Joel: Book Eight ~ The New Patriarch

"I don't think I should have ridden so much," Mel groaned, as we were climbing back into the van. "It was fun, but I'm definitely going to pay for it."

"We warned you," Donald laughed. "Maybe you should get into the tub in our bathroom. It has massaging jets that might help with the soreness."

"You looked like a regular cowboy out there," Manfred said, patting Mel on the back.

"Yeah, Uncle Mel," Luke said. "When you come back again, you can ride some more."

"Thanks, but for now, I think I will stick to playing soldier," Mel responded.

Gilda hadn't returned when we entered the house. "It looks like it's pizza for supper," I said.

"Oh, boy!" Chris said and took off up the stairs behind the twins to shower and put on clean clothes.

"You want to join us, Manfred?"

"I'll have to see what Hildy has planned for us. I'll call after we get home and let you know."

He did and informed me that Hildy had their supper already in the works.

Mel took advantage of the whirlpool tub. After everybody else had showered and dressed, we decided how many and what kind of pizzas to order. Donald volunteered to go pick them up and I placed the order. Peter and William wanted to ride along, ostensibly to hold the pizzas on the way back.

Gilda came in the back door just as Donald was getting ready to leave. When we told her what we had planned, she said she would fix a salad to go with the pizza.

"You're walking better," I said to Mel, as he arrived back in the kitchen.

"I feel a little better, but the morning will tell," he said. "I may not be able to get out of bed."

When Donald returned from the pizza run, Peter and William came into the kitchen each carrying a large pizza box. Donald was right behind with two pizza boxes and two boxes of breadsticks. "I hope this is enough," he chuckled.

I thought there was no way we would be able to eat all the pizzas I had ordered, but later as the table was being cleared, all that was left of the pizzas were the smells.

"Since you guys did all your homework on Friday, you can do whatever you would like to do this evening," I told them.

"I'm gonna play my drums," Chris said.

"Yeah, we can be a band," Larry said.

TJ followed the three musketeers to the music room. He would play a keyboard for the band.

"Can we watch TV?" Peter asked.

"Let's check to see what's on," I said. I retrieved the Sunday paper and found the TV listings. I scanned through the listing and saw a program that they might like. "There's a program on African wildlife that's coming on in a few minutes. There'll probably be lions and tigers and all kinds of animals. How would you like that?"

"I like animals," William said. "Especially lions."

I took them upstairs and turned on the TV and found the right station. The intro to the program was just beginning. They sat down on the floor and began watching. I went back downstairs. Donald was sitting on the couch with Lenore on his lap as he read a story to her. After about forty-five minutes, her eyelids began to droop.

"Did she have a bath when you came back from the ranch?" Gilda asked.

"No," Donald said, "she didn't ride any."

"Let me have her and I'll help her with her bath," Gilda said, picking Lenore up and heading for the stairs.

"You're lucky to have someone like her," Mel said, referring to Gilda.

"That's an understatement," I said. "Anybody ready for wine?"

"Excellent idea," Donald said.

"Thanks," Mel said, "but I think I'll walk over to see Luke before he goes to bed. Maybe when I come back."

"Think your legs are up to it?" Donald snickered.

"If they're not, I'll have Manfred drive me back."

Gilda returned and said that Lenore was in bed and wanted to be tucked in. Donald and I both went.

Our two TV watchers rushed down the stairs indicating that their program had finished. "How was the show?" Donald asked.

"It was great," William enthused. "I liked the elephant best, and maybe the lions or the giraffes. I guess I liked them all."

"I think it's time for the two of you to get ready for bed. You go get your teeth brushed and we'll be up to tuck you in a little later," I said.

"Okay," they said, and ran up the stairs.

"I'll never understand why everything has to be done at a dead run," I said to Donald.

"I guess they can't wait to grow up and they're always running to get there."

We went upstairs and interrupted the 'jam session'. "It's a school night, guys. You need to brush your teeth and get to bed."

