe.  I tried to explain everything that had happened with Mr. Latham’s will, and the findings in the safe deposit box.  That was when the not so fun started. 

Liz Snowden asked, “Did all of the children receive the same amount of money in their envelopes?”

I was concerned where that question was coming from, “No, the envelopes all contained different amounts of money.”

Liz wasn’t stopped, “That doesn’t seem fair.  The children should share the money equally.”

Witt entered the conversation, “Mrs. Snowden, that was not the way my father wanted the money divided.  He had been putting a hundred dollars a month into each of the envelopes starting when we were born and specifically said it was to be used for our college educations.  It makes sense to me, since I don’t have as much time as Wiley or the four girls to earn money for college.”

Mrs. Snowden wasn’t satisfied, “Are you saying that if we should adopt the girls we wouldn’t be able to control the money anyway we wanted?”

Witt stood, “Mr. Adler and Mr. Taylor, perhaps we should invest the girls’ money before they are adopted by the Snowdens to make sure that my father’s wishes are met.”

“Witt, let me explain some of the other information to the Snowdens, and perhaps we can resolve any problems before they mushroom.”

I explained about Mr. Latham’s military career and the possibility that the Snowdens might want to reconsider adopting the girls so quickly, until they look into the advantages and disadvantages of doing so.  I explained that we were meeting with the base legal officers on Monday and would advise them as to what we were able to ascertain.

After the Snowdens had departed, Randy commented, “It’s funny how people change when they think there might be some money in it for them.”

Witt was looking a little downtrodden, “I wish there was some way we could take care of the sisters, here, but I guess that would be asking too much.  The Children’s Protection Agency would never allow that to happen, since there aren’t any woman around except Mrs. Wallace and we have no guarantee how long they might be here, once Mr. Wallace becomes a qualified plumber.”

Randy put his arm around Witt, “Son, don’t be so pessimistic.  Things will work out for the best, if we give them a chance.”

On Friday morning, I was up before anyone else, since I had to meet Dr. Brown at six thirty.  Witt appeared as I was leaving, “I guess I was out of order last night when I was talking to the Snowdens.”

“Son, I agree with everything you said, If your sisters are still acting as they are, there must be problems that we aren’t aware of.  Let’s not worry about them, just now.  We need to make sure that you eight guys are taken care of, first.  We have a lot of things to talk about this weekend.  I wish I didn’t have to be gone, today.  Don’t forget that you, Billy, Bobby and Wade have dentist appointments today.”

The ride to Lincoln was subdued to say the least.  Dr. Brown, Dr. Hunter and I were unsure as to why we were invited to the Legislative Budget Committee.  We were to quickly find out that the legislators were looking for ways out of the budgetary mess and wanted us to provide some inputs.

I shook my head in the negative when the chairperson spoke to me, “Mr. Adler, you seem to think that cutting the budget across the board would resolve any problems?”

“I didn’t say that.  It would be a good way to start, instead of singling out specific programs such as education which everyone knows will cause consternation among the majority of the populace.  It’s time to stop using education to get people to realize that there are monetary problems and there aren’t enough funds to go around.  It seems to me that you people wanted to be policy makers or you wouldn’t have run for your positions.  You all have your special programs that you support.  It’s time to look at the big picture and realize that there are no sacred cows.”

After I had my say, I refused to answer any more questions.  I had no idea what they might want me to speak about when we went to the entire legislature, but I decided to let the legislators have it between the eyes if they did indeed ask me to speak.

After the legislature was called into session, the first person on the agenda was me.  The speaker introduced me, “We want to thank Mr. Henry Adler for coming to address the legislature, today.  We realize that we are putting him on the spot by asking him to be here to speak in defense of cutting the education budget arbitrarily by ten per cent, Mr. Adler.”

I went to the podium, “Thank you, Mr. Speaker.  What I have to say is going to be short.  It seems that every time there is a money crunch in this state, and any other state, for that matter, that the funds for educating our children becomes the first ping pong ball thrown on the table.  It’s time to stop using education for batting practice and get on with the business of cutting funds for programs and  positions from all state programs, instead of hitting the young people of the state, below the belt.”

“Everyone is always moaning that the money being spent on education isn’t producing the desired results.  It’s time to get politics out of education and let people who are truly invested in the education of the young do their job and everyone would be happier.  You legislators have more things to worry about than education.  Yes, you need to be involved, but only on a limited basis.” 

“Thank you for inviting me to speak today.  I don’t envy you people in the task that lies before you, but be fair and make any budget cuts equitable and get rid of the excess fat by getting rid of the overpaid employees who are employed around the state. You say you‘re underpaid.  That may well be, but you knew what you would be making when you ran for the position.”

I just walked away from the podium and didn’t stop until I was out of the legislative chamber.  Since it was a nice day, I went and stood by the car to wait for the Dr. Brown and Dr. Hunter to arrive.”

They arrived approximately ten minutes later.  Dr. Brown was laughing, “You certainly stood those people on their ears.  I don’t think you made many friends, today.  It will be interested to see what the media has to say, this time.”