A little reluctantly they packed up their instruments and headed for their bedrooms. Shortly afterwards, we made the rounds of the boys' bedrooms to say goodnight.

Mel had returned by the time we had finished our nightly routine. "Did you make it there and back with no problem?" I asked.

"I didn't break any speed records, but I made it," Mel said. "Now, if that offer of a glass of wine is still on the table, I'll take you up on it."

It felt strange the next morning to dress in business attire to go to work again. I didn't know if my neck would survive the day wearing a tie. It had been a while.

"How come you're all dressed up?" Larry asked, as the trio came down the stairs.

"Remember, I told you that I was going to work at Donald's office for a couple of months," I said. "Manfred will be driving you to school and picking you up. Well, not you three. I'll pick you three up at five after your practice."

"Yeah, I guess we forgot," Chris said, around a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

Donald and I waited until Manfred had left in the van with his ten charges. We each climbed into our own vehicles and took off for the office.

When we arrived at Donald's office, he reintroduced me to his secretary and the other office staff before taking me to Jerome Crouchs' office.

"Jerome, I don't know if you have met Crane Johnson before, but he will be sitting in with you for this week and temporarily filling the VP slot until your permanent replacement is on board," Donald said. "I'll leave you two to get better acquainted. I see my secretary is trying desperately to get my attention. Crane, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

Jerome and I discussed the various duties that he had and filled me in on some of the personnel who worked in his area. It was almost ten o'clock when Donald's secretary interrupted our discussions and told me I had a phone call. She said that the party had indicated that it was urgent that they speak to you immediately. She pointed to the phone and said the call was on line two. I punched the button and answered it.

"Crane, it's Manfred. We have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" I asked.

"I just got a call from Antonio Recci. He said he had received a call from the judge's clerk and he wants to meet this afternoon at two with Hildy and me and Luke. Antonio and the CPS people will be there along with Luke's sister, Penelope, and her foster parents. I think that's all who the judge wants to see."

"Sounds important," I said.

"The problem is, I won't be able to pick up the kids from school, because I doubt we will be back in time. Gilda said she thought she could drive the van, but it's been years since she has driven anything that large. I don't think that would be a good idea. Could either you or Donald do it?"

"Let me check with him," I said. "I'll call you back as soon as we have come up with a solution."

I gave Jerome a brief explanation and went off to find Donald. Thankfully he was in his office and going over some paperwork with his secretary. I outlined what Manfred said and asked him if he had any suggestions. He sat for a moment before his secretary indicated she had a suggestion.

"You know that new intern who started a couple of weeks ago, Christian Granville? I heard him talking the other day and from what I heard he has a commercial driver's license. Maybe he could be of assistance," Alisa said.

"Good idea," Donald said. "Would you see if you can find him and have him report to me?"

"I know where he's supposed to be, so it shouldn't be hard to locate him," she said and left the office.

"If this works out, I'll call Gilda and have her ride with him to the school so the kids will know that it's okay to get in the van with him," I said.

A few minutes later, a knock on the door and a young man I judged to be in his early twenties entered.

"Christian," Donald said, standing and offering his hand to him, "This gentleman is Crane Johnson. He and I have a small problem and I have something to ask of you. You are free to say no without any consequences."

"It's nice to meet you, sir," he said, shaking my hand. Turning back to Donald, he continued, "Of course, sir. What can I do for you?"

Between Donald and me we explained our predicament and asked if he could help us out.

"No problem. I'll be glad to help in any way I can," Christian said.

"If you'll come with me," I said, "I'll give you the directions to the house and the times you need to be places."

It took several minutes to write out the directions and who he was supposed to meet at the house. I also handed him some money for gas to get to and from the house from downtown. When I was satisfied that he would be able to find the house and the school, he went back to his regular duties. I first made a call to Manfred and told him what the plans were. Next I made a call to Gilda and told her what was going on and asked her to ride with Christian to the school to make sure the kids knew it was okay to get in the van with a strange driver.

After I finished the calls, I sat back and went over everything in my mind to see if there was anything that we had overlooked. After several minutes of pondering, I decided that if there was anything, it wouldn't prevent things from going as planned. Satisfied, I went back to Jerome's office to resume my education in the running of the VP's office.

Christian stopped by when it was time for him to leave to go by the house to pick up the van. I wished him luck in beating the traffic and he went on his way.

I left the office a few minutes before four and headed out to pick up my three musketeers from school. I hoped that we wouldn't have any more problems like this one while I was playing at VP. The closer I got to the school, I found my curiosity about what went on with the judge growing. I found it hard to believe that Luke would be removed from Hildy's and Manfred's care. As I drove into the school's parking lot, all thoughts of Luke's care were set aside while I look for my three cross country athletes.

There was no one outside the school building waiting to be picked up. I looked at my watch and it was a few minutes after five. There were a couple of other parents sitting in their cars waiting for their sons to appear as well. I got out of the car and started for the athletic facilities when the door opened and ten or so boys burst out, talking and laughing. Right in the middle were my boys. They were so engrossed in their own conversations that my presence didn't register until I tapped the nearest one to me, Chris, on the shoulder.

"Hi, dad," he said, giving me a hug. "We didn't see you."

"Come on, guys, let's get on the road," I said, as the other two gave me a hug.

Waving goodbye to their friends, they began telling me all about their practice. That lasted all the way to the house. At least today, they had taken a shower after practice, so I didn't have to roll down the car windows.

When I drove into our driveway, I saw a strange car parked in front of the house. I found out on entering the house that it was Christian's and that Gilda had invited him to have supper with us. I introduced the three musketeers to Christian and then went to change out of my suit and tie for something more comfortable.

"That's a very nice young man," Gilda said as I came back into the kitchen.

"He really helped us out today," I said. "If it had been any other day, I could probably have gotten away, but I needed the time to spend with Jerome. There is a lot I need to learn about the duties before he retires."

"It's too bad you never got around to finding a young man to help out with the boys after school," Gilda said. "He would have been able to fill in."

"Yes, somehow that got pushed back on the stack of things to do and never made it to the top," I said. "Have you heard anything about what happened at the hearing this afternoon?"

"No," Gilda replied. "Manfred said things were going to be all right. They're coming over after supper to lay out what happened. He was here only long enough to pick up the girls and take them home."

"Where's Mel?" I asked.

"Manfred said he would come back with them after supper."

"I guess I had better go check on the boys," I said and went to look for them. It wasn't hard to find them as they were making a lot of noise upstairs. Larry and Chris were playing on one of the Xboxes while Lenny and Christian were on the other one. TJ, Peter and William were the cheering section. I watched for a while until Chris crashed his car and Larry celebrated his win.

"I thought you said you were going to beat my pants off," Larry laughed.

"Yeah, well if you hadn't forced my car off the road, I wouldn't have crashed," Chris responded, landing a soft punch on his brother's shoulder. "Wait 'till next time."

"I hate to break this up, but it's about time to get washed up for supper. Christian, if you want to, you can use the bathroom in Joel's bedroom through that door," I said, pointing in the direction of Joel's room.

"Thanks," Christian said and started for Joel's room before turning back. "Could we talk after supper?"

"Of course," I said.

"That was a great meal," Christian said, after the table had been cleared. "I don't get many home-cooked meals living in my little apartment with my brother."

"Would you like to go into my office to talk?" I asked.

"That would be fine. Could Mr. Baker come too?"

"Sure," Donald said.

The three of us went into the library/office. "What is it you wanted to talk about?" Donald asked.