I was really glad to get home.  I felt as if I had been wrung through the ringers on an old fashioned wash machine.  I was to find out that the day was just beginning.  When I arrived at the house, I was met by Wade, “Dad, you’re to call your Uncle Mark.  He says it’s extremely important.”

I called Uncle Mark’s number, “This is Hank Adler, I had a message to call Uncle Mark as soon as possible.”

“Just a minute, Hank.  He’s saying goodbye to a client.”

“This is Mark Adler.”

“Uncle Mark, I had a message to call you.”

“Thanks for calling, Hank.  I gave you some bad advice when I told you to inform the Snowdens of what was happening with the Latham estate.  Mrs. Snowden was in to see me today and is demanding that all money from the Latham estate be divided equally between the ten children and she wants to see all the documentation of the funds.”

“Uncle Mark, can she do that?”

“Legally, she can do nothing, at this point in time, because the Snowdens have only been appointed as guardians, as have you.  You were specifically identified by Mr. Latham to be the boys’ guardian, so you are in a better position than the Snowdens are.  I’m beginning to suspect that the Snowdens, especially Mrs. Snowden, are realizing that having four young girls around all the time isn’t what she or they might have thought it was going to be.  I’ll talk to you this weekend and we can plan what to do.”

At dinner, it was just the ten of us. Tim had a date and the Sarah and Jake went back to their old home to get the rest of their things.  After dinner, Randy commented, “Something’s bothering you, Hank.  What is it?”

“Randy and Witt, let’s go into the den.  There are some things that we need to talk about.”

Walt frowned, “I guess we’re in trouble, guys, if we’re being excluded from the meeting.”

“You guys aren’t in trouble, yet.  You will be if you don’t get the dishes done.  We’ll just be a minute and then maybe if you do a good job cleaning up we can go to a movie, if you would like.”

Walt shook his head no, “It would be a lot cheaper if we stayed home and watched television.”

Witt agreed, “We need to stay home and figure out our finances.  Mrs. Hamilton and Mr. Rollins paid me today.  The grandparents and great grandparents sent payments for the meat that I delivered today.”

I was caught by surprise, “They don’t need to pay for the meat.”

Witt shrugged his shoulders, “That’s what I told them, but they said that since you had a growing family, you were going to need all the money you can get your hands on.  Your mother said that you would especially need the money when you got fired after opening your big yap again.  Dad, I‘m just quoting what she said.”

Witt, Randy and I went into the den and I explained what Uncle Mark had explained, what Mrs. Snowden wanted, as far as the money being divided.  Uncle Mark seems to think that there might be more than the money issue, causing problems.   I guess we need to be proactive and make sure the four girls come out of this mess okay.  Wouldn’t it be great if the Wallaces were to adopt the four girls and move into the boys’ house when it was refurbished.”

Witt chuckled, “It’s too bad we hadn’t thought of that before.  The four girls could live the trailer with Mr. and Mrs. Wallace and Tim could share my bedroom until the other house was finished.  That way we could get a hired man to manage the spreads when the time is right.  I really want to keep the farm land, at our old house, in the family.” 

“I like the idea of raising beef cattle and possibly some sheep for more variety.  We can always use some of the acreage to raise more food for all the animals and the young guys could go into a small truck farming operation to raise some more money.  I suppose Mrs. Snowden would try to figure a way to get her hands on that money as well, since she thinks everything should be shared equally.  That ain’t going to happen if everyone works on the chain gang.”

I hugged Witt.  “Son, we’ll just have to take the problems one at a time.  There are still a lot of questions that remain unanswered.  We’ll need to sit down with Uncle Mark and the parents and develop a plan.  It’s good that we have Sarah, Jake and Tim him here to advise us as well.  It will be interesting to see what we find out at the base, on Monday.  There’s a lot to do between now and then.  Let’s go do something with the guys. Let’s make some homemade ice cream and wear them out.”

We did make home made ice cream and it disappeared faster than it could be dished up.  Wiley came and sat on my lap, “Daddy, that was really good.  It would be fun to make a different flavor of ice cream every night.  I’ll even do the dishes. That way I would get all of the leftovers.”

“Yeah, and you would get fat.”

“Daddy, I’ll probably get skinny trying to find any leftovers.  Thanks for the treat.  I’m going to go to go get my shower before the big guys hog all of the hot water.  Goodnight.” 

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  I must say that I had a feeling that the Snowdens would not be happy, taking care of the four girls.  They had no idea what kind of problems they were going to have with the girls.  I smell greed all over Mrs. Snowden.

It seems that like many foster parents, she has her eye on all the money she thinks the girls should have coming to them.  I have no idea if she plans on seeing to it that the girls get the money, or if she plans on using it herself.  Only time will tell us that.

Personally, I don't trust her. Something bothered me, the last time we saw the Snowdens, and I wondered what they were up to, back then. I am afraid that there will be more courtroom activity in the near future. 

We will just have to wait to see what will happen next.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 12/10/10