"On the way home from school, one of the boys asked if I were going to be living with them. I told him no and asked Gilda why he would think that I was going to. She explained that you were looking for someone to help out with the boys after school and before you got home from the office. That got me to thinking about my brother's situation. As I said at the dinner table, we live in a small one-bedroom apartment. Last semester, Cary went to UTSA part time and worked at Wendy's part time to pay for his college expenses. As you might imagine it was a struggle. I was wondering if he might apply for the position you are looking to fill."

"What is Cary doing now?" I asked.

"He's working at Wendy's trying to make enough money to go back to college next semester. I would like to help out, but I'm trying to save all my money for graduate school. I want to get my MBA."

"Why don't you have your brother call my secretary and we'll try to arrange a time to speak with him," Donald said.

"Thanks, I will," Christian said. "Now, I had better get on home. Cary will wonder where I am."

"Thank you for filling in on such short notice," I said, as we walked him to the door.

"It was worth it just to enjoy the delicious supper. Goodnight."

"I hope that Manfred will get here soon," Donald said. "I'm anxious to hear what happened at the hearing."

"Speak of the devil," I said, as I saw Manfred coming in the back door. "We've been on pins and needles waiting to hear all about it."

"Here's part of it," Manfred said, turning to escort Hildy into the house.

Hildy walked in with a huge smile on her face and a bundle in her arms. The bundle turned out to be Penelope Lorraine Fredrick. The rest of the family and Mel followed closely behind.

"Okay, we want the whole story and don't skip any of the details," I said.

"Pour me a glass of wine and I'll give you the whole story, start to finish," Manfred said.

Donald was already in the bar area opening a fresh bottle of Cabernet before Manfred had barely uttered the words. The rest of us took seats in the living room and were ready to receive our wine. Hildy put Penelope down on the floor and she was immediately surrounded by the three other girls, including Lenore. Penelope walked, a bit unsteadily, around as she looked at all the strange people.

Manfred began, "We arrived at the courthouse about a quarter to ten and met with Antonio. He said that he didn't know exactly what the judge had in mind, only that his clerk had indicated that he was angry. Anyway, at exactly ten, the bailiff opened the doors to the courtroom and let us in. We all identified ourselves and were sworn in. Hugh and Janice Cole were there with Penelope as were Gary Everett and Gloria Garver. ..."

(Author's note: The following is a transcription of the hearing that Manfred is describing.)

Judge: Luke, you look very nice in your school uniform. Do you like going to that school?

Luke: Yes, sir.

Judge: Do you have lots of homework? I know my children did when they were in school.

Luke: Lots.

Judge: Does anyone help you with it?

Luke: Yes, sir, my da..., I mean, Mr. Manfred checks it and helps if I get stuck.

Judge: That's good. Now, Mr. Recci, do you have anything you would like to bring to the attention of the court?

Recci: Not at this time, Your Honor.

Judge: Very well, let me turn my attention to the orders that I gave to CPS at the last hearing. I did receive the two corrected files that Ms. Garver submitted. However, there still seems to be something missing from Penelope Lorraine Fredrick's file that I find quite interesting and I'll get to that in a minute. Mr. Everett, what is the first thing that the department does when a foster parent seeks to adopt.

Everett: An intensive background investigation is begun looking for any past criminal activity. Simultaneously, references are checked by interviewing friends, and close family relations.

Judge: This is done without fail?

Everett: Yes, Your Honor. The department has a checklist that must be followed before any adoption can be considered.

Judge: I see. Ms. Garver, you have heard what the department's attorney has just said. Why is that information for the Coles not included with the file you submitted? I believe that my instructions were something to the effect that you personally prepare and deliver to me a new and complete, and I do mean complete, set of files.

Garver: Your Honor, I am sure that I set out that information for our clerk to copy and include in the file I had prepared.

Judge: I guess you don't understand the part about you personally prepare and deliver. I'll come back to that later. Mr. and Mrs. Cole, what is your relationship to Ms. Garver?

H Cole: I don't quite understand the question, Your Honor. She is the caseworker for Penelope and we meet with her at least once a month.

Judge: No financial dealings with her or the department?

H Cole: I'm sorry?

Judge: Information has come to the court's attention that certain payments have been made to assure that your adoption of Penelope is finalized. Is that information correct?

J Cole: Well, ah ...That is ... we may have paid some expenses.

Judge: To whom were those payments made?

J Cole: To Ms. Garver, of course. She said it was all part of the process of adopting. There were expenses that we needed to cover.

Judge: What is the total amount that you have paid for these expenses?

H Cole: As of the last payment, the total is $8,250.

Judge: Did you believe this to be a normal part of the adoption process?

H Cole: At first the amount was small and we were willing to believe it was legitimate.

J Cole: We were desperate. We wanted Penelope so bad. We were willing to do anything to be able to adopt her.

Judge: Mr. Everett, is this a normal part of what CPS requires of the adopting parents?

Everett: No, Your Honor, it is not. The department does not require any payments of any kind.

Judge: Thank you, Mr. Everett. Ms. Garver, do you have anything to say about your receiving that money?

Garver: I would like to speak to an attorney.

Judge: That is a wise decision. The gentleman at the back of the room is Detective Monroe. He will escort you to the county jail where he will file charges of a government official accepting bribes. After you have been booked, you will be allowed to contact your attorney. Detective Monroe, please inform Ms. Garver of her rights.

Judge: Mr. and Mrs. Cole, at some point you came to the realization that the money that you were paying to Ms. Garver were in fact bribes. Is that correct?

H Cole: She told us if we didn't make the payments that she would take Penelope away from us. We were willing to do anything, as my wife said, to keep her.

Judge: On the face of it, you have made illegal payments to a public official for the promise of receiving a benefit. Technically that is bribery. Once the District Attorney has looked at the case he may decide that what Ms. Garver did was extortion. I cannot speak for him, but if he does decide that is the case, your culpability will be lessened.

H Cole: What about Penelope, Your Honor?

Judge: That is a good question. Mr. Everett, what are your thoughts?

Everett: Since it is evident that the proper procedures were not followed in vetting the Coles, I cannot recommend that the child remain in their custody.

Judge: I agree. Mr. and Mrs. Strasser, in the previous hearing you said that you would like to adopt Luke's sister as well as him. Is that still your desire?

H Strasser: Yes, Your Honor, we would very much like to adopt both of them.

M Strasser: I'm in total agreement, Your Honor.

Judge: Mr. Everett, have the Strassers been fully vetted?

Everett: Yes, Your Honor, they were when they adopted their two daughters. It would take only a minimal amount of time and effort to bring their file up to date.

Judge: Mr. Strasser, would your home accommodate an additional person?

M Strasser: While things would be tight until the addition to the house is completed, I believe we could make the accommodations work. The slab for the new addition should have been poured while this hearing was taking place. The forms were put in place this morning.

Judge: It is the judgment of this court that the child, Penelope Lorraine Fredrick, be placed in the custody of Mr. Manfred Strasser and Mrs. Hildegard Strasser. Mr. Everett, I trust that the department will assign a new caseworker for Penelope and Luke.

Everett: Yes, Your Honor.

Manfred continues, "That's pretty much what happened. Mr. and Mrs. Cole were very unhappy having to give up Penny, but they did so without too many tears."

"It looks as if she is settling in quite nicely," I said.

"She's fascinated by her new sisters and follows them around as best as she can," Hildy said.

"I think you will have four girls at your place most of the time if my daughter has anything to say about it," Donald said.

"Hildy is looking forward to another shopping trip to buy the stores out of all their clothes for two-year-olds," Manfred said, dodging a punch to his shoulder.

"That's right," Gilda said, "she came with only the clothes she had on."

"We stopped at Walmart to pick up enough clothes to last until I go shopping," Hildy said. "You want to come with me tomorrow?"

"Yes," Gilda said. "I haven't been shopping for little girls clothes since Celia was a baby."